A Much Need Break...

Before my mental breakdown from studying on Monday. Which also happened to be Halloween. After an Anatomy test last Monday, a Lab midterm on Friday and a Physiology midterm on Monday (which means I have been studying nonstop since last summer), I felt that I deserved the night off from using my brain. So I dressed up as a beer maid and drank some bier (which is German for beer) with some of my fellow classmates.

Some of the ladies in the DPT class of 2014

Charmin Bear

Beetle Juice!

Poor homeless man

Some of the fellows in the DPT class of 2014

Max the Sheriff Dog

Tuesday morning was a little rough, but Halloween was very fun and definitely worth it.

I know I have complained about how much studying I have been doing and how it has taken over my life and that I feel like my brain hurts, BUT...I really do like the information. And I have been finding fun ways to learn it. I feel that arts and crafts are a great way to really understand something and truly learn it:

Lumbar and Sacral Plexus

The ever daunting brachial plexus

Peripheral nerve innerations

Intrinsic hand muscles

Intrinsic hand muscles as art

Right smack in the middle of completing my pre-reqs for this program, my knee hurt every time that I ran. Wouldn't you know it...I went to see a Physical Terrorist Therapist for the first time EVER. His diagnosis was that I had a weak gluteus medius (which is a muscle that is weak on almost everybody in the world - slight exaggeration). My PT showed me some exercises to strengthen my weak muscles, but I didn't really know why having a weak butt muscle would make my knee hurt when I ran. Well, now I know why. Exciting huh?

Do you want to know? Well sure, I'll tell you.

Your Gluteus Medius abducts your thigh at your hip joint, which means that when your legs are together, this muscle allows you to lift your thigh away from your body sideways

Thigh Abduction

Now, when you are running or walking, the action of this muscle is a little different. Instead of abducting (you learned a new word!) your thigh, you are stabilizing or drawing your opposite hip up when you are standing on one leg (which is typical of running or walking).

a weak glut med will cause this action:

A) is a normal or strong Gluteus Medius B) Shows a weak muscle that can not stabilize your hip

Thus another muscle will compensate to keep you from falling over, such as one of your quads. This is not their primary job and when muscles have to work overtime, they punish you by causing you pain. Just kidding.  But since this is not the quads normal job, it will become tight and pull on your patella and cause knee pain. Who knew the body was so complicated?

Well there you have it. Fascinating huh? 

I hope you had a fabulous halloween!

Half Way Through (the first trimester)

I just finished week 7 and I am sliding right on into week 8 of my first trimester of graduate school. My motivation is slowly dwindling as my sleepless nights role on. My brain is working overtime and I am scared I am going to see smoke coming out of ears soon.

The gross anatomy of the body is starting to make more sense (damn it is complicated), but I am starting to forget simple things like how to spell "except"(I spell checked it first) or even my name (so if I call you the wrong name, don't take offense to it, I can't even remember my own name). I guess our brain can only fit so much information into them. I just hope that I can fit the rest of the muscles that I have to know for my quiz on Monday into it.

Our fridge stocked with caffeine diet coke

A second box of diet coke  - don't worry, I am splitting these with my roommate

My diet consists of caffeine and chocolate and I am getting caffeine headaches at night (is that a bad sign?). My professors told us that if we didn't have a caffeine addiction before (which I did), we will definitely be addicted to caffeine by the time we are through with this program. I'm just scared that all the pop and coffee is going to stain my teeth. What do you think? Do my teeth look any different?

Just kidding...Those aren't my teeth. I floss every night!

Well with my new (diet) coke problem, back to studying OINFs (Origins, Insertions, Nerves and Function)! I am thinking that in subsequent posts I may try to write about my new knowledge. So if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. I am not good with the foot and I can't tell you had to fix it, but I MAYBE (and that is a big MAYBE) able to tell you what the problem is!

Phew...First Week of Hell Over!

This is week 6 of the rest of my life. And for some reason I am not tired and I only sleep about 5 hours a night (maybe less). I am waiting for that to change. For me to be drooling and snoring loudly in class. But till then, coffee and diet coke will be a staple in my diet.

These past two weeks have really tested my sanity. Let's see. I had...

1. Anatomy Quiz (these are no ordinary quizzes, these are mini tests from hell)
2. Lab Quiz (see italics above)
3. Biomechanics Online Quiz
4. Physiology Midterm (which I rocked!)
5. Developmental Anatomy quiz (at least this one wasn't too bad)
6. Anatomy Midterm (which was just hell)

Lauren and I sad because of our boredom studying

But I survived and I only have about 6 or 7 weeks till my brain gets a break. I did take a mini study break on Monday after my Anatomy Midterm. It was the first day I did not study 1 second since I started school. I think that I deserved a night off.

At Alcatraz Brewery after our Anatomy Exam

This is what happens when I need a study break

Although I did study tonight, I finally made it to Taco Tuesday. Which is awesome! So Cal has an abundance of restaurants with great deals on Mexican food. And many of these places have Taco Tuesday (which is fun because Tuesday and Taco both start with T, I think I might have to start a Margarita Monday). I had dinner and dessert for $5. 

Jalapenos Orange, CA - Delish and Cheap

In the Thick of it All

Everyday I think either "I am so excited to learn about the body, to graduate, become a PT and help people" or "Why the hell am I putting myself through all this stress? Ahhhhhh." This stems from the fact that I studied for a good million hours for my Anatomy quiz last Wednesday and I probably, if I am lucky, got a D on it. And I was not alone in feeling that I did horrible. Everyone in my class felt the same way. In undergrad if I studied as much as I did for that quiz I would have gotten 100%. What the hell happened?


Well now it is Saturday night and I have spent both weekend nights studying. I did take a break to shower and make dinner and I even worked out, but I almost felt guilty using my time to run instead of studying. I feel that I am so far behind in my studies and that it is impossible to catch up. A second year told us that if we ever feel caught up then that means we are not studying enough, so at least this feeling is somewhat of a good sign ;)

Last weekend I went out with some classmates. That was a nice break from studying and a great way to get to know everyone 

After our grueling Anatomy quiz on Wednesday, we had Thursday and Friday off to go to the CPTA (California Physical Therapy Association) Conference in Long Beach (LBC What What). The conference was really nice and it was exciting to partially understand what some of the lectures were about. But the MOST exciting thing was on Thursday, Dexter was being filmed right outside of the conference center. Sadly I spent about 2 hours watching them film the same scene. But seriously, this was not just a celebrity sighting...this was THE celebrity sighting. Dexter is my FAVORITE show. My cell phone ringer is the theme song and my text message alert is the ending credit song to Dexter. I made Chris dress up as Dexter for last halloween and I was one of his victims. So even though I acted slightly crazy obsessed, I didn't flash Michael C Hall or run up and try to hug him (although I did consider it). The whole cast was there. Dexter, Quinn, Debra, Angel and Masuka. The only cast member missing was LaGuerta, and I was 50 feet away from them. Seriously, the happiest day of my life. Now I understand why people live in So Cal. They have the chance to see movie stars everyday!

Michael C Hall aka Dexter, looking right at me!

Chris and I as Dexter and his Victim Halloween 2010

Quick and Dirty - First Couple of Weeks

Here is a little update to my life. I should be reading, so this will just be a quick post. The weekend before school started (Aug 29th), my parent's came into town. It was perfect timing because my program threw us a White Coat Ceremony to honor us into the profession.

Two weeks after school started, I missed my honey (that would be Chris), so he flew down for labor day weekend to visit. Basically the weekend was my salute to fun by living it up in a 3 day madness of staying up late, drinking beer and eating a lot of meat (literally, I mean I ate a lot of steak that weekend) with the group of Interlake Boys men. It was a blast and a great farewell into my imprisonment for the next 3 years ;)

James, Craig, Buck, Chris, Pete and Justin at Dave and Busters

School has officially started and I am waist deep in work. With 6 classes and 2 of them being lab classes, I definitely have my work cut out for me. I am enjoying the information (so at least that's a plus)

This picture is to help us study the Latissimus Dorsi as pointed to with tab F, but I can't complain about the picture

 And I don't just mean anatomy :)

Although, histology is not my favorite subject

But I feel like I have learned so much in the past three weeks that I could practically be a PT right now (except I don't know anything about the lower extremities or trunk of the body yet.

I am getting to know the surrounding area and the people in my class. It is really refreshing to be in class with people who care and want to learn the information. There is a group of 47 of us, plus about 42 second years that I am around every day and it has been fun getting to know everyone. 

So back to reading for me and then hopefully some sleep...But sleep is over-rated when you could be reading about tissue mechanics.

Going Back to Cali

Sorry I haven't posted in a while...My excuse is that we haven't had a reliable internet source.

Well I finally made it to So Cal, the city of Orange in Orange County to be exact.

Chris and I took five days to make our way down the coast taking highways 101 and the 1. The theme was wine, since we tasted and full out drank a lot of it. But the trip was beautiful and romantic. The perfect vacation right before the start of school.

Here is a little recap:

1^st stop: Willamette Valley/McMinnville with Nichole and Trevor. This is where the wine started flowing. We went to two wineries and McMenamins.

Nichole and I wine tasting in McMinnville

Dinning and drinking beer at McMenamins

The next day we went to Crater Lake. Although this was slightly off the coastal path, it was well worth the extra mileage and the long delays on the road due to construction.

Crater Lake

Crater Lake

We stayed the night in Northern California, right outside of Gasquet in a rustic (right out of a horror movie) and romantic lodge.  The hotel was in the middle of nowhere, no TV, no internet and no telephones. And dare I say it, the guests were a little off (1 taco short of a combination plate). But we survived and I highly recommend it. 

After not being murdered, the next day we headed to Redwood National Park, where we saw really big trees! The trees are so big we could even drive through them. We stopped at the Trees of Mystery attraction to stretch our legs and then continued south towards Sonoma.

Day 4 was spent in Wine country. Chris and I started wine tasting at 11:30am. We hit up Rodney Strong, Viansa and Jacuzzi Vineyard (which felt like we were in the middle of Tuscany) and finally Cline tasting room, where I actually purchased a bottle. I don't know if it was all the wine I had just drank or I enjoyed Cline's wine the best, but either way, I went home we a bottle of Syrah. 

Wine tasting at Jacuzzi Vineyards

Our last stop in Sonoma was at a restaurant called The Girl and the Fig. I must admit I was a little full from all the drinking, but the food was fantastic.

Beet Soup at The Girl and The Fig

Still drinking wine with dinner

We woke up in Sonoma a little hung over, but still smiling. Next we headed down the coast.

The Golden Gate Bridge

I got to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time (It made me so happy). In San Francisco, we hopped on Highway 1 all the way to San Luis Obispo. The 1 is a beautiful highway, but definitely not for someone who gets car sick.

I've unpacked all my bags, hung up my clothing and even Christened the apartment by cooking my first meal with my new roomie Lauren:

First home cook meal with my newrRoomie, Lauren

Well school officially started on Monday. I  will keep you posted on my trials and tribulations. So far, I haven't needed to study every hour of the day, but then again, it was only the first week.

Bon Voyage

Carpe diem! The California Adventure has drawn near...I approach this journey with trepidation yet so much excitement!

Packing my clothing. Of course I had to pack them in rainbow color

My shipping containers which Ben, Steven and Chris packed :)

I wanted to send a special thank you to my folks for hosting such a wonderful going away party! Karaoke, great food, and wonderful friends! Special shout out to Rebecca, Blair, Vicki, Chrissy, Kristen, Lance and Maggie; grateful for your gifts and tremendous support. And of course, Pilkdaddi - such a fantastic party host! He also pulled out an impressive rendition of the 80’s song ‘I think we’re alone now’.

Thanks for the fun and the wonderful present!

The delicious cake Rebecca got for my going away party

The checklist has been decimated! Cruised Pike Place, consumed adult beverages at a Mariners Game, smashed on Paseos and enjoyed the Theo's Chocolate Factory. Such a fun last month in Seattle!

Wine tasting at Chateau St. Michelle and Columbia Winery

Mariner's game. I think they lost, but we had a great time

Seattle Skyline from Gas Works Park

I am truly thrilled to have the opportunity to be attending Chapman University and am so excited about the impending road trip to Southern California!

The tentative plan:

Pinot Noir tasting in Oregon’s Willamette Valley with Nichole and Trevor
Crater Lake and subsequent stay at Patrick Creek lodge 
Camping near Redwoods
Napa Valley wine tasting and dinner
Santa Barbara (Maybe More wine tasting - Do we see a theme)
LA...
Final Destination - ORANGE!