Carnival Night!

 

As most of you reading know, my grandma Ruby has stage 4 small cell carcinoma of the lung.  She was given 2-4 months to live. As grandma pointed out when I went to change her calendar to August, that was 4 months ago.

 

I have been coming home at least every 2 weeks, if not more, to spend as much time with her as I can.  Grandma Ruby has always been a big part of my life.  I grew up spending the day with her while my parents were at work.  She is my "second mom" or at least that's what I called her. :) 

 

I'm always trying to think of fun activities to do when I come home and Michael came up with this one.

 

A carnival night!

 

 

 

We started with face painting. 

Grandma got a pretty flower!

 

 

 

We all got our own nasal cannulas to match grandma. 

 

 

She was pumped.

(I was making a carnival, not a fashion statement.)

 

 

Michael made some yummy cotton candy!

 

 

I made mini funnel cakes using bisquick, hot vegetable oil, and a bug juice squirt bottle.

Mom and grandma enjoyed these treats with a side show.

 

The first act:

 

The biggest, little couple in the world!

Michael couldn't keep his midget shoes on.

 

The second act:

 

Conjoined Man & Wife!

 

Not pictured: Mom, ring toss, balloon animals & throwing a safety pin at the balloon animals.

 

Grandma laughed so hard.

 Acting so stupid was unbelievably worth it.

 

 

 

Control & Cotton Candy

If you know me, you probably know that one way to describe me would be:

Controlling.

The other day Michael and I were walking through a store holding hands, out of nowhere Michael comments, “You innately refuse to be led.”  Without even realizing I had determined and enforced the path we would take through the store, steering us this way and that.

Part of me, the truly born leader who does not enjoy taking a back seat unless truly necessary, the twentieth century woman part of me, was proud.

But the larger part, the part of me that desires to be a biblical wife to my husband, was ashamed.

22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Ephesians 22-24

Now, I do not believe that this statement means I must spend all day cleaning house with a feather duster in a poodle skirt and fetch him whatever he asks for.  I do believe that I can be an ambitious woman.  In order to be an ambitious, I have to walk a very thin line between achieving and squandering my husband’s spiritual authority.

I DO believe that God will lead our family through Michael.  In order for this to occur, I need to get my controlling butt out of the way.  To truly “submit”, I have to give up control and allow Michael to lead our relationship with God and each other.

This is a constant struggle in small things, such as which way we walk through a store, and big things, such as allowing Michael to control our finances (YIKES!).

My need to be in control is not only a difficulty in my marriage, but also in my relationship with God.  God established marriage to reflect the relationship between Him and the church.  My inability to surrender to husband’s authority is only a glimpse of my inability to submit to my heavenly Father.

The God who placed the stars in the sky and whose breath is life is in control of every aspect of my life.

When you say it like that, why in the world would I want control?

____________________________________________________

On an unrelated, but entertaining note:

Cotton candy is apparently the secret to ending a quarrelsome evening in the Wilson household. 

DIY: Winery Wedding Shower

I met one of my very best friends the first day of gross anatomy. 

We joked that our friendship was on the accelerated path, spending 40 hours a week bonding over cadavers. We spent more study time talking than studying.

When we met she was sure she did not want to get married anytime soon, but that quickly changed and she was engaged just a few months later!

My physical therapy class is full of amazing woman and two of them were getting married last summer.  And we had to celebrate together!

Being in college for a million years (5 at the time) makes things tight. 

 Therefore, this shower was mostly DIY & pretty cost efficient!

The Location: Les Bougeouis Winery in Rocheport, MO. 

They had a specific part of the winery where groups could bring their own food & drinks at no charge.      There were other people around but that didn't bother us!

So we came right when they opened, grabbed some picnic tables and began setting up.  

The Decor:

DIY Newspaper Flowers Coming Soon

Each table had a large mason jar with newspaper flowers on twisty willow and a small mason jar with votive candles.

Everyone signed a rock with a special message or piece of marital advice and put it in the respective brides' fish bowl. (Bag of smooth rocks & small glass bowls at Hobby Lobby.)

Both brides had their own Mad Lib, that made for pretty good laughs at the end of the day. 

Dana placed them at every setting for her reception, it was so unique & fun. 

The Food:

I brought a Moscato Punch that went pretty quick! I must say it is my favorite drink!

As for the pretty container, $20 at Walmart. I'm a cheapy.

Moscato Punch
2 Bottles of Moscato
1 can raspberry lemonade concentrate (Hyvee!)
3 c Sprite
Raspberries
Mix & serve.

Everyone made something tasty to share.

We had the best variety of  goodness.

The Gifts:

Since this gathering only included the girls, I wanted to do something to include our whole class.

Our class signed two bottles of wine from the winery.

Using some craft paper, ribbon, & leftover newspaper I made these cute tags!

Taryn, one of my wonderful classmates who had the amazing idea for the whole shindig, came up with the great idea of getting them new name tags with their new names!

Kelly & Dana have now both been married for over year. 

It was such fun sending them off with this celebration!

Another must have for this fun event: a super good friend & talented photographer.  

Photos courtesy of Merrell Harmon.  

Check her out here!

Clinical 3: Done.

Yesterday marked the end of my third clinical.  

I saw a variety of injuries: TBI, CVA, amputations, rhabdomyolysis, joint replacements, & demyelinating diseases. Just to name a few.

I had the opportunity to treat some people I fell in love with, some difficult  challenging people,

...and one really creepy one. 

Learning tons from each one.

I was blessed enough to have a clinical instructor who was not only a great teacher always looking for teaching moments, but also a really fun person to be around.

Some highlights:

While treating an elderly man another patient asked if we were doing aqua therapy or normal therapy.

The elderly man asked if we could do aqua therapy. Five minutes later, out of nowhere:

"Do you have a 2-piece or a 1-piece?"

No, we will not be doing aqua therapy.

One week. Five different patients. Pants fell to ankles when walking.

During an evaluation with a new patient I had her walk up stairs she did think she could.  She muttered curse words the whole way up and said,

"I hope you aren't a good Christian girl."

"Oh I am, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to cuss."

A woman with a TBI came up with some pretty elaborate stories about Barrack Obama bringing her barbecued raccoon & would only participate in therapy if we I made her a "skinny girl drink".

AKA

 Diet Shasta soda + simply thick.

(PS: just learned barbecued is not spelled with a q. That is a travesty.)

I told one of my patients yesterday would be my last day.

"What am I going to do? Who will I be working with?"

"Eric." (My clinical instructor.)

"Who's Eric?"

Humorous that most of our patients didn't know who he was. :)

The following were all asked at random intervals throughout my time with this patient:

"How many pairs of pants do you have?"

"I like those slacks."

"How much do you weigh?"

"Are your pants spandex?"

"No, they are jeans?"

"But you wear spandex, don't you?"

WHHHAAATTT?!

On that note... I can't wait to get paid for my services. HA

8 weeks of class. 8 week clinical. 8 weeks of class. 8 week clinical.

GRADUATION! 

I can't wait to be a physical therapist. :)

Guatemala 2013: Wrap Up

On day 6 we saw the clinic in full swing.  It was 9 in the morning, many of these people had been waiting since 4 a.m. and would continue to wait throughout the day.  

Day 6 was our last day at Aselsi.  

We did work around Aselsi, entertaining some kiddos and helping in the school. 

Below is our physical therapy group.  Such an amazing group of people I am blessed to know. 

In the afternoon we visited an English-speaking school.  It was so much fun to be able to speak English with the kids and teach them about what God created.

Check out this guy's face! He's so cool!

Parachute on the rooftop.

This little girl is the daughter of the man who runs the school.  She was born in the United States and was the reason he opened the school.  He wanted her to be able to speak English and spanish.  She is 4 years old and fluent in both.

Her dad has told her about snow and she LOVES the idea of snow.  She was constantly making snow angels.

Day 7 was a play day.  We rode the chicken bus to a town called Panajachel on a gorgeous mountain lake. We did some shopping in the market, bought some pretty cool hammocks & bracelets!

Then we took a boat ride across the lake.  It was more beautiful than you could imagine. You could not help but to marvel at God's creation.

 We arrived in San Pedro with an hour to explore before lunch. 

After lunch we started the long journey back to Guatemala City. 

I shared this entire journey with, and got to know some amazing people.

It was hard leaving Guatemala and the people.  

Everywhere you look you see need.  A need for clean water, education, food, and clothing.  

But the greatest need, the need we all share, is for God. 

The need for the sacrifice of His son for our salvation.

The need for repentance.

The need for endless grace.

How different the lives we lead are.  

Our worries from day to day are not similar in the least. 

Our money, our luxuries, our priorities prove not to make a happier society.  

Because regardless of wealth, regardless of our full bellies & lavish clothing we have the same basic need:

God.