.slaves' room.

I love that every time I go to camp, I learn something new...not just interesting medical procedures, but more about LOVE (and how much I generally fail at loving everyone!) God used two people to teach me more about love in 40 hours than I could have imagined. First was a young adult with severe cognitive delays and sensory needs...basically he just needs someone to walk around behind him with his walker 24/7. He walks and walks and walks and that's it. There's no expecting this guy to do an activity or socialize with others. He also has a reputation at camp as being a difficult and hitting most staff when they work with him for the first time....AND THEN I got asked to work on my first "duty" with him...which somehow turned into 2 1/2 hours of walking circles around the first floor of this mansion house (where we were staying) with him. It's just AMAZING to me how important non-verbal communication is and how sensitive people can be to the sense of touch. During my 2 1/2 hours, the guy stomped his feet a few times (meaning that he was happy), reached out to hold my hand a couple times, and only hit my arm 5 times (pretty good since he greets a lot of staff with a smack to the face!). SO cool to get to spend that time with him.
THEN the weekend progresses with my roommate. We were sleeping in "the slaves' room" in the mansion, so it was an itty bitty 2-bed room in the attic. It was just myself sleeping in a room and caring for a 43 year old woman with cerebral palsy. Her CP has left her speech nearly impossible to understand (at first) and hardly any motion at her joints, other than her shoulder, hips, and elbows. Needless to say, it was an extremely loooooooong first night as I was trying to figure out how she likes to get ready for bed/understand her speech/not lie awake alllllll night because I was SO scared she'd call out to me in the night and I'd be passed out in my bed. But luckily, I slept extreeeeeeeemely light so I heard her every time she tried to say my name (and also every time she snored and ground her teeth...hahaha). But the weekend continued and I found out how hilarious she was and I got to be really good at understanding her speech. Just a cool lesson that He continues to show me through campers about how to PATIENTLY love others, even when it's getting on my nerves. <3

.good.

God is so good. Today was a VERY difficult day at work (very very emotionally draining...I don't think I'm meant to work in end-of-life care!) but I can't thank him enough for so many ways that he has blessed me. I got a confirmation phone call from a lady who works at the same hospital where I will doing my Level II Fieldwork and she agreed to house me! She lives in a 2 BR, 2 bath condo by herself, and she is offering me a pretty reasonable price to live in her fully furnished spare bedroom...not to mention that she is a sweet connection to the hospital!! :) I talked on the phone with her and we seemed pretty compatible as far as interests, cleanliness, and fun personalities! :) On top of that, one of my mom's college friends has offered to open up her home to me whenever I want to eat a homecooked dinner with her and her family. AND she has an 11 year old son with special needs who she has offered to let me borrow as a "guinea pig" for anything that I would like try on him/to hang out with him. Then, I just signed on Facebook (which has gotten exceptionally creepier with the new look) to see that one of my campers from 2009 "tagged me in one of his activities" (whatever that means). BUT regardless, he put that he added "swimming with me (and several other staff)" to his favorite activities!!! :) To top it all off, I had a 4.0 GPA this semester. I couldn't feel more blessed right now!

.khakis and polos.

I can't believe that in 7 days I'll be home for what will probably be my last Christmas break EVER. When I look at it like this, it makes me want to go for my doctorate...buuuuuuut not that badly ;) I have 5 days left of fieldwork, for which I could not be more thankful. It's definitely been a rough couple of weeks there and I'm ready to be done....mainly I'm ready to be done wearing a combination of the two pairs of khakis and three dark colored polos that I own. I haven't realized how much I really love sweats until I'm forced to rock the khaki/polo look 8+ hours per day for 3 weeks. I'm starting to pack for home for a MUCH needed break and for CAMP this weekend. I'm PUMPED for the Christmas reunion for our adults...I haven't seen any of the adults campers since May, which feels like FOREVER ago! Luckily I will be able to re-connect with a bunch of friends after work each night, so I'm hoping that will make fieldwork a little more bearable. Here's the big 3 things I'm most recently thankful for:
1. Good health. It breaks my heart to see what some of my clients are going through and I can't imagine being in their position.
2. Tide to Go pens. I know this might sound ridiculous, but I spill things all the time. Since I have discovered this wonderful little pen, I think I have saved several items of clothing from various food stains. :)
3. Getting to go "home" to camp soon for the holidays!! It's just such a beautiful place and I can't wait to get there and see all sorts of wonderful people! :)

.diciembre.

OH SNAP. how is it diciembre already?! (<--Part of my Christmas break plans include whippin' out some more Spanish to prep for Medical Spanish in the spring!) Well I supposed I am an epic failure about this blogging schtuff. Oops? I mean, I'm gonna go ahead and blame in on being a 2nd year grad student...I feel like that is a legit excuse. I suppose that school kept me over the top, ridiculously busy for the last month. Those last 3 weeks of classes involved turning in 4-5 major assignments per week, as opposed to the normal 0-1 that we had all semester. It was not fun, however, I survived, and kicked it in the butt (just found out today that I have a 4.0 for the semester!) As soon as finals were over I got to head straight home (after an epic double birthday celebration...dating someone with the same birthday is a lil' strange!) for an AWESOME Thanksgiving break. It was just so so good. It made me realize how much I REALLY REALLY have to be thankful for (<-- sorry to end that in a prepositional phrase). Since Thanksgiving break, I've been back in Indy doing clinicals at a hospital. God is DEFINITELY challenging me to love on these clients and my "co-workers". This is no easy task, and these clients are EXTREMELY difficult for me to love on, but God has clearly placed me here for a reason, even though I am unsure of what it is. I guess I am enjoying them, in the respect that I'm NOT in the classroom 8 hours/day anymore AND my homework load is very light...aka I get to see people on weeknights to hang out! :)
Even though I'm semi-miserable at clinicals, God never fails to show His power in my life. Last week my mom FREEEEEEAKED out on me because I haven't started thinking about where I was going to live when I move to Columbus in 3 months. Well, God is a cool guy. I sent one message to the hospital's Facebook page, and sure enough someone who works at the hospital offered to house me for 3 months in her fully-furnished condo. I'm still waiting to talk everything through with her, but WHAT A BLESSING!!!!!!! :)
I suppose I will list my 3 blessings since the last time I've blogged...or at least just 3 good things I can remember from the last month ;)
1. Thanksgiving Day. I've never been close with my extended family, but boy was this the BEST Thanksgiving ever. My family celebrated with close family friends for the entire day (into Black Friday until 8:00 AM) and it was RIDICULOUSLY fun. I haven't laughed that hard in a long, long while :)
2. The BF- I hate to sound cheesy/awkward/mushy-gushy or anything like that, but God has truly blessed me by putting him in my life. Don't know how I would have made it through the last 6 months without ripping my hair out if he wasn't in the picture...
3. Christmas trees- my family picked ours out the last time I was home and it was just LOVELY. They just smell so good and just everything about Christmas makes me happy :) :)