What have i been up to lately?

SCHOOL. Spring break. field work. friends' weddings.

So I have the next 5 days to study for finals and I plan on catching up on this blogging stuff! :)

Thanks for being patient. I think a lot of times..."hey, I should blog about this." and never do. I am planning on using blog writing as a treat to myself for getting through studying.

Something that I am reminded of often is to be still and listen in such a busy life. Psalm 37:7 "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently on Him"

I am still alive

Blog world friends,

I just wanteded to drop you a quick note and tell you I am still alive. Life has been busy with school and some social events too! I will be catching you up on my life and dont you worry more splints are coming too very very soon (i hope!)

I will leave you with this picture of some beautiful Tyler azaleas and my parent's back yard that I took several years ago. I just mavel at God's creation. He CREATED this world for HIS children to see HIM in it, for us to be reminded of HIM and see HIS glory.

The scripture I was reading today was Psalm 50. Verse 1 says, "The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun too the place were it sets."

The Mighty One that creates the universe, also and most importantly loves you and I.

Thumb Splinting!

This week we only made one splint. It is for arthritis in thumbs and median nerve palsy. Median nerve palsy could be from a number of conditions - prolonged pressure on the median nerve, accidents, radiation therapy, repetitive stresses, infections, hematoma, and cancer.

We had a template just like the picture below. Templates made life this week so much easier than last week, when we had to create the splints from scratch. Our professor says that everyone is different and templates sometimes are a pain getting them to fit everyone. At this point- I LOVE TEMPLATES! Sadly this is the only splint that we will make with a template; the rest of the splints we make this semester this semester will be from scratch as well.

Chocolate Sweet Rolls

My friend Ashleigh and I had been talking about this recipe on the pioneer woman's website. It was these gooey yummy melt in your mouth sweet rolls. Ashleigh and I share a passion for deserts. I thought it would be fun to make them for her and give them to her at her bridal shower this weekend. Well, lets just say I am not a pioneer woman yet!!!

This was my goal. The Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Cookie Sweet Rolls

My first attempt =Fail.

My first attempt failed. I was trying to make my log of dough with the sugar, nuts, chocolate inside, so I could then cut to make the individual rolls. My dough was too sticky, no matter how much flour I added, it wouldn't stay together. I ended up baking a sweet roll log. I figured I could cut it into slices and it would be kinda pretty and still taste good. I was wrong. It was not pretty and did not taste good at all.

I didn't have the time before the bridal shower to think about what I did wrong or how to fix it. Last night I figured out how to attempt to make the second half of the dough I had better. I made sweet puffs. I took my left over dough and put it in muffin tins. I then topped each of them with the yummy goodies - butter, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts -  that would have been on the inside of the sweet roll.



Don't mind the well loved muffin tin.



So my second try worked out much better than my first! Not sweet rolls but these Sweet Puffs are tasty!

The baking lessons I learned were the following.

1. Never think you will perfect a recipe the first time you try it

2. when baking breads make sure you have incorporated all the flour and don't have any flour lumps.

3. Don't rush dough when it is rising or resting

Life lessons

1. What would life be like if we could redo events in life?

2. Each of us have strengths and weaknesses that make us unique, our ingredients. Even how those strengths and weaknesses are put together in each of us creates a different final expression.

"So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it ALL to the GLORY of the Lord."

I Corinthians 10:31

Splinting

We learned our first BIG therapy intervention, this past week....SPLINTING!! I can now make splints for Swan Neck Deformity, Boutonniere's deformity, Mallet finger, and trigger finger. This list will grow longer through the semester!

When you have a swan neck deformity - from an injury, rheumatoid arthritis, cerebral palsy, congenital joint laxity, and prolonged positioning - which presents like this...



The distal joint is flexed and the proximal joint is hyperextended



I can make you this...

A beautiful figure eight splint. I couldn't find a picture of exactly what we made. My splints are at school, so soon I will take a picture of what I made and post it for you!

When you have a Boutonniere deformity - from injury, cerebral palsy, or rheumatoid arthritis, your finger could present like this...



Distal joint is hyerextended and proximal joint is flexed

I can make you this...

Look carefully. It is an upside down figure eight. again this isn't exactly what we made - but similar

If you have a mallet finger - from a sports injury, it may present like this...

I can make you something like this...

If you have trigger finger, which your finger just locks and you have to manually release it, it may present like...

In which I can make you something like this...



It keeps your finger in a slightly flexed but functional position

That was an over view of splinting from last week. When I have my camera and splints in the same location, I will take pictures to show you what mine actually look like. They are time consuming for beginners and harder to make than they look! 

Texas Bowl

Baylor in a bowl game. Now that's a new concept and one the Bears have been dreaming about since 1996. :) Once that 6th game was won this season, I just knew I had to go the the Bowl game. The Sunday it was announced that Baylor would be playing Illinois in the Texas Bowl in Houston- I had mom immediately buy our tickets, to make sure we would not miss Baylor in a bowl game! Baylor nation and this bear were so proud that the bears made it to a bowl game and broke many school records this year.

Day of bowl game. We drove to Houston. As we got closer it began to rain,  rain, and rain some more.

 When we got to Reliant Stadium, it was pouring the rain. I thought that Reliant Stadium might become the next Noah's Ark it was raining so much. Walking from the car to the stadium was definitely an experience. Umbrella's kept your head dry but my pants were wet from the knee down and my socks were soaked and stayed that way the whole game. So thankful that Reliant Stadium has a roof!

BAYLOR AT THE TEXAS BOWL!!!!



Sic'em Bears!



The Bears had a little bowl shock and weren't quite their normal. Illinois won. It was great to see my Baylor Bears play in December!!! Look forward to many many more bowl games!



Leaving the stadium.... who did I see? Steph! out of 60,000+ people



ATL!!

The day after finals in December, I boarded a plane destined for Atlanta, Georgia to visit Ryan and his family. It was a great motivation to get through finals and then to celebrate completing my first semester of grad school (which I finished with all As and Bs).

Saturday night we went to a concert at their church. The Atlanta Sacred Chorale was performing. Ryan was the sound man and I helped collect tickets and distribute programs with his mom. The concert was incredible. Through the busyness of finishing the semester, I had not been still to prepare my heart for the celebration of Christ's birth at Christmas. The concert definitely quieted my heart and began the Christmas season for me.

Sunday after church, I took a nap and then laid in bed and watched snow fall. Have you ever been still to watch snow fall? Each flake is completely different from the one next to it. What a Creator! Not only did He create each and everyone of us different, but takes time to create individual snow flakes. Makes me wonder what small details He has created in me that I have passed over. He is most definitely God of detail - EVERYTHING has His finger print on it. The snow wasn't always flakes but small like specs of glitter - oh so wonderful!.

Ryan and I went shopping. We like walking around stores, pointing out what we like or what we think is odd. We did a little Christmas shopping too.

We were also celebrating our 1st anniversary two months late. We ate at Sweet Tomatoes, where we ate on the day he asked me out! He's definitely a keeper because he let me lead him to a restaurant that is primarily a salad buffet, it does also have baked potatoes, pasta, and soups. If you know Ryan, you know he is more a meat guy! The best part is he liked it...well not the salad but everything else!

One night, we saw Tangled. We were 2 of 4 in the theatre, kinda like our own private showing. :) Very cute flick.

I also helped Ryan's family move from one house to another. It was great to be of service to them and be apart of a life event in their family. I was the first guest in the new house and shared in the first official meal too!

Ryan being the sound guy for the concert!



Can you see the snow?



3-D glasses on. Ready for Tangled!

We got a good bit of relaxing in too!

The morning I left. I like his shirt! :)