Grad School is Not Good For Blogs.

It's been months. And it's basically been an entire year since I've kept up with this thing. So, I'm sorry that I haven't blogged about Christmas or New Years or Easter. Or Benjamin and Carli's beautiful wedding! We have a lot of fun memories from those things, but the thought of catching up is overwhelming and it keeps me from blogging at all. I just want to capture what our regular daily life looks like right now.

Melanie. Oh, my sweet little Melanie. She's hilarious. She yips and yaps and loves music. Caspar Babypants is our favorite kid's artist, and she requests "Stompy the Bear", "Googly Eyes", and "The Frogs" multiple times a day. When "The Frogs" plays, she crawls around on the floor being a frog. :)

Melanie's favorite book this week is "Oh, The Places You'll Go!". I don't really love it, but she likes the pictures. She also LOVES "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom". Her favorite page is the back page that just has the alphabet, and she likes to practice her letters with it. Sometimes we do alphabet flashcards, and she is constantly impressing me with how fast she learns.

I can't even begin to say enough about her.

Spencer's semester is wrapping up. He's done with the true medical content, and just has a unit about clinical skills and odds and ends. This week he had a day where they learned how to put in an IV, draw blood, give subdural and intramuscular injections, do sutures, and other fun stuff like that. He's studying hard for Step 1, the first of three medical school national board exams. It's the big one that basically determines our future. Okay, that's a little dramatic, but it's a very important exam. He takes it on June 23rd.

Last week we heard about Spencer's clinical rotation assignments! He will be in Saginaw for both portions of next year. We were hoping for something a little closer for the first part, but Saginaw will be fine. There was the possibility of him being placed as far away as Sault Ste. Marie, so we're still happy that the school accommodated us as much as they have. I still have classes in Mt. Pleasant next year, so we will be moving to Midland in a few months. Midland leaves each of us with a 30 minute commute. I'm excited though.

Physical therapy school has been quite a journey so far. The last year has gone so fast, but so slowly at the same time. I have been learning and growing and enjoying most of it. Some weeks are very stressful, but I can usually set the stress aside long enough to appreciate why I am doing all of this. Melanie keeps my perspective in the right place. School is not my life, but it is going to give me the ability to do things I want to do for my family and for people in my community. This semester has been exhausting. I'm burning out. I have 4 weeks left, including finals.

This semester is my orthopedics block, so we are learning all about joints. Anatomy, how they work, what they do, disorders, and how to treat them. It's been really cool! I never knew there was so much to know! One class is mock clinic, so we role play being a therapist or a patient each week and have to present or treat a case. It stretches me. Some days I leave mock feeling like I can actually help people. Other days I leave mock feeling like a bit of a failure. Mock creates more stress and tears than any other class, but I'm learning.

After finals I get one week off and then I start my first clinical rotation! It will be my first interaction with real patients, so I'm scared and excited all at once. My assignment is 6 weeks in Grand Haven!! Melanie and I will go live at Spencer's parents' house, which is going to be so fun! Spencer will stay in Mt. Pleasant to study for Step 1, which is a little sad, but he'll get more studying done without us bugging him all the time. We'll come home on weekends.

I sometimes struggle with all of the things I don't do. I wish I worked out (ever), or made better dinners, or kept the house cleaner, or was better at keeping up with my school material. I feel spread pretty thin a lot of nights, but we're all happy. I spend a lot of time with Melanie. I am passing my classes, and I think I'm learning enough to be successful during my clinical this summer. Of course I'm always working on improving, but I'm trying not to worry about everything at once. :) Here are some pictures from the last week or so.

Melanie came home from daycare with her hair in a little ponytail the other day! Her first one ever! I tried a few days before, but she wouldn't let me touch it. She has a little friend at daycare who usually has pigtails in, so maybe there was some peer pressure.