Internship 3: U of U Neuro Rehab

I was very excited for this internship and I wasn’t let down. The clinical instructors were very knowledgeable and willing to spend the time to help me learn, grow and become comfortable with my patients. My CI, Collin, gave me the space I needed to learn, but was also available to answer questions and give suggestions to improve my practice. He also should confidence in my knowledge and skills.

Collin helped me to become more comfortable with jumping in and trying things. I have a tendency to become intimidated in new and uncomfortable situations, I like to have a step by step plan of what to do, but each patient is different and sometimes those plans don’t fit well. Collin helped me to think basic and have several ideas of what I can do, so that if one thing doesn’t work, I can try something else. He and a few other therapists I worked with also helped me learn to push my patients further and not limit them to my idea of what they can do. When I was willing to do this, my patients improved more than I had expected.

I felt like this setting fit me; I can see myself working in this area and being very happy. I was excited about seeing my patients, I felt confident in what I was doing, but I was also continually challenged. There were points throughout my internship that I felt great at what I did and then other points that I needed a little more help with. Having this experience assured me that I am a good therapist while keeping me inspired to continue to strive to become better and more knowledgeable.

In this internship I had more opportunities to work with individuals from different backgrounds and cultures than where I come from. I worked with individuals from all over the world. I learned that each patient and their loved ones have different views of how they should be cared for and what the family’s responsibilities were. Some felt that we were working them too hard and that the patient needed more rest, others wanted more time in the gym. All of these situations required me to educate more and then compromise in order to keep a good relationship with everyone while doing what was best for the patient. Having to do this help me to become more comfortable with talking to the patient and the family. It also required that I look up information when I was unsure, so that I knew what I was saying was correct information.

Vday

This year V-day was on a Monday, which is a very busy day for Matthew and I. Most Mondays we go to work and then straight from work we go to choir practice with the branch members and then stay for FHE until about 8:30om, then head home get a bite of something to eat and then head to bed.

For the past few years we have had a tradition of going to the temple and then getting a heart shaped pizza for dinner. Well this year we made a resolution to go to the temple each week, so we had that part of our V-day tradition covered over the weekend. I knew Matthew was very busy and stressed with work and his calling, so I decided that this year I would take care of the heart shaped pizza.

When I finished work on Monday I called Matthew to get an update on our plans. We were trying to decide if we should skip FHE and have some time together or go to FHE and spend the evening with the branch members. It wasn’t a very good time for Matthew and I could tell he was frustrated and busy. He said that he was going to be late and then before I knew it I heard him cancel V day. We hung up and I tried not to be upset. My rational side said, “I know that Matthew loves me, he tells me and shows me everyday. I don’t need a commercially set aside day where everyone is getting the same things to ‘express love.’” This rational side couldn’t control the irrational girl inside of me screaming “How could he cancel V-day?! Doesn’t he love me? It’s not like a need a lot. One rose, is that too much to ask?”

Despite V-day being canceled, I still felt that I needed to get the heart-shaped pizza for Matthew. I figured if nothing else our tummies would be full and it's my opportunity to show him I love him. After all he DOES show/tell me all the time and I feel like I could be better at letting him know.

Later after reviewing our conversation, Matthew insisted that he did not “cancel” V-day, but he agreed that he was going to have to really put forth great effort with our Anniversary (this year is his turn to plan) to make up for it.

Looking back on the day, it was actually a good experience; I now have one more thing to tease Matthew about, I was able to serve Matthew and show him that I care and we were able to spend time with the branch members whom we adore. They bring a lot of light into our lives. We both feel we have 30 or so extra grandparents and I think that means even more to Matthew since his have all passed on.

Matthew's B to the irthday

Last weekend we celebrated Matthew's 28th birthday. On Friday night we went to Costa Vida for dinner. Matthew and I both love CostaVida, it isexactly like Cafe Rio except, it has a Mango salsa and dressing that bring its sweet pork salad to a whole new level. While there we actually ran into an old friend of minefrom the first ward Iwas in when I moved to Salt Lake City. I knew him as Elder Jensen because he was serving a Service Mission at the Institute when we first met.

After dinner Matthew and I met up with our good friend Eric Quimby and his soon to be bride Ashley for some good old fashioned bowling fun. This was the first time we met Ashley and she was delightful. I really enjoyed that her and Eric banter just as much as Matthew and I do and that when they are telling stories, they both have a view on how something "really" happened. We discovered how well Ashley bowls, even with her right hand, she kicked some tail even though she is left handed. It was a lot of fun.

On Sunday, as per tradition, we went to the Bowen homestead and had a dinner selected by Matthew and then cake, ice cream and gifts. Matthew chose to have baked pancakes, which is pretty much a dessert. I wasn't sure how I felt about having a dessert dinner followed by more dessert, but Matthew and I hadn't had baked pancakes in a long time and I had forgotten how good they were.

Matthew and I also played a very old version of "LIFE" with Liz and Cole. It was a lot of fun and had some interesting rules. After dinner Matthew opened up the gift his mother and I had been keeping from him since Christmas (and that is a very long time for me to keep a secret)...a new keyboard!! He has been talking about wanting one so he can brush up on his piano skills and it was on sale, so I thought it was the perfect idea.

Twenty Eleven

This year Matthew and I weren't in a particularly party mood for the New Years celebration, besides that, we hadn't really heard of any parties to go to. We also received an email from Matthew's mom stating that if no one had plans she would love for someone to come over and hang out with her while Matthew's dad was at work. So we decided to ring in Twenty Eleven with the parental units.

I really love spending time with Cynda and Steve. I have realized over the last few years that I am a very lucky girl. Matthew and I get along with and love both sides of our family. We never hesitate to spend time with them and we always enjoy ourselves.

There are typically three ingredients to a Bowen get together: food, talking (laughter/teasing) and games. The Bowen Clan is a clan that loves their games. And I have to say, I am a Bowen! We have our typical favorites: Ripple, Nertz, Presidents and Sequence. But there have been several occasions where new and old games alike have been brought to the table,

such as, Cross Boards, Discombobulation and Chinese Checkers. These last three games were stars of our Twenty Eleven New Year.

As far as the food goes, we enjoyed several appetizers like crackers and chocolate orange sticks. (Cynda and Steve had the orange sticks because a few weeks back when we had them over for dinner we teased them about loving Pete more because Cynda always makes sure she makes the cookies he likes, but this year she neglected to buy the orange sticks) and of course an assortment of sparkling cider.

In typical fashion we all stayed up way too late talking, but in this case Matthew and I planned ahead. In recent years it has been a tradition for Cynda and Steve to treat us to a movie on New Years Day, so Matthew and I had already planned to stay the night

at the Bowen Homestead and combine our traveling powers to the movie theater half way in between Salt Lake and Logan, so we could meet up with Pete and Steph. This year we were privileged to watch Tangled. It is Disney's take of the story of Rapunzel, very cute.

Kofford Christmas Classic

This year for Christmas we had the opportunity to drive down to Las Vegas with Elisa and Alex. Late Thursday afternoon, Alex and Elisa met me and we went and picked up Matthew from work. After Matthew finished vacuuming the car, we were off. It was a fun ride down; we talked and listened to the new CDs I had made from the music Matthew and I bought from the itunes gift card I got Matthew for Father's Day. When we arrived at my parents home we of course spent the next few hours talking with family and staying up way too late, but it is always one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Friday morning the whole fam, with the exception of Jordan, went to the mall to get a family picture taken. This is not a typical time of year for us to be taking family pictures, but one of the foreign exchange students staying with my parents is leaving at the beginning of the New Year and my mom always likes to give them a family picture before they leave. As per usual we needed to come up with a funny picture to take. In years past it has mostly included the latest family joke, like our awkward turtles, or shaping your fingers into the letter L on your forehead and in an awkward voice saying, "I Love You" while using this letter L to point at the person you are speaking to. We have also done things on the fly like pointing in different directions with a confused look on our faces, while Kaleb continues to look straight ahead and smile at the camera or utilize our best modeling skills by giving the camera our best tiger impressions. Needless to say, we are a little weird, but we sure do have fun! This year I came up with the idea that we use Isabella, the first grandchild, as a center theme of our funny picture. Gary could lift her up like the Baboon does in The Lion King while the rest of us bowed and revered her. There weren't any other grand ideas, so we went with it.

After taking the pictures we hung around the mall waiting for them to be printed and while we waited my brothers thought it would be fun to start a pretend football game in the middle of the mall. At first they just pretended to throw each other a ball and a few times some strangers would run in and pretend to intercept the ball. Eventually we all joined in and had two teams playing against each other. We thought it was pretty funny and so did some bystanders, but one of the guards disagreed and told us to knock it off.

After we all agreed upon which photos were best, the parental units headed home and Gary, Haley, Jonathan, Elisa, Alex, Matthew and I headed towards the food court for some grub. Matthew and I ended up just getting some soft pretzel sticks as a snack and then eating everyone else's leftovers which consisted of McDonalds, a Philly Cheesesteak baked potato and Panda Express.

That afternoon we all helped to prep Christmas dinner so our Christmas day wouldn't have to be spent cooking food, then we all helped wrap Santa's presents and played our traditional Christmas Tree I Spy. That night my dad and Matthew went to Midnight Mass with Lorenzo and Jana. I also wanted to go, but wasn't feeling very good. The next day they reported that the "Midnight Mass" actually started at eleven, so they attempted to find another location and when they finally did, they walked in and it was entirely in Spanish.

On Christmas Day we all slept in and took our time to go and open presents. Most of the morning was split between opening presents, eating and trying over and over and over again to call Jordan. We tried calling him, but the number didn't work and then he would call us to tell us to try something different, but it still didn't work. Eventually it ended up working and we had a good time talking to him about his experiences in Guatemala and what things we were up too.

After opening all the gifts and stockings and taking the traditional photo with all your gifts, we changed our clothes and settled into watching one of the new movies. We all decided upon Despicable Me...such a cute movie! After the movie we headed to Grandma Kofford's house for a visit with her and some of the "Kofford" aunts, uncles and cousins. It was fun to see everyone and catch up. Elisa and Alex officially announced to the whole family of expecting a new arrival in June/July. Upon returning home we sat down to our Christmas dinner and as usual it did not disappoint.

On Sunday we all went to Sacrament together. It was nice to see many of the people from my childhood, although many have moved or passed away. Danielle England, one of the girls my age growing up, and her husband were visiting with their new daughter and they blessed her. It was good to see them again, although I have to admit a little hard. I am very happy with my life, but sometimes it is hard to see others have or doing things that I would like to have or do. I know that I am doing what is best for me, but I sometimes still get impatient waiting for things I am excited to have and do.

After Sacrament meeting we all headed back home to change and hit the road. My parents had decided that they would just follow us back home and make a short visit to the snow with us! Unfortunately there wasn't much snow in the neighborhood, but we entertained ourselves anyway. When we arrived that night Elisa and Alex continued towards their home, while the rest of us herded into our little apartment, but what our apartment lacks in size is made up for with all the blankets we own!

Monday we made breakfast burritos for breakfast and hung around the house all morning. Elisa and Alex arrived with their friend just as we were leaving to go eat lunch at Chuck O Rama. They had just eaten lunch, so they declined coming and hung around our place until we returned. In the early evening, before it got dark, we headed towards Temple Square. My
mom wanted to show Lorenzo and Jana, the foreign exchange students, around and inside each of the buildings before it got too dark and crowded. It was actually a really good experience because I saw parts of Temple Square that I had never seen before and Lorenzo had a lot of questions. It was fun to see his curiosity. After walking to and through a majority of the buildings we walked by some of our traditional spots and took pictures. On our way back to the car we noticed that the Conference Center was open and walked inside for a minute. My parents had never been inside. We took a quick look around and asked when tours were given and how long they were. The Missionary stated that the tours run all day until 9:00pm and could be as long or as short as you wanted them to be. It was getting late, so we decided that it would be a fun thing to do when they came up for my graduation in May.

When we got back home Alex, Elisa and their friend couldn't stay because they had plans with some other friends, but Matthew and I decided to make the rest of the family our famous bacon cheeseburgers and sweet potato fries and we watched Inception.

Tuesday morning my parents woke up early and headed towards Matthew's parent's home for breakfast, just the four of them. The rest of us just slept or lazily lounged about for the entire morning. When my parents returned my mom wanted a nap, so the boys went outside to toss around a frisbee. When the boys returned we headed up to Ogden to show my parents Alex and Elisa's apartment and to celebrate Elisa's birthday. Elisa thought we were just coming up to see the apartment and then my parents were going to head out, but after we left their apartment the first time, Alex lured Elisa out of the house and we returned to throw her a surprise party. My parents even told my sister that they had forgotten her presents at my house and she would have to get them later. Elisa admitted later that she had no idea about the party until as she was walking into the apartment she saw my parent's car. After opening presents and eating cake and ice cream my parents headed back home to Vegas.

Branch Christmas Party

For those of you who don't know, Matthew and I have been serving in a retirement branch for the last year and a half and we absolutely love it. Each Monday night for FHE we have our Sunday School lesson and because we have it every Monday without fail, at the end of the year we have a few Monday nights without an assigned lesson, so we have a Christmas party!

Last year we enjoyed a Choral Group and an assortment of goodies dipped in chocolate from a chocolate fountain. This year we decided to have a dinner and talent show. The dinner was provided by President Langheinrich and his wife Annette. It consisted of delicious chicken salad sandwiches, chips, fruit and an assortment of cream puffs for dessert. Simple and yet delightful and filling.

There are many very talented people in our branch. We have a couple who have both been members of the Utah Symphony, a Sister who was the first female to play the organ for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and was on the music committee that assembled the Hymn book, we have a Brother that sings Opera, another Sister that sings and was Miss America at one point and many Brothers and Sisters with so much talent.

For one of the talents, Brother Mueller played a medley of German Christmas songs and his daughter Birgit (Sister Robinson) read about many of the Christmas traditions in Germany. Mike Phillips had us all entertained with the sounds of Charlie Brown and Matthew and I got the whole room laughing and singing to the Twelve Days of Christmas. I sang and Matthew accompanied me on his Kazoo while raising big silly pictures (given to us by the lovely Charlotte Sheffield) of each of the items given, he was in a pool of sweat by the end of it all! Sister Nancy Dixon then played more Christmas songs on the piano while Charlotte Sheffield lead the group of us in singing them. It was a lot of fun!

A Pizza Christmas Party, Taylor Style

For Christmas this year, Matthew and I had the chance to get gifts for the Taylor Clan. We began to think early on about what we could get that the whole family could enjoy together. The very same week we were thinking of gift ideas, we received an email from Cole that stated he was participating in an online fundraiser. Matthew and I browsed through all the items and for the most part, there weren’t any great family gifts, but near the end of our search we found a fun Pizza Cookbook. This book had several ideas for different types of pizzas, including kid and adult friendly recipes; the last page even had a fun dessert pizza. We thought that this gift would not only be a great gift that the Taylor clan could use over and over, but would also give us the opportunity to spend time with them if we brought ingredients as part of the gift. So we called up Liz and let her in on the idea, so that we could schedule a dinner date and on the 17th of December we enjoyed an evening with the Taylor’s.

Over the last few years Matthew and I have frequently had the opportunity to spend time with the Taylor’s and occasionally we have brought our camera with us and captured some fun moments with them. So another idea we had for them was a picture book of some of those moments. Many of them included time we have spent camping and hiking and going to the zoo, and other moments included holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Even with both of these gifts, I felt like there was something else Matthew and I could do to truly serve Liz and Zac. They have been so great to Matthew and I over the last few years and I wanted to do something for them that could help them in even a small portion of the way that they have helped us. Liz has always been willing to listen and talk with me about my struggles and new things that I am learning, and she and Zac have been great examples as parents. So, I thought that a fun thing to do would be to create a coupon for free babysitting, so that they could spend an evening out together without the kids. Here is a picture of the coupon we gave them:

When we arrived at the Taylor’s we all gathered around and opened each of the gifts. Once the pizza and ingredients had been opened, we all headed into the kitchen and began to make the pizzas. Liz and I had arranged earlier to make a stuffed crust pepperoni pizza for the kids and a chicken ranch pizza for the adults. Cole and Spencer were both pretty excited about helping to make the pizzas, James was excited to eat some of the string cheese and take bunch of real pictures with our camera and of course Maddy was excited to eat slices of pepperoni and look cute in her apron. The pizzas took longer to cook then we expected, but we all agreed that it was worth the wait.

After finishing dinner, we had more pizza fun by making a yummy dessert pizza; the crust was a sugar cookie, the sauce was chocolate and the toppings consisted of M&Ms, mini marshmallows and nuts. We really enjoy our time with the Taylors. We love and look up to Liz and Zac, they are not only great parents, but they live the gospel with all their hearts and they show genuine interest in our lives and the lives of all they associate with.

The following is a sampling of James' photography: