I'm back!

Sorry to everyone out there following that it's been a while since an update. The last two weeks of school were crazy busy with projects, practicals and exams but I made it through and I'm so happy to have my first semester behind me! Now I am on my semester break and got to spend a wonderful Easter Sunday with my family and had some relaxing down time in Florence. But today mama, papa, and I are headed back to Florida because tomorrow we go to DISNEY WORLD!! I'm pretty excited, I'm not gonna lie! However, I am very sad that Rebecca won't get to go with us on this trip. This is the first time I have ever taken a family. Vacation without her and I'm not really sure how to act. She will be greatly missed!

We are staying at a brand new resort for us this time. We will be staying at Bay Lake Towers at the Contemporary. This is also the first time we have stayed in a DVC area of a resort and it will be interesting to see the differences and how we like it. For those who don't know this is the most recently added resort area and it is connected to the contemporary and on the monorail as well as within walking distance from the Magic Kingdom. Don't worry I'm hoping to give a full review when we get back but for now I'll just leave you with this fun fact:
Did you know that the Walt Disney World resort has 11 monorail trains that
average 40 mph but can reach speeds of up to 55 mph, making it one of the
fastest rides at Disney World!

The countdown is on!

9! That's right only 9 more school days left before I have completed my first semester of graduate school. It seems so close and yet so far away! Probably because within those nine school days I will have 3 quizzes, 3 practicals, 2 papers, 1 in class presentation, and 4 finals! My goodness, when you spell it all out like that it sure is a lot and pretty stressful to look at. However, there is light at the end of this tunnel and I only have tok push through these things to get to go home and spend time with my family and then I get to go to Disney World! The promise of Disney magic and pixie dust is what is helping me through. Hope you are all having a wonderful week so far!

Back in Florida

As most of you know the Skinner family suffered a great loss last week and through the weekend. I just wanted to say thank you to all of you for your support of me and my family as we work through the grieving process. Anyone who met Gak knew how incredibly smart, talented and passionate he was and that he will truly be missed!

In other news, tomorrow I am headed to Daytona Beach for our last shadowing trip of the semester. This is just another sign that my first term at USA is almost over which is kind of hard to believe but also very exciting! And last but not least...I have absolutely NO tests this week!!! Hooray! Hope everyone has a good week!

Jacksonville Orthopedic Institute

So life has been a crazy last week and this one with tests and practicals and all that goes along with that.  And all of that means that I haven't gotten a chance to tell everyone about my shadowing experience last week at Jacksonville Orthopedic Institute, or JOI.  As some of you may know, I've gotten a little discouraged with some of my shadowing experiences because a lot of the people I saw were just too sick for me to see any improvement with therapy during a one day experience.  Well JOI restored my faith!  I spent the day mostly with a certified hand therapist which was actually very interesting.  I think sometimes we forget how integral out hands our and how detrimental it can be to your functioning if they are impaired.  I also got to learn how to make a split.  Not like the boring popsicle kind! ;) I actually melted a sheet of thermoplastic and molded it around the therapists hand and thumb and then attached velcro strips to it and made a splint! If my camera worked I would take a picture of the one I actually made but since its dead as a doornail here's the idea:

 Yep, I made one of those...only it was blue! :) Anyway, the other thing that made this a good day was being in an orthopedic based outpatient clinic that was also very sports med oriented.  Both the patients and the therapists throughout the place were up, active and working hard to get better. 

Morocco!

So I have officially decided to join a therapy service trip with a group of students from school that will be serving in Morocco in August!  There is a faculty member here that takes a group to a different country each year to help with a wide range of therapy needs mostly in countries that don't have access to physical or occupational therapy at all.  This trip is especially intriguing to me because the plan is to work with disabled children that live in an orphanage in the capital city of Rabat, Morocco.  I really feel that I have been call to this mission and I am very excited for this opportunity.  I hope everyone is excited and supportive in this decision! 

ps--don't be fooled by my picture...this is actually from the Morocco pavilion in Epcot at Disney World :) b/c what would Ashley's blog be without a mention of Disney on a regular basis!!! 

Me and Lent

According to Wikipedia:

"Many modern Protestants consider the observation of Lent to be a choice, rather than an obligation. They may decide to give up a favorite food or drink or activity for Lent, or they may instead take on a Lenten discipline such as devotions, volunteering for charity work, and so on."

It may not be equivalent to 40 days with Satan in the desert but I have decide that I will give up fried foods and take on exercise for my Lenten season this year.  So today I started with my sacrifice by going to pilates after school.  And believe me I was praying through the whole thing! haha! I have not visited a gym since before Christmas-time at least so this should be an interesting 40 days.  All I can hope for is that I create a habit that sticks and maybe I'll keep it up even past Easter.  Sadly, this also means no Chick-fil-a for the next 40-something days :( that may be even more difficult than 45 minutes of pilates! Here's hoping I make it through! Hope everyone is looking forward to a good weekend!

Fat Tuesday!

Happy Mardi Gras everyone!! Just a quick post to say that I made it back to Florida safe and sound and am back to enjoying the lovely WARM Florida weather!  And its Fat Tuesday so I'm excited to be making a yummy pancake dinner tonight to indulge before the season of Lent is upon us.  I'm still debating on what my sacrifice will be this year.  If anyone out there has any ideas or would like to share what they are giving up I would love to hear it.  Part of getting through Lent is supporting each other through our fast so leave me a quick comment and enjoy your last day of gluttony! :)