week 1

Hey everyone. So, I am going to try this blog thing out. ! I hope everyone is doing well (wherever you are)!!!

Last weekend (Sunday), we went hiking on Camelback Mountain, which is in
the East Phoenix valley area. It is a relatively short hike (3 miles round
trip), but it is qualified as a moderate to difficult climb. I can honestly
say I have never climbed a mountain steep enough to the point I needed to
crawl on my toes and my hands. I realized I was not in shape during this
climb...lots of huffing and puffing on my part! The view from the top was
spectacular, and certainly worth the agony to get there. Krisanne and I
have the goal of running up it by the time we leave. I better get myself
moving and in shape if this is truely going to happen! (For those of you
coming down...I would recommend this hike!!!)

I started work on Monday, January 8. Arriving at the clinic at 6:30am is
pretty darn early, but honestly...I LOVE it!! Most of you know I am a
morning person...starting this early gives me time in the afternoon to run,
bike, etc. My CI and I seem to be getting along pretty well. She is
originally from Wisconsin (Milwaukee area) and went to school at UWL. As
any clinician needs to be at 6:30am, she is a little ball of fire, and very
energetic, which helps me get going in the morning. We see on average about
6 patients every hour and a half (way too many in my opinion). In my last
clinical, we saw 1 patient every 45 minutes...so to multiply that by 3 was
a big adjustment for me. From day 1, I have been able to jump right in and
begin treatments with patients. Actually, on Monday, my CI is gone (for MLK
day), and so I have my own patient load of 7 patients! I am really excited
to do things on my own more, and to try different things with them. Of
course, I will have supervision, but the other therapists will also be
treating their own patients at the same time, so they won't be staring at
me all the time.

There are also 3 other students at this site...all from different parts of
the country. It is going to be fun getting to know them. they are all very
nice, and all seem to get along really well already (and it is only week
1).

I am going to be honest and during the week, we don't do a whole lot.
Krisanne gets done with work at about the same time I do, or even a little
earlier. Not sure how she gets away with starting after me, and getting
done before me. Oh, well. It is fun when she is home already by the time I
get home. We have been running or biking each day, which has been great!
The weather has been fantastic most of the week (mid to upper 70s).
Yesterday a cold front came in and the highs were only in the upper 50s.
(True story...I had a pt cancel because it was too cold!!) Today, though
the highs are only in the 40s, so don't be too jealous of our weather...I
know it is still much warmer than your highs in the single digits (for
those of you in Iowa/Minnesota).

I was really looking forward to sleeping in this morning, but...because I
can't sleep in, I was up by 7:30. Krisanne on the other hand didn't get up
until 10:45!!! I may have to learn to sleep in while I am here...something
I have never been good at. This afternoon, we are going to hang out with
Krisanne's friends that are in town, then tomorrow, it is chasing them
around the marathon course. It should be a great way to see Phoenix,
Scottsdale and Tempe.

Attached are a few pictures from our trip so far:

1: Jenny at the Painted Desert. This is a national park in NE Arizona we
stopped at on our way down to AZ. We took about 2 hours to drive 28 miles
and stopped at random places to look at the painted desert and the
petrified forest. The forest...well, it is kind of a few logs laying here
and there that is petrified, so not really a "forest" we are used to back
home.

2: Camelback hiking pictures. This one is the 1st climb we had on our
hands. Made me feel like a mountain/rock climber when I was able to get my
hands dirty!

3: Jenny and Krisanne at the top of Camelback looking toward the west,
which is the direction of downtown Phoenix and Glendale.

4: On the way down, I got a little off the path (following other people),
and Krisanne thought I should kiss the cactus, so I did. Actually I didn't
really touch it...the pokey things are kind of scary up close! They are
really long!!

5: Krisanne took her camera on the bike ride we did (she is my camera
queen!) and she took a picture of the canal which runs through the valley
area (seriously it is the only water I have seen outside the house). The
bike path we were on is on the right side of the canal.

6: The sun began setting at the end of the bike ride, which makes a pretty
good pictures. Beautiful sunsets out here!!

Anyway, sorry for the length of the letter, but I thought you might like to
know what we have been up to. I will try to send an updated letter and
pictures every week. I hope everyone is doing well. Things here are going
well, and looking forward to hearing from you all soon!!

Love to all,
Jenny