I had my first clinical experience in Reno for four weeks. I was working at Renown Hospital under the supervision of a licensed PT. It was an experience for the books! I have always been a wimp when it comes to smells and working with older patients. I could not handle any gross smell or I would gag, but now that I worked in a hospital I think I am cured because the smells are everywhere. I love older people so much but I get so emotional when working with them. I become too attached and end up crying thinking about their future. I only cried once during the clinical when we lost a patient who had the sweetest husband in the entire world! I'm such a softie sometimes..Reno has some interesting people, that's for sure! I have visited Reno in the past but never had lived there for an extended period of time, it is an experience I will never forget. My clinical instructor was also Basque! We had so much fun together. She taught me so many valuable qualities to have as a physical therapist. The last night I was there she took me to Louie's Basque Corner! It reminded me so much of growing up and having big family dinners at my amumas. Also, when I was in Reno I took Basque lessons from a professor at the University of Nevada-Reno. It was so great to learn a little bit of the language that I grew up hearing. I can count to at least 100 and can use some basic verbs in sentences! I stayed with one of my good friends from high school, Kelsee. It was a blast having a sleep-over every night for a month! I sure did miss her! She has the sweetest dog that cuddled me every night before bed. She's off in France with her boyfriend and his family, what a lucky gal!
After my clinical was over I headed back to the Valley to say good-bye to my cousin and tia as they are in Mexico for the summer. My tia is the director of a Spanish course for UO and my little cousin is taking the class! How fun!
Carraig graduated from Western June 14th! It was so awesome being back in Monmouth for a long weekend visiting old friends, my old boss and all the places that we would hang out at during my undergraduate career. I sure do miss Monmouth! Carraig is a third generation graduate from Western in his family. We are a third generation couple to get their education from Western too! Grandpa Graves and Nana in 1960, Papa Flug in 1965, Tim in 1981, Marcie in 1983, me in 2013 and Carraig in 2014! His graduation was lovely and not nearly as hot as mine was, thank goodness! We had a nice little party for Carraig where friends and family visited with us, it was great. After the party we went out in Monmouth to the local bar (one of two in the whole town) for one last night in Monmouth. Carraig was one of the last ones to graduate of all the "group" in Monmouth. We still have baby Leah to graduate next year though! I can't wait to head back to the Monmouth area to take engagement pictures in September! Wahoo!
Real summer has officially started for both Carraig and I. Carraig is fighting fire again for BIFZ but has been interviewing for parole officer jobs all over Oregon, we are praying he finds a "grown up" job soon! He has been on one fire already this year near Lakeview. It is boring when he is gone but it he enjoys fighting fire and the paycheck isn't half bad either :) I am working at Eastern Oregon Agriculture Research Center for the 5th summer! I switched crews this year so skin can look normal this summer. If you didn't know, I am highly allergic to sagebrush (real fun living in Burns) and the crew I was on worked primarily in sagebrush. Let's just say that I was not cute when I would work, hives and all! We are busy planning our wedding and working out all the logistics! I'm kinda sad that once the wedding is over I will no longer be reliant on Pinterest for inspiration and my years of pinning wedding ideas will come to an end. We hope everyone has a great summer!
