A Gaggle of Thoughts

This post is brought to you by Casey Moffitt- Gilboy

2011-10-08T23:03:00.004-05:00

So, Casey is my amazing 2nd cousin, who I love to blog stalk. What? It's weird that I know my 2nd cousins? Well, I only know a few. And she's the main one that I've kept in contact with through Facebook/ Blog means. For the record, she is an amazing example to me of what a strong Christian woman is. Words cannot describe. You'll just have to check out her blog here:

http://javamammacasey.blogspot.com/

She's also super girly like me, which I love! Example A: she loves to do hair! Her hair, her daughter's hair, girl's hair from her congregation going to Homecoming. And she's good at it! Here is my attempt to copy her amazing hair:

Keep in mind, this is after 8 hours of work, including meeting, paperwork, and chasing little ones around. And some of the curl is still there! Yes, Casey's hair tricks do work!

Example B: Casey likes to hang up all her jewelry and accessories in a way so that she can see all of them. That way it's easier to make a choice. Well, friends, my jewelry box was just not working for me. However, I inherited from my dear Grandma Bowen (from the side of my family that I don't share with Casey) a cute miniature coat rack- perfect for hanging necklaces and dangly earrings! Love it!

I also inherited some of my grandma's kitchen stuff! For the record, I love old stuff. The history, the stories, the simple life! It just makes me happy!!

And, most importantly, it's pretty! I recently used the flower picture at a lovely visiting teaching brunch. I used one of the serving dishes at a going away party during the spring. Slowly but surely, I'm learning how to use my pretty dishes!

On another note, I had a garden this summer! Well, during the end of spring/ beginning of summer. My roommate, Christa, did a very good job at watering my plants and picking the fruit/ veggies. However, she was fighting a losing battle with the terrible Texas heat!

(strawberry, 1/1)

(eating the first tomato!)

Faith and Fires

2011-09-07T21:46:00.002-05:00

One of my dear friends lost her home to the fires this week. Well, it was her parents home that was lost. The one they were raised in, made memories in. It just breaks my heart. I am close with both her and her younger brother- this a her record (on her blog) of the heartache and faith of her family:

http://happinessisastateofbeing.blogspot.com/2011/09/strength-of-my-family.html

My favorite quote of the entry: "My house is gone but my home is eternal."

We are fasting and praying still for rain in Texas. But even as the dry heat continues, we are seeing miracles as families, friends, strangers, and communities are taking care of each other. Truly, God does bless Texas, because we bless each other with love and kindness.

Huanchaco, Peru- the Sleepy Surfing Town

2011-08-25T21:43:00.003-05:00

So, about a 30 minute taxi ride north of Trujillo, Peru lies a sleepy little surfing town called Huanchaco. Parts of it were lovely! Parts were a dusty desert/ beach. Overall, I loved it!

A garden below the cathedral.

The Catholic cathedral- love the cobblestone!

The pier! Looking towards the town. I totally had to pay like 2 soles to get on! Crazy!

View of the town from the beach.

The pier! Looking towards the ocean. See the huge waves in the background?!!

The little boats that the Peruvians use for fishing! They're made out of reeds, and according to Wikipedia, they are called "Caballitos de totora."

I found a gazebo on the beach! So pretty!

More of the desert like beach.

Why yes, it Huanchaco is a tsunami zone! And yes, the waves really were huge!

And the highlight of Huanchaco- surfing!! The day before my birthday, I totally treated myself to surfing lessons! I was super nervous, but I knew I would regret it if I didn't take advantage of cheep lessons in Peru! It was amazing! Thanks to my super helpful instructor, I stood up on the board almost every time! There were only 2 times that I couldn't stand up. So awesome! It was one of the most amazing experiences! It also help me remember one of the most important lessons I learned on my mission- that usually the things I'm most afraid of are the most worth while. Yay for taking chances!

That night I went to a party with the volunteers- at midnight, they sang to me and toasted me (with their crazy mixed drinks and my 7-up). They also lit a bunch of tea candles for me to blow out and gave me a cute bouquet of wildflowers. Overall, it was a pretty nice birthday eve.

Peru- Service!

2011-08-23T20:42:00.002-05:00

I had the amazing opportunity to visit Peru for a month! For a couple of weeks, I did service at a blind school with children with multiple disabilities.

Here are some of my girls with their moms! On the left, Elizabeth with her mother. On the right, Jennifer with her mom and her sister Belin. Both of the little ladies have cerebral palsy. (The school also said they had autism, but I'm not too sure...)

Trying to take a picture of Alejandro! This kiddo has autism and cerebral palsy as well as being blind. He was super challenging to work with, but oh so sweet! As it is with all challenging kiddos, he was totally one of my favorites!

Sister picture! Belin and Jennifer!

Alejandro with Eliu. This was SO cute! Eliu is blind and has autism, which means he has a hard time reaching our world. But this day, he found Alejandro! He loved walking around while helping Alejandro walk with his nanny. Eliu wouldn't let him go for at least 20 minutes, but insisted on walking around with Alejandro! It was SO amazing to see that connection!

Me and Eliu! It was hard taking a picture of him...

The other volunteers from Germany. Sabrina (left) also worked in the classroom I was in.

The teacher of my classroom and me! She was just amazing!

This was a challenging experience due to a lot of things. The language barrier, complicated and multiple disorders, minimal technology resources, to just name a few! But it was SO amazing! I am so grateful for the experience and all I learned about myself during it!

El Salvador- the fun times!

2011-08-14T11:58:00.007-05:00

So, after lots of good times taking care of the kiddos, it was time to play!

We went to the beach! It was black sand!

It was SO pretty!

Me saying hi to the ocean- "Hello El Salvador beach and pacific ocean!"

Elizabeth, my recovery partner in crime, wanted to say hi to the geese.

The resort we went to was SO beautiful!

There even was a swim-up bar that was much enjoyed by my drinking friends.

The military guys that guarded us while we played.

The San Salvador temple! I missed the open house by a month... so sad! But I'm SO excited that the members of El Salvador have a temple now!

We also tried to go salsa dancing, but ended up finding a live band instead. They were really good!

Melody with her 5th dessert of the evening. Not even exaggerating at all! She loved those sweets!

El Salvador- The Last of the Kiddos!

2011-08-10T22:24:00.002-05:00

And the last of the kiddos in El Salvador!

This little guy was SO excited to have his surgery! He has a clef palate which makes it hard to understand his speech, and he really, really wanted to have the surgery to help it. Unfortunately, after the doctors put him under during surgery, they discovered that he couldn't safely be intubated with the equipment they brought from the States. He and his mom were pretty upset that the surgery couldn't be done. And they traveled SO far! I believe it was an 8 hour bus ride for the poor little family...

This little guy was SO cute feeding himself with the syringe!

The baby! Before the surgery, he let all of us hold him!

Some of the mom's like to make hammocks for their little ones- so sweet!

This little lady came last year on the last day, but we couldn't do anything. This year, we had a dentist come who made mouth appliances to plug up the secondary holes or fistulas (that sometimes result later after a clef palate surgery). Yay!

Oh, how I loved going to El Salvador! I can't wait to go next year!

Confession...

2011-07-22T00:50:00.003-05:00

I love to read! No really, LOVE to read. I used to be grounded from books when I was little, and my parents used to hide them from me! In real life (when I'm not enjoying grown-up summertime!), I'm working my way through 4 or 5 different books.

Here's a quick little story*:

On my trip to Peru, I brought 4 books (not including my Spanish Book of Mormon) and once magazine. I left the magazine on my last flight to Peru (sad day! but it was a Church magazine, so hopefully someone else needed it more than I did...), so I had 4 books to savor. One was in Spanish (Harry Potter 1!), which means it took longer to read. However, during my 3 weeks in Trujillo, before galivanting around Peru with Savannah, I finished all my books! Then I settled for journal writing to pass the extra lesure time I had during flights and train rides at the end of my trip.

Now I am in Vegas with the family, and I had no book to read. I. Had. No. Book. To. Read. My parents are moving to Phoenix (a process that has been going on for about a year now...long story...), so a lot of their stuff is packed and in Phoenix. And apparently they packed their books! It had been about a week before the withdrawl symptoms started...

So yesterday, I took a little trip to Borders. I was so good and only bought one book (that's #2 in a trilogy, and I LOVED the first- thank you Josh and April for the Christmas gift!)... I did end up hanging out at borders for another 1.5 hours reading a totally different book that I just wasn't willing to pay full price on (when you have a Half Price Books just waiting for you in Austin, you feel no shame in reading part of the book at a fancy store just to buy the book for lots cheaper later...)

And that is my story of my love of reading. And books!

*apparently that means 3-4 paragraphs...

El Salvador 2011, continued...

2011-06-29T15:30:00.003-05:00

First off, I just need to note that the mosquitos in Peru LOVE me! Must resist scratching... on a happy not, there is a very low risk of getting the West Nile Virus here! Gotta stay positive... :o)

And now to some "after" pictures of the kiddos and babies. Some were hurting pretty bad still, so I only took pitcures with a couple of them.

Love this mom and daughter picture! So sweet!

What a trooper!

This guy was super cute! He loved the crayons and coloring books!

Fast asleep...

This was the little lady who was a little afraid of the wind-up toy chick. Both her and mama look a little tired...

This mama was "muy enojada" the whole time last year when her baby got his líp surgery. Mind you, we were they strange gringos who were doing a pretty intense surgery on her little baby. This year, however, she was SO grateful for us and taking lots of pictures of all of us with her little guy! She also had a gentleman with her this year (Im still not sure if it was the babys dad...), so Im sure having an extra pair of hands to help decreased some of her stress.

Again, my favorite! He got his palate done, so he felt kinda sore still. That surgery takes 2-3 intense hours- did I mention that we bring the best doctors on this trip?!!

His mama blowing bubbles. He was definitely feeling good enough to try to blow them again! Yes, by trying to eat them! LOL! His mother called him her little "robot" because, with the arm splints (which the kids wear for 2 weeks so they dont but their hands, or anything else, in their mounts), he couldnt bend his arms. It was super cute!

Oh, and little Victor again. Thanks to the surgery, he was a lot less of a little troublemaker. The wind-up chick broke right before he went into surgery, so I gave it to him afterwards. You cant see it in the photo, but its right next to him.

Until next time, chicos, chao!

El Salvador 2011!!

2011-06-28T19:25:00.004-05:00

So, I just loved my trip to El Salvador last year with Austin Smiles! When I was told about the SLP position available again, I didnt* think twice before applying! I dont think I even prayed about it beforehand... opps!**

Last year, I regretted not taking enough picutres of the kids, so here are some of my favorites! These kiddos are so adorable, and their parents were just amazing!

I can honestly say that this little boy was my absolute favorite! He is just so cute! The following pictures prove his cuteness...

He just couldnt get enough of my bubbles!

Whenever I tried to get him to blow the bubbles, he just tried to eat them! LOL! This picture is a good example of this... and yes, I laughed SO hard everytime he tried to eat them, as shown in this photo!

Me trying to get him to stand still for a picture...he wasnt so sure... now dont worry, there are many more picutres to show soon!

I think this is honestly my favorite picture- Victor is just SO cute!! He is smiling so big because he just kicked the wind-up toy chick... such a trouble maker!

The little lady was a bit afraid of the toy...

She was SO cute before the operation! Afterwards, she turned into one of our biggest "princesas"... Her poor mom stayed up all night rocking her!

Playing with balloons the Rotarians brought- I am totally bringing some next year!

So cute! They were quite the friends waiting for their operations! The little lady on the left has a syndrome that affected her legs, so she does not walk to well...the little "princesa" on the right totally helped her get her balloon when it floated too far!

As this computer is kinda slow (see *), it takes forever to upload pictures. Ill try again later or once I get back to the states. Until then, Ill be living the dream in Peru! Chao!

*Umm... so I am using a computer in Peru to do this post... I dont know how to do an apostrophe and spell check is only in Spanish... please know that I do know English grammar and spelling! Or at least know how to compensate for not knowing... thank you spell check! :o)

**For the record, I did pray after I applied and still felt good about it.

Birthdays!

2011-05-21T23:35:00.005-05:00

Because I have a firm belief that it is my job to spoil my nephew and niece, we went to the Build-a-Bear Factory for their birthday! So, Ian just turned 5 and Ember turned 3- I can't believe how big they're getting! I just love these two to pieces! Enjoy me showing them off!

Ian filling his monkey- soon to be named "Ian Monkey"

Washing the monkey.

Ember filling her pink bear- soon to be named "Three Bear." We think it's because she just turned three...

Rubbing the heart on her tummy...can't remember why the store lady told her to do that...

Putting in the heart.

My FAVORITE picture of Ian! I just love how interested he is in his sister! He just loves her so much!

Ember washing Three Bear.

Washing together. So, for those unfamiliar with Build-a-Bear, they are just brushing off the extra fuzz. There's a pedal for them to step on that turns on the yellow air blowers to help blow away the fuzz. It's pretty exciting!

FAVORITE picture of the two of them hanging out together! So cute!

Ian with Ian Monkey.

Ember with Three Bear. And yes, the pink bear is wearing a pink shirt, a pink skirt, and pink shoes. Ember really likes pink... which is funny because her mom, Sarah, is not a fan... guess that means someday I'm getting a tom boy! :o)

The nuggets playing after having McDonald's for lunch.

And of course, they had to try out the mall stroller that looked like a car!

End of a happy day with their Aunt Audrei! Love them!

Roxy's Wedding

2011-03-20T21:10:00.007-05:00

So, last week, I got to go to my dear friend, Roxy's wedding. It was a beautiful Hispanic Catholic wedding down in Eagle Pass, TX.

The table set up of the reception.

The band! Love the live band!

The groom's cake.

The beautiful wedding cake!

A photo booth! So much fun!

The super exclusive "lounge" area.

Becca and Nick.

Me, Becca, and Sara- the girls!

Sara and Bill trying to open the wedding chocolate bar...

It's open finally!

Jolly with her man.

The couples!

Becca caught the bouquet!

Becca and Nick- with the bouquet!

Sara rocking the glasses!

One of these things is not like the others... :o)

I had lots of fun hanging with my grad school friends and celebrating Roxy and Ruben's wedding!

Snow Day!!

2011-03-20T20:59:00.004-05:00

So, about a month ago, Austin, TX had her very own snow day!

It was one of those icky, cold weather weeks that you were hoping would turn to snow or ice every.single.day in hopes of getting a snow day. Finally, Thursday night, my roommate Christa and I had a sleep over in the front room, falling asleep after checking on the weather channel many, many, many times in hopes for a high percent chance of snow/ice. At 5 a.m., I got the call. The "inclement weather phone tree" call!! Yep, there was a small layer of snow/ice outside keeping us all from getting to work safely. Yippee!!

That's the snow about 10 am- we took our time getting up and getting ready (we actually woke up to our dear friend Audrey knocking at our door, wanting to enjoy her snow day with us!)

This a snow man we found on a power box- we add the eye and the leaf hat (or maybe it was a toupee... :o).

Christa with her leeeettle snowman.

Me with my leeeeeeettle snowman.

There was very little snow- but we had a blast!

Disneyland- Day 1!!

2011-02-06T17:46:00.005-06:00

This post will have to continue the trend of back posting fun trip pictures- I have some fun blog post ideas with pictures (snow days, grandma's dishes!!), but I can't find my camera cord! And my lovely roommate, Christa, who has a cord that fits my camera, is not home... So Disneyland it is!!

First, breakfast at Goofy's kitchen! Ian with Pluto- he was only a little bit scared of the characters. Way to be brave little man!

Ember with Pluto- although it kinda looks like she's totally terrified, she was actually super excited... LOL! I think it's my favorite picture of the trip!

Dillon and Ian chilling in car at Toon Town.

Just hangin' with Mickey at his house- Ian sternly requested to see Mickey, but then got tired of waiting after 15 minutes (it took about 30 minutes...) Little did he know it was just the beginning of waiting...

It's a Small World! It was super fun seeing it all prettied out with Christmas (we went the day after Christmas)! And with Christmas music playing instead of "It's a Small World" the whole time... :o)

The Haunted Mansion! All dressed up for the Nightmare Before Christmas- it was SO cool!!

Dillon and I hanging in the Haunted Mansion!

Me with the absolutely gorgeous castle!! It was just amazing!

Yeah, that may have been my favorite part about this trip to Disneyland! I just LOVED the castle! That and the soft Christmas music playing in the background at night on the way out of the park- just so peaceful and happy!

Looking back...

2011-02-04T20:46:00.004-06:00

So, I've decided that I'm going through my 5-year old boy stage. Because, you know, I've never been a 5-year old boy before. So I gotta catch up! :o)

A couple weeks ago, one of my friends was heading to the "dinosaur" museum on UT campus to draw pictures of dinosaurs. So, I packed my crayons, color construction paper, and my camera. He may have been a real artist, I sat in front of a dinosaur for 30 minutes and manager to create a drawing (with an orange crayon!) that looks like a dinosaur! Yeah, I was impressed too! Here are some pictures I took in between drawing and being excited about seeing dinosaurs!

Pterodactyl!!

While trying to draw the awesome ceiling (yes, I am an architect's daughter :o), I totally got distracted by the light dancing across the walls and curtains. So beautiful! Not sure I captured how colorful it was, but trust me, it was just lovely!

Remembering the grad school life...

2011-01-24T23:25:00.005-06:00

So, a good friend of mine, Whitney, showed me this comic and said it totally reminder her of me!

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php*

Yes, I did name my thesis Trevor (with the help of Chase). And I did change my status on facebook to "In a relationship" and "It's complicated" depending on how I was feeling about it at the time... You gotta do what you gotta do to keep the humor!

*For the record, Facebook doesn't allow you to just put "thesis" as who you're "in a relationship" with. Also, it doesn't accept many variations of "thesis" and "Trevor" when you try to create a new facebook account using a newly created e-mail account...not that I tried that... :o)

2011 Goals

2011-01-23T21:54:00.006-06:00

So, one of my goals for 2011 is to blog once a month and to do something blog worthy (including pictures) once a month! Here's to meeting the goal starting with January!

This month, I had the lovely opportunity to visit my dear Brittanie and her sweet family. Here are some pictures!

This is a picture of Brittanie as taken by Erin- her 3.5 year old.

Patrick (almost 2 years) hanging with his dad, Matt. Matt and I are now WordFued friends on our Android phones (and he's kicking my butt... :o)

Chilling with the kiddos in the car on the way to the museum!

Me flirting with a pirate! Just had to... :o)

The Denver skyline- with snow!!

Erin and I with manatees! (Barbara Manatee- Manatee! You are the one for me- one for me!)

Erin showing off her map of the museum. Apparently she loves them!

Patrick and my gloves- he just loved to wear them! There's so big on him!

Me with a Tyrannosaurus! Remember how I'm going through my 5 year old boy stage right now? :o) I just LOVE dinosaurs right now! Pterodactyls are my favorite! But we only saw Pteranodons...

Erin and I petting a pretty horse downtown!

It was SO much fun visiting Brittanie and her family! We were both so blessed that she felt well enough to play (she's in her 1st trimester). We went to the temple, to a fun science museum, ate downtown, went to church- complete with primary!, played games, and just enjoyed spending time with their family!

Oh grad school...

2010-10-03T00:13:00.004-05:00

Remember how that pretty much happened to me? One of my thesis advisers went on sabbatical for 2 semesters. We e-mailed back and forth regarding how I would measure bilingualism for my thesis. (based on their 1st language? dominance? level of proficiency? sequential vs. simultaneous?) This goes on the whole time she's gone- I do research, talk to colleges, search, ponder, pray (you get the idea :o) in hopes of figuring it out how to move forward on my thesis! She gets back. We have a 5 minute meeting. Problem solved. Oh the joys... to all those working on grad school- good luck! :o) May your experiences be less "adventurous" than mine was...

Fall!

2010-09-19T23:16:00.003-05:00

It's started! I officially felt crispness in the air today! Oh, how I love Fall! It means a break from the heat in Austin. College football! White clothes in the closet, browns out! It means warm food and Halloween and being out doors more! It also means change- which I love! Even if it's just a change in the season, I love it, and I'm ready for it!

Holly visits!

2010-07-29T22:34:00.002-05:00

My old roommate Holly came to visit in May for the Texas Librarian Conference (so nerdy!) that was in San Antonio. I rescued her from San Antonio, and we drove to Austin where we spent a hilariously entertaining weekend together! One of the highlights was visiting the LBJ presidential library. Nerdy, I know... but it was super fun!

Here's Whitney, me, and Holly outside.

Katie, me, and Holly- not quite ready...

Katie being attacked with love by me... :o)

Yay! We're ready!

Me with mechanical LBJ! So lifelike it's creepy!

In addition, Holly, Megan, and Whitney had fun painting my kitty blue- in honor of the blue bonnets! I was there to witness this painting and all parties are in agreement that I just should not be there during such events. I guess I'm just a worrying mommy and can't handle her hiding behind my curtains... :o) However, you have to admit, Jubilee does look super cute in blue!

What happens at TSHA, stays at TSHA....

2010-07-28T13:43:00.006-05:00

So, TSHA is the Texas branch of the Speech-language pathologist and Audiologist professional association. A bunch of us went to the annual conference in Dallas and had a blast! One of the highlights of the trip included dinner at P.F. Changs paid for by Adjuris Therapy, a staffing agency who offered me the scholarship to go to El Salvador. Needless to say, I adore Jeff and Shelley and am continually amazed by their generosity!

Here is a picture of Shelley and I. She's so great!

Jeff with a previous employee in his company. Such a good man!

Latrice, Jenny, and Libby!

Erika, Angela (aka Jolly), and Megan!

Sarah and Becca!

Oh no! Erika stole the camera!

And took this awesome picture of Becca and Sarah! So artsy!

Me looking super cute! It's rare those occur, so I just had to post this one and brag on myself... :o)

Eating my vegetables for Erika... :o)

The whole group surrounded by tons and tons of food! Did I mention that Jeff and Shelley are just amazing?!!

Shelley posing with our amazing chicken noodle soup. So tasty!

They even got us LOTS of desserts! Here's what's left over...

And Megan with her sad face...she gave up desserts for lent so all she ate was the berries that were the garnish of the desserts... poor thing! :o)

For those that drink, Shelley and Jeff bought some wine and Champane. Here's me giving into peer pressure... (but it smells icky!)

Not to drink it!

Just to pose with the bottles. Scandalous, I know. :o)

Overall, it was a evening with lots of laughter and food! Thanks again to Jeff and Shelley who spoiled us!

Audrey's Bridal Shower

2010-07-26T01:00:00.005-05:00

Yep, you read that correctly- AudreY. I didn't spell my name wrong nor did I secretly get engaged. :o) Here are some fun pictures of my lovely friend Audrey and the awesome bridal shower Cassi and I co-hosted!

First, the most important part: the food! It was a delicious brunch buffet!

Next- the guests! Candice and me.

Laura and Audrey's wonderful mother.

Audrey and her super famous sister Heather! But more about that later...

Cassi, the other amazing host, and Tamara.

Bridgid and Desiree hanging out at the coolest place- the food table!

And the presents! She wanted lingerie or pantry items- yay vanilla!

Olive oil/ balsamic vinegar bottle- chug chug!

Loving the chocolate cake and sweeten condensed milk! Add some caramel and put whipped cream on top- you know know what kind of cake you have... :o) She did get some lingerie, but I opted to not put said pictures on my blog so that Audrey will still be my friend. :o)

And a picture with me and Heather! She's the last of the Hunter sisters for me to meet (now I just need to meet Audrey's brother and my Hunter sibling collect will be complete!) She also is the author of a quite humorous and real blog (for a lack of a better description... you just feel like you're sitting down for a chat over hot cocoa with her everytime you read it). It's one of those blogs that she gets paid to write. No joke! How awesome and cool is that! And I totally got to meet Miss Heather and add her to my collection (of Hunter sisters :o)

The Kiddos!

2010-05-02T22:02:00.004-05:00

Here are some of the kiddos I worked with in El Salvador while working with Austin Smiles!

Typically developing kiddo (except for the cleft palate). Such great eye contact and non-verbal and verbal communication! Lots of requesting! (yeah, I'm such a nerd... :o)

I blew a lot of bubbles in El Salvador...

Areli! The proud earner of the stuffed monkey! One of my favorites!

Cleft lip.

Nose revision (sometimes the doctors in El Salvador do a poor job with cleft lip and palate repairs... our team did a lot of revision surgeries- like the nose- this time to correct what was poorly done before)

Another favorite!

And the last favorite of the older kid crew! They were all in the operating room at the same time getting nose repairs. I watched over them like a mother hen for about 30 minutes, but then it was enough. Nose surgeries gross me out!

Baby with bubbles post surgery!

Cleft palate.

Super sweet and interesting girl! Lots of medically stuff going on with her, so they couldn't work on her this trip, although they traveled for 3 hours to get to us! However, Austin Smiles is planning on taking a specialist next year to make sure this little lady gets her cleft palate and fistulas (holes in the hard palate that are super hard to repair) closed up!

The last baby! Bringing out her out to see the parents!

The parents getting emotional- the team did a beautiful lip repair on their daughter!

Oh what a trip! It for sure will NOT be my last!

The People!

2010-04-12T22:58:00.005-05:00

Yeah for the Austin Smiles team!

Post-op nurse!

My bf...kinda...

Bf and anesthesiologist- way too cool for school...

Hello Peace Corps boys!

The docs!

In the operating room...yes, he IS dancing with a monkey... needless to say, this was my favorite room to visit!

Bed 1.

Bed 2.

Bed 3. Hey, look! That's me! Can't you tell from the pink pants? (complements of Melissa Schmidt! Thanks again!)

Bed 4.

Bed 5.

Hey, that's me again! Yeah, I totally look cute in scrubs! It's totally the pig tails! (which you can't see until the hair cover thing...)

The Military Hospital!

2010-04-12T22:44:00.005-05:00

Where Austin Smiles worked miracles!

The outside with our bus!

The hall where the parents waited...until we moved them to a cooler area (Melissa's big idea!)

The recovery area! Complete with Dr. Oveja!

The view outside the recovery area.

Oh, the stairs...we went up and down these stairs at least 20 times a day! Oh, yeah! I was super tired the whole time we were there...

Our awesome bus!

Complete with a great staff...

And sing-a-longs...

A great driver!

And military escorts!

Several of them!

Okay, lots of them! Don't let the machine guns scare you- they were super helpful and nice to us!

The best part of today...

2010-04-01T17:55:00.002-05:00

...was seeing a previous preschool-age client, who called out my name, ran to me, and jumped into my arms. So cute! Oh yeah- that's why I'm suffering through grad school! For little moments like that...

And remember how earlier this week I had a school-age kiddo come into therapy sobbing and left with a smile on his face and feeling super proud of the English muffin pizza he made? Yeah, pizza making is a therapy technique :o) It really made my day that speech therapy was his safe place where he could calm down and leave feeling more confident about himself and his world. Can I kiddo get all that from making pizza? Why yes, yes he can. And that's why speech-language pathology rocks! Just saying...

And sometimes I need a little reminder to get me to the end of this semester.

El Salvador- the views!

2010-03-19T02:08:00.002-05:00

So, my trip to El Salvador was AMAZING! I really miss it still, and hope to return to Central or South America soon!

The view outside of the airport- hot and muggy but SO pretty!

The view outside our hotel room! Why yes, that is a volcano! The last time it erupted was in 1910 or so... I think we were pretty safe...

Some gorgeous vegetation at some ruins we went to see on our day off!

Happiness is...

2010-02-07T19:16:00.004-06:00

Seeing my adorable nephew and niece!

Ember's first baby set! Complete with stroller and cradle!

Ian's first bike! Complete with training wheels!

The hat and scarf I made for Ember! She loved them so much that she also put on Ian's! So cute!

Ian with his hat and scarf!

A train! Enough said for a little boy!

Little snowman...

Merry-go-round!

Ember halfway asleep, just waking up! So cute!

They're getting so big! They're turning 4 and 2 years old in a month! It's quite nice that this year I've seen them in January (Christmas break) and February (last weekend for grandma's funeral), and I'll see them in March (for Dillon's Homecoming)... I think this should be an on-going trend! And it'll definitely be more possible in 3 months when grad school is DONE! Yippee! Now to get cracking on my thesis this week... :o)

Happiness is...

2010-01-24T21:41:00.004-06:00

A gorgeous day in New York City! In December! (And loving my off-white coat and pink scarf combo! So cute and so me! :o)

A tree celebrating Christmas (see the red and green!)

Sneaking pictures when not suspected...

A little red light house!

The New Jersey shore line...

And Manhattan shoreline at dusk! (we don't use the word twilight here... :o)

Touching the Hudson River for the first time.

Bridges celebrating Christmas by putting up lights!

Getting artsy with the camera!

Such happiness in the small things in life!

Death and dying are so out of style...

2010-01-23T20:46:00.004-06:00

I just wanted the universe to know that, in my life, death and dying are no longer the "in" thing for 2010. That was so 2009...

At the beginning of last year, January 2009, my Grandma Joy died. She was the grandma that took care of my after I was born since my mom had cancer. She developed Alzheimer's about 10 years before she died, so although she is very missed, her poor mortal body was ready to go Home.

This last semester, Fall 2009, I was assigned to work as a Skilled Nursing Facility for a school internship. Although I loved working with the geriatric population, at least 4 of my clients died over the three month period. It was really hard to go through that, having to deal with clients that I couldn't help get better, no matter how much I tried and wanted it.

And now, my Grandma Bowen has passed away. She got pneumonia earlier this week, but I didn't think it would be so soon that we would lose her. I found out this afternoon, about an hour after I got back from going to the temple with my friend Bridgid. My last living grandma passed away early this morning.

It's been over ten years since her husband, my Grandpa Bowen, passed away. She was lonely and wanted to go Home. I'm happy that they're finally together again. But I'm filled with regret. Regret that I didn't call her as much as a should. Regret that I didn't do more to help fill that lonely void. Regret that I didn't learn more about her life, about her experiences, about her family. Now that she's gone, there are so many memories that are lost to those of us left behind until we go Home someday. And I regret that I didn't do more as an adult to preserve those memories and develop a closer relationship with her.

I am grateful that I got to know her well enough to love her and feel this regret. Although I missed out on the opportunity to do so in this life, thank goodness for the Plan of Happiness that allows me a second chance to get to know my Grandma Bowen in the next!

Good night, my Grandma Bowen! I hope you and Grandpa Bowen are happily reunited and are learning to sow the seeds of the eternities! I can't wait to see both of you again someday and am excited to get to know you so much better then!

New Orleans!

2010-01-11T01:27:00.008-06:00

Dear ASHA convention,

Thank you for being in New Orleans. The convention was nice, and it was good to get info on future jobs. However, we had even more fun playing hooky and exploring the city! Please be in a really cool place next year within road trip distance.

Your friend,
Audrei

P.S.
We also really enjoyed meeting new friends at the convention!

We made it to Louisiana!

Oh yeah, Bourbon street!

Me on Bourbon street! I'm so rebellious... :o)

Some night life fun times with school friends: Jolly, Ditty-doo, and Roxy-love!

Connie (who helped me decide on my thesis topic- totally starting a fan club for her!) and me (not the most flattering picture, but hey...)

Sister love! Hallie and Emily!
Waiting forever for pizza...

The whole group outside the pizza place!

Famous for beignets!

So yummy! Connie, Christine, and me!

Steamboat ferry! Next time, I will take a ride!

Jackson Square in French Quarters.

Carriage ride with mules! (or were they donkeys...I can't remember... :o)

The view out the front of the carriage!

Totally my future house! Love it!

Finally, good New Orleans food! Hallie with her friend from work (I forgot her name! So sad!)

Emily and me! Such tasty food!

Did I mention that I tried turtle and alligator while in New Orleans? Because I did! Not my favorite foods, but fun stories to tell!

And to leave you, some New Orleans music on Bourbon Street! With Jolly dancin' in the street!

Why I'm looking forward to next semester...

2010-01-11T01:16:00.003-06:00

Well, probably one of the very few reasons... :o)

Assembling...

Getting organized...

Getting the pose just right...

Almost there...

And a good one!

Another pretty good one!

Oh, my fellow CITs! How I miss thee! Get excited for our LAST semester EVER! (except for you Nat, sorry dear, you're on the PhD track... :o)

Highlights of the Longhorns' Football Season

2010-01-08T00:12:00.004-06:00

First game of the season!

Here come the Horns! And yes, that is smoke for added excitement! What? Your college team doesn't come out to the field like that? :o)

Me and my fellow CITs! (Yes, I'm wearing a pink Texas shirt...awful, I know! But, you have to understand, it was my first game of the season... :o)

Win!! The tower lights up burnt orange!

BYU grads celebrating the win over OU! Oh, and the UT win too... :o)

Another game!

Yay for church friends!

Yes! Another burnt orange tower for a win! (and Nat's ring! So pretty! Good work Justin... :o)

Angry faces before halftime... (and notice the burnt orange shirt! I totally got proper Texas pride over the season!)

Happy faces during the second half!

We may not have won the national championship, but we put up a good fight to get to that game! Hook 'em horns!

Happy Birthday Jubilee!

2009-11-04T20:11:00.005-06:00

Yes, I love my cat, and yes, I am dedicating a blog post to her! Happy 13th Birthday kitty!

All dressed up for St. Patrick's Day!

See her pretty green tummy! (artwork of Holly V. Green)

For her Easter pictures, take a look here!

And yes, I did give my consent to this...sort of... :o)

Grandpa Jerry's 80th birthday party!

2009-11-01T22:36:00.005-06:00

Grandpa getting teary about his present- a book of pictures of all the buildings he's designed! (he's an architect!)

Me and little cousin Clara (who lost her front tooth during the party!)

Me and my Ian baby! He's getting so big! And having more adventures! Just look at those battle scars from running and playing!

Then, off to take cousin Jessica to the Strip for her first time ever! (she's 17, I think she's old enough... :o)

Gotta get the world's largest virgin strawberry daiquiri! In an Eiffel Tower cup!

Me with an Ent! And yes, he does talk!

Jessica with a raining tree- if you look closely, there's water falling from the branches- so pretty!

R.I.P. Holly's Lamp...

2009-11-01T22:19:00.003-06:00

The tape just couldn't keep you fixed forever....

This is hard...

2009-10-05T19:06:00.002-05:00

Dear Clinical Supervisor,

I'm not so sure I'm cut out to work with geriatric population. Sure, I tell you everyday that I love working at the facility, and for the most part, I am telling the truth. I love my co-workers and the residents. I love the area of speech-language pathology that we work with. But you see, my first client at the facility died yesterday. You know, the one who I called my Italian boyfriend (even though he's married :o), the one who told me I was prettier than Audrey Hepburn, the one who lit up when he recognized my face (although he rarely remembered my name). Him.

I know that it's not my fault that he died. But it still hurts that I couldn't help him get better. I mean, that's what we do. We help people get better. But he didn't.

He died because of a lot of complications, but a big factor was the fact that he wasn't eating. Remember how you had me sit with him and help him eat. Because that's what we do as Speech-language pathologists. We work with the dietitians and nurses to help people eat safely and effectively (at least that's what they tell us in my dysphagia class...) And I tried! I really did. He eat wonderfully the first day. But he wouldn't eat the second day. Or the next. And then he went on hospice care. I don't know much about the medical field, but I do know what hospice means. It means you're not going to get better. And he didn't.

You don't know much about me, but I am very religious in my faith. I do believe in a heaven, that life goes on after this one. I do have faith that there is a just and loving God who will make sure this sweet man goes where he should, that he learns about God's plan for him.

But it's hard for now.

It's hard to realize that no matter what you do, no matter what you learn in school, some people just won't get better. Not all my clients will die when they don't get better. Some will just have difficulty communicating their whole lives. Some will not realize a need to communicate, but their families will have to live with that hard reality. There will be other heartbreaks and tears over those clients who I just won't be able to help get better.

I guess it's important for me to learn that now. But for now, just know that this is hard for me. Really hard.

Your graduate student,
Audrei
(like Audrey Hepburn)

The People!

2009-09-26T14:03:00.003-05:00

Here are some pictures of the wonderful people I saw on my trip...yes, I do realize that it's been over a month since my trip... it was just THAT amazing that I'm still putting up pictures! :o)

My mom and me... yes, that is a horse drawn carriage! :o)

David and me! Matchy- matchy in red after Mary Poppins.

Savannah, Marissa, Ribeka and me during the ultimate girl vacation!

Jennifer, Nicolas, and Ryan! Yay for cousin and her adorable family!

A new hobby...

2009-09-22T19:39:00.005-05:00

While on a 3 hour boat tour around Manhattan, I discovered a love of taking artsy pictures! I blame it mostly on all the bridges we saw during the tour- I got tired of taking pictures of bridges the same way each time. :o)

Building near where the World Trade Center towers stood. I think it might be part of the new World Trade center...

Some building near Central Park- I forgot which one the tour guide (in our horse drawn carriage!) told us...

The Empire State Building! The perfect meeting place...

And the bridges!

When going back and looking at my photos, I seem to have a theme of try to make things look big! I do believe it is due to me being so short- I guess it's my way of portraying the world the way I see it at 5' 2". :o)

And this is a picture I wish I got a more artsy angle of- it's just so cool!

Remembering...

2009-09-11T16:26:00.004-05:00

Some pictures from my trip to New York City.

The wreckage.

A pensive place.

Some pictures of 9/11 posted near the wreckage. This one is hard to look at for me...

It's good to remember that painful day, so that we will never forget the cost of freedom.

Why I love working with kids!

2009-09-09T21:34:00.002-05:00

Word Definitions by Children

1. Misfortunes: "When someone tells you a fortune and it's not true."

2. Cowardice: "A cowardice is a person that is a fool, or a 'scared-cat,' preferably a female."

3. Envy: "Poison plant that makes you itch."

4. Burden: "A strange looking bird."

5. Gratitude: "Gratitude is like a force of pull created by gravity."

6. Expectation: "Expectation is to expectigate something like your room."

7. Idleness: "Idleness is when someone looks up to you."

8. Humility: "Humility is the moisture in the air and the sky."

SO cute!

The Alamo!

2009-07-30T13:08:00.004-05:00

So, I'm catching up on my blogging by posting all the fabulous photos of what I've been doing in the land of Austin. The next series of posts will be dedicated to my fabulous now-departed roommate Holly...no, she's not dead...she just graduated :o) We had a "bucket list" of things to do before she left. Oh! I forgot! Going to Johnny Carino's (where Megan's bridal shower was) was on the list too, although it had a very different title... :o) And now, to the Alamo! (Reader's advisory: Texas may be made fun of during this post...)

Check out my cowgirl hat! I'm totally Texan! (although I bought it in Mexico...)

(I didn't know anything could be bigger than Texas...is that possible?)

Water feature!

Reenactment of "The Alamo". We were trying to "remember the Alamo" :o) I represent Davy Crockett and Holly is Santa Anna.

Katie was Sam Houston and Megan (who was sadly MIA that day) represented the Mexican Army. Yep, the whole army. She's that awesome! :o) Yay for non-Texans celebrating Texan heritage! And yes, those are water guns (it was perfect in the Texas heat!)

Marie's Bridal Shower

2009-07-29T16:28:00.003-05:00

These are some fun photos from my Marie's bridal shower!

The beautiful and delicious food! My amazing Mommy helped make it!

All of the girls!

Oh, how I miss my Marie! Come back home to the States soon! (p.s. Matt's invited too! :o)

Megan's Bridal Party!

2009-07-28T16:39:00.003-05:00

Here are some photos from Megan's fabulous bridal shower! I figured it was about time to post these photos since she's been married for a couple of months now... :o)

Megan enjoying her yummy, free dessert! Which was definitely tasted by everyone at the table...Just one of the many free things we got as a part of our meal! (Hey, driving that far was worth it for our great server! :o)

Holly's and my gift to Megan! I mean, you just can't go wrong with an electric knife... :o)

My adorable niece and nephew!

2009-03-31T12:43:00.006-05:00

So, I just wanted to post some pictures and videos of Ian and Ember that I took over Spring Break. They are just SO cute!

Ember walking with me and Ian video recording it- that's why it's a bit shaking at times- apparently Ian shakes the camera when he laughs a lot :o)

Me with my Ian and Ember- they are just so sweet!

My buried goals...

2009-03-28T18:35:00.002-05:00

As a female member of the LDS church, the goal of becoming a wife and a mother has been taught to me since I was old enough to talk. However, in the last couple of years, I have learned to bury those goals. For me, it's just too hard to have goals that I can't achieve on my own. No amount of flirting, make-up, stylish clothes, football knowledge, or education is going to help me achieve those goals any faster. I have no control of those goals. And if you know me pretty well, you understand that not having that control drives me nuts. And decreases my happiness level. For me, it just was not healthy to even keep the dream alive. So, I put those goals on a nice, high shelf in the far corners of my mind long ago and went on a mission, finished my undergraduate degree, and began working on my Master's. Sure, I still get dressed up, put on make-up, flirt a little, and go on dates, but I try my darnest to keep it at that. No excess persuing of boys to try to make it work. No real hopes and dreams to be a wife and mother. It's just too painful when I can't do anything about it.

However, this past weekend brought those goals off the shelf, flying into the front most part of my conscieness, begging for me to acknowledge that they exist. Some of my dearest friends have been married for almost 4 years, have 2 beautiful children with one on the way, and are making incredible plans for their future. I got to go with them to go house hunting, a new idea that they're playing with, and it hit me so hard. As much as I love school, as much as I love being single and the independence I have, as much as I want to see the world and make a difference in it, all I really want is to be a wife and mother someday. It's a hard and painful thing for me to admit- as I have given up making those dreams come true, put it all in the Lord's hands, and am trusting in his timetable. However, as much as I try to trick myself into not caring about those dreams, they still do exist, and it is still hard to be single.

My St. Patrick's Day Kitty

2009-03-24T22:52:00.003-05:00

So, I left Austin for Spring Break to visit my family in Vegas. I left my kitty, Jubilee, with in the good care of my fabulous roommate, Holly, having full confidence that my cat would be well taken care of. As Holly loves my kitty, I came back to a very happy, well feed kitty who was only slightly mad at me for leaving her. (I believe that taking over Holly's bed for the week was her main source of comfort while I was gone :o) However, after being home for a couple of hours, I discovered that my cat was not quite as well taken care of as I thought...or rather a festive improvement had been made...

It's kinda hard to see, but Jubilee has a beautiful green stripe on her tummy in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

I think you can see it better in this picture...now before you think that Holly is terrible, keep in mind that she threatened to dye my kitty's hair burnt orange (Yay Longhorns!), and I thought it would be hilarious! In addition, Holly was quite considerate as she decided that hair dye would be a bad idea (cat grooming herself + possible poisonous hair dye = one dead kitty). Halfway through the week, the inspiration came that she could use food coloring as it is edible, and so, a green food coloring stripe is beautifying my kitty until further notice...and there is a rumor of pink being used for Easter next month... :o)

My newest problem...

2009-03-16T16:25:00.002-05:00

So, I've been told that the first step to overcoming an addiction is to admit it. Therefore, I am admitting today, this 16th day of March in the year of 2009, that I have an addiction to babies and children. Some call it being "baby hungry". Others may say that my "maternal clock" is ticking. Either way, one thing is for certain, I love stealing and playing with other people's children! Saturday, I got to play with my friends' kids which include a 2.5 year old red head girl and her little brother who's a bit sick right now. Sure, there was a bit of crankiness from them having to travel and being a little sick, but I loved every moment I got to play with them!

Fast forward to Sunday at church. I got to snuggle with a set of 6 month old twins, one in Sacrament Meeting and the other in Sunday School. So sweet! (And for the record, I was able to pay better attention in those church meetings with the babies than in Relief Society when I was babyless :o) And tomorrow I get to babysit the cute little twins again! I have to admit that I am a sucker for red headed children (one of the twins is a red head), but overall, I love all babies and kids...and probably a bit too much. My fabulous roommate Holly has to remind me on occasion that, no, I'm not allowed to steal other people's children. :o)

And so, my next step, after admitting I have a problem, is to figure out what all the other steps are! :o) I figure I have to find a way to overcome this problem somehow...so far my only plan is to get my fill on children while I'm on Spring Break and hope that appeases my addiction for the time being....