Getting Hired

Throw back to one year ago when I was in P2.
I was verbalizing a trauma scenario here.

       Now that I’m a Florida licensed paramedic it’s about time to get some experience! Unfortunately, like many young people know, you can’t get experience without a job and it’s hard to get a job without experience. The Lord knows though and it's under His control so I'm in the process of testing to be hired at the local ambulance service as an EMT. Then when I have some of that golden experience under my belt I can get promoted to paramedic. 

        I've been taking a psychology course and a medical terminology course online and also attempting to obtain NREMT certification at the paramedic level. For some reason I struggle passing static cardiology. I'm also nearing the end of my cadet career in the Civil Air Patrol. I hope to continue on as a senior member and give back to the organization that helped me become the person I am today. So you see I've been quite busy. Now if I can just go back from thinking ALS (advanced life support) to BLS (basic life support) I should be able to get hired. *thumbs up* 

Paramedic School... Finished

       It's a bittersweet moment. After hours of studying textbooks and listening to lectures, hours of practicing skills and running through scenarios, hours of riding on the ambulance and treating real patients, I am finished. I have completed the paramedic program. If you told me two years ago that I would be where I am today, I would have laughed at you and said, "No way." Going into EMS was not in my plan for my life. But it was in God's plan. Everything He's had me do has been done for a reason. I don't know what He has for me to ultimately do, but I'm taking the next step.
       Paramedic school was so much fun and a great challenge. I've made some great friends that I know I will have for the rest of my life. We spent a third of that year together, pushing each other to learn more. I had great instructors that would go out of their way to help me understand a concept I was struggling with.
       My field internship has been crazy. It took a few calls to get used to just walking into a complete stranger's house. It took a few more calls to get used to talking to strangers. Overcoming shyness is hard! When I started I was severely lacking in self-confidence. My preceptor would tell me that I knew what to do and I just had to do it. I knew that but somehow it was hard to do! I was so frustrated! But I pulled through. I learned and I did.  I would ask myself, "How badly do you want to do this?" The EMT was my cheerleader. I knew she was rooting for me whatever I was doing and it helped to know that. The paramedic was there to make sure I didn't drown and prompt me if I was forgetting something.  There were times I panicked and other times where I was focused and did my job. All part of the learning process. My crew believed I could do it, even when I didn't think I could. And gradually I gained that confidence that I needed.
       Then as quickly as it started, it ended. The papers were signed. You're ready. You're an entry-level paramedic.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.    Philippians 4:13

Soon to be your newest EMT

      This summer I've been busy taking classes at Daytona State College. I only have about three more weeks until I graduate from EMT school! Once I finish the class I will be eligible to sit for the state exam to be an officially certified emergency medical technician. This semester long journey has been full of surprises. One thing is that I never thought I would love it this much!
      I admit I was a bit shaken at first with the language and behavior of most of those I go to class with. As a girl who's been sheltered her entire life, it was a bit shocking to hear profanity readily used in everyday conversation. To be honest even now I struggle to follow Christ's example. When you are surrounded, it infiltrates your mind. My faithfulness is paying off though. My classmates notice that I am different. They notice I don't curse or drink or make inappropriate remarks. I see so much potential with lifestyle witnessing! I feel that I can be that light that is so much needed in this very dark field of work.
     As for the actual content of the classes, I am absolutely in awe of the amazing things God has equipped the human body to do. It has so many emergency mechanisms that will save your life! For example, if your leg is severed off, your blood vessels will constrict in an attempt to slow/stop the hemorrhaging.
     Lecture and lab are both interesting but I definitely like lab better. And to go further, my favorite part of lab is definitely patient assessment.  Basically, patient assessment is where everything you learn comes together. The knowledge you gain in lecture and the skills you learn in lab all come into play in a patient scenario. It's like a huge mystery you have to figure out to save someone's life.
      I love that no matter how small you think the task you're doing is, such as helping up an elderly lady who slipped and fell, you are their hero for that moment. It is important to them. I pray that the Lord would help me and use me to do what He will.

First Life Update of 2015

Well, hello and a late happy new year! Goodness, I can't believe it's already February 2015! I'm in the second semester of my senior year in high school and it seems like just yesterday I was starting high school. I'm having a hard time accepting that I have to grow up. Oh, well.

We got a bunch of baby chickies today. I'll have to take a picture so I can show you all. They're Brown Leghorns.  We built a stanchion by the barn, which we are actually getting around to finishing. Daddy and Grandpa put the vinyl siding up on two of the walls and they put the window in. It's lookin' good. Oh, and Honeybelle is definitely pregnant, which is a good thing. After she has her calf (in about late March), we will never have to run out of milk again! (crazy laugh) Sugar-Muffin, on the other hand... I sort of doubt she's pregnant. We shall see.

My Civil Air Patrol life has been somewhat laid back. I got my first pinning ceremony for my promotion to Cadet Senior Airman. Yay! You're supposed to get one when you promote to Cadet Airman and again for Cadet Airman First Class. We had some... interesting situations that prevented that so at least it's done now. I'm sort of relieved because everyone was getting really pushy for a ceremony.

My flight commander, C/CMS Bilardi and the cadet commander, C/Maj Cinnamon pinning me on Monday.

I did something a little out of character for me last Sunday. I curled my hair (using the pin curling method, of course. I would be the person who'd burn myself if I had an iron.) I got a lot of compliments and it was a nice change. Hmm. Might do it again someday. This coming Sunday will be fun. It is called "Old-Fashioned Sunday". We dress old fashioned and have an old fashioned dinner on the grounds. A couple friends and I are planning on dressing in Regency Era (in other words, Jane Austen's time) clothing (even though this is America and that was England...). I found the dress I'm going to wear at Goodwill for $11. It has a lace top and a sort of sea greenish skirt. It's so long it needs to be hemmed though. Despite my non-existant skill of sewing, I am attempting to hem it myself. We shall see how that works out.

I convinced my daddy to take me to our town's small, one room library the other day. They need a better selection of biographies. I love Abraham Lincoln, but could you have some lesser known people also? So I got a big, fat bio of President Lincoln, a book about the year 1775, and a book about King George VI. That ought to last me a while. I love reading and a good cup of tea. Earl Grey... I think I'll go get me a cup right now.

And so I shall leave you with a quote:

"I declare there is no enjoyment like reading" -Jane Austen

Farewell, good friends, until next time. (I am obviously feeling very dramatic today. I'm starting to scare myself.)

The Dairy

For my science class, I had a very fun assignment. I had to choose a place of interest, such as a farm, vet clinic, zoo, etc. and shadow someone there. So... I went to a dairy. I like cows and I want to be a livestock vet so I might as well see what my future might be like, right? I had a great time and everyone was nice. We went on the day that the vets were there to palpate some cows. Here's the definition if you don't know what exactly that is.

rectal palpationpalpation of the posterior abdomen and the organs in it by inserting the hand and arm (in horses, cattle and pigs) in the rectum

 Somehow they could tell whether a cow was pregnant or fresh or other things. It was extremely interesting.

Fieser Dairy, Inc. in Deleon Springs, FL

 Palpating a cow.

Those are the cows waiting to be milked. The jets sort of start cleaning off the grime from the udders.

The cows line up ten at a time to be checked.

This cow right here got the cow version of Gatorade.

You probably can't tell, but the cow in the foreground is missing it's left eye.  It had some cancer on its eye lid so the vet wanted to take it off. They put the cow in a stanchion and secured her head so she couldn't move it. The vet was only planning on taking the eye lid off, but after he did, he saw the cancer went behind the eye so he said, "We're going to have to take it out."  I looked at Daddy and said, "The eye? They're going to take the whole eye out?"   So I stood there and watched the whole thing. It was interesting and gross at the same time. I can watch that kind of thing, but I'm not so sure if I could do it...  I think the thing that surprised me the most, and I know it shouldn't have, was that it was a spur of the moment thing. 'Oh, we'll have to take the whole eye out' and then inject more pain killers and operate.

Later, someone asked me which vet I liked the best, the older one or the younger one. I don't know. Probably the older one better because I just like old people and because he made Mr. DJ (who was helping him take the cow's eye out) go find the eye he threw into some grass so I could see the optic nerve. :) But I like the younger vet too because he drew a smiley face on the side of a cow with his cow crayon. That made my day. Now there is a random cow out there that has a smiley face on it's side. On the way home, we went to Tractor Supply and got some cow crayons and drew on Honeybelle and Sugar Muffin. :D

Leigha

Animal behavior

Today I wrote a paragraph about feeding reptiles for my science class. It was so amusing that I've decided to share it with y'all. In the original assignment there wasn't all the thous and thys because I thought it would be a little much. I've added them for your enjoyment. :)

"While perusing an extremely captivating exposition, I attained much cognition about providing reptiles with nourishment. Initially, thou needs must cleanse thy hands from all odors, those of other creatures in particular. Subsequently, it is necessary to extract the animal from its accustomed habitation and situate it in an incommensurable domain to nourish it. If thou chooseth to cater to the reptile’s appetite in its native abode, thou are in much peril of being masticated by the vertebrate, who has mistaken thy hand for its sustenance, each time thou inserteth thy hand into its lodging. In the times to come, I shall ascertain that my hands are absterged and the animal is in a separate enclosing prior to giving the creature pabulum, to inhibit further hazard of being lacerated by the teeth of the reptile."

In other words:

While reading this interesting article, I learned a lot about feeding reptiles. First, before handling or feeding reptiles, you have to wash your hands so you don’t smell like food. You have to move them to a second cage to feed them so they won’t associate their normal cage with food. If you do feed them in their normal cage, you run the risk of getting bitten every time you put your hand in the cage. In the future, I can make sure my hands are washed and the animal is in a different cage to prevent the danger of being bitten.

2013 is here!

Happy New Year! You know when older people hear you grew 2 inches and they say, "Time flies so fast!"   I feel like that and I'm only 15! I hope you guys are all well, because I am fighting my third sickness this season. School started back up this week. Boom! All this work is piled on you. I'm doing well with that though. I'm very excited about the possibility of the Voices of Victory going to England this summer. It's not that far away. :) I hope y'all have a great productive year!
                       -Leigha

The King of the Wild

This is a sequel for The Call of the Wild I wrote for school.

The King of the Wild

Noiselessly, Buck sprang on the rabbit. The rabbit did not struggle because he knew he was doomed. He had been caught by the most dreadful animal in the north. He was only thankful that his family had time to escape before they too, became food. His pain was quickly over when Buck swiftly tore his throat open.

          Buck had aged well. For the last seven years, he had lived in the unmerciful frigidness of the north. He had fathered many brave dogs. He had killed many beasts and still had just as much strength and vigor as he’d had when John Thornton was alive.

          The Yeehat Indians were now extinct. Buck had made sure that every last one of them had paid for the death of his beloved owner. Every human being that, hoping to get rich, entered his territory never returned to mankind. He diligently protected the gold that his former master had found.

          One evening, as Buck was trotting around the perimeter of his territory with his son, he noticed that there was an unusual amount of mosquitoes around. He quickly dismissed the thought when he crossed the path of a lone bird. He instructed his son on the most effectual way to kill a bird and was well pleased when he returned with it.

          About seven months later, Buck was worried. He had been tiring very easily. He hoped none of his pack would challenge him to a duel. He also had coughing fits at the most inconvenient times. He just couldn’t shake it! What Buck didn’t know was that inside of his heart and lungs, there where worms everywhere. He had gotten heartworms from the mosquitoes.

          He walked along the border of his land and decided to take a break, for he could not walk for more than maybe twenty minutes at a time before feeling exhausted and dizzy. As he lay in the snow, he started feeling faint. His vision was blacking out. Right there, one of Buck’s arteries clotted and he drifted off to sleep for eternity.

          Buck’s legacy is a famous one that can never be erased. He was the greatest dog who ever lived, and everyone knew it. Gold hunters who caught a glimpse of him and did not enter his section of the world lived to tell the story of the big wolf who ruled the northern parts of the world. He truly was the king of the wild.

School is Starting Again

Good-bye to summer vacation! Hello to tons of school. I'd have to say I'm not very excited about it.

Ben has recently gotten into making what he calls "brick films". He challenged me to make one this afternoon so here is the result. :) Let me know what you think! It's called Tornado!

-Leigha

Oliver

If any of you didn't know (though I'm pretty sure you do), I'm homeschooled. I do virtual school (bio), co-op (English), and just regular home schooling (all the rest). At my co-op, I take English 1 during third (of four) period. During first period I help my mom in the nursery and during second period, I help Mrs. Erica in Preschool. Today I'm going to share with you some pictures I took of Oliver, the little boy in the nursery. He was adopted from Russia and we know his mother was half-Korean and it is assumed she was a prostitute. Thankfully, he is growing up in a good Christian home. :)

:) -Leigha

Updates

Awesome Frisbee shot

Hey y'all! How time has flown! Tomorrow is December!!! I've just been so busy with school and the holidays. I'm thinking about making this a summer blog. I hope everyone out there has been having a just as awesome holiday season. How was your Thanksgiving? A ton of family from all over (Tampa, Tenn.) spent Thanksgiving for us. We had a ton of fun. I was the first time I saw my cousins from Tennessee since my oldest one (Shelby) got married in March 2010. Christmas is my favorite time of year with the cookies and parties and music! I've been knitting all of my presents. At church we are going to sing the Hallelujah chorus in the choir. The first time we practiced, I thought we would never get it right. :) We're getting pretty good at it. The Voices of Victory are learning new Christmas carols also. So far, my favorite carol is "Lo, How a Rose E're Blooming". While we're on this subject, I might as well tell you that the guy who invited us to England has withdrawn his offer... However, Pastor said that if we are set on going somewhere this summer, he will arrange for us to go to some English speaking country. :D
Macy had some major ordeals lately. We were dog-sitting Aki and Kuma (the teacup and toy poodle) when it happened which made it even more complicated. We had Macy spayed. We thought she was recovering well, but she didn't eat for 6 days! If she did eat something, she would barf it all back up. (We still have stains on the carpet around the house because of it.) We took her back to the vet and they did some blood work and x-rays. She had a lot of gas but we didn't know what was wrong. The vet wanted to operate (again) to see what was going on. When they went inside, they found out that some of the stuff that was supposed to help stop the bleeding from the previous surgery got wrapped around her small intestines. I'm glad they did the surgery or she would have died. The recovery took a little longer than expected, but everything is all right now and Macy is catching Frisbees just like before. :)
I've been going to a lot of theme parks lately too. On October 20th, I went to Seaworld with my co-op. It was fun. I went on Journey to Atlantis twice. They changed it since I last went. There was a twisty part added near the end.

Clyde and Seamore show at Seaworld

On November 21st, I got to go to the new Legoland Florida with my umbrella school! It was a great deal: $5 a person because we are a school group. I kicked myself in the parking lot when I realized I forgot my camera. Sorry. My friends and I went on every single roller coaster they had. The park is aimed for kids up to 12 years old so the rides were sort of disappointing. All of the employees have little Lego people on their name tags and if you bring your own, you can ask them to trade with you.
Other than that there really isn't anything to say... MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Story

For English class I had to write a creative story of being marooned on a island for three years. I got it back and !!100%!! First 100% on a writing assignment this year! To celebrate we got Slushies! :D Here it is! Enjoy the suspense.

Marooned

March 21^st, 2010

            I wasn’t going to use this journal, but since I’ve got nothing to do except stay alive, I might as well. Maybe someday after I die on this abominable island, some random person will find it and use it for a fire starter. If just by chance he/she picks this up and starts reading, I’d better introduce myself and tell a little about me. My name is Rachel Patrick. I’m nineteen years old. I grew up on a farm in Florida. I’ve always wanted to go to Fiji and three days ago I was on my way. I was sailing on the Glory when I overheard four sailors talking about murdering the captain. When I realized what they were talking about, I turned to go tell someone, but one of them spotted me through the half-open door. I tried to run, but the water happened to be choppy that day and I fell. They pinned me to the wall and demanded to know what I heard. I told them I had heard enough. I don’t know whether it would have helped if I had lied, but I wish I did! They started to discuss what they were going to do with me. After several minutes in discussion, one sailor took the key to my stateroom where my German Shepherd puppy, Macy, and I slept, and left while another started doing something with a lifeboat. The one who left brought back my suitcase. That’s when it dawned on me what they were going to do. I tried to escape, but it was all in vain. I told them that if they were going to set me adrift, they should give me my dog because she would only be a nuisance to them. At that, three sailors left. One returned with Macy, another with enough food and water to last us both for at least a week, and the last returned with some blankets. They then put us adrift, and that was the last I saw that boat. I fell asleep on the lifeboat, presumably from exhaustion, and when I woke up, I was on this island.

            March 25^th, 2010

            Lately, Macy and I have been exploring the little island we are stuck on. Yesterday, my mind finally began to comprehend that I will probably never see anyone again. I have been living under the lifeboat I have flipped over. Considering the circumstances, I think I’m doing well. I found a first-aid kit and some other supplies. The solar flash light is very convenient. I also happened to have a Leatherman in my suitcase. One of the sailors had been thoughtful enough to put some hooks and tackle in the lifeboat before they sent me off. I know I have enough food for a few weeks, but after that I wonder what will become of me. It’s too bad there’s no cell phone signal here.

            April 2^nd, 2010

            I’m planning on walking straight through the forest today.

            April 11^th, 2010

            The forest is so big that I had to turn back. So far I’ve only seen a few birds. I made a new friend, Tookie the baby Toucan. I found him in a nest on the ground covered in moss. He follows me where ever I go. Yesterday, I kicked a coconut around, and when it broke, I fed half of it to Macy, and half of it to Tookie. An older Toucan was picking on Tookie so Macy killed it and we had it for lunch. After lunch, we went fishing. For about 20 feet out, it’s only three feet deep. I found a crab to use for bait after a few minutes of digging. I caught a few fish and salted them with the salt I collected from the sea water. The fish are about the size of a large squirrel.

            May 19^th, 2010

            Tookie has started flying. He is zooming back and forth and all over the place.

            July 28^th, 2012

            I’ve built a hut for myself since I’m sure I’m never going to get off this island. I completed it a few months ago, but during the move I lost this journal. That’s why I haven’t written. I really don’t think it’s even a hut. It’s more of a small house. I just kept adding on to it. I made it out of coconut palm branches. The saw in the Leatherman has been very handy over the years. Macy and Tookie are both well. I think the three of us have lost considerable weight.  We’re going to have to work harder for food. I know without them I never would have made it this long. I wonder if I’ll live to be 25.

            September 24^th, 2012

            I don’t know what to say. I thought I saw a light east of the island. I know it was east because the sun was setting on the other side of the island when I saw it. It must have just been my imagination.

            February 16^th, 2013

            I was thinking of a song I learned before I set sail for Fiji: Swing low, sweet chariot comin’ for to carry me home. Swing low, sweet chariot comin’ for to carry me home. I wish there was a chariot comin’ to take me home.

            February 18^th, 2013

            A plane crashed on the island! I’m going to see if anyone survived.

            February 19^th, 2013

            It had four passengers, three of which survived. They are Australian with the awesome accents and everything! It’s so nice to see and talk with someone human again.They have a satellite phone!

            February 21^st, 2013

            We got contact with a ship!!!

            February 22^nd, 2013

            We were rescued by a cruise ship. It was sad leaving Tookie behind, but I thought it would be better for him in the long run. Macy on the other hand, is lying beside me at this moment as I write. I’m finally on my way home. This free cruise is nice! After nearly three years on the island, I can’t wait to see my friends and family again!

The Beginning of a New School Year

Sigh... The summer's over and school started for me today. (Technically, it started Thursday but I'm trying to be normal. :) Boy! I went from having 2 or 3 subjects for the last 6 years to having 6 or 7! All Mom says is "You're starting high-school!" Well, at least the first day wasn't that bad... Good luck to all you students out there! :D