Job

Well I got the call tonight after class. I was offered the position at Amarillo River Road and accepted it. I know many of you who know me well and the history of Tulia and River Road are probably just as shocked as I was when Dad called to tell me about the job. It really is a great situation and one I couldn't pass it up.

I will be teaching high school math (5 sections with 1 prep), JV girls basketball coach, a spring sport coach (this has still not been decided, either track or softball), and then serve as their athletic trainer. I am excited for this next step in my career!

So break out your purple & gold and become a Wildcat fan!

Spring Break

For having a week off, I don't feel like I got as much accomplished as I would have wished. I had all these plans to visit people and it just didn't happen. Katie flew up on the Wednesday before spring break to visit Emily, Kyle and me. She stayed with Em & Kyle on Wednesday night and Thursday. Thursday night I met Emily & Katie in Warrenton for supper and then Katie returned with me to Columbia. Friday we spent the day shopping and I showed her around Mizzou and some of the town. Friday night we went to the baseball game and then to eat with some of the other trainers. Saturday we made our trek back to Texas. I was very impressed with Boo, she only slept an hour and a half out of the 12 hours it took us to get back. That is quite the accomplishment for her. I tried to keep her entertained by bringing out the old school cds (which she made me feel old because she didn't recognize half of the songs) and singing to her. We made it back safe and sound though.


Sunday Dad & I went to church, then to Amarillo to pick up my mom. She had gone to Houston for the weekend to play grandma and babysit. I was very jealous, she gotten to see Henry twice in the last month. Then Sunday night Mom & I went to Lubbock to see my friend Valerie. Val and I went to undergrad at Tech together and she is now the women's basketball trainer at TCU. Lucky for me, TCU played their 1st round tournament game at Tech, so Val put us on the pass list so we could come see her. It was great to see her as well as several of my old bosses from Tech.


Monday was pretty boring, I don't really recall doing much. Tuesday I went to the store and helped Becky with some things and then went to Tate's baseball game. They won, so that was a plus, then Pam brought the kids by on her way home. I can't believe how much Rebecca has grown. I couldn't get them both to look at the camera and smile at the same time, so this is the best picture I have. Rebecca had gotten her 6 month shots earlier in the day, so she wasn't the cheery/happy baby she usually is.

I finally got her to smile for the camera before they left.

Robert LOVES to take pictures, but he always wants to see them as soon as you take it.

Wednesday I had an interview in Idalou. It went well. They have one girls assistant position open and may have another one open up depending on what another coach decides to do. After my interview I headed to Tuscola to spend the night with my cousins so that I would be closer to my interview on Thursday morning. I got to eat supper at Belle's in Abilene--great place I recommend that everyone eat there. GREAT GREAT homecooked food. I was stuffed off of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet corn, green beans and rolls. My aunt & uncle came to Abilene to eat as well, so it was nice to catch up with them. Thursday I had an interview in Goldthwaite that went very well. The coaching position is great, and I love the head coach. The teaching position isn't my first choice, so I am struggling with whether or not I am wanting to make that sacrifice.

Friday the blizzard hit the panhandle. Luckily Tulia didn't get it like Amarillo and north got. We had snow, but nothing major like they did. I really wanted to interview at River Road on Friday, but they cancelled school on Thursday before the weather even hit. Luckily, I was able to schedule the interview for Monday morning and my boss at Mizzou was very understanding and is allowing me to stay in Texas an extra day to get that taken care of. Friday night I hung out with a bunch of friends and had a blast. I miss all of them so much. It really makes me realize how much I miss Texas and how excited I am to get back down here. I really have enjoyed my time in Missouri, but everytime I come home I realize how much I am missing living 11 hours from home.

Saturday & today are pretty lazy days. Work on homework, make burp rags for baby presents and watching basketball. It was sad to see the Tigers lose yesterday, but they surpassed preseason expectations beyond comprehension. We were picked 7th in the conference in the preseason polls and ended up finishing in the top 8 of the nation...not bad at all!

While home I never got to go see Katie's house in Lubbock, didn't get to go see the McGuire family, didn't get to see the Wheelers or the Bezners & Van Beeks, haven't hung out with either of the Adams' brothers (although I did get to see Evan at El Sarape) or spend time with tons of other people. So I'm excited to get back this summer where I can see all of those people.

Well I've got to finish my homework for this week (even though I am missing class on Monday night) otherwise I am going to be way behind. Just a few more months as a Midwesterner and I'm back to Texas!

The Mystery Problem

In mid-December I had a bruise on my ankle, that I didn't think much about. I am always running into things or getting hit by things that jump out at me, so bruises are nothing uncommon. Well towards the end of my Christmas break (so now we are getting close to mid-January), I notice that it is still there and it is kinda a hard bump. I don't think much of it, but decide to let Dr. Adams see it when he is in the training room to see what he says. I start to do light massage (when I can talk someone into it), laser therapy and game ready (compression & ice at the same time) to see if that will help. Then the "bumps" begin to multiply and spread. I finally see him see him about the beginning of February or so. I have no recollection of hitting it or anything like that, so that makes the diagnosis a little harder. Although, as I previously said, it very easily could have happened without me realizing it. He says he thinks it is a hematoma and to continue to massage & ice it, but don't do ultrasound becuase it will cause it to scar more, to start taking 2 naproxen sodium (Aleve) twice a day. He said the laser therapy shoudl be fine to do.

Well it doesn't seem to be getting any better, and starts to turn more red and go all the way across my ankle, swell, hurt, get kinda warm, etc... Well I being the athletic trainer that I am, I don't necessarily take care of myself like I should. I have 11 other girls to take care of right now and they are pretty time consuming. I had one have surgery on her foot the Wednesday I left for Austin (I didn't get to watch her surgery which I was very disappointed about) and had another have some health problems come up on Friday while I was in Austin, so I was trying to get them squared away. I showed it to my mom at the state tournamend and she became very concerned. Then it became show-and-tell of Brooke's ankle in the suite. Everyone had their own opinion about what it was, but everyone insisted that I see the doctor. I said I would when I got back to Columbia. Well of course our doctors either left the training room before I got back over from practice or they didn't come that day. Dr. Adams came on Wednesday and I showed it to him again. He decided to do x-rays to rule out a stress fracture or something else going on in there. He knew it wasn't that swollen or red the first time he looked at it, so he was a little concerned with it going on for 3 months. So Thursday I got x-rays....everything bony looked normal but there was definitely some soft tissue swelling so he ordered an MRI for Friday. He wanted to make sure I didn't have a blood clot or bad vein.

Friday around lunch I had an MRI. Around 3 that afternoon Dr. Adams' nurse, Donna, called to tell me the results. I had an inflammed blood vessel. An inflammed blood vesssel? Who gets those? Apparently me. Donna tells me that inflammed blood vessels aren't very common and they aren't sure what caused mine becuase I don't remember doing anything to my ankle. So they start me on NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) twice a day for a week and then once a day following that. Gotta love Celebrex. I started those on Friday. I think they are helping for now. Friday was by far the worst day I have had, I think because I had to hold my ankle in one uncomfortable position VERY still for 45 minutes while they did my MRI. My ankle isn't near as red and the swelling and pain has decreased. I will Dr. Adams again when I get back after spring break. Hopefully the medication solves the problem!

So Far Behind

I am so far behind on blogging I know. It's been a very busy past two weeks. I had a GREAT time at the State Tournament in Austin. We had a suite again this year and definitely enjoyed ourselves in there. It was so great to see all the guys that we hang out with every year and spend three days with them. I also got to see several other friends that I seem to talk to only once or several times a year. Dean brought his son, Trace this year. He is 8 I believe. We picked on each other most of the weekend. Scott's kids came to the final session on Saturday, but I didn't end up pictures with them. Trace was determined not to smile, but mom caught him while he wasn't looking.

One of the greatest things about having the suite is that there is a TV with cable included in it. With it being the final week before the NCAA tournament, we got to watch all of the conference tournamnets and I got to see the Tigers win the Big 12 Championship!!!! GO TIGERS!

I thought these signs were humerous. They were on the elevator doors in our hotel. Mom took the first one on her phone, that's why it's a little blurry, but it was my favorite.

Little People I Miss

My mom e-mailed me some pictures tonight....and I really miss these cuties. I'm sure you can tell why. At the girls basketball playoff game a few weeks ago, my parents sat with the Blakenships & Culwells....she got such a cute picture of Miss Maude. I can't wait to see her over spring break!

Then last weekend Mom went to Houston to see Henry, Nathan & Amanda (Nathan is my 1st cousin...basically like a brother). I've only seen Henry once since he was born and that was last March. He turned 1 in December and is one of the most precous little boys I have ever seen. He inherited his daddy's blonde hair and beautiful big blue eyes. I'm super jealous that Mom gets to go back to babysit in a few weeks.

"Grandma" Nece & Henry

Isn't he PRECIOUS?!?!

Apparently this is one of his favorite faces to make.

Amanda & Henry...such a cutie pie!

Mom said he goes crazy in the bouncer. Apparently he is exactly like his daddy, so I am not surprised at all.

Undefeated at Home

Wow, what a season...even if it's not over. The men's basketball team closed out their home season against OU on Wednesday night. I was excited for this game all year. I hate to admit, but I enjoy watching OU play. Blake Griffin is a stud, plain and simple. I've watched Austin Johnson play since high school and got to see Willie Warren play in the state tournament last year and take over the game. What a game it tourned out to be!!!! Oklahoma scored the first points and never led the rest of the game. The final score was 73-64. You gotta love beating OU in anything. (Sorry Kyle, I still love you.) The Tigers finished 18-0 at home this season and I got to experience a majority of those wins. Beating KU & OU in the same year is quite an accomplishment in the conference. They play their final Big 12 game at A&M on Saturday afternoon. Then it's on to the Big 12 Tournament next weekend--with a 1st round bye. We were picked to finish 7th in the conference and cannot finish any lower than 3rd now!

Here's a few pictures from the game:

Playing some defense

The student section at the game.

A little more defense.

Halftime score.

Final score...I even captured Anderson & Capel talking.

Obviously players shaking hands....we moved at halftime and ended up closer to the floor..thanks to Ek aka Mr. Mizzou

The students didn't rush the court this game, but they did get as close as they could to congratulate the guys.

A Stressful Week

WOOHOO, I'm stress free for the rest of the week...well for the most part. These past few days have been quite a load. Monday I had 4 different papers due for class, Tuesday I had a presentation and a paper due for class and today I had my comprehensive exam for graduate school. And I am done with all of it!!!!!! I'm a tad bit excited can't you tell?




I spent most of last week and my entire weekend studying for my comps. Thankfully our advisor has the theory that if you pass all your classes with As and Bs and fail your comps it is ridiculous, so he gives us all the quetions we are going to have so we can develop well thought out and written answers for our test. Thank goodness, otherwise I would have definitely had a nervous breakdown before today.


I am so excited to being once step closer to graduation. All I have to do is pass my two classes from this semester and I have a Masters of Education.

Now I'm headed to the home opener baseball game vs Western Illinois for a bit, then over to the final home men's basketball game vs OU. GO TIGERS!!

Oh and here's a picture from trimming my hair a few weekends ago. I decided to go with straight across bangs this time!