Laughter

I have been doing some research for a presentation I'm giving to Cottonwood Alumni in a coupld of weeks. I've been looking for resources and information about things they can do in Tucson. Check out what I found!

Well, we all know that laughing does wonderful things for our mind and body. I have recently discovered a new phenomenon, Laughter Yoga! It involves laughing exercises and stretching and breathing as well. There is a class in Tucson that I'm thinking about going to... I'll keep you posted :) Here is a website with videos of the Tucson class in action. It looks rather intriguing :)

http://laughteryogawithgita.com/about-laughter-yoga.html

There are also Laughing Clubs all over the world that meet once a month and laugh together. They are led by certified instructors or leaders too :) Love it!

Tucson Update :)

I am on the "Green Team" at work - a group of us dedicated to helping Cottonwood become more sustainable :) We adopted a section of the road that Cottonwood is on and clean it twice a year. I am in charge of the Sweetwater Drive Clean-Up :) Here we are with some of the trash we collected :) Someone found a working iPhone in a ditch!

I finally have my own office at work :) It's AMAZING!! Having my own space helps me decompress and de-stress. Plus, I can now have patients in there too :)

Barley's bath time. He does surprisingly well in there!

This is how Barley lets us know he is ready to come inside :) Too cute!

Work

Yesterday was the hardest day that I have had at work so far. Here was my schedule:

7:45-8:30am - Stretching and meditation class
8:45-11:45 - Rock climbing
12-1 - Lunch
1-2:15 - Challenge Course with adolescents
2:30-4:30 - Kickboxing

I had a long day... After kickboxing, I went to the adolescent unit to pick up my bag from the challenge course and things fell apart. A patient threw a HUGE tantrum and cursed and screamed at the staff from her bathroom. I was concerned for her and what she might do but I was also concerned for the impact this had on the other girls. It was REALLY tough. The other patients began to cry... and then so did I. I really had trouble holding it together!! I sat with the other patients to talk about the incident and what they were feeling. After 2 hours of this, I was EXHAUSTED! My water works would NOT turn off! I just could not stop crying... and it was embarrassing for the other patients to see my like that. They showed concern for me, but I was trying to redirect them back to how it affected them. I finally got home at 8pm... what a day... I have got to find a way to think different thoughts or something to keep from crying, because I know there will be more incidents like this in the future...

What a day...

Our New Jobs!

Hi everyone!

We are finally getting settled in here :) I am REALLY enjoying my new job at Cottonwood de Tucson!! I have been facilitating a challenge course (low ropes course), taking the patients kickboxing and on outings (local museums, hiking trips, canyons, caves...). I am also working with aftercare patients who have left Cottonwood and are staying in a more independent house. I am doing leisure education with this groups, in order to introduce them to tasks they can do once they are discharged back home. Working with people with addiction isn't as challenging as I thought it would be! It's similar to working with children and adolescents because they basically stunted their development when they started using. It truly is incredible to see the improvement in the patients.

While I was filling out paperwork with our HR lady at Cottonwood, she mentioned there was a position open in the kitchen. I mentioned it to Tommy and he applied and got the job!! The food at Cottonwood is SSOOO incredible! We have all non-processed and all natural food. I think Tommy is just glad to have a job in this economy. And it'll be nice for him to work in a kitchen without drug addicts and more accountability. :)

Tommy and I did some cleaning today and here are some pictures of our place :)Standing in the kitchen, looking toward the front door.
Standing in the living room, looking toward the kitchen and backyardOur huge kitchen! :)

Our master bathroom.

We're working on the upstairs right now, so stay tuned for more pictures :)

Love,
Emily

WE MADE IT!

Hi everyone! Tommy and I made it to Tucson! It is amazingly beautiful out here! The following is a recap our crazy, yet exciting, December :)

In the beginning of December, I was stressed to the max about completing my masters program before leaving town. I found out 1 week prior to graduation that I did NOT have to complete my internship requirement before I could graduate. Previously, I was required to complete 4 months of "internship" (my job in Tucson) before I could received my masters. This meant paying for 3 hours of tuition too. With that said, I officially received my Master of Science on December 13th! YAY! Because I found out one week before the graduation ceremony, I did not get to walk though.

Immediately following my graduation excitement, Tommy and I had to focus on packing! An empty ABF trailer was dropped off at our place in Knoxville. We packed the front of the trailer, using as little space as possible and then put up a partition (we only used 10 feet of the trailer length!). It was incredible how well Tommy tied everything down!

So, the truck was completely packed on Friday, December 19th and an ABF driver came to pick it up while we drove the dependable Camry to Atlanta for Christmas. :) It was VERY convenient!


While in Atlanta, we had a BLAST!! On Sunday the 21st, Tommy's sisters threw us an AMAZING engagement party! It was held in a completely renovated community center in There were delicious snacks, a fire place, wine, champagne toasts... it was so much fun!! We had so many wonderful friends and family come!














On Sunday, we went to Aunt Sarah's for her annual Christmas brunch. It was delicious! It is always nice to catch up with his family because they unfailingly have great stories and they love to laugh! I think their chattering volume rivals my family's! We ate so much scrumptious food during our week in Atlanta that we could have hibernated through the rest of winter! On Christmas Eve, Tommy's mom made perrogies from scratch and Aunt Annie brought over a salmon loaf and cookies! The butter I ate at that meal helped to lubricate my joints :) Then we went to a midnight mass at a monastery outside of Atlanta. It was so different from what I am used to! I really enjoyed observing and taking part in all of the Catholic rituals and traditions.

On Christmas day we went to Tommy's dad's house and cooked up ANOTHER feast! :) We had prime rib, macaroni and cheese, potatoes, green bean almondine, yorkshire pudding... Sport, the new puppy, had a BLAST at Christmas too! He and Willow became acquaintances over the week we were in Atlanta... but not quite friends :)

On December 27th, we left for Tucson on a new uneventful drive. We drove through New Orleans into Baton Rouge the first night. We then met up with my parents, Josh, Sarah, and Dom in San Antonio on the 28th. It was a random rondevous where we were all in San Antonio for very different reasons :) Sarah and Dom were there to visit friends and Dom's son Aiden. My parents and Josh were there for the Mizzou Alamo Bowl game, and Tommy and I were there on our way across the country. We then travelled into Las Cruces, New Mexico the next evening and then into Tucson the next day.

We finally got to see our new home in person, and we were VERY impressed! :) We LOVE it here! The city is completely surrounded by mountains, which we can see from our townhouse. We are only 14 miles away from a state park with amazing trails through the Catalina Mountains. It is very surreal. We equated it to being on the moon because the landscape is SSOOO different from what we are used to. Here are some pictures of our place through a progression. When we finish unpacking, we'll take pictures of the final product.


















Well, I'm off to bed because my first day of work is tomorrow! Have a good week and we miss everyone dearly! :)

Love,
Emily