Rays of Light

There were a number of different things that I had on my list of things to do before leaving Washington. Going on a hike was one of them. The trail that we hiked on is called Mount Storm King Trail, but this hike could be called by a number of different names. Peace. Rejuvenation. Solemnity. Oneness. Refuge. These things and more were experienced as Stephanie and I made the climb.

Mount Storm King Trail is located in the Olympic National Forest by the pristine Crescent Lake. Crescent Lake submerges approximately 625 feet in depth and stretches over 8 miles in length. Rising 2,100 feet from Crescent Lake in only 1.7 miles is the top of Mount Storm King Trail at 4,534 ft. in elevation. Due to this unmotorized lake the water remains crystal blue making the view of this lake from the top of Mount Storm King Trail breath-taking.

I took many pictures as we hiked, but here a few that tell the story of our hike pretty well.

We were greeted with rain as we arrived at Crescent Lake

Geared up and ready to hit the trail!

Beautiful moss covered foliage

As we climbed higher the rain turned into snow

While exploring off the beaten path I came upon this doe,
which allowed me to come within 5 ft of her.

The view of Crescent Lake from the top! Beautiful!

The rain stopped, the clouds broke, and the sun came out! Gorgeous!

This is where we ended our hike

Stephanie and I at the top!

The pack was drenched!

Rays of light from the sun streaming through the forest

Making it back down to the trail head

A HUGE tree along the path to/from the trail head

Crescent Lake from the dock after our hike

Stephanie and I on the water taking in the beauty and feeling rejuvenated!

A small waterfall coming down the side of the mountain

The sun setting over Crescent Lake as we drove away

As always, it was so great to be out in nature and take in the beautiful creation of Mother Earth. It really brings peace to the soul. I am grateful that the time was set aside and the sacrifices made for Stephanie and I to make this hike together. It was worth every bit of it!

Little Ryan

I came to truly feel like an aunt this past Saturday when I had the great opportunity of meeting my first nephew, Ryan. After taking one look at Ryan from a distance I immediately recognized him even before officially meeting him; he is a mini-Daniel. He's is as cute as can be too!

Ryan's mother, Vanessa, was very willing and kind to allow Daniel, Stephanie, and I to spend the day together with her and Ryan. We met up at Chuck E. Cheese's - a memorable place our Grandma Nelson often took us when we were little; it's a child's never ending playground! With 140 tokens to use on games and rides we didn't waste a minute and Ryan made sure of that! This little hyper-active 3 year old would run to a game or ride, wait until one of us put a token in for him, enjoy it for about half it's duration, and then jump off and run to another game or ride. It was non-stop fun for 3 solid hours with this little guy!









After having as much fun as little Ryan could possibly take at Chuck E. Cheese's we headed out to see the animal life at the zoo. Getting there just shortly before it closed we opted out for that adventure and spent the remainder of our time on the beach.






Saturday was SOOO much fun! I absolutely loved meeting, playing with, and getting to know Ryan as well as seeing Ryan and Daniel interact as father and son. I like to think that I have one of the cutest nephews in the world!

Too see more pictures of our adventures check them out on Photobucket!

Watch Out World, Here I Come!

I feel like I'm on top of the world! If you saw me right now, you'd find me with a perma-smile across my face. I have successfully completed and passed all of my tests, practicals, and skills to become certified as a EMT-B, Wilderness EMT, and a Medical Person in Charge. What is more exciting to me than just passing these tests is that I feel confident in my newly learned and developed skills if I were called upon to use them. There's a huge difference!

I put together a video of pictures that I took over the course of my WEMT class. It gives you a good idea of the things that we learned/did in this class. I had an awesome class with amazing instructors!

Watch out world, because here I come!

To see more pictures check out the WEMT folder on my Photobucket page (link on right).

March Challenge: Amazing Success

The Kid in Me

I recently watched a movie entitled, Three Faces of Eve, which is about the first recorded case of a woman with multiple personality disorder. In the beginning of this dated black and white movie the narrator compares having multiple personality disorder to a fat man with a skinny man inside trying to get out. In a twisted and far-stretched comparative way I have a little kid inside of me that comes out more often then it probably should. The result? A lot of FUN!

The camera ran out of memory space just moments before higher intervention was called upon to get me out of the pot. Stephanie couldn't muster up enough strength (as you could probably tell from her grunting, pulling, and twisting) so we called in Mr. Dad. After that didn't work BOTH he and Stephanie tried, but again, to no avail. Some heavy duty equipment was much needed. And who better than the Gig Harbor Fire Department? They pulled up in their big fire truck with the ambulance trailing behind to make sure I didn't sustain any injuries from the extraction of the pot. After being drug out to the front lawn where the neighbors gathered around to see what the commotion was and with a few good tools, that I don't know the names of or could pronounce, the firemen (4 of 'em) were successfully able to pry the pot off. With a good exam from a paramedic I walked away without a scratch or bruise!

Pretty good story, huh? Only if it were true.....

Stephanie was able to pull off the pot shortly after the camera cut off - it really did run out of memory. All the yanking and pulling before got me far enough out of the pot in order for me to release the suction effect it had, which then allowed me to be pot free. It was quite the trip to squeeze into that pot, get stuck in it, and then try to get out of it. Still laughing about it!

Note: Rachel, Stephanie or the pot were NOT harmed during the events of this film

Not Your Usual Presentation Topic

To end the second week of my WEMT course our instructors broke us up into 3 groups of 2 and assigned us topics on a number of different ailments that we were to present to the class. Our instructions were to make it as creative and fun as possible. Our grade depended on it. The topics that my partner Jon and I received were Hemroids and Constipation. Ummm....yeah....

We had 40 minutes of preparation to somehow make and present these topics in a creative way. This is what we came up with.

Ballad of the Constipated Pacifist

So after several trips -- just pees
I seized the pose -- I grabbed my knees
It was my last chance to poop for peace
I would mediate a vast release!

So there I sat, and there I squatted
As I struggled to get my guts unknotted
To move forward and advance that dream
Of peace support out of my seam

And then I felt within me movement
For peace I would show my approvement
Though the rabbit has the faster pace
It was that turtle did win the race...

But what came out -- I'm ashamed to say --
Was not solid on this blessed day
For on this day of global release
My body chose to blow off peace!

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Click Here to watch the video we showed
__________________________________

To say the least, our instructors had tears streaming down their faces and were rolling on the floor from laughter. Our fellow classmates also chuckled under their breath as their faces turned slightly red. Our instructors said that they will be using our poem and video in every class they teach from now on. Can you say A+ for us? :o)

Invasive

Warning: For those of you who get queasy by reading about anything having to do with blood or needles, think twice. For those of you who get queasy by looking at pictures of the like, take some thought. But for those of you who can't handle either, thanks for visiting. Please come again soon!

Today in my WEMT class we learned about Injections and IV's. We also had the opportunity to experience each of these from both ends of the needle. The injections were a piece of cake; squeeze the skin and go in at an angle. No big deal. The IV's were another story.

The instructor was very thorough in explaining, teaching, and demonstrating how to properly put an IV into somebody. We were all a bit nervous when it came to our turn to demonstrate our inexperienced ability of putting in an IV into somebody. I don't think it was so much of the fact of putting in an IV that scared me the most...it was trusting one of my classmates to put one in me that brought my heart rate up a little bit. With the several unpleasant experiences of almost fainting while trained phlebotomists incorrectly stuck me with a needle, my trust or confidence level wasn't too high with completely inexperienced and untrained individuals.

Before we began stabbing each other with needles the instructor demonstrated putting in an IV on one of my classmates who volunteered himself. He slowly showed us each step and fully explained the process. Afterwards he showed us what was happening with the needle on the inside of the vein by using a plastic wrapper to simulate the vein. While watching this unreal demonstration I began to get a bit queasy. At first I was in denial because I had just watched him do it on a human. I couldn't believe I was getting queasy watching him stick this needle into a plastic wrapper! What's up with that!?! I could feel my body temperature begin to drop but my body start to sweat at the same time. Light headedness set in. That's when I grabbed the nearest chair and sat down. Slowly but surely everything returned back to normal, for the most part. Phew!

When one of my instructors asked who didn't want to go first, my hand shot up (and was the only hand raised in the air). I needed some extra time to get myself prepared for a highly probable near-fainting experience. I know from past times the trigger points where I begin to lose it: when they miss the vein and begin digging/looking for it OR when they take the needle in and out several times. Nicht gut!

When my partner's and my turn came around (we were the very last group to go) I volunteered to stick my partner first. I didn't want to take the risk of sticking my partner while being nauseous or in a near-fainting state. To be honest, I had some anxiety with sticking my partner with a needle, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I did everything fast, smooth, and completely correct. My instructors were very impressed. When the tables turned and I was now on the opposite side of the needle my anxiety kicked in a little more. After my partner preped my arm and was getting ready to insert the needle I turned my head as a preventative of fainting, but boy did that needle hurt going in!! She inserted it very slowly which makes it so much more painful. After she got it into my arm and the climax of the pain from the insertion subsided a little bit the instructor watching and assisting said she had missed my vein and needed to pull the needle out and stick me again. (Heart rate rising).

Still looking away, my partner pulled it out and again slowly inserted the needle into my arm. It was just as painful as it was the first time. And yet again, she managed to miss my vein once more. My body began to sweat and my temperature began to drop. If something didn't happen fast I was a going to be a gonner. My instructor asked how I was feeling and after telling him he immediately stopped everything, had my partner take out the needle and put a guaze over my two bleeding puncture wounds. He did not want to take the risk of me fainting. I was grateful because I did not want to go through all the different phases that lead up to fainting - not a pleasant experience!















Left: My partner preping my arm before inserting the needle. Right: My partner's first attempt of insert the needle into my arm.















Left: Complete IV insertion done on my instructor by my partner after she tried twice on me. Right: Two small puncture wounds from needle. (The indent on the far right is a scar, the two puncture wounds are directly left of that - the two little red spots).

Again, I apologize for the sketchy pictures. They were taken on my phone camera because I still have been unable to find my real camera...

That was the excitement for the day in my WEMT course! At the end of class we had a full on scenario where we applied everything we have learned up to this point to this one scenario. I was the lead rescuer and as such felt quite a bit of adrenaline and pressure. But after going from a semi-unstable patient to one with no blood pressure, pulse, or breathing we were able to keep this patient alive and effectively evacuate him. It was the best our 6-person rescue team has ever worked together. It wasn't perfect, but it was well done. It was just awesome to walk away from the scene knowing that we have learned a lot of life-saving skills and can actually apply them effectively.

Photo of the Day

Taste the Rainbow

After a day of down pouring rain in Washington yesterday a beautiful and clear double rainbow was created. After getting out of my WEMT class and as I turned onto the on ramp to get onto the freeway this came into view. I immediately pulled over onto the shoulder and after tearing up my truck looking for my camera I had to resort to using my cell phone camera to get this picture. Amazing, nonetheless.

As I entered the freeway I could actually see the rainbow ending just on the other side of the freeway. It was kind of an optical illusion because I could see through the rainbow which made it seem like it wasn't really there. Kinda trippy. It was pretty awesome to see the rainbow almost all the way home. A manifestation of another one of God's beautiful creations!

Date: March 2, 2009
Taken by: Rachel Gillmore