Back to the Blog World

I have not posted in a very long time. I had decided to give up blogging because I just was not interested in keeping up with it anymore. After going back and reading my blog and after hearing a few other people tell me they wanted me to blog again, I have decided to re-enter the blogging world. I am not really sure how many readers I still have, but I am not writing just for other people to read. After going back and reading some of my older posts, I realized that blogging is a great way to document things going on in my life and things I want to remember. In order to catch everyone up on my life, I am going to write 3 different posts: one on this past spring semester, one on my summer in the Philippines, and one on things that have happened since I have been home from the Philippines. I am also going to try to give my blog a new look (with the help of my amazing boyfriend). Thanks to everyone who does read my blog and comments. Your comments mean so much to me, and I love reading them! I will use this post to write about this past spring semester.

I had made the decision before my knee surgery in December to no longer be on the track team. It was a very hard decision, but it was for the best since I would not have been able to recover in time to compete for outdoor. Because of my chronic knee pain, I wanted to take my recovery slowly and not try to rush to get back to running. Coming back to Starkville in January was hard because I was not longer on the team, I was doing physical therapy 3 days a week, and I was starting night classes for grad school. I quickly realized that I needed a part time job to give me something to do during my days since all my classes were at night. Fortunately, I found a job working for a massage therapist. It was the perfect job: I only worked 2 days a week for 7 hours each day and was able to do school work while I was working. It was a very easy job: answer phone calls, make appointments, do laundry, and clean.
I went to physical therapy 3 days a week until April. In February, I was able to start aqua jogging. It was so great to finally be able to do some exercise. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do much more than aqua jog. Even though I built up my leg muscles in PT and stretched and iced every day, my right knee still gave me a lot of trouble. My left knee healed pretty quickly, but I was still in pain in my right knee. I tried running many times, but each time was a failure. Even though it was a discouragement, I was still thankful for the ability to walk and aqua jog. My classes kept me busy all semester. It probably wasn't the best idea to take four night classes (Monday-Thursday) my first semester of graduate school, but I am thankful that I did it despite how much work it took and despite the stress. Matt graduated in May and is now in business with his brother in Birmingham. I moved out of my apartment the day after his graduation. It was really hard leaving Starkville. I loved living there during college and have such great memories from my four years there. I moved back home because I have a dietetic internship through the VA hospital that starts in October and lasts for 10 months. Here are a few pictures from last semester:

Cheering on my best friend at the home track meet

 Matt and I at a friend's wedding

(picture taken by Rebecca Long Photography)

Saying goodbye to my wonderful roommate of 3 years

Matt's Graduation