2 weeks and counting!

Plane ticket is purchased, class fees are paid!  Thank you all for your help!

We ordered Tshirts for our group    :)  -------------------------------->
And have been collecting medical supplies and supplements to take with us.  THANK YOU to Seroyal, Herb Pharm, Phoenix OB/Gyn, and Pure Encapsulations for your donations.

I still need mosquito netting if anyone has any.
We leave Friday morning, July 6th.  Keep us in your prayers!!

Another blessing!

I forgot to mention one other happy moment..

We are leaving on Friday morning, July 6th.  Unfortunately, we just got our final exam schedule and our class has 2 finals set for Friday morning.  (Acupuncture written and practical exam).

Our professor has agreed to let us take them early, and waive the "rescheduling fee" that school policy dictates.  This saved us EACH $300.

Thanks Mr. Vedeler!!

The Countdown Has Begun!

34 days until departure!!

Thank you to everyone who has been involved in helping me for this trip!  You are so generous and beautiful and I am grateful for your willingness to reach beyond yourself!!

I have bought my plane ticket (yay!) and made just over half of the tuition payments for our classes.  Mercy in Action uses the class payments to help fund their free clinics, so it goes to SUCH great use.  I still owe the balance for the classes, and need to pay that by June 6th.

Last night we had a group meeting and divided much of the medical donation supplies.  We would like to take more disposable gloves, prenatal vitamins, UA strips (urine analysis) and chux pads (things they have told us they are greatly in need of).  So if you have any inside connections for any of those, you'll be my rockstar hero!!

At the meeting last night, a fellow SCNM student and licensed midwife also came to answer questions and share her experiences with home births.  It was informative and interesting and got us all so excited to be able to assist in this amazing process! I don't yet know if I am going to specialize in practice, or what that specialty may be.  But I do know I have a tender heart for babies and the birthing process, so I just want to learn as much as I can and get as much experience as possible in all fields.  Then I will be ready when the opportunities come!

Excited and Blessed!!

Anne

Charity giving receipt

You CAN donate directly to Mercy in Action toward my class fee, so that you can get a receipt for taxes. If you would like to do this, contact me and I'll show you how.

Thank you!!  :)

May is Here!

May IS HERE!  May is when I need to make the final payments on the Philippines trip.  And then 2 months until the trip!  Between now and then I still have a 8 weeks of classes, and finals right up until the day I leave.  Yikes!

It is beginning to dawn on me that I will be gone during my ENTIRE break.  Leave the Friday of finals week, come back 16 days later on the Sunday before the new quarter begins.  I've never been away from my family that long.  Even my Africa trip was only 10 days.

I feel overwhelmed already.

I watched a youtube video today about a woman with cerebral palsy.  She was giving an inspirational speech, talking about how her life is a gift.

Her life is a gift even though she struggles.
Struggles to speak,
to walk,
to feed herself,
to get dressed.

She considers her struggles worth the price to wake up every day in God's beautiful creation.  She gives motivational speeches to remind everyone how precious life is, even if it's hard.  

Actually, on second thought, my life seems pretty manageable.


I choose today to celebrate that life is beautiful!  I choose to remember that this trip is something God put on my heart to do and it will be worth every minute and every penny.  I choose to remember that I am surrounded by amazing friends and family who are incredible and supportive and help us in so many ways.

And I may choose to bribe Brittney into doing my laundry.....

Thank you all for your prayers and love and help!!!

April Fool's Food!

This has nothing to do with school, the Philippines, or any mission trips.  BUT it may make you smile  ;)

Brittney and my mom made April Fool's cupcakes yesterday.  They are delicious cupcakes inside, but decorated on the top as spaghetti & meatballs, mashed potatoes (complete with melting butter on top) and peas & carrots.

You can't quite tell from the photo, but the "meatball" looks SO real and even has "parmesan cheese" (white chocolate) grated on top.

Hope you had a fun April 1st and had some laughs!!!  :)

Mexico or Bust!

I just got back from an amazing medical mission trip!  I joined a team of NDs and students from SCNM to volunteer at a health clinic in Rocky Point, Mexico.  It was a one & 1/2 day, exhausting turnaround trip with a great group called Naturopaths Without Borders.  It was my first time going, and hopefully not the last!!

We left on Friday night, after an already crazy-intense finals week!  I probably should have taken a nap Friday afternoon, but it didn't happen.  I drove an Excursion (borrowed because ours is at the mechanic shop -- Thanks, Lance & Penny!) and didn't know any of the people riding in my car, so it was great to chat and get to know them on the drive there!

Of course we got stopped at the border (with a big Excursion with dark-tinted windows, we kinda expected it) but fluent Spanish-speaker Maria was able to explain that our box of castor oil was NOT medicine, just helpful for the skin.  We got to the hotel about midnight, and after Charles read a few Psalms and I warned Maria that I'm a cover-stealer, we went right to sleep!

The next morning dawned bright and beautiful.  We took a quick walk on the beach, then headed to clinic.  The church hosts a variety of medical / dental clinics each month, and seems to have a wonderful relationship with the community.  NWB makes a trip about once every month.  I started out taking patient histories -- asking why they came to see the doctors, and specific questions about all their symptoms.  I had a darling teenager as a translator for part of the time, and many of the church members were there to help out as well.  Many of the patients come back every month for follow-up treatment, and are so grateful for the chance to be seen by a doctor.  Some have painful chronic conditions, some are just there for check-ups, some are quite serious and others are easy to treat, and I was humbled to be able to work with each of them.

I took vitals for a little while, then was back to patient histories.  I made the mistake of drinking a sugar-loaded Starbucks espresso double-shot at noon. (stupid, stupid, Stupid!!!)  because then I CRASHED at about 3:00.  My head started pounding, I was shaky, and I didn't care about anything except finding a dark, quiet, cool place to take a nap.  I couldn't quite remember WHY IN THE WORLD I had thought it would be a good idea come on this trip right after finals!  Unfortunately, taking a nap just wasn't an option, so I sucked it up and just quietly observed in a patient room.  After an hour or so, I felt better.

After intakes were finished, I got to sit in the patient rooms and watch the 4th year medical students assess and treat patients with the supervision physician.  They did a lot of nutrition counseling, adjustments, and acupuncture, and gave out a lot of great supplements.

After dinner at The Point (fantastic guacamole!) we headed back to Tempe, feeling exhausted and grateful on so many levels.  Can't wait to do it again!!