Surprise Shower!

Last night Carlynne and some good friends had a surprise bridal shower for me. It was so fun. The theme was ‘Friends’ since I love the TV show Friends so much, and I also love my actual friends to bits and pieces. I had to guess what the theme was after my sister gave me this:


I guessed it right away. It’s a trifle made with the good stuff PLUS beef sautéed with pees and onions. Any Friends fans out there probably know which episode this is from. It’s the one where Rachel was in charge of dessert for Thanksgiving dinner, and she accidentally made half a traditional English trifle, and half Shepherd’s pie. Ew.

One of the games was for me to correctly answer a bunch of questions about Lowell. For every question I got wrong, I had to eat some of the trifle, and let me tell you: it was gross. Even the smell was enough to make one gag. (Just for the record, I only got a handful of questions wrong and I was so close for each of them!)

Carlynne reading the questions

I may look happy to be eating this. But I'm not.

Christie had to smell the stuff for herself! *gag*

All the gifts were also Friends-themed. For example, Carlynne got me classy make-up from Holt Renfrew: something Rachel would buy.


Christie and Lyndsay gave me a picture of the Rachel, Monica, and Phoebe with our heads glued on their bodies (plus lingerie).


Avery and Tara got me kitchen things which were “Monica gifts” b/c she’s a chef and LOVES cooking and cleaning (as do I).



Shareen sent me tanning lotion (b/c of the episode where Ross got ridiculously tanned) and Friends DVDs (THANX SHAR!!! Last night we watched the one where Rachel made the trifle!)


Ashley got me a gift certificate for underwear wrapped in a grocery bag, and she used a recycled card. Classy. This would be typical of none other than…Joey! And Lisa got me some lingerie, lotion, and bath wash which would also be Rachel-like.


How creative was that? I loved every minute of it! Here are some pictures of the girls!

Lisa et moi (dreading eating that trifle no doubt)

Me, Ashley, Avery, and Tara

Christie, Lyndsay, and Carlynne

Thanx girls. You rock.

Calling all Lethbridge-ites!

If you are from Lethbridge or have been there, I'm talking to you.

Think Lethbridge. Think summer.

What would you recommend doing in Lethy during the summer months? I need a things-to-do-for-fun-in/around-Lethbridge-during-the-summer list.

I know I know, I've lived there for 22 out of my 24 years, but I want your opinion.

May this famous Lethbridge Bridge inspire you.

A Glance at the Life & Times of Julie

Soooooo, upon Tracy’s request (Tracy is a faithful Julie-blog-reader and suggested that I write about what exactly it is that I do), I will sum up my academic career for you all.

I’m currently finishing my masters in Speech Language Pathology. Most people think that speech pathologists fix lisps and that’s about it. Such is not the case. It is an incredibly varied field. Sure we work with lisps, but also with:

• other articulation errors
• stuttering
• language delays (i.e. when kids haven’t picked up on plurals/past tense etc etc)
• people who have had strokes/brain injuries/have degenerative disorders and have problems understanding and/or talking (i.e. communicating)
• people with voice problems (including transgendered people: when individuals go from male to female, they need therapy to help raise the pitch of their voice. When females have sex changes, they can take hormones that lower their larynx and therefore make their voice lower. However, men already have a low larynx and it can’t be raised, so therapy helps them raise their pitch in the healthiest possible way for their vocal folds).
  
• swallowing disorders (i.e. dysphaiga)
• respiration (b/c it’s important for speech)
• *edited to add: hearing screenings & working with the deaf/hard of hearing population (duh Julie)
  

Basically we work from the lungs up. So are you catching on? It’s varied.

How did I get to this point? I did a 4 year undergrad degree in Psychology and took several prerequisite courses. The particular degree doesn’t really matter as long as you have the prerequs which are mostly in the areas of linguistics, psychology, anatomy, and stats. I also have tons of other experiences. I have:

• volunteered with Speech Pathologists
• worked with autistic children
• visited an aphasic lady weekly since my first year of University, and now whenever I go home
• done linguistics research (and published it)
• worked at a neuroscience lab
• GRADUATED in 2005
  

Now what's involved in the masters program? A STINKload of work. It's an intense course load to begin with, then throw in clinic, a thesis or "project", a ridiculous amount of reading... the list goes on. This goes on for15 months (straight) then after Christmas the placements begin. People will be done at different times, but I'll tell you about mine.

• My first placement was at an intensive stuttering clinic. LOVED IT.
• My current placement is at an Edmonton hospital (doing tons of dysphagia and adult communication stuff). Also enjoying this.
  
• My final placement is in Lethbridge with kiddies. Really looking forward to this.
  

In December I graduated and in November 2007 I will convocate and be completely finito!


Here's my challenge for you. I know it's a risky question (and if you don't know me well, you likely won't notice), but what's unusual about this picture?! (And please don't say my forehead looks square or something).

"Girl" Push-ups

The other day at the fitness centre I saw a girl do- I kid you not- this:

(my reenactment)

(?!!?!) I know there are "girl" push-ups and "boy" push-ups and I'm pretty sure that this is supposed to be a "girl" push-up. Unfortunately for this mysterious girl, though, it didn't quite turn out that way. It's more of an elbow workout if anything. Witnessing this made my day, so thank you mysterious girl! (PS- no offense if you do push-ups like this! I'm sure it's working out... something;)