Busy Busy Summer

Hi ya'll! I apologize for the longggg delay between the last post and this post, but a lot has been going on! I took 2 summer courses at Gallaudet, took 4 Candidacy Examinations, my brother got married, I moved back to NC for the summer, a family reunion, and I'm currently interning at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst, NC! WHEW! Big summer!

The summer courses and candidacy exams were incredibly stressful and I rarely even saw my friends or spoke to my family during those 5 weeks. I had a lot to do at all times and the intensity of the classes and the exams was a bit overwhelming, but I made it! I was so relieved to be finished with all of that but then had to move myself home to NC. It has been very nice to be home and spend time with my family. We enjoy watching Jeopardy together every night and some nights a few other important shows (So You Think You Can Dance and Atlanta Braves baseball games, just to name a few).

Many of my fellow SLPs after finishing with our candidacy exams! We are so happy!

My brother also got married while I was still in summer classes in DC. It was an absolutely beautiful wedding!!!!! I cried entirely too much for my own good because everything was so perfect. I don't think we could have asked for a better wedding and reception. To see many, many, many photos from the wedding go to THIS WEBSITE and enjoy!

Vickie & David getting married!

Dad & I dancing at the reception

We also had a Matthews Family Reunion in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this summer over the 4th of July weekend. There were 36 of us total, which makes for a lot of chatting and catching up with everyone! I think I can speak for my family when I say that we all really enjoyed ourselves and loved being together in such a large group. We got a lot of time to talk and see the city over the weekend. I love going to family reunions to see how my cousins have grown up and visit with my grandmother and her 4 siblings! I feel so fortunate that we can all meet up like this about every 2 years. It is such a blessing!

Dad & Mom in front of the Pittsburgh skyline

I'm currently interning in the Inpatient Rehabilitation Center and Outpatient Rehabilitation Center at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst. I will be there for about 8 weeks working with patients after strokes, traumatic brain injuries, articulation difficulties, language delays, autism, deafness, and voice disorders. It has been very interesting to work "in the field" and see how speech-language pathologists really work! I get to do therapy sessions with the patients along with many other things. I will not say that this summer has ruled out my potentially working in a hospital, because it has been so interesting!

As many of you know, my mother has also begun chemotherapy again. This has been a bit of a struggle this summer, but we are taking it day by day, hour by hour, and hoping that we can knock out some more of the cancer! You can follow her updates by going to her website at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mwperryman . You can also get an email reminder of when my parents update that website by checking the box under Journal where it says "I want to receive journal update notification emails." Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as the chemo kicks in and makes her feel very sick. We can all feel the prayers and appreciate the notes, cards, emails, and guestbook entries. Thank you for all that you've done for us!

I have taken some time to visit with my NC friends this summer and reconnect with all of them. I have been to Chapel Hill several times to see some old college friends and got to relax in the mountains of NC with some of my best friends for one weekend in July. I have been so blessed to have time to visit with friends despite my busy and hectic schedule.

Maggie, Julie, Carrie, Me, & Jenny getting ready to go whitewater rafting down the Nantahala River in the mountains of NC!

As I'm sure some of you know, my brother and Vickie already have a child...a dog! His name is Fu Manchu (or as we call him, Fu) and they loved him dearly. I think they would like to show him off so I'll do the honors and put up a picture of him for everyone to see!

Isn't Fu the cutest?

Next up? I move back to Washington, DC around August 25 and begin classes and internship the following week. I will be interning at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School, conveniently located on Gallaudet's campus. I will be working with a variety of children, all of whom are deaf or hard of hearing. I am very nervous and excited about this and know it will be challenging!

Please pass along my blog website to anyone you feel would like to read it. Unfortunately, I do not have a box to check where you can receive email notifications when I update, but I will work on figuring out how to do that.

The End of the First

The second half of this semester has been full of anticipation as we all looked forward to finishing our first year of graduate school!! We have tried out best to enjoy more and spend more time together outside of school. Here are some pictures of the SLP ladies...

Cheryl and her fiancé, Michael, anticipate the arrival of their baby!

Some of the 1st year SLP ladies enjoying brunch out in DC

But most importantly.............I finished my first year of graduate school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally! I never thought the day would come where I could say that I was finished! I just checked my grades and I passed all my classes and clinic as well! Sooooooooo excited and relieved to have that behind me.

I am currently home in NC for my one week-long summer break. I start classes again next Monday (May 18) and continue in DC until June 20 or so. I will be back home in NC after that interning at the hospital here in town in the speech-language pathology unit.

Several of the girls in my program and I celebrated the end of our first year by going out to eat and heading to the DC zoo! Here are a few pictures of us smiling for the first time in a long time...



I want to thank everyone for being so supportive of me during this past year! You all mean so much to me! Thank yooooooou!!