Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Happy Howlween!

Love, Lola the Lobster!

(Sorry  I had too it was just to darn cute!)

October 16th, 2010- Ashley and Mike's Wedding!

Today was a perfect day for a wedding.  I was so honored to be able to stand up in there wedding.  Sharing the day with them is a day I will never forget.  It was beautiful... and Jered looked pretty good if I do say so myself!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Bootcamp girls can drink wine too!

I just got an email from a fellow bootcamper with a photo from last Friday night... we all indulged on some great food and wine.  It's nice to have these girls for support in and outside of the gym!  It's like instant friends! 

The aftermath of Bootcamp!

Oh how I have forgotten what a 1 hour 506 calorie work out feels like... but today I am feeling the effects.  I feel like I am building endurance and strength but my body is still not recovering well after these intense work outs. 

The Trainer Frenchy is great.  She has a mix between slave driver and sweet girl from France.  She always is smiling and great at motivating!  But just looking at her body you know she knows what she is doing.  I only wish that it was a guarantee to look like her if you continued to do her workouts. 

http://www.fitpromilwaukee.com/
Check out Laure Gelis-Diaz---- she is GREAT!


I have really enjoyed the addition to my workouts recently... digging out my Polar F6 Heartrate Monitor has really given me the motivation to push myself further.  And to realize that I was not working out as hard as I was thinking I was.


so check out this MUST have addition to your gym bag!  It will really help your work outs and your motivation... I mean who doesn't like the instant gratification of seeing how many calories you are burning!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Something to be proud of...

So proud to work for The Care Center and the great people who surround me!

Article published at... http://www.waukeshanow.com/news/99868554.html?referrer=facebook


The Big Yellow House helps children in trauma


By DONNA FRAKE


For the children – The Big Yellow House, 726 N. East Ave., Waukesha, is home to CARE (Child Advocacy Resources and Empowerment) Center and Children’s Place. Both agencies focus on working with children that have suffered trauma.

For the children – The Big Yellow House, 726 N. East Ave., Waukesha, is home to CARE (Child Advocacy Resources and Empowerment) Center and Children’s Place. Both agencies focus on working with children that have suffered trauma.

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Sometimes it's the scars you cannot see that hurt the most.

For children in Waukesha County who have been victims of trauma, including physical, emotional and sexual assault, there is a local facility that serves those suffering from abusive experiences and offers help to cope with the aftermath of discovery.

Located in Waukesha at 726 N. East Ave., the Big Yellow House stands as a refuge for those victims. Its brightly colored rooms and child-centered focus offer a protective environment and ensures that appropriate services are readily available.

"The Big Yellow House houses both the CARE (Child Advocacy Resources and Empowerment) Center and Children's Place. Both focus on working with children that have suffered trauma," explained Director Faith Holley-Beal.

Getting past trauma

The CARE Center organizes the response of medical, legal, law enforcement and social services to ensure that child victims, ages 17 and under; do not have to re-live their trauma with multiple telling of the experience.

Holley-Beal said the Center's work encompasses "any kind of trauma (that) kids experience, crime that has happened, usually against the child, that law enforcement has to investigate. Or if a child has witnessed a crime, they can be brought here to be interviewed," she explained.

Recorded forensic interviews are a substantial part of the services offered at The CARE Center and are coordinated and conducted in a manner that avoids duplicate interviewing.

Those efforts were the result of a county task force recommendation to implement better methods of intervention that lessen the burden imposed by the system on child victims.

Team response

Children and families are referred to The CARE Center through the coordination of multiple agencies after an initial determination of abuse is made by law enforcement or social services.

Medical evaluations performed there collect evidence and documents injuries as part of the team response by a specially trained forensic pediatrician from Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.

Services provided at the CARE Center are free of charge; medical exams conducted by Children's Hospital are billed to the family's health insurance and the staff works to connect the families with Crime Victim Compensation to assist with payment of the exams as appropriate.

According to the website, victim support and advocacy are available as part of the team response at The CARE Center through coordination with the Women's Center. The Women's Center provides a family advocate to work with the non-offending parent.

The CARE Center is a multi-agency collaborative effort that includes the following partners: Family Service of Waukesha, the Child Protection Center of Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, The Women's Center, Waukesha County Department of Health and Human Services, ProHealth Care, Children's Service Society of Wisconsin, the Waukesha County District Attorney's Office and local law enforcement.

Counseling children

The companion service offered, Children's Place, is a counseling center for traumatized children, located upstairs in The Big Yellow House and focuses on children ages 3-13 years of age.

There are other sources of childhood trauma that the Children's Place addresses, including medical emergencies, family or community disasters or witnessing violence in their families,

"It (counseling) could be (provided due to) a family in a car accident, house fire, dealing with the death of a parent or close family member," Holley-Beal added.

"One of the things we specialize in is reactive attachment disorder," she noted, a condition that occurs when children don't establish healthy bonds with parents or caregivers, and the behavior that results from that.

One of a kind

Children's Place utilizes art therapy, puppets, sand art, and other age-appropriate tools to help children communicate.

"The Care Center served just under 300 children last year," Holley-Beal said.
"At Children's Place, because they do therapy, the number is under 200, because we're seeing the child 16-20 weeks in a row," she explained.
"We receive Medicare funding for Children's Place and we bill (patient's insurance). The majority of our clients have an income of $25,000 or less," Holley-Beal explained.
Although children seen at The CARE Center are referred to Children's Place, it is ultimately a parental decision and an insurance company may dictate a different provider, she noted.
The CARE Center staff is relatively small, with three fulltime staff, while The Children's Place has six therapists as well as administrative and support staff.
The Big Yellow House is the only facility in the county that assists victims by providing these services in one central location. The Children's Place has been providing treatment to children and families since 2004; The CARE Center opened in 2006.
The non-profit, community-based organization relies on grants and donations with United Way helping to fill in the gaps.
"It's a vital service in our community and it's important to support it with financial gifts," Holley-Beal said.

Starting Fresh

So today after being away from this blog for 2 years I decided I needed to start fresh.  I deleted the old and am going to start here...

My life has had it's up and down's and I feel that I have come out of all of it a pretty "normal" 26 year old female with passions and dreams I do not know what to do with.  So in a pursuit to find happiness and fullfillment in my everyday world I feel it's a great idea to share it with others.

So here is a little bit about me..
I am Amanda and I am 26 years old.  I will be 27 in November and seriously every birthday is getting harder.  In the last 2 years I have made many big life changes that someday will hopefully pay off.  I have quit my job (that I loved as a Child Life Specialist) and returned to school to become a pediatric Nurse.  And through the up's and downs of this process I have found that sometimes it's better to take the long road around because you never know where it may take you.



I recently moved in with my boyfriend, Jered, of a little more than 2 years.  We live in a nice apartment in a nice little community.  We are learning how to live together and make this white walled apartment our "home" together.  I could not be more happy about this important choice in my life.

(Photo taken the day we moved in)




Oh and I amost forgot the other love of my life.  Lola.  I rescued her about 3 years ago in June 2007.  She has taught me a lot about life and reminds me everyday that a little cuddle with Lola usually makes the bad of the world go away for a few minutes!  She also has more personality that really any little dog will ever need.  But Lola keep's me on my toes!





So my hopes of this blog is to share my life experiences about becoming an adult, living with the love of my life, expressing myself, losing weight, and learning to love myself because I am the only one I am going to get!