My song today

I got my digits
I am so happy
Woohoo hoo hooo hooo
And now Im dancing
on my keyboard
With my fingers
who are LICENSED
Whoo hoo hoo hoo hoo
OK so Im not a songwriter.

Got my MA# (Now what do I do??)

Logged on to the DOH site today to check (for the millionth time) and--TA DA!!! My name AND my new license number are there! So now I can put it down when I sign in to all those "Advanced Training/CEU" classes I take. Oh, yes--and go to work for money...CASH money...

Greg, it's great to catch up w/you--looking forward seeing you sometime soon, I hope. And BTW, when you start massaging for class and need bodies for those journal entries, count me in--would also love to trade some Ortho.

What's up w/anybody else?

xoxox--brendalu

Somebody open the door!!!

Somebody Open the Door!
'Cause I'm bustin' outta the closet!

I've been following everyone's posts and comments, and caught up with all the older posts since Brenda forwarded me the link a couple of weeks ago (sorry Steph, I must of missed your original email). Reading all of your thoughts and dialog has inspired me to join in and take a shot at writing my own post.

I miss you guys and think about you often. I have so many fond memories of my experience during our six months together.
I remember the sunny, winter days, sitting alongside the main building (by the parking lot) and people sunning themselves during the morning break.
I remember the anatomy classroom and all of your wonderful faces (along with Adam's and Paul's). What about the bathroom doors that never closed. I could be peeing and carrying on a conversation with one of you in the hall at the same time (kind of like home).
I also recall fondly the time with you all in the bookstore between classes, looking at all the cool books and neat stuff.
The Friday morning circles have to be some of my favorite memories. Paul leading the meditation, then opening my eyes and seeing your faces and feeling the connection with you all. What wonderful times!

Having lunch with ya'll out at Blue's also provides many great remembrances. The great food, seeing Blue, talking with you guys in the warm sun under the blue winter skies.
All these memories will forever be with me.

The other day (Thursday) I realized one of the many reasons I so enjoyed eating lunch out at Blue's Cafe was the interesting conversation. I was having lunch with Marshall and some members of the Spring '07 class and the topic of conversation turned to female ejaculation, and then moved to religious fundamentalism and the resulting repression of women.. Where else could you have such a “stimulating” (pun intended) conversation like that? By the way, neither Marshall nor I were the one that brought up the first topic (just thought you should know that).

Steph---thanks so much for making this way of keeping connected possible. I love it (and you too)!
Brenda---what's the latest on Ortho and your life, my buddy? You're too cool. Love ya.
Nicole---how is your tooth? I hope we can get some people together when you're here soon. Thanks for the pics! You'll do fine on the test!!!
Jason---your reflection looked pretty bright to me while I was doing that Keg Stand (just kidding about the keg stand—that was in my wild days).
Kashmoni---Ummm. Beer!!! You're awesome. Watch out for major water snakes. I love N. Florida too
Rosalind---Namista. Stay connected.
Rayna---Glad you're staying in G'ville. Let's get our massage family together soon, maybe when Nicole is here.
Jessica---Thanks for staying in touch and the pics. Best to you and Landon.
Hope---Congratulation on your test and for all the communication and connection to us.
Jay---What's new with you? The massage you did was awesome!
Josh---Are we coming up to W. Virginia to visit you and Elisabeth or our you guys coming to visit us for the reunion? I went to give Blue a hug but Aroya was there. Will try again.
Marshall---You're a cool guy. Your thoughts, passages and quotes are awesome! Thanks for the pics. By the way, “Just when you think you've run out of time, you're done.” Charlie (and his law)

Reading all these posts brings to mind the connection of humans and that we are social beings.

You all have touched me and changed me forever and I thank you for that (how does that song Kari sang go?)

“All I ask of you, is to remember me, as loving you.” (My close approximation of that Sufi song).

Keep that special feeling of our connection in your heart,
Love your massage brother,
Greg


P.S. Just read the comments that everyone posted to Nicole's question about the test. What a great resource we have in our group! I'm going to copy those comments and review them as I study for my test next spring. The collage of people we have in our class is special and will forever inspire me.

P.S.S. Please stay in touch and those that haven't posted yet, please do.

It's just hope

I just wanted to drop a line to say, sorry I haven't been in touch personally lately. I called and have a License number now, so it is off to work I go. Been scoping out some places and am going to be working in Starke on thursdays and fridays, hopefully I will be busy, For those who do, say a prayer for me. I tell you I have been extremely stressed and I have been needing a truckload of mangos, but for some reason, there haven't been any around. Anyway just wanted to update everyone. For those who check you will also see this on our shared blog.

I would love to stay in touch with everyone, so drop me a line and let me know where you are what you are doing, if you have tested or not or just o let me know you are still out there.

So for now, miss you all, wished I could get a big hug from each and everyone, so I am sending each of you one via this message.
Love
Hope

I love Beer

Yes, I love Beer, the way it looks,tastes and smells. The way the water drops collect and run down the sides of the glass. The foamy head and clear bubbly fountain of golden brown brew. Its a wonder of humanity.

Thank YOU!

Thank you so much for all the information. After reading all that it makes me feel a lot better then I did after talking to the people that didn't pass it.
I will be back in the states on the 4th and back in Gainesville on the 6th and would love to meet at school sometime while I'm back for lunch! So we definately gotta get together!

Lots of love
Nicole

Um...Test...

So I've heard from several people that they took the test and passed it, easy as pie or whatever...However I have now heard from two people that have not passed the test and said it was very hard and had a ton of contraindications and pathology stuff on it...Please for those of you who took it, what was on it? Was it not what school got you ready for?

Lots of love
a nervous nicole

HEHE I ain't the brightest reflection on the keg!

Ok so really I am sure we all know that I am not very bright sometimes. So I just realized when I tried to post to this thing last time, I in fact started another blog, so....just disregard that. LOL So anyway I hope this thing works for me now.
Well, to give you an update, I really miss everyone,everday. My emotional attachment to people is unbelievable. It always has been. I wish I could change that but I can't. I just find myself doing and saying things that remind me of FSM days and make me smile. Someone else said it and I find myself doing it...The college of anatomists..... yeah I say that randomly to myself every now and again. I try to tell me people more on that later but they just won't have it....and maybe it was an "A" group thing but, I'll never forget my wife made me come. LOL Anyway, I hope everyone is doing great. Its great to hear that so many have passed there MAJOR Learning Experiences. I hope to get applied by the end of September and be licensed by the end of November. Congrats to everyone who passed and good luck to everyone getting ready to pass! I'll be back not often Im sure but I will be back on here. You all rock, I rock, We rock!

Turtle to some
Jason Kinn to most
Thankful for all!

My Life cont.....

Yeah it is my life and that next chapter it's here, cause I PASSED Yep that's right I am also an LMT (pending license receipt), and I am SOOOOOOOOOO glad that chapter is behind me. Thanks to all who gave me words of encouragement the last few days, it helped tremendously.

For those who have tested WE DID IT AND I AM SOOOOOOO PROUD OF US

For those who haven't tested I truly believe you can all pass this test as long as you study, you shouldn't have any problems.

I better go now. Getting ready to start the next chapter in FLUFF N BUFF'S LIFE STORY.

LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL
HOPE

I Passed, too!!!

OMG--I'm so happy! And I didn't originally intend to BE a massage therapist when I started this whole thing! Anyway, thanks to all of y'all--I really did feel like I was being angel-walked this morning--I could feel the support holding me, and also had some lovely flashbacks of school experiences as I went through the questions. Again, I'm so glad to have gone to school where we did, because I think I was awesomely prepared...(That's not to say I would have done so well without studying, but the foundation was definitely there--it was just up to me to shore it up!) Hope, I'm gonna be sending out that good test vibe to you tomorrow, Honey--you'll do great. The rest of you guys keep us posted.

lots of love to all,
brendalu, LMT pending (as soon as she gets her number!!!)

IT'S MY LIFE - NOW OR NEVER

Hey everyone,
Tomorrow is the day for me!!! Big Test day. Feeling a little apprehensive, but know that this is my time to prove myself and that I haven't wasted the last seven months of my life. I am going to go pass this thing and get it behind me. Looking forward to getting my license and starting a new chapter in my life. I know that whatever is awaiting me in the future I will face it head on in the hopes of conquering all my fears and achieving the success I know is mine.
Thanks for the encouragement from you know who you are I really appreciate it and needed it.
Love to all,
Hope

Thanks!!

Thank you to ALL my supporters yesterday, not the least Anheuser Bush for reminding me it would be a win/win situation post testing! (and it WAS!)
The test site and staff at Sylvan were really nice and the test is definitely do-able.
OK..... 100 degrees in the shade today, going to get out there early so I don't fall over from it!
PS!!!! Please send me your business cards if you want referrals. I see people from all over the state in my day and it would be easy enough to give them a card. Use my same address from school.

Ditto!

I passed too!
Now I'm going to bed. I have a headache!

oh yeah...

i passed

Help choosing an online practice test.

Hi there- It's me, Steph. I'm wondering which of the online practice test sites to choose. I know of "examreviews.com" and "massage-exam.com" but I'm not sure which is best. Anyone know of other good subscription sites?
Thanks!

hot hot hot

Hey, Alls well out at the Dirt Farm. All humans and horses are healthy. Working as a farrier this week. Super hot outside. Finished training at the clinic this week too. Hopefully I'll get my new digits when I pass the exam next week so I can really get to work.
I was arranging flowers for the spa clients rooms yesterday afternoon and saw my old rig screaming by on 235 Just laughed..... OK Monday!! I get to drink beer pass or fail so I guess I'm going into a win/win situation. Will let you know.About the beer and the test!
Finishing up some horses tomorrow and Saturday I'm assisting to teach a Reiki level 1 class at Om Yoga in Alachua. Hopefully will put me in a good place mentally for the test. See ya!

Charlie's Law

Charlie's Law

If you need something, it will come to you.

Just when you think you've run out of time, you're done.

When faced with a difficult task, start.

If at first you don't succeed, relax and you will.

You are the person you'd like to become.

Everything you do that comes from love, works.

When Life seems overwhelming, do less.

If you reach the end of your rope, let go and fly.

When you choose peace, you get peace.

Live each day as if it were your first.

When you let go, you feel joy.

-marshall

Testing, testing...

Okay--I've scheduled for next Wed (8/15) at 9 AM. I'm still having an anxiety attack from just picking the date and making it real, but I'm curiously relieved, too--now I've got motivation to study for real. And I'm really ready to get the test behind me, get licensed, and move forward (wherever the hell THAT might be!!!) Josh, Stephi, Cath, Marshall, and whoever else is taking before me--I'm looking to you all to Angel Walk me through, then I'll join the line for everybody coming up!
God, I love you guys...
brendalu

No Turning Back...

I'm taking the test on Monday at 5:00pm. I'm scared *@#$-less! The great thing is that I'll be taking it with Kashmoni, so I feel better about that. I'm definitely having anxiety about it but putting it off will only make the anxiety last longer. It won't make me study any more. Besides, I want to work ASAP because the kids are going back to school on Aug. 20th.

I'm headed out of town to visit relatives Wed-Sun and I'm taking all of my books. I'll get plenty of study time so when Monday rolls around I'll be in good shape for the test.

Josh- I'll be thinking of you on Sat. I know you'll do well on the test. I hope I can talk to you after you take it...

I'm still missing all of you!
Steph

The numbers are rollin' in...

hey, guys. Feels like my life is moving along at warp speed these days--I thought I'd have "time" once school was out, but THAT hasn't happened yet! Spent Fri-Mon. in Ortho--study gp. on Friday, Phase 6 on Sat. and Sun., and Phase 7 on Mon. To top it all off, when I got home last night and checked email, I find my app. has been processed & I have a Certificant #...suddenly, I'm feeling too little for all this! So now the pressure's really on to do some serious studying and get this test over with. I vacillate between thinking I know enough to pass and thinking I don't know jack! I talked w/Fran Oppenheimer yesterday, though, and she says we really are pretty well-prepared by FSM, and with some study and taking care not to let test anxiety mess us up, we're probably going to be okay. I just want it behind me--if it weren't $200+, I'd be tempted to take my chances--sit it right away and get it over with. Really, though, I feel like I'd better take some serious review time first. I haven't been book-studying with regularity, though I feel like the Ortho has really helped me keep the anatomy and kinesiology in mind.

The Ortho Phase 6 was incredible--it's using the principles and techniques off the body, and there were some polarity elements there. There were 8 of us as students and 2 instructors assisting Luann (they are studying for advanced instructor status). Everybody has had at least one Phase 4 class, since that's the prerequisite for taking any other classes. There was a PT there. Most of the other people there were massage therapists and some also practiced other forms of therapeutic work. One guy is a main frame programmer who loves ortho and talks about going to massage school (Marshall, I think of you). It was amazing and wonderful to be in a class working with the energetic body again. And it was so very cool to be working w/people who have been doing energy work as part of their practices for years. Also, the COOLEST part was the affirmation--both in my own body, and from my partners--that it works! I love the way this form so elegantly links the mind-body-spirit and anchors it all a functional, real, paradigm! It's like taking everything we learned in school--all the modalities and all the linear stuff and wrapping it up into one lovely, coherent package! And it's so EASY on MY body to do it!!!

Don't get me wrong--it's not all hearts & flowers--I'm struggling w/parts of it, just like I struggled w/stuff in school. There are techniques and ideas that I just don't GET, and sometimes I feel like I'm gonna get sent to the corner w/the dunce cap on my head. I get frustrated and overwhelmed and tired, but I still haven't found anything else that offers me the framework that this does. So I'm committed to plowing ahead. I gave a session to Luann for evaluation last Friday. I was scared sh****less--I haven't been practicing ortho all these months--I've been practicing massage! Then to top it off, got lost and turned up at the office a half hour late. But I "passed" and am now eligible to be an associate member of the society. I felt like I'd been promoted out of kindergarten into REAL school...

Josh, I ran a pattern for you for the test on Sat (this is what we studied in Phase 7--Distance work!) And I really, REALLY can see you doing this--take an ortho class when you can! Nicole, I also ran one for your friend's husband. Love to you all--brenda

Prayer Request

Well as some of you may know (if you have myspace) a dear friend of mines husband was cutting up this huge tree in his yard on Sunday with his brother and fell from the tree with the limb hitting him. He broke the head of his humerus off, broke his elbow and his wrist in 2 places and will be going in for orthoscopic surgery sometime this week. He also broke 9 vertebrae in his back and is in a whole lot of pain. Please...Please pray for him and his family through this very difficult time.

On another note...an update on me! I still haven't gotten my letter and I sent out all my paper work the week after school, but the mail only comes a couple of days a week here and sometimes they get pretty backed up (like in September they won't get mail for 2 weeks), so I'm just eagerly awaiting that.
As for my massaging here. I had to set up a treatment room at home, which I like a whole lot, just waiting to get a pretty carpet in there, so it warms the room a little. My first week I had two clients and then the second week I had two clients...then this week just one! I have started passing out business cards, so hopefully things will get snappin' here soon. It all has to be by word of mouth, because we really aren't suppose to run a business out of our home here, but the guy that was suppose to provide me with a treatment room is a flake and still hasn't gotten it together.
I will be flying back to the states on September 11th and would love to get together, go down the river do something with everybody while I'm back! I have a wedding to go to on September 22nd in Jacksonville, so I won't be around then but anytime before would be great!

Miss you guys!
Lots of Love
Nicole M

whew

Hello from West Virginia...
I bet nobody is wondering who this is. Well, my past weeks have involved camping, romantic evenings with Elisabeth, and tearing off a roof in Bowden in the 90 degree heat and getting sunburned and poison ivy. ...But I did finally get my test date. I'm testing this Saturday at 8:30 in Charleston (WV). I'm very excited, but a little nervous too. I have a lot riding on this. So y'all pray for me or send good energy or whatever you do... and I'll send some your way.
These past couple weeks have been the Augusta festival here at D+E. You might remember Paul talking about coming here for that... anyway it was awesome. Elisabeth and I got to go to the Irish and the Bluegrass concert. They were both a lot of fun and free since it is the 35th anniversary of Augusta.
I'll keep saying it...Brenda, you rock! It's an inspiring adventure for me to read what you're doing. It's like out of a movie or something. (to me anyway) I think about you a lot and look forward to taking your ortho workshops one day.
Miss Hope - we're doing very fine, thank you for asking... and yourself?
hey Marshall... sup bro? I can't get into your pic site. I tried the password you gave me and it's the same as the one on the blog page. Maybe I are just a dumb hillbilly, but maybe you can help me out with that. (Not with being a hillbilly, but with getting into the site...)
Love y'all
WVLOVE
If anybody goes to see Blue for lunch tell her I said hey. (and give her a hug for me if you get a chance)

new pics on my site = )

I just added the photos that Shelly gave me during school.

http://fsm.homedns.org
fsm
2007

-marshall

WHAT IS EVERYONE DOING?

Hi everyone, I am curious to know what everyone is up to!! I know that everyone is busy, but I just wanted to know what is going on out there!!!

If you post often or not at all, please post about the following:

Have you gotten your test date yet? When? Where?

How has studying been? Study groups? Who?

and the fun stuff of course.

I love checking this blog and want to hear what everyone is up to and I would love it more if everyone would let us (those who blog already) know what has been going on with them.

Okay so, if you are shy and don't want to blog, just email me at hopescents@netzero.com or mail me on myspace.
Okay I guess I will close now so you all can start blogging!!!!!!
Love and hugs, (miss you all)
Hope

oh snap... got my ATT number!

= D


(-marshall)

Study tonight?

Hay guyz!

I am about to give a massage, and after that I'd like to go down to 2nd St. Bakery and study some... so I'll be there about 6. They are open till 9pm. Call me if you want to join!

-marshall (352) 317-5709