An Official "Detroiter"

I can’t believe we’ve been here for a week already! On one hand it seems like we just pulled into town, but on the other,  I’m much more content…it feels like we have picked up just where we had left off last time we were here!

 

My last post was on my first day of therapy so with this one, I’m just going to recap the rest of the week. I have therapy on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday…leaving Thursday and the weekends for my days of play. For therapy this past week, we really focused on getting back into the game and working on some core things – balance, posture, my horrible, winging scapulas, weight bearing, back extensors, and triceps. All things I lack great strength in…but hey that’s why I’m here, right?

 

It is so great to be back at CSCIR and although things have changed, surprisingly it is still quite the same. The big change for me is that instead of working mainly with just one therapist, they now work in stations so every hour I get to work with someone new. It’s different, but I think I like it – you get to know more people plus you are subjected to working with people with different strengths and weaknesses…all in all, I think it’s a win-win situation.

 

Sessions are still three hour long, but on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Fridays I will come in early to get on the leg bike for a nice, little warm-up.

For my day off this week, Mom and I hit up the Tigers game Thursday afternoon. Our apartment is just blocks away from Comerica Park and so I hope to hit up as many games as possible. We played the Angels, but unfortunately didn’t make it out with a W for the afternoon. Although we didn’t win, I still had a great time…I just love the atmosphere at the ballpark and if the game isn’t good, the people watching always is!!

This weekend, we really just hung out and did some relaxing. On Saturday, we took a stroll down in our old neighborhood, stopping for brunch at the Hudson Café, and today we hit up church and then made our way down to Vicenté’s Cuban Cuisine and made a brief stop at Campus Martius.

Our church we have been going to is St. Aloysius’s Parish and is actually just right down the street from our apartment building. From the outside it is a conspicuous building that blends in with all of the wall-to-wall building on the block, but as soon as you walk in the doors, you are dumbfounded. It is one of the most beautiful churches I have ever been in! Although it is not very wide, it is three stories tall (all with views of the same altar) and is wall-to-wall marble.

Mass is great as always, but what I love the most is the music…Just think, your traditional Catholic hymns mixed with a Motown flair! It just wants to make you clap your hands and sway to the rhythm.

We finished off the afternoon by sitting by the pool and reading our books. It was a perfect Sunday and is the perfect catalyst I need to start a great week!

If I don’t write before then, I hope you all have a fabulous and safe 4^th of July!! Here's a taste of the fireworks we had on Monday evening!

#TBW Let's Go Tigers

Eeek! I just realized this evening that I forgot to post a #TBW picture on Wednesday...so here's the scoop - since I spent yesterday afternoon at Comerica Park watching the Tigers play the Angels, I thought why not show you a picture from my first Tigers game!



I love a good day at the ballpark...I mean who doesn't love hotdogs, beer, and America's favorite pastime!

First Day in the Books

This morning I was up bright and early with a tummy full of anticipation! I was like a kid getting ready for the first day of school, however for me; it was my first day of physical therapy.

I wasn’t nervous per say, but I was definitely anxious – anxious to get started and anxious to see where exactly I stood. I haven’t been involved in this type of intense physical therapy since 2010 and so I was hoping I hadn’t regressed too much. Thankfully, I hadn’t.

 

We began with my evaluation – I’ve got good range of motion, decent balance, my hip flexors are firing…as well as my gluts, and some decent strength in my arms. I was quite pleased! Nonetheless, my goals for my time here is to really work on my balance, my, core and my transfers so guess what we worked on for the next two hours? Abs, scaps, back, and much, much more. Plus I got to stand for about 25 minutes or so.

All in all, it was a pretty successful day, but I knew it would be. Our stay thus far has been the perfect start for us – yesterday we started out our day with church then headed down to Greektown for some lunch and hit up the casino just long enough to lose $20. When we returned home, I sat out and read my book awhile and then finished up my evening with some work.

It’s been great so far and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring!

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PS – Sorry I’ve been lacking in the picture department…I promise, there will be more to come!

Life on the Road

It's official, we have arrived at our destination...Detroit, MI!

Our road trip was good...great, really. I like to think that Mom and I make an excellent traveling team with her driving and my navigating. Well, technically my navigating just involves me retelling Mom what Toots (our Garmin) has to say, but I did plan out how far we were to drive each day!

Our main stops included Springfield, IL and Kalamazoo, MI, but our journey consisted of much more than that. We experienced numerous laughs...three hours of rain...beautiful fields of corn...good food...two-lane highways...four-lane interstates...and lots of green!

After 1,098 miles on the road you would think I'd have some great photos for you, but after our stop in KC - I'm not sure I could find anything better and more humorous than this business advertisement!

                          

Nonetheless, I am more than glad to be in the city I consider to be my "home away from home."

Stay tuned for more happenings in the 313! 

#TBW Detroit Detours

The last time we drove the trip to Detroit, it started out a little bit like this one, however our first stop wasn't in Kansas City for an appointment...it was Manhattan for Tamren and Brian's wedding. 

It was a blazing hot July day back in 2010, but it was a beautiful wedding and one heck of a reception/dance! Don't believe me? Just look at today's #TBW picture below and you'll wish you were right there on the dance floor with us!

The Countdown is On!

So here’s the scoop…we officially begin our road trip to Detroit tomorrow. T-minus 16 hours, roughly. We’re making stop in Kansas City, as I have an appointment early Thursday afternoon, but after that watch out all you travelers, the Evans girls are hitting the road!

I’ll keep you posted about our journey, but I can’t help but dream of the things I will be doing while in Detroit. What’s that, you ask, well let me give just a brief bucket list for my time in the big D.

Eat at least one pizza from Supino’s (It’s to die for…I’m not even joking)

Catch a Tiger’s game

Head to Pegasus for some authentic Greek food

Spend Saturday mornings at the Eastern Market

Vicente’s Cuban Cuisine

Weekend trip to see my cousin’s family in Dayton, OH

Slow’s Barbeque (Aaaamazing!)

Celebrate 4^th of July watching fireworks on the river

Try out that Ethiopian joint in Eastern Market

Win me some $$$ at Greektown Casino

Coneys from Lafayette’s

Take in a concert (I hear Justin Bieber is coming to town!)

 

I know the majority of these things on the list have to do with food in one way or another…don’t judge, it’s who I am. I am a self-proclaimed foodie and I am proud of it, but in all reality, who doesn’t love good food?

 Nonetheless, you may be thinking that one major thing is missing from this list and you would be correct – anything and everything related to my physical therapy at CSCIR. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am to start my regiment and the list of things I hope to accomplish is long, but what it all boils down to is…when I come home on August 4^th, I hope to be a stronger, more fit, and better version of myself!

This is the Life

Last week six of us Vogel girls boarded an early flight with one destination in mind…Panama City Beach, FL. After a layover in Atlanta, we arrived in Fort Walton and loaded up our rental cars, heading to paradise.

We were there to celebrate my Aunt Jeanne’s 50^th birthday and after getting into our beachside condo, I thought that this is the perfect birthday present!

I don’t know about you, but I consider myself to be a pretty laid-back vacationer…I don’t need to be on the go all the time and am perfectly content with just hanging out on the beach all day, every day. The one thing that I am all about is the food! I love to try new things, but I only had one goal for this FL trip…fresh seafood…and let me tell you I indulged every evening!

That first evening we went out and ate some amazing seafood (oysters and cobia for me) at the Hurricane Oyster Bar followed up by a Walmart trip to get groceries and supplies we needed. After getting back from our shopping excursion and unpacking, I don’t know about the other girls, but I slept like a rock.

Our first full day was absolutely perfect! Our condo sat right on the private Carillon Beach and after a delicious breakfast, us girls made our way down to the sandy, snow-white beach. We spent the entire day by the water…catching a few rays, reading our books, and floating in the crystal blue water.  That evening we went into Panama City Beach to the Pier Walk Plaza where we did a little shopping and ate at Hook’d – a quaint little bar and grill right on the pier.

The next day was spent just as the first – on the beach. Some of us got a little too much sun on Sunday (myself included) and spent most of the day under the umbrella…but I couldn’t help think to myself that this was the life…I could literally do it every day, it was so relaxing! For Monday evening’s entertainment we headed the other way into Destin.

In Destin, we headed to Louisiana Lagniappe where we met up with some family friends who actually come out to Kansas every year to hunt. Wayne and Scott have been telling us for years that we need to come visit them in Destin and it was so nice to see them and meet both of their families! Plus we had some AMAZING food!

Tuesday was our last full day in Florida and we decided to switch it up a little bit…heading into Destin during the day so we could hop aboard a Snorkel/Dolphin Watch Cruise. It was a three-hour boat ride with two snorkel stops and a brief hunt for dolphins...however we weren’t so successful on the dolphin watch – we only saw one, plus a sea turtle. Ones better than none!

That evening we just hung out at the house – talked about our favorite parts of the trip and indulged ourselves in a few pink squirrels. I mean really, what would a Vogel girls’ trip be without them?

After some sketchy weather and two delayed flights, we arrived back in Wichita about 2am on Thursday, but despite any of that I’d say this was the perfect trip.

Next stop on the Vogel girls’ list – Viva Las Vegas!