Life in St. Louis

I got to St. Louis Saturday night and life has been pretty crazy since then! I woke up on Sunday morning and went to church here in Kirkwood which is where I'm living with Courtney. Her and her parents go to Greentree Community Church and I've been there once before and really like it. They started a church plant more in the city called The City Church, so hopefully we'll check that out sometime. I started my clinical on Monday morning. I didn't have to be there until 8:30 on Monday but my regular hours are 7-3:30 so that makes for an early morning! I wake up around 5 every morning and leave the house around 6:15 to get to work in time. I have to take the interstate there and then once I get to the parking lot I have to take a shuttle to actually get to the hospital! I love the fast pace of being in a major medical center and just being around so many people! My supervisor and I usually see about 8 patients a day, which might go up to around 10 once we get on more of a normal schedule. Most of the patients are in pretty serious shape so we don't do much intense therapy and usually only see them a couple times before they are discharged. The best thing about Barnes-Jewish is that it's right across from Forest Park and the rehab satellite is on the 16th floor with a great view of the park!

Here's a good view of the hospital. Basically all of the buildings in the background are part of the complex!

So far I love the city life! Probably one of my favorite things about St. Louis is Trader Joe's! Trader Joe's is a little grocery store with the most amazing food. My roommate Courtney always brings stuff back to Columbia from Trader Joe's and I beg her to share with me. I have been so excited since I found out I would be in St. Louis about living so close to Trader Joe's! Let me just tell you my first experience lived up to my expectations. I wanted to buy the whole store. I tried to be conservative but I bought all my favorite things. Dark chocolate covered pretzel thins, berry merry dried fruit mix, peppermint chocolate Luna bar, and honey wheat pretzels. Everything is amazing. Arkansas will probably get a Trader Joe's in oh about 20 years so I'm going to stock up while I'm here! Hope everyone has a great weekend!