Music City Trykes

Friends and family,

Do you remember receiving your first bike and learning how to ride? As the saying goes: once you learn, you never forget. But what if you were never given that chance? This is the case for many children with special needs. Limitations like poor balance, lack of motor control & coordination, muscle weakness and visual impairment exclude these kids from this childhood rite of passage.

In 2011, I became a part of a charity organization, Music City Trykes, that provides a solution for these children - customized, adaptive "Trykes." With a vast array of frame and adaptive accessory options, almost any child who would like to can ride an Amtryke®. This organization is near and dear to my heart as I have volunteered as an undergraduate student, as an AMBUCS™ scholar in physical therapy school, and now as a pediatric physical therapist.

       

While fall has just begun, Music City Trykes is already looking toward Christmas and our biggest giveaway of the year, Trykes under the Tree. At our summer giveaway, we surpassed 600 Amtrykes® that have been given away. However, our current “Wish List” still has more than 80 children who have been waiting more than a year to receive a tryke. Many of these children have never had the opportunity to ride a bicycle designed especially for them. Wouldn’t it be amazing to clear our “Wish List” this holiday season?

In that regard, I am asking for you to consider donating to Music City Trykes. All donations are tax deductible. We've set a goal this year to raise $20,000 for our annual holiday give-away event and the deadline for donations in November 8th. Donation checks made out to Music City Trykes may be given to me or mailed directly to Music City Trykes, P.O. Box 2644, Brentwood, TN 37024. You may also donate online at musiccitytrykes.org or Venmo @musiccity-trykes. Please write #bethsbuddiesforbikes in the memo line or comments.

 This year, I’m going back to the original #bethsbuddiesforbikes plan. For every dollar donated, I commit to biking for 1 minute. Last year, you all showed up in a BIG way and donated >$2000 toward this worthy cause. I can't wait to see where we end up this year. Remember, no gift is too small! Thank you all again for helping us give the gift of mobility this holiday season!

Sincerely,

Beth Smith

Adaptive Ski Week

        Instead of being in a classroom last week, I spent my whole week at Beech Mountain in North Carolina. Three classmates and I headed up Sunday morning and spent the evening under the lights skiing and snowboarding. Now maybe you are a pro snowboarder or skier, but I am NOT. It's been almost a year since I tried snowboarding for the first time. I tried to learn through what instructors like to call the "slam method". I fell over and over again, forcing myself to fall every time I picked up too much speed. This time, I decided to be a little more patient. I spent a couple of hours on the bunny hill, practicing turns and stops before heading to the green run. Every time I went down the hill, I got a little more confident. After practicing more on Monday, I finally found my snowboarding groove on Thursday. I spent run after run on the green before I braved the blue three times. I'm not a pro by any means but I definitely can say I am ready to face the hill the next time it presents itself.
       But this post isn't really about me perfecting my boarding skills. It's about all the other awesome things I got to do this week. I got to work with veterans, the visually impaired, and other people with physical and mental disabilities. The clinic I was working is one of the oldest adaptive ski clinics in the United States. Instead of thinking about what the participants can't do, it is about showing them what they can. To teach someone who never thought they could ski or snowboard how to do it was so neat. We used monoskis, biskis, standers, outriggers and tethers, but in the end, the participants got to feel the same rush of adrenaline and wind on their faces when they came flying down Beech Mountain. And that is something I will never forget!

Studying

If you didn't know, I am a graduate student. I spend most of my days, afternoons, weekends, and some nights either in the classroom or with my nose deep in a book or clicking through powerpoint slides on my computer. I have let studying become my identity.

However, is this what I should be studying? Now some of you may be saying, "But you love your program and love the profession you are preparing for." And both of those things are ABSOLUTELY true. Just the other day I felt so thankful for the place I am at in my life that I teared up just thinking about how lucky I am.

But, as a disciple of Christ, how many times have I not gone to church on Sunday mornings because I needed to study? Or, how many nights have I stayed up so late studying anatomy that my quiet time has been pushed to tomorrow (when I tell myself I will have more time)?

A friend of mine got engaged tonight. (I won't say who so she can announce that for herself.) When I think about her, the thing I admire the most about her is her faith. With every step and with every word, she lets Christ shine through her. She can quote verse after verse of wisdom found in the Book that I don't seem to be prioritizing. I can honestly say that I can't remember a time when she has had a frown on her face or when she didn't have time to talk. I strive to let my faith consume me like that.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

New International Version (NIV)

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a]may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

So, tonight, I think I will close the textbooks, turn off the tv, and open up the one Book that can reveal the true wisdom I have been seeking.

Krispy Kreme Challenge

Another item has already been checked off the list: running the Krispy Kreme Challenge

Last weekend, I took a quick trip to Raleigh, NC, to visit friends and to participate in the race. Saturday morning, it was freezing cold but we put on our running clothes, pinned on our racing bibs, and laced up our tennis shoes and headed to the bell tower (where we met up with 8,000 of our closest friends). Oh and we put on our team hats that my friend KCox designed...

For y'all who don't know, the Krispy Kreme Challenge is a 5 mile race that raises money for the UNC Children's hospital. Basically, you run 2.5 miles, eat a dozen (or as many as you can) donuts, and then race 2.5 miles back. This year, the race raised $177,000 for the hospital.

In my case, I ate 3 donuts and ran almost 4 miles of the race. Considering I hadn't run in over 6 months, I was pretty happy with completing the challenge in 1 hour and 13 minutes.

The 2013 List

So as I said in a previous post, each year, when people are coming up with their new year's resolutions, I try to come up with a list of things to do just so I keep evolving. Keep trying new things that I like to do. So here's to 2013 and all the new adventures it holds!

Outdoor Adventures!

-Go skiing

-Climb to the top of a rock wall

-Go Camping

-Go canoeing

-Take Aiden to the Zoo

SPORTS.

-Vandy Baseball game

-Vandy Basketball game √ (Vanderbilt vs. Texas A&M, 2/16/13)

-Predators hockey game

-Lookouts baseball game

-Atlanta Braves Game

Music & Arts

-Go to a concert

-Go to movies in the park

-Listen to my entire iPod w/o skips

-Use my camera at least 1x/wk

-Library 1x/wk (summer)

A Biblical Journey

-Give up Facebook for Lent

-Start going to church on Sundays

-Listen to Kairo’s weekly

-Learn 1 new verse/day/2 wks

-Join a Bible study

Try something new.

-Get Belay certified

-Read 20 new books

-Learn to kayak

-Start a garden

-Volunteer with HON

Arts & Crafts

-Rewire mom’s dollhouse

-Aiden’s book

-Beer-cap artwork

-Learn to sew on a button

-Fix up a piece of furniture

-Make a set of cornhole boards

-Complete 20 scrapbook pages

On the move…

-Bike 20 miles in 1 ride

-Run a 5k under 30 minutes

-Run 5 straight miles

-Jump rope for 2 minutes

-50 pushups in a row

-Swim 8 laps in a row

-Jacob’s ladder for 10 minutes

-Have a wellness consultation

-Take a class at the Y

-Run the Krispy Kreme Challenge √ (2/9/13)

BIG Changes

-Graduate from MTSU

-Get a grown-up bed

-Start Physical Therapy school

-Move Christine for residency

-Try a new hairstyle

-Don’t wear a t-shirt for a week

Food and Drink

-Transfer 50 recipes to cards

-Try 15 Crockpot recipes

-Visit Turtle Anarchy

-Visit the Jackalope taproom

-Go Gluten free for a month

-Eat clean for a month

-Go berry picking

-Make Homemade ice-cream
-Try 10 new beers

Fun & Games

-Play laser tag

-Go ice-skating

-Go bowling

-Play tennis

-Go putt putting

-Ride the Chattanooga Choo-Choo

-Visit the Planetarium

-Dyer Observatory

-Throw a party

-Play frisbee

For future ideas… (Things are going to be changing quite a bit this year and I want to be open to new ideas and new adventures.)

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Starting another Checkmark: Book 1

Hello again!

I was about to go to bed and then I remembered, I actually am on my way to completing another checkmark: Reading 20 new books

While packing for Raleigh last weekend (I'll update you on that trip soon), I tucked a book in my bag that has been on my shelf for a long time. Coincidently, it is called A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. It is Ishmael's autobiography of being a boy soldier in the civil war of Sierra Leone. It was such an enwrapping narrative that I read over half of it by the time I landed in Raleigh (and the other half before I landed back in Nashville). 

(http://gccblogs.concernusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/a-long-way-gone1.jpg)

To lose your family to war. To be forced into killing others, convinced it is the only way to save yourself. To watch your close friends die when you are only a child. To lose your childhood, seem to retake it, and then have it be shattered again. Each of these, Beah faced. It will remind you of the luxury we have living in a land of freedom and democracy with our wars being fought halfway around the world by those people we will likely never meet or never be able to thank. 

So if you need an eye-opener, or a sharp taste of what reality is in other countries, I would strongly recommend this title. -Beth

New Year, New List, New Checkmarks

Hello readers!

So it has been a while since I have updated the blog. We are over a month into 2013. Can you believe it!? 2013. What did you decide to do with this new year? The past few years I have tried to make a list of things I want to do during the year. It isn't set in stone but it keeps me moving forward. So needless to say, I have a new list for 2013 (It will be making an appearance soon.)

Tonight, I checked off 1 item: Going to a Vanderbilt basketball game

A family friend was not able to go to the game tonight so I ended up with two tickets right at half court of Memorial Gym in 2C. And I lucked out finding KC who did not yet have evening plans. The 'Dores beat the Texas A&M Aggies 63-56. Guess we are the team's lucky charms :P

(And a few past Vandy stars made an appearance.)

The best part of the evening with KC was listening to her catch up with a friend from Texas A&M. Long story short, KC works at a summer camp for children with special needs and her friend worked there, too. They talked about how God uses camp as a way to break you down until you cannot longer hold onto anything but Him. It was encouraging to hear them talk about how the Lord works in ways we cannot understand but trusting in Him is the only way they can live. I think I've been needing to hear this for a while and it hit me at just the right time. Now, the only question is, how will I respond?

Time to rest up for another day of CROSS-training. -Beth