Bobby-pin thing

I love that I have my own personal video editor...I believe he took some artistic license in this video. Thank you Matt, you're the best!

Thread those brows!

I had a new experience today! I went with my friend to a place that does threading, an ancient hair removal process from the middle east. It is pretty interesting how they do it. The clinician takes a piece of cotton thread and twists it around a row of "unwanted" hair and pulls it out. It is kind of a cross between waxing and plucking, no wax, but it removes hair faster than plucking one strand at a time. I had my eyebrows done for about $5.00 and it took about 2 minutes per eyebrow. I am not a maintenance person, but I think I could do this. I don't think it hurt any more than waxing or plucking, but it did feel a little different...hard to explain this unique feeling. I would definitely recommend it. I put a picture here so you can visualize what it really is.


So now, I would like some feed back from anyone who has tried this. I am curious as to your opinions.

Christmas flashback

I asked my mom to send me a picture of me when I was a kid at Christmas and this is the one she came up with (her scanner is broken...I know there are some good pouting pictures out there). So this is me and my younger brother Andrew. Just for reference-sake, here is a picture of us today (I couldn't find one of just the two of us). You all know what I look like, and Andrew is the one sitting down next to the birthday cake. My how times have changed!

The Birds finally

Well, I have finally sat down to watch "The Birds" for the first time ever! I know, I know...what is wrong with me? Its not like I wasn't aware of Alfred Hitchcock, I just never really watched any of his shows. But I kind of felt like I was missing out. So, thanks to Netflix I finally got to see this classic movie.
I was not disappointed. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and felt a little creeped out at parts. I can now check this one off my list of "must sees" and move on to "Psycho."
(Yep, I haven't seen that one either)

All nighter, ugh.

So I am basically physically and mentally useless once it gets past 11:00pm. If I am out with friends it is a little different (not that I actually go out with my friends much at all...but I digress). I have always heard about people pulling all nighters to study or to do this or that. I have made attempts to do an all nighter, but I fail after 11:00pm. However last night was a do or die kind of circumstance. I had NO other choice but to stay up all night to finish a report on gastrointestinal diseases and a powerpoint presentation that I was to give to the class today. I have known about it all semester long, and just kept putting it off because I had to study for this, or work on that... you know how it goes.
So this is my all nighter story.

I am trying to hold off on turning on my heater at home for as long as possible so I can save some money on my gas bill, so my house is FREEZING! Then I get to the point where I am actually willing to turn it on, but then I remind myself that we haven't used it in a year and I need to clean the filter, otherwise the house will smell like dust for a week. So the heater stays off. Last night I put on my thermals, grabbed the heating pad and put it on my lap, then wrapped my legs and feet in a fleece blanket. (Christmas gift idea: electric blanket!) The only problem I had after that was my hands. They were so cold, and they had to be exposed to do all the typing. How sad.

I also don't like silence for too long. I like background noise and I also like watching certain shows. Well, thanks to the marvels of the internet I decided to watch a few shows online while working on my report (Matt and I have 2 monitors for the computer so this is quite nice). And now I know what you are thinking...if I didn't watch anything while working on my report it PROBABLY wouldn't have been an all nighter...but that ruins the story!

I worked and worked, and ate leftover pizza once at dinner time, and then again at 10:00pm or so. I stopped to take a shower around 11:00pm (see...my body started shutting down). I came back and was able to work until 1:00am. I had to get some sleep, so I laid down in bed and set the alarm to get up in a few hours. I got back up at 4:00am and worked till 7:00am. I finally finished, right as it was time to leave for school. Luckily I had a little time to run to Kinkos (way to expensive by the way) to make all my handouts for the class and get back to class to turn in my report and give an awesome presentation! HOORAY!

So, not quite an ALL nighter if you count those 3 hours of sleep I had, but for me...that is close enough! I am not looking forward to doing that again, but hey...for anyone who says that procrastination is not the way to go, think again! I always work best under pressure! (Of course, it is easy to say now...let's just wait and see what grade I get :)

Happy sleeping!

Ding ding ding! We have a winner!

OK, so the last post was there for less than an hour and Cristen guessed where Matt was. Either my clues are that bad, or she is that good! Either way, yes...Matt is in London, England!! The funny thing is, randomly about a month or two ago he decided to get his passport (in the hopes that his movie-deal goes through), but turns out he needed it on short notice! He found out last Saturday that he was going. He left Tuesday and will be back on Friday. Not a long trip, but he did get to spend today roaming around. I will post the other pictures soon! Thanks for playing "Where in the World is Matt?"

Where in the world is Matt?

Did you ever used to watch "Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?" I used to love it because the winner got to choose anywhere in the world to go to on a free trip. Except it always bummed me out when they picked California, or Las Vegas. Well I figured in honor of that show I have decided to play "Where in the world is Matt?" Matt has to travel occasionally for work and this time he got to go somewhere really cool! I will post a couple of pictures and some clues, then you try to figure it out! Ready? GO!

Clue #1: When I am eating an early breakfast, he is eating a late lunch.
Clue #2: It is the home of some VERY important people...
Clue #3: A very tall "guy" always has the right time
Clue #4: The only thing that is dry there is the wit!
Clue #5:
Clue #6
Clue #7:

Ok, once you guess it, let me know and I will post some of his other pictures he sent me. Aracely already knows...so, see if you can beat her to it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving today. This year my family decided to spend Thanksgiving in Utah at my mom's house. Originally the plan was for all of the kids to drive up from California together. Unfortunately at last minute one of my sisters, Natalie, could not come due to work (boo!) So our journey began yesterday (the day before Thanksgiving). My older brother, Clint, started in Santa Barbara and drove into Camarillo to pick up my sister Erika, her son Tanner, and my little brother Andrew. They the left for the ~80 mile drive to Anaheim (typically a 90 minute drive), which ended up taking about 4 hours (boo again!) *by the way, this wasn't a surprise, we are all fully aware that this is the busiest travel day of the year*. They did not get to Matt and me until 6:30PM. Now as unmotivating as it was to leave for Utah that late into the night, we really didn't have much of a choice. So on we went!
I guess the one good thing about leaving that late is that the traffic had died down tremendously! We probably only added about 30 minutes to our 10 hour drive. I drove the majority of the way, just cuz I felt like it. But Matt had to finish off the last two hours (around 2:30am-4:30am). Besides being EXTREMELY tired, it wasn't a bad drive. Most of the passengers slept through the entire drive anyway.
So here we are in Utah now. The weather is very cold, but no snow or anything. We currently have our turkey in the oven which I prepared with my mother as my sweet grandmother observed. I can't wait to over stuff myself!
Ok, so a long story about how we got here, but I have to say that I am so grateful to be with my mother, my grandmother, and most of my siblings (Natalie will be having Thanksgiving dinner with my dad :) I am grateful for my husband!! He takes such good care of me, he makes me laugh, and he gives me so much joy. Our love for one another grows each day! I am grateful that I only have 179 days until my graduation. I am grateful for good friends. I am grateful for my niece and nephews and for the joy they bring me. I am grateful for the beautiful world we live in and for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. I hope you all take time today to give thanks. Best wishes!

What blog?

So, life has taken a turn down the busy highway. There are no exits any time soon, and the speed limit is too fast to slow down. Ok, dumb analogy...but I know you can all relate. Just wanted to put a plug in for Aracely's blog...watch for some new and exciting things!

I've lost about 10 inches...

...of hair that is. I finally went for it and hacked off my hair. I have been growing it out for the last five years and I haven't had it that long since I was a kid. But unfortunately my low-maintenance lifestyle was being affected by this unruly amount of hair so it was time for it to go! I love it now, I think it is going to be a nice change.

Halloween Party

Ok so my "official" Halloween has come and gone. Last Saturday the church held their annual Halloween party and these are the nights that Matt and I love to go all out for. This year (like all the other years) we went shopping the day of the event for our Halloween costumes. Matt had the clever idea to go as a modern Caveman, as in the Geico commercials and their new sitcom.
Because we usually try to go as a couple (as in matching costumes...obviously we go as a couple) I figured I could go as a modern cavewoman. I wasn't too sure about the idea, but hey I played along. So here are a couple of pictures of Matt getting ready. He took the most work...mine was fairly simple.


And here is the final product!


Now... as for me. All I needed to do was to tease my hair, and have Matt accentuate my eyebrows and add some sideburns, I figured cavewomen weren't terribly hairy, but they had to be somewhat. So, really there wasn't too much for me to have done. That is when I realized that my major accessory was Matt himself, because frankly without him standing next to me, I just looked like a hairy woman.

I must admit that this year was still fun, we had a lot of good reactions and we won the prize for best couple costume again. But I suppose it would have been fun for me to get a little more dressed up. Matt sure did look great though!

Of course we also decorated a room for the trick-or-treaters. We went with a Haunted Mansion theme. I couldn't get a decent picture of the room with the lights off, but just imagine that it is dark, with a black light, strobe light, and there is fog coming out of the skull's eye-sockets. In addition we had the soundtrack to the Disney's Haunted mansion playing. It was pretty awesome. There were a few kids that were too scared to come in the room, so I took the candy to them. Oh, and I almost forgot the best part...a simple trick, but HIGHLY effective and HILARIOUS...hang dark sewing thread from the door. The guests can't see it when they walk in and it freaks them out when they run into it. Matt and I got a kick out of watching their reactions...usually the adults were the ones who reacted the most. What a great night. Happy Halloween!


P.S. The only casualty of the Halloween costume this year was removing the spirit gum from our faces that night. I was blindly washing my eyebrows and I grabbed what I thought was a clump of glue and ripped it off. Well, turns out it was a clump of my eyebrows glued together...thus I have a bald spot now.

60-3

My younger brother Andrew loves math...I mean LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVES math. In all his free time he thinks about it, talks about it, and will come up with math problems to solve. He in my mind is insane! But whatever, there are people in this world who love teeth...:) so we can't judge. Anywhooo.
For anyone who happened to notice in the previous post that Clint and Natalie's birthday cake the candles said 60-3 (you have to look close for the single candle lying down, but it is a minus sign) allow me to explain.
Clint turned 30 this year and Natalie turned 27. So if you subtract 3 from 60 you get 57, which is 30 + 27... Get it? Ok, so it is stupid, but we got my little brother involved in the cake and it was pretty funny. Here's to enjoying anything that you love!

A little catch-up

If I may, I feel the need to post SOMETHING! So, I figured I could just sit down and write about all the many things that are going on with Matt and I that keep so busy and away from my blog, and sometimes away from the other blogs I love to read on a daily basis!

When Matt started working at his job a few years ago there was a certain time of the year when they didn't have much to do, the time kind of dragged on, and Matt had a lot of "free" time. Well, gratefully the business is doing very well and it has shown in Matt's schedule lately. Because of the nature of his work Matt is sometimes gone ALL day, he has to travel to neighboring cities frequently (LA is a very common destination), and at times he has to leave for days. His most recent trip was to Chicago, and in a few days he will be leaving for Las Vegas. Not only is he busy on the road...but they also have to edit all this wonderful footage, so a lot of long and sometimes late days at the office. In addition to his regular job he also has his other production company that he is a partner in with his friends. They are currently in the process of speaking to some VERY big names in the movie industry. Each week they have several meetings, they get together often to improve their presentation, which includes hours of artwork, editing, storyline, etc. Here is a picture of a late night creative meeting. I know that making this movie is going to be a wonderful experience, it just takes a long time to get through all the red tape.

I am currently heading into the midterm season of school. Luckily the classes that I am taking are not uber difficult, but there is sooooo much information to remember. Take pharmacology for instance, first of all...I didn't sign up to be a pharmacist, so this isn't exactly my cup of tea. Second, do you know how "exhilarating" it is to sit and listen about ALL different types of drugs: their names, what they do, their adverse reactions, their drug interactions...just saying it all now makes me want to put a fork in my eye!! Ok, well not really, but you get my drift. Then I have a lot of pressure in my clinic. We are given a certain number of appointments and we have a certain number of requirements to fulfill, unfortunately the appointments and requirements aren't always matching up. I am running out of appointment times and have a lot of requirements left! I have project after project to complete, one of which, we found out yesterday, is a no go and we have to come up with another topic...and it is due at the end of the semester. I could go on, but I have a feeling I may lose some readers at this point.

Some good things that have happened: I was able to catch up with a friend of mine from high school at a Halloween party. Matt and I went to the beach to see our buddy Chip ride during his final day of riding his bicycle across the United States. We finished our ward road show (if anyone knows what that is like...then you know why I am so happy for it to be over!)
I was able to spend some time with my family to celebrate a couple of birthdays (Happy Birthday Clint and Natalie!).
I was able to get a 2 hour full body massage from my extremely talented sister, Erika. (If anyone is interested...let me know and I can get you her information). And I also get to spend the entire day today with Matt. Today is our annual church Halloween party and Matt and I usually go all out. Here a few pictures of the previous years. We shall see what we come up with!

Visit with Royce

This post is about 2 weeks delayed. I received a phone call one Sunday afternoon from my cousin from Utah who joined the Marines several months ago. He happened to be in Orange County for the weekend and wanted to stop by to visit! Well, I haven't seen my cousin in about 2 years and so of course I was so excited to see him. He and his girlfriend, Sabrina, came over and we spent the evening playing video games on our Wii. It was so much fun, I have really missed spending time with my cousin. We were able to catch up on our lives both past and present, and talk a bit about his future. He will be leaving for Iraq in March. Luckily for us, he is in communication so he tells me that he will be in an air conditioned building while he is there for 6-9 months. But still...eek!

The next day he visited with two of my sisters, Erika and Natalie, and my nephew, Tanner, down in Venice Beach. It was so exciting to see Royce and we all took pictures to capture this moment with him. Instead of posting all my pictures, I made a quick slide show/movie to display our visit with Royce.

Chip's last leg.

Hi everyone! Sorry my blog-brain has been on hold for a while, I have been really busy with school. But I just wanted to let everyone know that my buddy Chip (see his blog listed on the side) will be arriving in Huntington Beach this coming Saturday. If any of you have been following along you know that it has been a really long journey for him, some days were good, some were bad, he has suffered from a sore knee since Kansas and an inflamed Achilles tendon, has been practically knocked over by wind, and pulled over by the police a few times...
His adventure will come to an end this Saturday, around 3:00pm when he rides in to HB and dips his front tire in the Pacific Ocean, this time with his wonderful wife and children by his side! He has invited EVERYONE to come to be a part of this. Matt and I will are certainly going to be there, and I encourage anyone who might possibly be around this area who has followed along Chips adventure to be there also!
See ya soon Chip, keep pedaling!!!
P.S. To Tracy and kids, you have an amazing husband/dad, and he has an amazing and supportive family! You are ALL an inspiration to us. Thank you for all that you do!

I ham hungry!

Do you ever get to the point where the only thing left to eat in the kitchen lies within the depths of your pantry? The other day I knew I was going to be alone for the entire day and so as I contemplated what I would eat I started rummaging around in the pantry. I actually have a pretty good idea of what we have in there. Most of it I don't think I will ever use, but I think it is quite a waste to just throw it away. Well, I thought I would try something different. I have had this soup mix-in-a-bag probably going on 5 years or so. I always thought it might be good to try, but never had the courage to do so. Well, since I only had to feed myself, I figured that it would be a good time for the adventure!

I briefly read the directions and figured it would take about 4 hours to prepare (2 hours to soak the beans, and 2 hours to simmer) No problem, I was going to be home all day. So I began the process.

After I finished soaking the beans I went back to my instructions, and that is when I figured out why I hadn't used this soup mix in all these years. It wasn't just a soup mix...oh no... it was a "Honeybaked ham store" soup mix. Which meant, I needed a Honeybaked brand ham bone. What? A HAM bone? (Never mind the fact that it says "Ham bone" on the front label) Oh man, ok so off I went to the store. The butcher at Vons didn't carry plain ol' ham bones. Ok, so off I went to try my luck at Trader Joes. Nope, no ham bones. Now, in all my life I have never been to a Honeybaked ham store and I always thought the concept was rather ridiculous. Why is there a store completely dedicated to ham? Well, it just so happens that down the street from Trader Joes is a Honeybaked ham store. Lucky me.

Long story short, they were having a sale on soup mixes!!! Could you believe it! At first I said "no" that was the last thing I wanted! But then she explained I could get 2 mixes for $10 and get a free ham bone (which on it's own costs over $11) Ok, so I can pay LESS and get 3 things and get suckered into coming back for more ham bones or I could pay more for one thing and have this soup mix issue over with forever. Well, like any American who wants to save a buck, I did the "logical" thing!

Here lies the 2 new soup mixes that will lay in my cupboard for another 5 years!

Ok, so I got my stinkin' ham bone and I made my chili. Now after all of that I could not wait to try my little creation!
Verdict: It was way to salty...and I couldn't finish it. Ugh, so let us all learn a valuable lesson here. Sometimes those certain food items in the back of the cupboard need to stay there. I am pretty sure a kind visiting teacher gave me said food item. I think I have decided to never impose such a burden on a person. From now on, homemade cookies and holiday hand-towels are the gifts I will bestow upon my loved ones.

My rant

May I vent? I don't have children. But I am not a dummy when it comes to kids. I have younger siblings, cousins, nephews & a niece, and I used to baby-sit a lot. I realize "nothing compares to raising your own" blah blah blah...I get it. But come on...there MUST be SOME common sense in this world! I am talking about putting a child's life in danger. One of my biggest pet-peeves is when I see a parent or parents walking down the street and their young child (today I saw one who could have only been 2 years old) is walking on their own far behind the parent. The parents never look back to check on them. HELLO!! Earth to mentally-challenged "parent!" Ever think a kid might possibly step off the curb and get hit by a car? Ever think a child could get grabbed from behind (we don't live in a perfect crime-less world you know)? Ever think the child might lose sight of you by becoming distracted and then wander off?

My question is why. Why on earth would any parent allow their babies to be in such danger??? Now, before I get attacked by any parent who might be offended allow me to clarify a little further. I am not talking about a 15-year old who is fully capable of walking on their own. I am talking about children who have just learned to walk in the last year! I am talking about children who can't put a full sentence together (let alone ask for directions when they get lost).

I realize that a parent can't be everywhere at once. I realize a parent isn't always able to stop their child's bad behavior. I realize a parent does not actually have eyes in the back of their head. I understand all of that... yet I can't wrap my mind around this one. I would go nuts if I was walking down a busy street and I couldn't see my kids. I don't think I would have such a problem if the child was walking AHEAD of the parents (at least then they can keep an eye on them). So if anyone has an answer for me, please let me know! And I promise to eat my words if I EVER decide to completely ignore the fact that I have a child while I am walking down a busy street.

Yoko

Do you remember being in third grade and you were assigned a pen-pal? I distinctly remember having a pen-pal, and only corresponding a total of 2 times each. Probably not as "successful" as it should have been, oh well.

Keeping that in mind, allow me to switch gears for a moment. Back in high school I had a few classes with a girl from Japan. She wasn't technically a foreign exchange student, she was living in California to go to school, and she moved back to Japan when after she graduated. Yoko was an EXTREMELY quiet person. I sat next to her in at least 2 classes and every now and then I would talk to her briefly. Nothing too in depth, at first. Gradually we got to know each other and we decided to stay in contact after high school....Tah-dah, a pen-pal!

It has been 7 years since we graduated and we are still in contact. I just received another email from Yoko today and I got so excited to hear about her life. I sincerely hope that we stay friends for a long time.

O.M.E.H on the news

Chip and his amazing adventure for a cause was on his hometown's news. Here is the news clip they showed of him. Let's all support him!

My loved ones

At school today we discussed the care of geriatric patients. All the way from their aging process to elderly abuse. It was quite the emotional experience. But it really got me thinking about my grandparents. I very much wanted to share with anyone who cares to read, about who my grandparents are.

My dad's parents were separated when he was a young boy. The only pictures we have of them together are from when they were a young couple. For this last Christmas my dad gave each of us this fantastic picture. It was taken in one of those 1-minute photo booths. I believe my grandmother was around 17 years old, my grandfather not much older than that.

Unfortunately we didn't get to see my grandfather very often, because he didn't live near us. But our visits with him were pleasant, and as I grew older I was beginning to really appreciate him. Sadly, he passed away shortly after his 2nd wife died. I miss the fact that I didn't really get to know him as an adult. I only knew him from a child's perspective from our bi-annual visits. I do know that he was a quiet man, with an interest in engineering of all kinds. He seemed to know how things worked. He also had a beautiful train set that went around his Christmas tree (with the steam and whistle)!

On the other hand, my grandmother, Carol, was someone I knew VERY well. My family lived in her home on two different occasions. This woman truly became my mentor. She was a talented woman. At the age of 16, she was the youngest singer in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. She had a beautiful singing voice. She was also an independent caterer and cake decorator. She was able to teach me her skills in cake decorating (well, enough so that I was able to make mine and my sisters' wedding cakes). Again, sadly she too passed away after complications from her diabetes and what turned out to be mini-strokes. She died the year I got married, I wish I had her there. My favorite thing about her, was her hands. They were so small and gentle. I used to love sitting next to her and hold her hands. Her laugh was adorable! She always appeared to be a bystander, but if you paid close attention, you could see Grandma right in the middle of things. She could be mischievous if she wanted to be. She was quiet, but silly, and as her headstone reads "she gave us her all."

My mother's parents were also beautiful people.
My grandfather was a fascinating man. I refer to him as my hero. He was honorable, smart, a man of integrity, but boy did he know how to have fun...most of all he was a proud family man. It seemed to me that of all his life's accomplishments (which were many), he was most proud of his children and grandchildren. He loved his wife dearly. They were the typical old couple (she yelled at him to do something, and without knowing it he would respond...then completely ignore her....LOL) But you could see the love for her in his eyes. I will always remember how he fertilized his lawn to spell out in 4-5' letters "I love Lois" (with the "s" backwards). He too passed away from a sudden stroke about 2 weeks prior to my wedding. As with my other grandfather, I wish I had more time with him as an adult. There are so many things I could have learned from him.

Last, but CERTAINLY NOT least, is my grandmother, Lois. My grandmother (my only living grandparent) is a wonderful woman. She has always been a strong woman. She takes pride in her home and in her activities. Following a heart attack many years ago she started walking for exercise...I am telling you right now, she could walk anyone I know under the table! She has a fun attitude and such a caring spirit. She finds joy in her grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren. I have been fortunate enough to sit down with her to record video of her telling me stories of her life. Like the story of how she and my grandfather met (it was a blind date...honest! They got married 3 months later!)
I am grateful for my grandparents, yet I miss them so much. I find myself attached to grandparent-types. I love them for what they can teach me. I love them for their experience. I love them for their quiet demeanors (in spite of all that they have inside). But most of all, I love them for the love they give.

After witnessing a video documentary of elderly abuse it made me realize how precious my grandparents were to me (not that I needed to see abuse to realize it...but it reminded me). I hope you all who have someone elderly in your lives that you absorb all that you can from them. Find out who they truly are.

O.M.E.H

I know I just posted something, but as I was doing my daily perusing through blogs I found one that I think EVERYONE should know about. This man, Chip, and his family moved from Anaheim to Boise a few years ago (we miss them!!). They are an amazing family, led by probably the most patriotic husband/father. I want everyone to check out his solo bike ride from coast to coast. He is raising money for a very good cause. Please take some time to check it out, and add him to your list of blogs to check out daily too. Thanks! Good luck Chip!

Doodle-bug

My baby sister, Valerie, sent me an email today telling me that she had just "doodled" this picture today and wanted to show it to me. Ok first of all...a doodle contains stick figures and oversized flowers, sometimes a mythical creature that looks nothing like a mythical creature. Apparently my uber-talented sister thinks that her drawings are doodles, but to me...they look pretty amazing!
I decided to analyze her drawing and this is what I came up with: She is feminine and soft, she looks excited (see the grin?) and kind of focused, so this must be their first kiss together. He, although strong, looks like he really cares about her and this kiss really means something to him. Any other thoughts? Let's hear 'em.

Mind Numbing

Today was a special day for me. I have been thinking about it all summer long, and I have been telling people about it for so long, and today was the day! I gave my very first (and second) injection! My first patient was Kari. She had worked on me earlier that day... so it was quite convenient to have her in MY chair :) I wasn't too sure how confident I was about actually giving the injection, but we were all a little timid. Luckily we each had an instructor sitting right next to us (and in some cases literally holding our hands). The injections we learned were very basic, but it is still a bit intimidating to go for that first INSERTION! I am so glad that I have finally broken the anesthetic ice and I look forward to a full semester of injections! (The really fun part is...it is our class right before lunch time, so every Friday I should be eating softer foods) And for those of you who don't like "shots" just think of this as your payback. We get to LEARN on each other!!! Eek!

This is the Cypress College dental hygiene class of 2008!

I love this picture...LOL, I am so weird!

I'M GOING FOR IT!!!! Luckily the picture doesn't show how nerve-racking it is!

An interesting abstract look into our world... hope you enjoyed my adventure!

Romantic Acts, Part II

Matt is my hero!!!!! At the beginning of summer one of my instructors gave us an assignment to work on that would be due this semester. The assignment was in
pharmacology, we were each given a list of drugs (about 15) to write a brief summary on. Sounds simple, but in reality it took quite a while to do. I did procrastinate a bit, but I was working on them. Two days before they were due, I realized that I had been working on the wrong drugs! Our teacher had given us the complete list of drugs and told us to take a certain drug from each page, but I (and two other students) thought that we were each responsible for an entire page, rather than just one drug. Confusing? Yeah, it was for me too.
Well, I started freaking out! I bawled my eyes out. Here I was, two days before the assignment was due and I had to start all over. There was no hope! So, after crying to Matt for a while, HE asks me to give him a drug to work on. I was working on the laptop and he was working on his computer. He actually helped me on 4 drugs out of the 15 just that night. I am so happy!
Last night, at about midnight I finished my project, to turn in today. There is no way I would have been able to finish if it weren't for Matt.
I am truly blessed to have Matt in my life. He has always been there to help me, and he is willing to do anything to support me. I want everyone to know...Matt is my superman!

Back to school!

I must admit, I have been a lazy blogger lately. I suppose it is because there is nothing too exciting going on in our lives right now. Two weeks ago I went back to school. This is my senior year in the dental hygiene program at Cypress College. This semester I am studying: Community Oral Health, Pharmacology, Anesthesiology, Special Needs, and of course Clinic. I have been the most excited about learning about anesthesia, I have thought about it all summer long! I am sure I will do an entire blog entry on that!

As far as clinic goes, we are going to be seeing 25 patients this semester. We have 3 days that we see patients at our on campus clinic, then we have two other locations that we are rotating to. The first one is called Share Our Selves (SOS). It is a charity facility that provides dental care, medical care, clothing, and food for those who qualify. All the "staff" are volunteers who don't get paid. So we as students will go and donate our time, and in return we are lucky enough to gain the experience of working on people who may never had their teeth cleaned or worked on ever in their lives! I know that may sound disturbing but as I have to learn by working on variety of people, I don't know any other place that I may encounter such a cluster of patients in that condition...not to mention they receive a service for absolutely free. I think that when I do graduate I would like to donate some time at this facility on a regular basis.

The other clinic which we will be going to is the Rancho Los Amigos Hospital. It is the largest facility for spinal injuries. Back in the day it was a polio clinic. The patients we will be seeing will be in some way disabled, in some cases they will be lying in a hospital gurney while they get their dental work done. Again, I feel privileged to have such a fantastic facility to work in to experience something I may never have the chance to see again.

In addition to all the patients and the projects for the semester, I will also be preparing to take the National Board exam (written). So this is obviously a very big and important year!! I look forward to having the next 9 months fly by to my graduation (May 2008).

My journey through school has been long and drawn out. I will be 26 years old when I finally graduate, but I am so pleased that I have finally made it! I wouldn't have gotten this far if it weren't for my terrific husband. He has supported me and my education 100% all these years, including now that I am in a full time program and I am unable to work to bring in a paycheck. He has also sacrificed his own comfort to be one of my very first patients ever! I really do have the best support system. Thank you Matt, I love you dearly!

Big Brave Boy!

My little nephew had what is called a supernumerary tooth. Although it is an anomaly, it is not uncommon. Unfortunately, it pushed out one of his baby teeth too early and started coming through (see April 27th post). My sister wanted his extra tooth to come out before he started kindergarten this fall. Luckily I have been working for an oral surgeon so I had perfect access to a professional that would give my nephew the best care at such a young age.
I must admit, Tanner was much braver than his mom and I. We were both so nervous about the whole situation. What if it didn't go well, could he be traumatized for life? This moment could make or break his entire life's dental experiences (talk about pressure!).
We brought Tanner in first thing in the morning, gave him some nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and worked slowly to get him completely numb. Then the doctor says, "ok Tanner I am going to touch your tooth," and within seconds the little tooth was out. I am soooo proud of him, he did so well. I just wanted to share this experience with you all. Just for the record, the tooth fairy did come to visit.

Tanner's little body nearly disappeared in that chair!

Look at him grin! He is so brave!

Tanner sporting his nitrous oxide and topical anesthetic. The doctor allowed Tanner to be his own boss, so when he wanted off, he took it off, when he wanted it on, he put it on. Tanner even got a little giggly!

All done!!! What a wonderful patient. Please notice that Tanner brought his friend "Mega-man bunny." Sometimes it is nice to have a soft friend to go to.

Sea World

This Summer was spent working! Matt and I didn't have any vacation plans at all. Before school began I was anxious to "get away!" So one day, randomly, I decided that we should go to Sea World!!! It has been about 10 years since I have been, and it just sounded like a lot of fun. My older brother, Clint, has never been to Sea World (my family went there when he was on his mission to Scotland!) and he is a scuba diving instructor-so really, he already has the privilege of seeing the real "Sea World." Needless to say it was pretty clear that we had to invite him to come along! We got there early, and so there wasn't much of a crowd. We were done by 4:30 in the afternoon. It would have been nice to stay for the evening shows... but we didn't know what to do with ourselves for 3 hours. It was a fun trip, and I am glad I got to have a mini-vacation before school started! Here are some pictures!

I just love how the Beluga whales seem to smile at you!

I thought these dolphins were really cool. I learned that dolphins are actually small whales!

Matt and Clint show their excitement for sitting in the "Soak Zone" at the dolphin show.

Clint and his new friend show us their corresponding teeth!

Trainers spend the entire day working with the dolphins and whales to teach them their "behaviors"

Matt and Katie enjoying the Shamu show. Although in the "Soak Zone" we stayed relatively dry.

It was amazing to see the relationships the trainers had with the animals.

We got lucky to catch this polar bear emerge out of hiding.

I loved the penguins!! The one in the back is talking to the others!