Crown 9er

Catching Up

2009-11-22T10:03:00.001-08:00

You may be wondering what happened to me. I recognize that it has now been over a quarter of a year since my last post. I am living a fairytale life. I am trapped inside a tower and can't get out. My prince has come, but he supports me in staying in that tower, Moos tower, until I can learn all of the magical things it takes to become a dentist.

School is fine, it's not as bad as last year but I think that has more to do with the fact that I'm getting used to being beaten down everyday. I'm still trying to pace myself with twelve hour days but I'm really getting burned out. I suppose 30 credits in a semester will do that to you. There is a very good reason that interviewees only talk to fourth year students and not first and second years. I think if they did, no one would ever come to school; they would be terrified. I'm told it does get better ...it'll just get worse first with next semester and our first national boards exam. I'm shooting for next August; I've heard things get much better then.

After much pondering I've decided that my frustration cannot be avoided. Everyday I have to show up at school to learn about something I've never done before. Then we go up to lab and are expected to create the ideal of that principle. This is no exaggeration, on the first try we are shooting for something that is perfect. Day after day I come to the tower to attempt a new complicated process. Our instructors then come around, grade our product and tell us everything that we could have done better. Really though, my class has come a remarkable way in the last year. I'm looking forward to clinic when I have more than one opportunity to do each of these procedures. Granted, everything will always have a new element to it, but the entire concept won't be foreign.

I've discovered that I like running. Some days I feel like a slug, but others I find it quite satisfying. After sitting all day I crave being able to get out and move. When I was preparing for Officer Basic Camp we bought an ipod with a nike sensor. It's been a great way to run; it tracks my pace, distance and calories burned. I can then record them all on the nike website and track my progress. Like Brian, I have made great strides in my progress. I can run two miles with no problem and went for a six mile run this weekend. (My farthest run to date.) My favorite runs are those where Jason comes along and rides his bike beside me. Once the snow hits I'll probably switch back to swimming more regularly. (I'm afraid of slipping on the ice and doing something to my wrists.)

In other news we are enjoying our new home. Jason did a wonderful job picking it out. Our neighborhood is quiet and we have some great neighbors. We enjoy our new ward/congregation and are 95% settled. I figure the last 5% will probably take at least a year. I don't recommend moving in the middle of the semester, especially when you move in and the weather drops to 40 degrees. Trying to study while not knowing where your textbooks are is less than effective. This was our first year passing out candy together, we were a little concerned no one would show up but between 6:30 and 9 approximately 70 ninjas, fairies, hobos, dragons and what not came by. I'm looking forward to decorating the place for Christmas and hosting my family for Thanksgiving. The latter will probably involve somebody sitting on the floor since we should probably invest in a larger dining table. Perhaps something we didn't find next to the dumpster. (This was pre-craigslist though, it's essentially the same process.)

In other news, the crockpot has become my new best friend. Now that I definitely don't get home before seven or eight we are relying heavily on leftovers. I try and cook a few large crockpot recipes on the weekend while I'm studying and then we eat that the rest of the week for lunch and dinner. My goal is to cook a fair amount of Thanksgiving dinner that way as well so we spend less time in the kitchen and more time with family. We'll see how it goes. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. Holidays don't get any better than family and food.

Visiting South Carolina

2009-07-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

So I'm exceptionally glad I was able to visit the South. Not only because it was a wonderful opportunity to visit with family but we are also being cheated of a summer out here. I just drilled at Camp Ripley and it was about 50 degrees the entire time I was there - in the middle of July!

We drove down from Virginia to South Carolina early Tuesday and went straight to visit Grandpa and Grandma Floyd. Grandpa took us out walking along Congaree River. The city has created a beautiful walking path several miles long on both sides of the river. My Grandpa bikes and walks there almost daily - in the 100 degree weather I must admit he nearly out walked Rachel and I. I really enjoyed visiting with him and learning things I hadn't know about his past. He told us how they would make boats out of scrap wood when he was little and seal the holes with tar then float down the Congaree River.

Grandpa and Grandma took us out for some fantastic fried chicken and ice cream. Grandpa told us about his trip to see Washington DC with other World War II vets and Grandma reminded me how witty and sassy she can me. I really enjoyed her spunk.

I spent Wednesday with the Doolittles. I enjoyed seeing Brian and how excited he is to be part of the military. I was very impressed with how much he has learned and changed in the last few months. Harry, Dianne and I saw an interesting display of some of their skills at family day. The program started with a bang - literally. All of a sudden there were things being shot and lots of smoke as the troops showed how to secure an area with insurgents. I thought it was super cool to see the graduates run out of the forest and through the smoke to formation.

We met up with Brian later for some bowling and touring of Fort Jackson. I'm not so good at bowling.

Thursday Rachel and I headed over to Congaree Swamp National Park. We loaded up with bug spray and sunscreen then went exploring. It's an incredibly diverse area. The mosquitoes weren't nearly as bad as the ones in my parents' yard in Wisconsin. However, you can't hold still because there are numerous other large insects that buzz loudly in your ear. I highly recommend visiting the area, there are all sorts of lizards to see, turtles swam up to our pier from the river and the plant life is extraordinary. Some parts look like a prehistoric jungle, others appear to be scenes out of a Lord of the Rings adventure. Rachel found what we believe is a wolf spider - it was at least the size of my palm with its legs. We kept trying to get a close of picture but were very nervous since we couldn't remember if they jumped or not. All we could imagine was it jumping onto one of us so we warily photographed it and continued on. We made about a 3 mile hike along a boardwalk as well as a regular trail that led out to the Cedar Creek and Wise Lake.

Following our outdoor adventure we met up with our Uncle Joe to go visit historic homes. Uncle Joe was a career fireman so visiting homes with him is more interesting since he brings insight to the fire history of the history and is very observant of construction. We toured the Robert Mills House which was built in 1823 by Robert Mills for the Halls family. Robert Mills was one of the first US trained architects and built many public buildings and monuments including the Washington monument. Symmetry was huge during his time period. So there were fake doorways in some areas to compliment the doorway in the hall on the opposite side. I really enjoyed the order and little details in the design.

They didn't allow pictures inside the building so this site can give a little more detail if you are interested.

After our tour of the home and Columbia as narrated by Uncle Joe we met up with our cousins Sally and Jaimie for dinner. They have this fabulous tradition of eating about once a week at a delicious Vietnamese restaurant. Rachel and I enjoyed coming along and catching up. I hadn't seen Sally since I was nine and it's been about 5 years since I saw Jaimie. We also got to meet Jaimie's beautiful baby boy Preston and his father Timmy who we also enjoyed.

Friday we headed out to see Grandma Pat. We really enjoyed talking with Grandma, checking out her beautiful garden and catching up. Grandma planned a day out on the lake with our cousin Ryan and my Uncle Donny we even saw my cousin Drew with his two girls briefly. I was really excited to see Ryan since we didn't expect to coordinate schedules with him. He and his wife recently bought a boat and he graciously took us out on it. I tried water skiing as well as Rachel. We are going to blame our lack of getting up on small feet that wouldn't stay in the skis. We ate on the boat and spent the day on the water. The temperature of the air and water were both perfect. Here's a shout out again to Ryan for sharing his boat with us and to Grandma for planning it.

It's a good thing I have Jason to go back to and Rachel had military training, I'm not sure we would have returned otherwise. Thanks to everyone who hosted us and to Harry, Brian and Dianne for your time. I hope you all get to enjoy summer days full of the ones we had on our trip.

Don't Stop Until You Reach The Ocean

2009-07-11T09:28:00.001-07:00

Sunday the 28th, Rachel and I geared up to drive to Virginia Beach. We received plenty of conflicting advice from our cousins on which way to take to get there. Essentially, we were told if we valued our guts to back track, get on the freeway and avoid the mountains. I'm thinking to myself "wait a minute, I'm on a road trip and haven't seen mountains in way too long." So after leaving, Rachel and I took our chances with motion sickness and went for the mountain pass. I must say it was some of the nicest driving of the entire trip. There were certainly some hairpin turns but it wasn't like Colorado where all you see as you take that hair pin turn is a 2000 foot drop off. Plus, I was driving which meant it was more entertaining and kept me more alert compared to hours of flat countryside and straight roads.

From SC Road Trip Summer 2009

Since we drove through a few state parks along the way we made some spontaneous stops to take in the sights and some history. I didn't realize the split between WV and VA came during the civil war when West Virginia sided with the union.

Here are some markers we found on the border of the states:

From SC Road Trip Summer 2009

We were fortunate enough to take in a million wildflowers along our trip. I was surprised at how much was in bloom all over the country.

From SC Road Trip Summer 2009

Along our drive in the south there were a few opportunities to get out and see some civil war sights. Once in Virginia, we came to an area that had an interpretive trail. It told the story of civil ward soldiers through letters by Lieutenant Pryor to his family in Georgia. It was called the Confederate Breastworks and consisted of a mile long trench that had been built to fortify Fort Edward Johnson in the Shenandoah Valley during 1862. The area was beautiful and it was nice to get out and stretch. We saw our only snake of the trip there. Right at the start of the trail Rachel squealed and I just caught what looked like a black, striped garden snake slithering into the bushes from underneath Rachel's hovering foot.

From SC Road Trip Summer 2009

This is what remains of the trenches:

From SC Road Trip Summer 2009

Since I drove most of the way and took a nap when I wasn't, the trip went by pretty rapidly and then we arrived in beautiful Virginia Beach. I fell in love with the area and can definitely see why people choose to vacation and live there. Apparently it's a great place to be stationed as well since most of the residents are pro military. Woohoo for military discounts!

The first night we got there we went with Rachel's friend Misty (who hosted us) and looked at all of the battleships in port and then went over to check out retired airplanes.

After a good night's rest we set out for one of the highlights of the road trip - the beach! I can't even start to explain how I feel about going to the beach. All growing up we lived very close to the ocean and whenever I smell sunscreen it makes me happy inside and I just want to find some sand to walk in. There are "beaches" here in the midwest, but it just isn't the same without the salt and the unknown creatures of the deep lurking beside you.

We brought books, blankets, food and our sunscreen for a relaxed day in the sun. Like most days on the trip the weather was perfect - hot enough to enjoy cooling off in the water and cool enough to not worry about heat stroke. One of the advantages of staying with the locals is getting the in on where to go. Misty told us how to get to Chesapeake Beach which is typically known to only the people in the neighborhood there. Hence, we avoided all of the tourists and had a quiet day. (It was also close enough where I got my run in when I realized I had to return to the apartment for my camera battery.)

I loved the entrance to the beach - right in between some spectacular beach front homes.

From SC Road Trip Summer 2009

So there is a time of year when all of the jellyfish start spawning on the east coast. I remember some pretty horrible images of all of the ones I found on the shore as a kid. Fortunately, despite the fact that the season is near, we didn't see a single one all day.

From SC Road Trip Summer 2009

Hooray for sunscreen!

From SC Road Trip Summer 2009

After Misty got off of work we met up with her to check out another beach where we went bodysurfing. We then went out for some great seafood. The restaurant we went to served what they caught. Rachel and I tried crab, scallops, tilappia, clams etc. We really enjoyed visiting with Misty and wish her well while she is stationed there.

Next Installment: South Carolina

Road Trip To the East Coast

2009-07-08T09:43:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to visit family in the South for quite awhile now. When we found out Brian's graduation date it sealed the deal for a visit. Since Jason couldn't get time off of work to fly down I was able to devote more time to the trip in the form of a road trip. Fortunately, Rachel was able to go with me as well. I left Minnesota on June 25th and drove the six and half hours to Rachel's place in Milwaukee.

The goals for the trip were simple: see as much family as we possibly could, visit Rachel's friend Misty from Medical Corp school in Virginia, hit the beach and meet up with the Doolittle's to see Brian in Fort Jackson. Additionally we committed to running as much as possible on the trip so I could train for officer basic camp and we could control the damage the we knew good southern food would cause.

I thought I would try and do the trip in installments so it isn't too overwhelming.

Rachel and I went running Friday morning and on our way out Wisconsin stopped at the Jelly Belly factory to get the rejects, aka belly flops they sell.

From SC Road Trip Summer 2009

We then had what was supposed to be an eleven hour drive to our cousin Ami's house in West Virginia. We hit about $40 worth of toll roads. I had no idea it was going to be that bad in the midwest. We drove through Chicago, across the top of Indiana, Ohio and through Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania was much different from the others and very pretty. I hope to go back sometime with Jason and do some camping as well as historical tours. I didn't realize we were going to be driving right next to Pittsburgh. If I had found that out earlier I wonder if we would have been able to get a hold of Nate and Ellie. It would have been nice to see them to since were that close.

Unfortunately the toll road in Pennsylvania was under major construction and our exit was not labeled. We were about 40 miles past our exit when we realized we were probably off track. At that point in rural Pennsylvania you have to go about 20 miles until the next exit. When we got off this is what we found at the gas station:

From SC Road Trip Summer 2009

I'd never seen anything like it. The owner called it the widower and he had custom designed it to be a Harley Davidson/stage coach/car type of piece that apparently was going to be in a parade the next day.

So we got back on track to our cousins at about eleven pm and as we were driving along passed signs welcoming us to Maryland. Maryland? That certainly wasn't part of the plan, we just passed through the tip though as we were back tracking. If we had enough time on the trip Washington DC was only 3 hours away - maybe next time.

So we finally arrived at Ami and Anna's house around midnight. The next morning we went running true to our word. The hills were definitely different and I was sore the next day. We then went to lunch to meet up with my cousin Matt and his new wife Nicki. We were fortunate to catch Matt since he will be deployed with the National Guard soon and was only home for the weekend. We had lunch along the Ohio river? Regardless, the weather was perfect and the scenery was nice. I had some crab cakes which were fabulous. My plan was to eat as much seafood as I could stand on the trip so I was well on my well.

From SC Road Trip Summer 2009

We then drove over to my Uncle Lewis and Aunt Becky's where we enjoyed conversation and food. It was really great to see them again.

From SC Road Trip Summer 2009

Anna and Ami were great hosts. We enjoyed staying with them and getting to know their daugher Evelynn. Evelynn was one of the sweetest babies ever - she only cried when her Uncle Matt took off his hat. We're assuming she thought he was removing body parts, or she's afraid of bald men.

From SC Road Trip Summer 2009

Wendi, sorry we couldn't make it any further North. There is so much to see out East and so little time, I'm hoping we can come and visit you someday.

New Bri Tri

2009-06-07T18:05:00.001-07:00

So I completed the New Bri Tri today. Jason just got home from work and won't let me tell him about it until I blog. Unfortunately he has a valid point. If I tell the story too many times I'll never get around to writing it down.

Back in January one of my classmates Maria and I started swimming at school to survive the winter. She is an amazing swimmer who has competed heavily in the past. With all of the overachievers in dentistry it wasn't hard to find encouragement or suggestions to do a triathlon. So Maria and I decided we would set a goal and start training for the summer for our first ever triathlon. Conveniently, our suburb has a triathlon which is near by and at a time we could both go - today.

The day started at 5:30am (actually earlier if you count that I couldn't sleep last night because I was so nervous I wouldn't get up.) I went to go pick Maria up and arrived at the park at 6:45.

Although it is June we finally got some rain. So while it's been beautiful all week it was cold and rainy today. The temp outside was in the neighborhood of 50 degrees and I'm guessing the water was about 67 degrees.

We set up our transition area. (FYI this apparently is a motivating factor for the intense athletes to arrive at 5am and take the spots nearest the exit. We are not that motivated.) This involved putting out our bike and laying our towel, helmet and running clothes out. One of my friends from school let me borrow a road bike his mom had for the race - it was awesome - super fast and red.

Maria and I were in the fourth wave - after the elite athletes and men. I'm assuming this is so small people like me don't drown in the rush for the water. (They were set at 3 minute intervals.) There were probably 100 people in each of the 5 waves. Despite the cold weather, with our wetsuits it was actually pleasant to stand in the water and easy to transition to swimming.

The biggest mistake I probably made preparing for this triathlon was not swimming in my wetsuit before hand or swimming in a lake. I got caught in the middle of what is referred to as "the washing machine." There is such a mob of people that you are being grabbed from everywhere and hitting others in the process. The water already has zero visibility but now is also being agitated. I've been practicing in a pool where I can see the bottom and track where I am going. It took me almost half of the swim course to figure out what my game plan was. I couldn't swim normal freestyle because of the mass of people and I couldn't see where I was going. My goggles had fogged up a bit so even with my head out of water it was tough to see. I tried breast stroke for awhile but there wasn't the leg room and the wetsuit was too restrictive for the kicks. A ridiculous amount of energy and time was spent just trying to stay afloat. We were supposed to swim out along the buoys and then come back in an elongated U. I was finally starting to get into the groove of just pulling in freestyle (which worked well with the buoyancy of the swim suit) when I realized I was drastically off course. I'm convinced I lost at least seven minutes in my detour - I didn't make the turn and kept heading for the other shore. I'm still not entirely sure how to get into a rhythm and be able to see where you are going - next year. The good news is that there was no one for me to run into way out there. I finished and walked out of the lake to my transition site where my friends Katie and Erin from school were cheering me on. I was so disoriented from the swim it was a good thing they were there to coach me through the change. I could barely stand and kept forgetting things like drying off before getting dressed.

I then walked my bike to the mounting area and was on my way. I think I did best in this part. I ended up pacing a guy for the entire 14 miles and fortunately wasn't passed by too many people. (I know this wasn't the point - I was competing with myself. However, you know I like a little competition to keep motivated.) It started to sprinkle during the bike ride but fortunately wasn't too bad and the roads weren't wet enough to have splash from the tires. (I absolutely hate that.)

Moving from biking to running is just weird. If you've ever been on a trampoline and then tried to start jumping on the ground or running you'll know what I'm talking about. It took me at least a mile to feel like I was moving normally. I kept a slow but steady pace and met my goal of running the 3 miles without walking. It rained the entire run but it didn't bother me too much. Fortunately it only started pouring while we were driving home.

The group that did the triathlon did a nice job. All the participants were well marked and we wore chips on our ankles to record our times. (I was number 85.) The data on the chip let them know who was coming so I crossed the finish line with the announcer bellowing my name to the crowd. My time was one hour and fifty-five minutes, next year will be faster as I improve the swim. The entire experience was a lot of fun. All of the volunteers and workers were awesome, lots of encouragement from everyone along the way. (Except the swim - that's all about survival. There are kayakers out there if people need to rest on something or be saved.)

How am I feeling you may ask? Pretty good. Each event works fairly different muscle groups so it wasn't too bad to start something new and carry through with it. I have a feeling I'm going to be a little sore tomorrow, but nothing terrible. Maria and I have decided we definitely want to make this an annual event. Thanks for every one's support along the way!

Here are my stats: I came in as 289 out of 359 and 80 out of 120 females in my age group. (Like I said - next year will be better once I figure out the swim.)
Swim: 17min 48 sec
Transition one: 3 minutes 53 seconds (I thought for sure it took longer than that)
Bike: 51:28
Transition two: one minute 4 seconds
Run: 32 minutes
Total according to the posted data: one hour, forty-two minutes and twenty seconds (the clock said 1:55:33 so I don't know where the discrepancy is)

School is over... oh wait

2009-05-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

So I finished my finals on Friday. It was five finals in five days plus three more the week before. I enjoyed being done and have spent the last few days cleaning up and taking care of normal life stuff that gets put off for months at a time. Now I feel ready to relax and rejuvenate before the next semester, small problem though - school starts tomorrow at 7:30am. At first I thought two days off would be enough, currently I'm still feeling fried. On the bright side I'm hoping this semester will be less intensive. What I mean is that hopefully when I leave school I will be done for the day. Classes go from 7:30am until 5pm most days; however, they are mostly clinical so I'm hoping there won't be as much late night bookwork. If nothing else, it's only seven weeks.

It's been so long since I posted I'm not sure what I filled people in on last. In January a fellow classmate and I accepted the challenge to train for a triathlon. I have sent in my check and should be participating in the "New Bri Tri" on June 6th. It will involve a 1/2 mile swim in a lake, 13 mile bike ride and 3 mile run. I've been swimming about 3 times a week since January, the weather just got better so I've been biking to school which is about 13 miles a day. The running has been more challenging to improve in. Jason has been biking while I run to encourage me and I invested in a nike + ipod sensor which tracks my pace, runs and distance. I can at least run the distance I need to, we'll see if I can after swimming and biking too. If nothing else, I should be well prepared for my physical tests for the National Guard when I go for Officer Basic Camp in August.

This past semester has been an interesting one. While my social life and Jason's have pretty much died, we have still managed to accomplish much. My friend and classmate Priya taught me how to make some awesome indian food which has been fun. Let me just say that chili powder from the indian store is much stronger than anything you normally get at the grocery store. I have survived school for another semester and have done a few other enjoyable things. I won't put all of the details here but I learned a lot more than I expected to about making dental crowns. They are much more complicated than you can imagine. We had a simulated patient we have been working on all semester and will get to see what my lab results will be when the next semester begins.

I've spent far too much time at a desk and in front of a computer this semester. Hence, I would love to tell you more but I can't stare at this screen anymore.

Cruising Through Winter

2009-02-01T17:50:00.001-08:00

It's hard to believe that it's February. I'm not going to complain though, I'm in the middle of my first round of exams for the semester. Additionally, we finally broke out of a couple of weeks of double-digit, negative-degree weather with the wind-chill. Wearing three layers of clothing everywhere you go gets really old. I get really excited when I kind start shedding the accessory/necessities like scarves, hats and gloves. Unfortunately, it's usually April before those can be given up without worrying about frostbite.

My parents were kind enough to help us get out and enjoy the winter weather a bit more this year. Jason and I were gifted with cross-country skiing gear. I'm pretty sure more enchanted with the idea than Jason is, but at least it helps us get out in the winter. So far I've been out a few times and Jason is working on it. It was kind of awkward starting out but I feel like I'm getting it more.

We have classical skis which is a lot slower than the skate skis. Hence, it's been intimidating to go out and be smoked by the college and high school racing teams. I like it though, it's a fantastic workout which helps with the staying warm bit. In fact, regardless of the temperature I'm usually roasting by the time we are done. I still prefer going up hill and get nervous about wiping out going down hill but progress is being made. For the most part we are sticking to nearby golf courses that have been groomed until we work up the endurance to go for some longer trails that are worth the drive.

School is school. I will try and post some of the projects that we have been working on in lab. I find our new lab course less relaxing than our waxing in oral anatomy but I am certainly learning new things. So far the semester hasn't been as bad as fall was I"m sure that will change. The material is less flashy however. I don't have as many aha moments or run across information that is new and really interesting. I suppose it just feels a little on the tedious side right now. Some of that is because I'm basically taking four classes that I've been exposed to before. Granted, that still leaves eight that I haven't taken but like I said it seems to be a little on the busywork side of education at the moment. I also think it is kind of sterile and hard to be motivated without patient interaction. I would tell people I worked with that the best thing about dentistry is the people. Of course it is also the worst part of it too, but I still miss it. Oh well... next year.

Jason and I have had more time to spend together which has been nice. We went to see the Russian National Ballet perform Sleeping Beauty on Friday Night. Let me just say that I love student tickets. The performance was lovely, although I must admit the last two scenes were much better than the first. The music was written by Tchaikovsky so how could you go wrong? Several of my friends from school went as well, I enjoy sharing experiences like that with others. I'm beginning to side with the arts camp that pre-recorded music is just wrong. While the dancing was wonderful I think it lacked a certain depth without live music to adjust to the swells of the moment.

Oh, in other exciting news a friend and I are committing to doing a triathlon this summer. I haven't put my money down yet but I've started training. I am now swimming three times a week at the school (definitely not in the Mississippi). The event is a 1/2 mile swim, 13 mile bike ride and a 3 mile run. The run will take the most work for me to prepare for but the rest should be just fine. My big goal is to finish and not do something ridiculous like drown or crash my bike. It should be fun. It's June 6th if any one out there is interested in joining us.

memories

2009-01-30T19:09:00.000-08:00

So I was driving tonight and I heard this song and it reminded me of freshman year. Or maybe it was sophomore year. I don't know. For your listening enjoyment:

Happy New Year from Minnesota

2009-01-04T18:09:00.000-08:00

Someday I'm going to enjoy these holidays at the end of the year again. Over the past few years I have both dreaded and looked forward to Christmas. I think it has something to do with the fact that nine of the last ten years I have had finals in December. These usually are close to the nineteenth leaving me precious few days to do what I hate most - go shopping for gifts. (I normally hate shopping, but even more so when the freeway is backed up because everyone is going to the mall.) So I spend the first part of my break preparing for Christmas and the rest trying to catch up on everything else that has been neglected during school. It's a good thing Ting and Murphy are such good kids otherwise we'd really be in trouble. I finally got my grades back on Friday - there is room for improvement but I am quite happy with them.

School starts tomorrow and while I've had a really nice week and a half....I'm still fried. I'm usually excited and ready for new classes, right now I'm not ready to start over again. Clearly I survived last semester but it was kind of painful. Jason keeps reminding me to take it just a day at a time which is really excellent advice. Jason has been a wonderful support to me through dental school, I can't imagine going through this without him.

I spent Christmas day with my family in Madison and went cross country skiing while Jason worked at the referral clinic. Jason and I should both have skis in a couple of weeks which I am very excited about. The key to surviving the winter is to find some redeeming qualities about it. For me, I'm hoping it will be cross country skiing.

The 26th I drove back and Jason and I flew to San Antonio, Texas on the 27th. We had a wonderful Doolittle family reunion and celebrated Jason's dad's 65th birthday. I have a bunch of very sweet nieces and nephews who are definitely all boy. We went to see the Alamo, look at some missions from the 1700s and of course gorge ourselves on barbecue and tex mex. I also had the chance to see two of my good friends from my BYU days which was a real treat. One of course being the fabulous red head Stephanie. I know you are all jealous that we got to hang out. We were discussing possibilities for our Crown 9er reunion. I make it down to San Antonio everyonce in awhile due to Jason's family. So that already puts two of our members in close proximity. Otherwise the state farm in Minnesota is probably the best in the country. Would could all hang out and drink lots of milk, enjoy butter sculptures eat things on a stick. It would be lots of fun.

Now that we have seen a little bit of sun and remembered what life is like without coats we are back in MN and bracing ourselves for at least three more months of snow. I'm hoping 2009 will be a good year. I'm grateful to have a husband who loves me, a happy and healthy extended family and the opportunity to further my education. If I can keep in mind that those are more important than the challenges I foresee in the next year - life will continue to be good.

Getting My Money's Worth

2008-11-23T20:28:00.001-08:00

So when we began dental school one of our instructors told us that if we weren't being challenged we weren't getting our money's worth. Rest assured, I am definitely feeling challenged. For the last two or three weeks we have had something big due everyday. It's either been a midterm, oral anatomy test or project, a paper, written or oral quiz and/or a dissection in anatomy. I get up around 6 each morning and if I have time - do a little studying before class. I'm in class until five most days and try to study and eat over lunch. I then come home and push through some more studying until about 10pm. At that point I just have to accept that I can't do anymore that day, go to sleep and then start all over again.

I usually get between 4-8 hours of studying in on Saturdays to stay afloat. I think the worst of it is over now for this semester. I have part one and two of a final tomorrow and Wednesday. After that I should have at least five more hours a week to study and focus on my remaining classes. So with my first drill weekend I think it was a solid two weeks without any sort of a break. Trust me, this Saturday was very welcome. I don't know if I've ever looked forward to Thanksgiving so hopefully before.

Last weekend I went up to Camp Ripley for my first National Guard drill weekend. It went very well. So well in fact that I think if all of my experiences are like this one, my military experience will be quite positive. I even got paid when I was supposed to, it's amazing. A fellow classmate who I also know from church was commissioned on the same day. It was really nice to have another dental student to carpool and be new at everything with. (There are so many acronyms and bits of information coming at you it was good to have someone to conquer and divide the info with.) Coming in as an officer you start drilling without any formal training. So it was pretty awkward to be saluted while walking around and called Ma'am (I didn't learn what I was supposed to do in response until 24 hours after it started.) Being the daughter of an enlisted Marine I am well aware that there are plenty of enlisted people who resent the fact that I came in at a higher rank and know nothing about the military. So I tread lightly and will certainly not flaunt my officer status.

Minnesota isn't exactly a military hub, so buying uniforms was a bit challenging. There was a small place here in the cities where I didn't get any help picking out what I needed and they had limited supplies. I had to guess the rest of the things I needed and order them online. So Saturday morning at 4am I am trying to put my uniform on the way I think it might go. We arrived at the base at 6:30am and I think it took maybe two minutes before people in my new unit stopped me and told me that I needed to be fixed. Apparently my boots are all wrong, my top uniform too small (they don't come any smaller) I was either missing or had the wrong patches and my hair wasn't up properly. They were very helpful in correcting how to wear my uniform, but they didn't hold back that they were thinking it was a good thing I wasn't part of their unit because I would have embarrassed them. It didn't phase me too much though. I figured I would have at least one event like that and everyone was more than happy to help.

I am in a program with medical and PA students so I got to meet a few other new officers as well. Most of them were prior service so they helped fill me in a bit more in the ways of the military. I think my general responsibilities each weekend will be helping with the dental examinations. This will involve taking health histories, going through paperwork to determine radiograph and exam need as well as exposing radiographs. Since I have a hygiene background I started taking bitewings on Sunday. In a shorter day I took 119 bitewings. (Thank goodness for digital radiography.) I can only imagine what that total will be in future weekends. (Our dental unit does an average of 350-500 dental exams a weekend.) The people in my unit are great and I am looking forward to working with them. My favorite part of the weekend was attending a continuing medical education seminar on cold weather injuries. It was an hour presentation over breakfast with the MDs and other students. I really hope to keep going to those even if they aren't directly related to the care I give.

The days are a little long, I was wiped out for the rest of the week but it was definitely worth it. So far everything I've heard about the officer basic course is that it is fun. It sounds a lot like camping with my family - orienteering, navigation, tents etc. We will see.

One last note to this long post. Tuesday was the Anatomy Memorial Service. It was a service held to show appreciation to the families whose loved ones donated their bodies to be used in anatomy. I sang in the choir with the med students and enjoyed my associations with them and utilizing my talents. It was an emotional experience being able to talk to the families who came. I may dislike the formaldehyde but the learning experience we gain is essential to training our hands and minds. I feel recommitted to learning in that class when I remember the gift that people have offered to enable me to do so.

Teeth and Stuff

2008-10-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that it's been several weeks since my last post. The weeks are just flying by. Dental school is going well. I am currently dealing with a few adjustments. In the last two weeks I've had 13 credits added to my schedule. That currently brings me to 22 credits with a total of 24 to be completed by the end of the semester. The time consuming classes right now are histology, gross anatomy and biochemistry. I know you are all jealous and wish you could be in class eight hours a day with lots of studying afterward. I'm sure you will get by. My favorite class is oral anatomy. We learn about all of the tiny details of each tooth and then in lab, work on creating them from wax to internalize the information.

I've also started using the new dental simulation clinic at the school. The University of Minnesota has one of the only simulation clinics this advanced. It uses GPS technology to teach students proper ergonomics and appropriate tooth preparations for restorations. The GPS detects where the handpiece is placed and what plastic tooth material has been removed. The preparation is then simulated into a 3-D image on a computer screen which can be compared to an ideal preparation. It also offers objective grading. The experience has been pretty good. I find the computer feedback to be helpful - I just wish the handpiece wasn't so heavy.

Here is a link to a video to see what I'm talking about:

http://www.dentistry.umn.edu/news/tvspot/home.html

We started gross anatomy this past week. Yes, we do work with cadavers. We are very fortunate to have people who have been kind enough to donate their bodies to allow us to learn. It's tough work though and there is a lot of preparation involved and ridiculous amount of information learn. I'm also practicing with a choir that will perform for the memorial surface to honor the families of those who donated their bodies.

In other news I have found a wonderful opportunity for school. I will most likely be joining the National Guard later this month. It's a very family friendly and flexible option to fund school and serve the country. I will be working specifically in dentistry and the tuition benefits are good. There are a lot of details; but the basic idea is that I will be drilling once a month for the next eight years. (Four before graduation and four as a licensed dentist.) Following graduation I will continue drilling but have the option (or need) to be deployed as a dentist with the Army. If that were the case it would only be for 90 days and I can't be deployed for 18 months after that. I've put a lot of thought into it and Jason and I feel this is the best option for us. I look at it this way: I will owe my soul to somebody in order to pay for school. It's either the military for eight or the bank for much, much longer.

Jason and I had a wonderful anniversary. Autumn this year has been amazing. It is an unusally warm fall and the leaves are changing colors at a reasonable rate. (Some years they start and drop leaves within three weeks.) Life is good, albeit busy.

School Is Great!

2008-09-07T20:19:00.001-07:00

I know that some of my posts have some sarcastic undertones. However, when I say that school is going great I really mean it. I have completed two weeks thus far and am having a blast. I have met some great people in my class. One of my classmates lives a block away and I have a fantastic group of girls to carpool with. I know it's early and our class is still in the honeymoon stage of school but I think there are some really sincere and good people in it. School feels very much like home to me. Between seeing old friends and faculty and being surrounded by a bunch of super geeks like me I couldn't be happier.

Our school schedule has started out pretty light with tomorrow being our first day of class from 7:45am until 5pm. (With an hour lunch break.) By October most of our days will be like that and the material will probably start to get overwhelming. As for right now the highlight of the weeks has been waxing up teeth. we are given a stump of plastic and with wax and carving tools create an ideal tooth. The idea is that by creating these teeth we may better understand the anatomy of each individual tooth. Needless to say some people are a bit frustrated considering this is quite different than typical classes.

In other great news I finished my first 5K run yesterday. I was definitely one of the slowest runners but I finished and walked only a small bit of the route. My main goal was to finish and run most of it. I feel like I ran farther than I expected to and fortunately finished far ahead of the walkers. It was the first annual Mouths in Motion walk/run put on by the dental school student association. (ASDA) All proceeds went to oral cancer research at the U. It was great to be out for a good cause and the weather couldn't have been better. The environment was extremely positive with plenty of cheering from fellow classmates, other dental students and faculty. Our dental anatomy professor Dr. Madden pledged to contribute up to a million dollars - a dollar for each dental student that finished ahead of him. Sadly, I didn't beat him - maybe next year.

Mini Golf and the Sculpture Garden

2008-08-17T16:36:00.001-07:00

Friday night Jason and I made it to the Walker Art Museum for their summer exhibit: Walker Inside Out, Art Goes Outdoors. They are doing a miniature golf set up. Each hole was designed by an artist used an environmental theme. Materials used were either eco-friendly or made a statement about recycling, water conservation etc. We played fairly decently - no holes in one, but I did win by two strokes.

Can you find Jason?

Following our round of miniature golf we walked over to the sculpture gardens. After five years of living out here I finally got to see it all. That means another check on the list of things to enjoy out here.

Yes, that is a giant cherry on a spoon.

I think this swing/sculpture would be really cool in my backyard to be. What do you think?

As a side I'm expanding my list of things I can do. This week I successfully used a power drill without any mishaps. (Now all I have to do is learn how to use a much smaller one on teeth.) Additionally, Jason and I received a painting in a classy but battered frame when we bought our furniture. On Dianne's suggestion I found some wood putty and using my paints and skills from my art class have made it look like new.

School orientation begins in three days - I can't wait!

Back In Minnesota

2008-08-08T13:07:00.001-07:00

So, it's been a little while since I last blogged. I am going to blame that on moving and Murphy. Each time I have sat down to blog this past week Murphy came and sat on the keyboard or right in front of it. Currently, I am resting my left arm on his body and he is licking my right arm as I struggle to type over him. If you push him off he just keeps coming back.

We were able to do a few fun things before leaving Milwaukee. Here are some pictures of going out to dinner with one of the dental offices I worked at - Quinn Dental. I also added some views of my operatory. I'm really going to miss the great people I worked with at both offices and of course the windows. There are no windows in the clinics and classrooms I will be in for the next four years.

Jason and I also made it out camping. It's something we hope to do more of now that Jason actually has Saturdays off. We went to Big Foot Beach State Park. We met our goals of breaking in our new huge tent, eating smores and having a fire. We even went biking and cooled off swimming in Lake Geneva. (It's on the border of Wisconsin and Illinois.) Unfortunately it was really hot and muggy and the mosquitos were unbearable; so we bailed a night early. For car camping I thought it was a pretty lame site. There wasn't any separation from one camp site to the next. We might as well have been on a parade ground. I don't mind roughing it but I hate pit toilets. I can't help but think that something is alive down in them just waiting for me to sit down in the dark. Jason thought I was nuts, but while he was sleeping I saw the sewage guy come to clean out the pit toilet. As I was watching he pulled out his tube from the pit then took a shovel and hit it a few times. He then picked up some kind of large rodent (maybe a possum?) and dropped it off in a bucket. I'm not crazy, these things do happen and apparently often enough if he's got a bucket for it. To make things more exciting we had a woman stop at 10pm and yell at us while we were in our tents. Apparently she is a professional storm spotter (she may have been drunk or just out there) and was concerned that we were going to have torrential storms that night. (It rained but wasn't bad.) We told the rangers about in the morning, I guess we just attract some odd ducks.

We've been in Minnesota for two weeks now. It didn't take long to feel right at home. There were certainly good things that happened to us while we were in Milwaukee; however we are much happier and more comfortable here. (At least until the snow hits.) Our move went well and we had some great people help us both loading and unloading. It only took 80 minutes to unload everything from our truck and the U-Haul with the muscle we had helping us.

Our location is great. I went exploring this week and biked all the way to campus and back. It will be a bit of a haul - seven miles one way I think. I'm going to give it a go in good weather. I doubt that I will make it through the entire winter this year. The cities are a great place to bike - they keep adding all of these fantastic bike routes within the city so you can bike almost anywhere you want if you are willing. It takes Jason six minutes to bike to work and we've been able to spend lunches together before I start school.

I had a great time sharing the fabulous cities with Jason's parents: Harry and Dianne. We were able to do a fair amount. Harry was super helpful putting up some artwork and other handyman sorts of things. We did all sorts of things like furniture shopping on Monday and checking out the restaurant The Rainforest Cafe at the Mall of America. Jason started his job on Wednesday so Harry and Dianne and I went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, took a mini tour of my school and enjoyed a bit of antiquing in Stillwater.

I'm really looking forward to starting school in the next week and a half. The weather has been nice and I'm enjoying some down time before things get busy. I had an enjoyable birthday with plenty of cake, ice cream and friends we haven't seen in a year. I am also sporting a new bike helmet that I am super pumped about thanks to Harry and Dianne. I now feel that if I were to really need to use it would actually do something for me.

Happy Birthday Becca!

2008-08-03T20:36:00.000-07:00

(I wanted to just post this cute video here but I couldn't figure out how...later, later I will. For now follow the link, watch and enjoy!) ...yeah I figured it out...I'm so savvy ;)

Happy Birthday wishes to you!

Love ya!

Memories....

2008-07-27T15:09:00.000-07:00

Colette posted this on her blog:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you!

I figure hey, lets run with this and post some fun reminiscences of the good ol' days in Crown Niner and in good ol' E. Richards.

Summer Happenings

2008-07-13T16:11:00.001-07:00

Summer has finally arrived in Wisconsin. During the last month of Jason's internship he started to get weekend days off. Hence, we've been able to take advantage of many more things to do together here in the area.

Jason and I went to Polish festival on June 21st. During the summer time Milwaukee comes alive and there is a different festival every weekend at the festival grounds which are on Lake Michigan in the third ward district downtown These include major ethnic festivals like Summerfest, German, Irish and Polish festival among others. We went and watched some traditional polish dancing and of course ate pierogies, polish sausage and saurkraut. (Mmmm, I like saurkraut.) Here are pictures from the dancing, Jason couldn't get over how tall one of the dancers was. Later on in the show people from the audience got to dance a bit and I ended up dancing with the super tall guy - there must have been almost a two foot difference between us. The group was made of some pretty good and very nice dancers who came from Michigan to perform.

While Jason was at one of his last Saturday shifts Rachel and I hit the Strawberry festival in one of the local towns. There were surprisingly few strawberries at the festival. I saw an occasional booth for strawberry shortcake and I two that sold pints of strawberries for outrageous prices. Otherwise it has turned into a gigantic craft fair of sorts with music, fair food and entertainment. It was huge, there must have been well over a hundred tents with everything from homemade soap to handcrafted wood toys, purses, etc. We didn't buy much but we had fun looking at all of the artwork and just being outside.

July 4th I went out to be with my family while Jason saved lives at AEC. We went canoeing at a place a couple hours north of Madison. It's a popular spot where you start canoeing on a small river and get picked up by the dock a few miles down the river. All in all it's close to a "three hour tour" that actually only takes that long. Rachel was the skipper and through our fabulous team work we managed to avoid getting tipped out in the rapidly moving parts amongst large boulders and low overhanging branches. (Trust me, not very many people in the group could say that.) Following the trip we returned for a BBQ and fireworks that my brother Curtis made. (He also "modified" a few other fireworks.) That went pretty well, no one was harmed which was important, although we had to run and get out of the way of a few of the fireworks. Mostly it was fun to see Curtis light things and then scream like a little girl as he ran to cover.

The next day my family participated in the Sun Prairie Flags of Freedom parade. My Mom entered us for her studio and we had a fun little group going along. Rachel and I were pretending to sit for a portrait in the back of our "float" (a red pick up truck) One of the photographers had an antique camera he was using to pretend to take pictures. My sister Emily walked along as well with an empty framed around her face as a living portrait. My mom and another photographer took pictures of the crowd and later posted them on her studio website for people to come and check out. (My dad passed out flyers w/ promotionals and the website: www.suburbanstudio.com You can go under special events and type in the password "fun" to see photos. We did it to get some more exposure for the studio, and I think it was a big success. The site has gotten several hits since then and people have been calling the studio to ask about the pictures. It was also great to be out as a family supporting my mom in her new endeavors as a small business owner.

Immediately following the parade (which was at 2pm - who does that?) my parents, Emily and I drove to Milwaukee to catch the Brewers baseball game. Rachel went too but had seats with someone whe knew from the Navy. Jason was able to join us for that and we were able to watch the game from the nosebleed section. It was perfect, the length of the game was good, we got to see some good plays and we won in the bottom of the ninth against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Yesterday Jason and I went out for a fifteen mile bike ride which was quite pleasant. The weather was perfect and the trail we used is great. We had planned on going camping but with the thunderstorms lately we bailed at the last minute. So we have plans to get out before we move.

Elder Sweetpea Home!

2008-06-04T13:09:00.000-07:00

So I posted this on my redhead blog but wanted to put it up here special too...with a picture.

Today my younger brother returned home from serving a two year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As he came striding down the terminal, my mom and I began gleefully jumping up and down (yes, also clapping and screaming) while grandma stood on the sidelines shaking her head - apparently she doesn't want to claim us. Anyway, I saw coming down the escalator, a man I had never seen before, a man who had just accomplished something spectacular and he was glowing to prove it.

Just hearing him speak, you can tell how much he has grown. I'm sure he could go on for hours listing all the things he learned on his mission and how many ways he's changed physically, emotionally, spiritually not to mention all the lives he has touched. Of all the many wonderful things a mission does, changing the missionary is one of the most impressive. I myself have never served a full time mission and have often wondered what this kind of selfless sacrifice might have done for me. It takes a certain type of person to accept the intense commitment a mission requires and I never really had faith enough in myself for it. But there he is, standing with pure confidence in front of me, my little brother demonstrating what willingness to give in pure service is, and with that sparkling smile everyone knows he served well.

I recently had a discussion with a good friend about what it means to be a man. Despite my continual protests and shameless jabs, I walked away with an understanding that only the individual can decide when he truly is a man. Other people can sternly tell you, "you are now a man," but it is only when the boy himself walks the bridge to claim his manhood that it becomes real. Without question, a mission is one of the most difficult bridges but my brother crossed it, and he is now a man.

This is not the first of my family to serve a mission and it will certainly not be the last, but with each experience comes even more respect and appreciation for both my family and my church. Two years ago we sent off a 19 year old boy with a brand new suit and an eager heart and today he came home with 30 more pounds and an overflowing spirit of new wisdom and love. I stand in awe of him today, for who he is, for what he has done and for standing strong in faith. Even more, I stand in awe for his ability to do it all with such grace and then to still walk with the humility to ask what more he can do.

I love my brother. I often tell people he is the male version of me (minus the red hair), which I have always felt to be true and certainly explains our great relationship. Today, he is more than that - he is also a man and for his extraordinary example of strength I could not be more grateful.

Rubin and Ed

2008-06-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

The other day "you've got to admit that... (I don't remember what had to be admitted)" was said and it made me think of Stephanie's favorite movie, Rubin and Ed. :) "You've got to admit that your cat's dead. You have to admit that." I even looked it up online, and apparently it's a cult classic. On imdb.com someone from Milwaukee, or Minnesota, or one of those "M" places somewhere east of where I live had put a comment on there saying it was a must see movie and great if you have a quirky sense of humor, and some other stuff. It also had some of the famous quotes, so I thought I'd share this lovely memory with y'all so you could go back and watch it whenever you happen to come across a copy of Rubin and Ed.
"My cat can eat a whole watermelon!"

Traveling

2008-06-01T18:52:00.001-07:00

So with the weather warming up to the sixties on a good day I've been getting out a bit more. On May tenth I got up bright and early and drove to Madison to meet up with my parents and Rachel. We all piled into one car and made our way to Northern Iowa. Over the last few years my dad has been working on finishing his bachelor's degree at one of Upper Iowa University's satellite schools. His graduation ceremony was held on the original campus, hence our commute. It was a lovely school and the ceremony was nice. There was an emphasis on encouraging students to be global citizens, I thought it was an appropriate topic. It's been nice to live close enough to take part in special experiences with my family. Here's a collage my mom put together of the day.

Jason worked Memorial Day so I headed out to Madison again and went kayaking with my mom and sister Emily. We didn't take cameras due to the whole water thing, but it was a blast. We saw frogs, turtles and lots of fish while out on the lakes. We worked our way through a chain of lakes and had a good time. The wind in the middle of the lakes reminded Emily and I of our Boundary waters experience. It reinforced my affinity for kayaks though, they really are fun to be in.

On Saturday of Memorial weekend Jason actually had the day off so we hiked and picnicked at a beach along Lake Michigan and then went on a tour of the Sprecher brewery. They are a microbrewery in Glendale that makes fantastic root beer soda and several other sodas.

Jason and I just got back from an overnight trip to the Twin Cities to look for apartments. We kind of covered everything from old and dumpy college apartments to "luxury" living, that wasn't really luxury. In the end we found a modest apartment we both like that will be quiet, warm and a 5-10 minute walk to Jason's work and the grocery store. I'll be busing or driving to school, but it's not impossibly far and fortunately the bridge collapse will not impact the exit I need to take to get to school.

In other news, my painting class is over. I really enjoyed it and feel like I learned much more than I expected to. In the realm of arts I also made a music connection with one of my patients. He has two pianos and invited me over for four-handed, two piano duets. (I got to play on their baby grand Steinway - yes I was loving it!) We got together at the end of May and had a great time playing various duets including some great Brahms waltzes I was not familiar with. He and his wife are really great people I have enjoyed getting to know. Playing duets on two pianos was a new experience for me, it really changes the type of music that can be played. We're hoping to get together at least once more before I move.

Hot hot hot!

2008-05-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

Well, it's half-way through May and we've made it so far without it getting too hot yet. But alas, the forecast for early next week says it's finally going to hit 100+ degrees. And this is what Rachel thinks about that:So we're going to Utah for Memorial day weekend to escape the heat--in fact it's supposed to only be in the 60s for highs. Brrrrr! Rachel only has like 2 long sleeve shirts. I guess we'll be staying inside mostly.

And just so you know, I don't just sit idly by watching my daughter cry while I snap pictures. She was a little cranky that night, and was sitting there watching Baby Einstein, and about every 2 or 3 minutes she would decide to remind us that she was cranky and cry for 5 seconds before getting back to the DVD. This is mostly what she looked like:

Small World

2008-04-26T12:10:00.001-07:00

Behold the power of Crown 9 and the friendships formed. I just got back from a stake relief society conference and ran into Coralie. Do you remember her? I think she lived in the apartment on the second floor just North of ours. Anyway, I was wandering around in an activity and thought I recognized her. So I asked if she went to BYU and she even remembered my name. We chatted for a few minutes. Apparently her husband is from out here and they have lived here about a year. It was funny to hear her say refer to Crown 9. You would have been proud of the way she said it. Way to keep the reputation of a crazy bunch of girls!

Oh, so speaking of small world, do you guys remember a Stacy from our freshman ward? I believe she lived immediately below us. I ran into her at my parents ward. Apparently she married a guy who grew up in Sun Prairie. They are out in San Jose California if I can remember correctly. There are no such things as goodbyes in the church, you always run into people again. I'll try to start taking pictures of these people to help jog memories if I think of it. We just need to run into each other a little more frequently.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WENDI

2008-04-21T07:46:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Wendi, you crazy monkey!!

The Milwaukee Art Museum

2008-04-19T15:23:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday I finally convinced my sister Rachel to come to the art museum with me. They were holding their version of art in bloom so it was a must see event. We went to the Minnesota institute of art's art in bloom last year. Local flower artists are invited to create an arrangement inspired by pieces within the museum. I have included pictures of some of my favorites. Some of the bouquets are obviously linked to a certain piece. Others took awhile for Rachel and I to figure out which portrait brought it to be. I apologize for the fuzzy pictures. There is also a snapshot from Easter thrown in there. It was probably the most challenging hunt ever due to the snow. The eggs sunk in and you could walk by them several times and not see them.

I would like to take this moment to publicly thank all institutes that offer student discounts. They rock! I have had some amazing experiences at theaters, museums etc. from their understanding price break. Hoorah for going back to school!

Fruit anyone?

So I have been doing a fair amount of temp work over the winter. It brings in a little extra money and helps fill the weekend when I'm not Jason's at the clinic (which was every weekend). Temping usually involves setting up a day in advance to sub for another hygienist at any given office. (I have gone as far as thirty miles away to do this.) I have also been called the morning of asking me to go in if possible. In short, this experience has been less than pleasant. It seems that with the exception of one office, most of these places are what are termed hygiene mills in the dental community. I get 30 minutes for children and 40 minutes for adults to: take x-rays, assess their gum health, update their records, remove all that has been left on their teeth (The last part is very difficult because most of these places have scanty and inefficient tools), get an exam, record what I did and make it a somewhat pleasant experience. Of course that's all moving around in someone else's area and with their dental products. I have seen cleaning practices that make me uncomfortable and perio protocols that are seriously lacking. I was even in an office where they dip their radiograph films by hand to chemically process them. (That hasn't been done as accepted practice in decades.) Fortunately, I haven't had to do any cold sterilization; I promised myself I would simply walk out of an office asking me to do that. At the end of the day I'm exhausted and often wonder if it's worth the extra effort. Now that the weather is getting better, I think I'm going to be much more selective of the temp jobs I take. It definitely makes me grateful for the positions that I have. They were certainly worth the wait and have been wonderful places to work with kind people and high quality care.

Google Reader

2008-04-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

FYI for all you blog slackers (not that I'm exempt from that title at all): Of course Google is the smartest of all companies in their monopoly of the web, and my little bro has always been quite the Google fan, keeping me informed of their most recent products, like google calendar, or google documents, or google homepage, or google whatever. And for people who read blogs, there is google reader. You can set up google reader to check all the blogs you read, and whenever there's a new posting it'll come up on google reader, so instead of checking 10 blogs, you just check google reader, kind of like checking your email inbox for the new messages/posts. And you can even post a feed on your google homepage so it'll show new postings there. I like the thing, so I just thought I'd pass the word along.
And as a side note, my little bro just found out yesterday he got his dream internship with Google for this summer, so he's pretty excited, I guess.
Have a great day, everyone!

Pics

2008-04-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

For your viewing pleasure...
Here's Gino--short for Penguino. Rachel loves chewing on his beak. And the rest of these, I realized after I started uploading them, are of Rachel in her high chair. She does spend time outside of her high chair every once in a while... but you won't see any of that today.
Here's a book you could really sink your teeth into (as long as you have teeth).

Awwwwww.
Rachel's first experience with solid food.

WWF?

2008-04-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

While this looks like Shannon winning a wrestling match by virtue of the headlock she grabbed Zub with, it is really much simpler. Its a hug from a loving big sister... all together now... Awwww.

A Lil' Red

2008-03-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Red,
I am "interested" in a certain "someone" who will remain "name less". I really want to "sweep" this certain "someone" off of "their feet" for Valentines. But I "don't know" how to "go about it". What can "I" do?
"Unknown"

Dear Air Quoter,
For starters, you've got to stop "that" right now. Next, by "someone" I'm sure you mean me and I like sparkly jewelry. But let's be honest, Valentine's Day is not a holiday to mess around with so unless you're extremely clever (or she's completely smitten) sticking with the cliché is the only way to go. Plan on spending some cash and do your best to not blow "it".
Ring size 6,
Red

Dear Red,
I am writing to you because I am currently eating a frozen pizza that isn't completely thawed, while drinking from a glass that appears to have some type of growth at the bottom. The problem is I can't take care of myself. I really need someone who can help me pick out my clothes, cook my frozen pizza's and wash my towels. I have thought about getting married, but no one seems to be interested in the position. What can I do?
Helpless

Dear Gavin,
I think perhaps you have a literacy problem. You do know they put heating instructions on the back of the box, right? Listen, being helpless is super cute…if you're a puppy. But come on man; get up and wash your glass - that's just not healthy.
What would your mother say?
Red

Some Spring

2008-03-22T06:16:00.001-07:00

My apologies Stephanie for not posting. Will you forgive me for having some boring snow filled months and our internet down? (Excuses, excuses....) Let me just put here that Rachel is very talented at sucking her toes. Stephanie - your slide show was awesome, it made me want to start planning our crown 9er reunion so we can all partake in the fun. Wendi - I want to hear more about what you think of the culture and happenings out East.

So here we are on the second day of spring with fourteen inches of snow predicted. Granted, as I write this we have only gotten seven, but more is to come. I was watching the news and most Good Friday services as well as egg hunts have been canceled. Additionally, as I was driving home from work I hit a stretch of ice on the highway - I had little trouble stopping but I saw the trailer of the semi two-hundred feet behind me slide out uncontrollably as the driver tried to bring his vehicle to a stop. Knowing there was nothing but air between his vehicle and mine was a bit scary, but all was well (other than the three car accident in front of us).

(View from our apartment mid-storm)

I've managed to pick up several extra days working lately at various offices around town. At one office near the UWM campus I met the coolest molecular biology professor. We had a great conversation during his appointment and he explained his research to me. He even invited me to his lab to see the photobacterium he works on. Since I was so close I decided to go. After finally finding the lab he showed me around and had already streaked my very own agar plate with Photobacterium phosphoreum - a bacteria isolated from the gut of fish find in Oregon. We chatted a little while, talked about music and his daughter in son-in-law in the Twin Cities. I then left and let my bacteria grow. After one day if you took it into the dark it shone bright blue. (Think blue in the same brightness and color as a blue glowstick.) tried to take a picture, but it was in the dark - sorry. You'll just have to take my word for it, it was awesome. There are few things as fun as getting geeks together to talk about stuff they love - I know you are all jealous.

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(The Agar plate - this picture doesn't do it justice.)

Other highlights of the past month have included a visit from my Grandmother Pat. I hadn't seen her in about six years and she had never been to Wisconsin before. She finally got to meet Jason and we introduced her to the game of Catch Phrase, so good times were had by all. The same day she visited I was able to get Jason and I tickets to the Milwaukee Ballet. They were showing Shakespeare's "A Midnight Summer's Dream." The set was amazing and the music wonderful.

Grandma Pat

In February I took a bus for a day trip to the Chicago Dental Society Midwinter Meeting. I was overwhelmed with what a huge convention it was. I spent four hours walking the convention floor and didn't even get close to seeing half of it. Think of that like Disneyland for Dentists, you wait in line to learn about the newest products, everything from toothpaste to lasers. I then went and listened to a lecture on pediatric diagnoses, hopped back on the bus provided by a dental supply company to get home.

We are now approaching the high school musical season. My sister and I caught the musical "Once on this Island" at one of the local schools. It was between that one or Les Miserables. Since Rachel hadn't seen either she decided we should go to one we have never heard about since we wouldn't have any expectations. The students did a very good job and I will even say there were some outstanding performers in it and some very clever choreography. It was also pretty fun to know that I had met some of the students in the musical as patients at work. I'm really looking forward to settling down in one area someday; taking part of the community and supporting the people in it on a long term basis. I feel like so much of my recent life has been hellos and goodbyes without much development in between. At least we will be in one place for the next four years.

It couldn't be anymore official that we are moving back to Minnesota. I'm looking forward to it despite the cold that comes along with the deal. The summers are amazing though and we'll be in back in plenty of time for the state fair. My art class is going well, I am definitely learning lots. I'm currently working on my very own composition, while it's not finished I think it's turning out close to what I had envisioned. Here's another completed landscape assignment for your viewing pleasure.

Eating toes

2008-03-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I've finally gotten around to posting on here so Steph isn't so lonely in her blog postings. Here's a lovely video of a naked baby, although after the initial shot I tried to preserve some of Rachel's dignity for the rest of the time. She likes sticking anything she can get her hands on in her mouth, and she is so happy to be able to finally get her hands on her feet.

If you want another cute video to watch, check out Rachel laughing on my blog. She's such a cutie.

Ahem...

2008-03-14T09:24:00.001-07:00

So are you guys revolting because it took me so long to post something? Listen, I said it - I'm sorry and now I've made amends by posting 3 things - bam bam bam. Don't make me get on my knees and beg for more - pretty please (ok that was a little begging)

And then there was Disney...

2008-02-21T08:41:00.000-08:00

I didn't think it was enough to just have a party in honor of my birth so I decided to take a trip to Disneyworld - I mean why not?!?

We spend three days taking in as much as we could and it was pretty amazing. First day Magic Kingdom, then Epcot and topped it off with Hollywood Studios where we almost wet out pants on the Tower of Terror. It was so nice to just run around, looking at really cool things and spending money! We had such a blast and I think we should have a 'girls only' outting like this at least once a year.

There were so many great pics I just decided to post a little slideshow...enjoy!!!

Next, a birthday!

2008-02-21T08:29:00.001-08:00

Happy 27th to me!!

When a single lady is about to turn the age of seven and twenty a party in most certainly in order. In honor of the amazing year of my birth I decided to throw myself a little 80's party and it was totally wicked sweet. People came all decked out in the best of 80's fashions and we danced the night away to Blondie and Billy Idol.

Lizzy made me an amazingly crazy neon cake fit enough for Punky Bruster and sure enough I got my face shoved in that very cake - ah good times.

You don't have to dedicate an entire evening like I did but I would like to encourage you all to take a moment of silence in honor of the 80's. I mean seriously, when else could you wear blue eyeshadow, crimped hair and leggins all at the same time!

Please be sure to take note of my amazing butterfly leggins I whipped right up just for this...top that Madonna!

First, a wedding...

2008-02-21T08:08:00.000-08:00

So what if I'm like 3 months behind at least I'm finally posting something!! Yes, yes you can give me a hard time for starting this blog and then being the 'official' slacker, well aside from LE and Autumn ;)

(boy, don't I have some attitude!)

My lil bro's wedding was pretty sweet although I can't pretend that I still don't really believe it actually happened - so very weird. They got married in the San Antonio temple - sweet and short service...actually it was the shortest I've ever been in, in fact I'm sure there was even time to sit down - ha ha. Anyway I was a lucky lady in red and I must say my little bros looked absolutely adorable in their suits!

You know what the weirdest part about my brother getting married is that now I sorta have a sister...crazy.

Snow and Such

2008-02-10T20:00:00.001-08:00

Apparently Milwaukee has had a phenomenal amount of snow this year. While most people are sick of it and complaining, I still find it quite beautiful. Then again, I don't have a driveway to shovel. The above is a picture of Jason from our Cross Country Skiing adventure in January.

The cats are up to their usual mischief. I was cooking in the kitchen when I heard something in the cupboards...Murphy just can't stay out of those small places.

When I was applying for dental school the admissions committee advised me to take an art class to help with my detail and perceptual ability. I found a class through the local recreational department that the school has approved of. My choices were watercolor or acrylic. I called my mom to see which medium she had more supplies for and then signed up for the acrylic class. I have actually enjoyed myself far more than I thought I would. The teacher is great, and I love learning without having to earn a grade. The above is a product of my own brush. I really enjoyed creating the colors and working on brush strokes. The idea was not mine, but I thought it was pretty good for my first painting experience since elementary school.

This is a tree from outside of our apartment. I took it the morning after our huge snowstorm. I like the way the snow has frosted the tree. I walked to work the day of the storm (it's about a mile away). It's a good thing too, I was three people that day: hygienist, assistant and receptionist. Despite the storm Dr. Quinn and I worked 3/4 of the day. I walked home in the worst of the storm, across a field that was knee deep with snow. I had a blast doing it - I was dressed in my winter gear and it was the end of the day so all was well. My philosophy was the less cars on the road the better. (The city actually pulled some of the snow plows off the road it was getting so bad.) I had a car pull over and beg to give me a ride home, they had seen me walking to work that morning and thought for sure I was going to succumb to the storm. I gratefully declined and had one of the best workouts in a while getting home.

With all of the snow and the cold weather school has been canceled twice in the past two weeks. This type of weather means cut hours for me which is tough on a few levels. Thus, I've had a fair amount of reading time on my hands. I've indulged in reading six of the books from the Anne of Green Gables series. Any suggestions for other cheerful reads?

Carina

2008-02-09T20:39:00.000-08:00

Dude, did you guys know that Carina has a second kid now? I had no idea, and apparently he's already almost two months old. Are we all filled in or do we need to post pictures for her? Anyone heard from Ellie lately?

Hey slacker!

2008-02-06T07:56:00.000-08:00

So Steph, where are all those fun pictures from Walt's great land of fun?

Well, I guess that's really all I've got to say. Nothing much new going on here. Rachel is still the cutest kid ever. She's talking quite a bit (mostly saying ah-goo a million times in a row, which means "you are the coolest mom ever and I really like smiling at you"), and she's really smiley, especially when she wakes up in the middle of her nap--she'll smile really big for 3-5 minutes, then all of a sudden start crying like someone poked her really hard, or something. Then she struggles to get back to sleep. But if I manage to avoid eye contact and the smiley-ness, she goes back to sleep pretty easy.

I guess I'll post one of her cute pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Happy Zub and the dainty little lady

2008-01-20T18:18:00.001-08:00

He really is a happy kid most of the time, except when I'm trying to make him eat.
She broke the lens cover off the camera so now it is hers. She is pretty excited about that. I think I will be getting a new camera eventually.

Happy Birthday Colette

2008-01-18T07:07:00.000-08:00

Thanks for paving the way through 27, you make it look like a lot of fun! Go paint the town and be sure to teach Rachel all of your mischievous tricks.

Happy birthday Steph!

2008-01-13T21:50:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to you!
You live in a zoo.
You look like a monkey,
And you smell like one, too!

Hope you have a great day! Just think... just 3 more years till the big 3-0. Live it up, you wild woman!

Dancing?!!

2008-01-07T08:10:00.001-08:00

Ok... so while it looks like Cameron is bustin' out with some totally awesome dance moves, which I am sure would make you all snicker with glee, I am afraid I am going to have to disillusion you. This is Zubby just standing up on his own without any help. He is a bit unsteady on his feet, resulting in the awesome dance move positions.

December Festivities

2007-12-30T17:12:00.000-08:00

I realized that if I put posting off any longer we are all going to regret it. So here is a sum of activities I've been involved in since I found out I got into dental school.

I finally received my final grade in Biochemistry this week after taking the final December 13th. A two week turn around is pretty decent for this class. Yes, I passed and received the grade I need, it's pretty much official that I'm in.

Life in dental private practice is good. I love the people I work with and we all had a blast celebrating the holidays. I went out with Dr. Barnett's office on the first night of Hannukah. I enjoyed learning more about the holiday and being out with the girls from the office. We had dinner at a hole in the wall Italian place. Dr. Barnett spoiled us with gifts and we ate bricks of death (large loaves of garlic bread with what must be a pound of butter on each serving).

Dr. Barnett's Office Celebration

Dr. Quinn took our office to a nearby spa to celebrate the end of the year and Christmas. I enjoyed a full body massage and pampering. It's always fun to get out of the office and just laugh.

We spent the week before Christmas in Texas with Tim, Audrey and Lillie and Sam. I enjoyed chatting with Audrey, hiking, checking out snakes and incorporating Lillie's daily naps into our vacation. (I really think we should get these as adults too). See Jason's recent post for more pictures.

Hiking at a Texas State Park

I was also thrilled to see Stephanie. We were able to go out to dinner and have a fabulous time. It was definitely one of the highlights of this year's Christmas. I know you are all incredibly jealous...and you should be. We have decided that we must have a roommate reunion. We though sometime in 2032 would be good, kids would be out of the house and hopefully we will be able to get the time off. Can you plan that far ahead? Of course earlier times would work to if we could pull it off. I just want to restate what we already know - you are all the best. I feel incredibly blessed to have you for friends. Few things are as valuable as knowing that despite the time and distance we still know how to have fun with one another and enjoy the ups and downs of life.

Stephanie and I Out to Dinner

Jason worked Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Thus, I drove to Madison and had dinner and fun with my family. Unfortunately, we had so much fun we forgot to call my brother who is serving a mission in Las Vegas. The poor kid definitely has middle child syndrome. We spent Christmas day sledding and cross country skiing. Rachel and I are still working on our coordination but it's a fun way to get through the winter here. It's also quiet and beautiful, two of my favorite things.

Our Gingerbread House Under Construction Christmas Day, Emily Mom and I were the Engineers

The Finished Gingerbread House

Cross Country Skiing in Sheehan Park with Mom as Photographer Christmas Day

Ho, Ho, Ho!!!

2007-12-26T13:35:00.001-08:00

Hey Merry Christmas ya'll!! Hope you all had a great day and that Santa was good to you. I'll post some pics as soon as Mike gets em off his camera.

Last Saturday....

2007-12-14T12:44:00.001-08:00

Ok... last Saturday we had one of those nice slow moving lazy mornings. Shannon got up with Mike to help him make breakfast.

Pancakes and scrambled eggs: YUMMMMM!

Here's Zubby making one of his weird smiles. This is before he started flinging his scrambled eggs around the kitchen.

This is a picture that Shannon took of Cameron and my legs. Like my camo socks?

What?! You are putting this picture of me on the blog?

As you can see, Shannon likes to make odd faces, especially for the Camera. Shocking I know. Where could she have gotten such an odd trait?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LE

2007-12-14T07:55:00.001-08:00

So happy birthday LE even though no one knows where you are and we haven't heard from you in like a million years...we still want to wish you a happy day and perhaps somehow in cyberspace you will get this and smile!

Love ya!

You got it Becca!

2007-12-11T15:36:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I've added Colette's blog...can you guys send me the links to the others and I'll add them for all to enjoy?

Dental School Updates

2007-12-02T13:31:00.001-08:00

Friday morning (November 30th) I checked my email and opened a letter with the subject: Congratulations from the U of M School of Dentistry. I anxiously opened it and found out I have been accepted to the dental program for the class of 2012. (I don't like to think about that number because it seems so far away. It will come regardless of whether or not I'm in school.) Besides, it's a four year investment for a lifetime of benefits.

The initial email didn't actually have my name in it. So before I got too excited I decided to call the school and confirm. The admissions woman I've been working with answered right away. I told her who I was and she asked how I was doing. I said I was doing good (I know that's not proper grammar), and she responded that I should be. That's when I said, so the email is real? I was concerned it could have been a mix up of some sort. It's the real deal though, I'll receive my official letter soon and then I'll have 45 days to confirm my spot with a $1000 deposit. They said it was an exceptionally tough year and that I congratulations were definitely in order.

Before screaming to the world the good news, I wanted to hear back from Marquette first. (I knew they were sending out results to arrive in the mail on the first.) Marquette has placed me on a hold list. They are going to further debate my application and get back to me in the middle of January. Unless they make a decision earlier than that, it will have been past my deadline for Minnesota. I kind of feel like Marquette is playing with me. The interviewers were not the nicest when I went there and I think the admissions committee is toying with me to see how committed I really am. In other words, am I willing to risk losing my spot at Minnesota in order to get in there. While financially Marquette would make a lot more sense ... why would I turn down a school that's excited to have me for another that has been far less interested?

Nothing is final yet. I still have to achieve a certain grade in my biochemistry course before everything is official. (Due to the challenge of long distance learning and poor access to lecture presentations, this is actually a factor. I have two weeks until the end of the course though and then we'll know.)

Jason has been the best. This means that he won't be applying to all of the programs he would have if I weren't going to dental school. Minnesota has been good to us in so many ways albeit cold. We are confident that things will work out for him, either in obtaining a residency there or getting a good position. As excited as I am about being accepted, I am starting to realize that this is definitely not the easy way through life. However, it's a good choice for us and will open many opportunities for us to grow, learn and serve.

Rachel the cutie

2007-11-26T00:20:00.000-08:00

Becca asked about a post of mine that disappeared--I don't think I've posted here for a while. Maybe you're thinking of the post on the tucsoncampbells.blogspot.com site. Anyway, I thought I'd put a couple pictures of the cute kid here, too, for your viewing pleasure.

Thanksgiving Weekend

2007-11-25T20:15:00.000-08:00

Jason was fortunate enough to get Thanksgiving off, so the two of us headed to my parents' home in Madison. Rachel met us there and came with three of her Navy buddies. The food was great and the company even better.

Friday, Rachel, my parents and I went to an attraction called House on the Rock. It began as a person's uniquely architectured home and turned into something between a museum and curiosity collection. It has several mechanical bands, instruments and even an orchestra. Most of the "house" is darkly lit but has all sorts of interesting antiques. I included a picture of a dental office set up from somewhere around 1900. You wouldn't believe how many people I have tell me how they wished they could still spit into the spittoon type device on the side of the chair. This chair had one of the originals - no plumbing. How disgusting is that? You can check out their pictures (which have better lighting) at http://www.thehouseontherock.com/HOTR_Attraction_PhotoGallery.htm

That evening we went to one of Curtis' favorite haunts. My mom and dad had their first climbing and belaying experiences - they did quite well. We all enjoyed finding our inner spider and defying gravity. (Rachel opted out on account of her healing foot.)

Jason is currently preparing his residency application to submit or change as needed depending on what we hear from the schools I have applied to. This is kind of a nail biting couple of weeks coming up. On the other hand, we've been waiting for these results for years.

We are here!

2007-11-25T18:58:00.000-08:00

Ok... so we are planted here in CT. My computer just got set up so thats my excuse for not having written before. I don't want to show you pictures yet, either, because I have yet to finish unpacking the den and my bedroom and the walls are still naked and need some adornment. That should get finished up this week and then I will post some pictures, though you must keep in mind that I will still need to do some painting. That is going to happen slowly... room by room, so we decided to unpack everything first and then deal with the painting. We've met some of our neighbors who seem really nice. They actually came and introduced themselves! I thought that was quite nice of them. One lady even brought over a cake and a couple little stuffed animals for the kids. Super nice. Anyways, we should get ourselves all unpacked soon and that will be AWESOME. The ward here is great and we feel like we are already making some friends (shocking, I know, but I lure them in to be my friends using my cute kids). Congrats to Colette and George on the birth of their adorable little Spike. And yes, we must find LE!!!

Find LE...

2007-11-24T19:34:00.000-08:00

LE, LE - where are you???

Ok so has anyone seen or heard from that girl because I'm about to put her picture on a milk carton!!

P.S. congrats to the Campbells for lil' baby SPIKE!! Lots of love from Texas!

Marquette Dental School Interview

2007-11-11T12:25:00.001-08:00

I was going to post pictures from Rachel's corpman school graduation and the NBA Bucks game we saw last weekend but ran into some technical errors. They will be coming soon.

Until then, I'm sure you are all dying to know how my Marquette Dental School went. I think it stunk. There wasn't a lot that I could do about it. Before the interview, I didn't know how a dental school interview could possibly go wrong...now I know. I interviewed with the only two women on the admissions board. They smiled when they greeted me but that was about it. They had a chip on their shoulder about my application before we even got started. I sat in a medium sized conference room that normally sits say 12. A chair was left for me at the head of the table and I had an interviewer on each side about four feet away. My file was out in front of them and the questioning began. It started out fine - but these two were definitely all business.

They asked questions like; what I thought would be the three most challenging aspects of dental school. (Balancing school/life, achieving a solid foundation for a career and I can't remember the third I responded with.) What do you think a dental school's responsibility is to its students? I replied that they should show a real concern for their students and help them receive the essentials needed to treat patients and inspire them to continue learning for the rest of their careers. They also asked an ethics question about a friend cheating on a test and what would I do about it.

Then things started getting nasty. Q: So what were you doing between 1999 and 2005? (Clearly they didn't look at my folder as closely as they said they did.) I reported that I really was in school, I had a full load each semester and that when I transferred I know longer had control of how quickly I would graduate. Q: We see that you went to Minnesota, why are you interested in Marquette? This is where the bulk of the interview was spent. Upon reflection Jason and I are pretty sure that Marquette has an inferiority complex and takes it out on Minnesota grads. There is quite a bit of rivalry between the two schools and I got caught in the middle of a feud. They asked me specifically if I applied to Minnesota. I said yes, but I applied to a lot of schools as an applicant it would be foolish not to in such a competitive field. Then they wanted to know why I would go to Marquette instead of Minnesota. (Notice the emphasis on Minnesota, not just another dental school?) I replied that I hoped the school would prepare a better general practitioner considering there are fewer specialties offered there and more work for the students. I also talked about academic inbreeding. The thing I wanted to mention least is what they liked most. I broke down and told them that Jason was doing his internship and that we wanted to stay in the area for him to do his residency also. They appreciated that it was an honest answer.

The entire half an hour was incredibly awkward. Like I said it was all business and nothing was sugar coated. Most interviews are warm and bubbly - our school is great please come here. This was more like you meet our criteria but we are going to see if you are going to burn us and go to Minnesota instead. There were frequent awkward pauses as one interviewer switched to the other for questions. They asked if I had any questions...I did. However, after I asked the first question I knew the rest weren't going to go well. I wanted to know if there were elective courses offered if I had a special interest in prosthodontics or endo etc. They became really defensive and went into this long spiel about how hard dental school was and there was no time to offer anything like that. (Here is the funny part: I know Marquette offers an elective research class, and other schools offer elective courses with the same tight schedules.)

I knew one of the Doctors worked in community outreach projects so I asked about that. (I wanted to know if it gave the real world experience with timing and treating patients that the school setting didn't offer.) She rolled her eyes and said she wished the admissions board wouldn't disclose her role in the school before telling me about it. Needless to say, I feigned not having anymore questions after that.

The interview with the dental students and lunch went well. No one else had a bad experience with their interviews though - they just went on about how nice their interviewers were blah blah blah. I did hear that one of the applicants has already received several denial letters. Hmmmm, that's not the type of thing you openly disclose, yet I'm glad she did. I haven't gotten any of those yet, I wonder if that's a good sign or if the schools I applied to just don't respond. I expect to hear back on how the interview actually went by the first week of December. Some friends of mine who go there mentioned that they can be pretty brutal on Wisconsin residents trying to determine whether or not they actually plan on going there. I can't say won me over after the interview but the facilities are nice and it is half the cost other schools. So there are the details for you. Hope you enjoyed them.

Lucy & Ricky win it all!!

2007-10-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

So our single's ward had a couples costume dance this past Friday night and I am very excited to announce that my date and I totally won the grand prize!! Not only did we totally deserve it (I mean hands down guys) but they gave us a $25 gift card to a local restaurant which I thought was pretty darn cool. Anyway here's some pics of me as Lucy and my Ricky who, BTW, had the accent down to a 'T'. Lucy, you have some splainin to do...

Happy October

2007-10-21T15:40:00.000-07:00

So, just thought I'd update y'all--nothing new going on here. Okay, I guess that's it.

Wendi, we're still waiting to hear about your spiffy new house. And when are you guys moving?

I'm pretty darn fat and getting a little tired of the rib poking, so I'm hoping this whole pregnancy thing will be over in not too long--one more week until it's okay for her to come on out into the real world, but 4 weeks until she's due. I'm hoping she's early, but not really holding out too much hope for that. We'll see.

Enjoy your upcoming Halloween festivities! We will be sitting around handing out candy to the little tykes.

MN Dental School Interview

2007-10-19T14:52:00.000-07:00

October 15th I arrived at the University of Minnesota dental school for my first interview. Generally, you only have a couple of weeks to a month notice before an interview to find the time and transportation to get there. I hadn't told my employers I was applying to dental school before receiving the invitation. My reasoning was there was no point getting anyone distressed if I never got an interview and it would be less embarassing than saying I hadn't heard anything yet. Since I've told them, both doctors have been very supportive and have started mentoring me. I've been more involved with diagnosis, surgeries and restorative information since then.

I drove up Saturday in order to be fresh and awake for Monday as well as to take the opportunity to see my some of my friends. I stayed with our good friends the Smiths and visited people from church, and the dental school Saturday and Sunday. My interview began at 8:30, so I arrived 15 minutes before hand. I chatted with the other candidates in the room until my interviewer arrived. I had half an hour to answer the questions that the faculty member had for me. The school compiles a list of questions each interviewee is asked to allow for comparison in responses. I had originally thought I would be able to ask questions during this time, but it was strictly time to allow them to pick my brain.

Many of the questions I was asked dealt with access to care issues as well as ethics. Clearly, two critical concerns to the field. I was asked what my solution to access to care was and whether it was the profession's or government's responsibility to address. (I said it was definitely the profession and the government shouldn't have to be involved.) I also remember three ethical scenarios I was given and then asked to respond to. These included: 1)what to do when students are badmouthing a patient with other patients in the elevator 2) how to respond to a classmate who is cheating and 3) what do you do if a close friend of yours is stealing hand pieces during your last year of school. The interviewer also asked me how I balance my life responsibilities, how I study and how I think I would do with a course load above and beyond any students have been exposed to before.

Following the interview I once again chatted with the other 8:30 interviewees until the 9 o'clocks were done. Considering we were all on our best behavior most of the interviewees were really nice except for a couple of overpowering girls. Imagine 12 guys and 5 girls in suits and you have our group. We then observed in clinic for an hour followed by a tour of the school. I had seen most of what was on the tour while I worked there - but they have the ferrari of simulation pre-clinical labs now. It hadn't even been opened to the students yet. We are talking monitors at each station which have dummies with cheeks and computer sensitive teeth which give objective feedback on the dental work prepared by each students. It was really quite impressive. Following our tour we all had lunch together which covered financing your dental education seminar as well as a question and answer with two current students and a faculty member. (I promptly lost my appetite after viewing the cost of tuition for one year.)

I enjoyed myself for the most part. My interviewer said I did well and I feel like I presented myself as a strong applicant. There isn't anything I did that day I would change, now all I have to do is wait for the next step. If I get accepted as an out of state resident (there are less of these spots) I would know at the earliest by December. I'm happy to have gotten this far in the application process and think I will be satisfied with myself regardless of whether or not I get in. So one interview down, one more to go so far as I know.

In case you are wondering how Biochemistry is going - it stinks. Independent learning is a great option but it's not my style. I do best in a learning environment where I can work with other students, and directly contact instructors with questions as they come up. Having other students to compete against for a grade also doesn't hurt, it tends to be a great motivator for me. I know - I just have to compete against myself now. Biochemistry is an immersion science though, it's nearly impossible to do well without involving it in conversation with classmates as well as personal study.

In other news, Jason and I were able to attend a performance this week. The general dentist I work with is friends with a local storyteller and comedian named John McGivern. We were invited as his special guests brought backstage and all. He presented a show called The Wonder Bread Years - a nostalgic and humorous reflection on growing up in the sixties. While some of the content went over our young heads much of it had us laughing and enjoying ourselves. We even got twinkies to bring us back to our youth at the end. I wonder when the last time you ate one of those was.

Is that what I think it is???

2007-10-12T14:05:00.001-07:00

Ok before you freak out...no that is most definitely not me! This happens to be the hand of my 24 year old brother's girlfriend whom he just proposed to on Saturday after 6 weeks of dating (give or take a week) and they are to be wed in December...yikes! Good times - congrats to the youngans!

Stuff and Things

2007-09-23T14:06:00.001-07:00

I know it's been awhile since I posted, so this is quite the conglomoration of details.

I have included pictures from the Milwaukee Zoo. My family and I went on Labor Day. Jason isn't in any of the pictures because he was hard at work considering Labor Day and Memorial Day are two of the busiest of the year in emergency medicine. We chose to go to the zoo specifically because it was a location where we could get a wheelchair. You'll notice my sister Rachel has quite the boot and couldn't handle any activities where she would be on crutches all day. It's a pretty cool zoo with a great nocturnal animals exhibit as well as some other well done displays. Emily drove the wheelchair, and by some miracle no strollers or small children were hit. My dad even made it out with us which was really fun. (Rachel has currently moved up in the world and now has a walking boot for her broken foot.)

My parents bought me a sewing machine for Christmas this year and I have had a lot of fun working with it. A bunch of the women from church got together and learned how to make reversible skirts. I made one for myself and then my sister Emily picked out some fabric and designed one she wanted me to put together. You'll have to tell me what you think, but I think her prints compliment each other really well.

Now that the fall has begun I am starting my very last dental school pre-requisite. I have been downloading biochemistry lectures and trying to follow a regular schedule. My first exam will be this Thursday, we'll see how it goes. The exam will be proctored to me through the public library so it will be a regular testing situation, just in a different location. For the most part, the class has been very frustrating. The lectures frequently stop and it's nearly impossible to get through an entire lecture without some loss of information due to the sound skipping or the lecture slides blurring. Speaking of dental school, I am really looking forward to my interview at the University of Minnesota Dental School. Not only is it an honor to be invited, but it will also be nice to visit my old colleagues. As for the other schools I applied to I'm not so sure what will happen. Part of my application which was out of my hands was extremely pro-Minnesota. I don't know what other dental schools will think of that.

Work has been great. It's a really different clientele from the dental school but I'm enjoying it. I have a lot more exposure to working with kids now than I ever have before so it's been good for me. I went for a bike ride this weekend with one of the doctors I work with which was great. It's fun to have a lot of common interests with the people I work with and to actually get up and liking to work. They are both doctors I respect a lot and work well with.

phat me and mostly fixed house

2007-09-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally got around to taking some pictures of the house. I was going to wait until the doors were installed, which was supposed to happen today, but alas, it just happened to be the only day all year that it has rained in the morning, so the guy that came to install them couldn't do it because he had to use his machinery outside to cut the doorknob holes, and such, and couldn't do it in the rain. So it's another couple of weeks of a door-less house. But we're pretty much used to that. Luckily we don't really get any visitors, so the door thing isn't really an issue. Anyway, this is our mostly fixed and moved into house. Notice the walls that are walls, not holes. And the new paint job.

For now the baby's room is my genealogy hub--my grandma died in June, and I got all her genealogy records that she had done a lot of by hand before the day of the computer, and a lot of computer printouts. So I'm trying to go through it all and get the info in a computer so I can free up the room.
Notice the closet doors in the computer/guest room--although the regular doors aren't installed, we do have closet doors, which is actually kind of weird after more than a month of not having to deal with a door to get something out of the closet.

Here's a couple of pictures of me getting phatter. And fatter. I'm a growing girl. And the kid is, too. She's quite a kicker these days, and it's pretty entertaining sometimes--I'm thinking about taking up belly dancing, since my belly dances on its own.

Mike got a job

2007-09-03T23:47:00.000-07:00

Hey Mike got a job and we will be heading east. We will be in Connecticut in the Hartford area. Crazy crazy. He starts Nov 5 after he finishes writing his dissertation. I'll get ya'll some more details later.

:( :)

2007-08-28T08:50:00.001-07:00

So, I bet you didn't know the bible has smiley and frowny faces in it. Jacob pointed a couple out to me in Sunday school this week. Check out Acts 10:36.

Harry Potter and the beginning for Steph

2007-08-27T10:20:00.000-07:00

Ok so I know I'm a bit behind the times but this weekend I just finished Harry Potter...the first - ha!

I watched the first movie again yesterday as well and I was so excited I could be one of those HP nerds whose like 'that's not how it is in the book!" ha - good times.

Well anyway, I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to reading the rest now. On to Harry Potter 2~

2007-08-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

Hey Colette...when is that baby coming again?

Irish Festival

2007-08-19T17:26:00.001-07:00

It's amazing how quickly the summer is passing by. I didn't really enjoy the first two months because searching for a job is similar to waiting for impending doom. Not in the sense that I don't like working - you just can't enjoy the time off because you never know how long you need to make your resources stretch. I feel like the coming of fall will bring the reality that we are really in Milwaukee for awhile. Everyone here talks about how much worse Minnesota winters are - I hope they are right. I officially signed up for my Biochemistry long distance learning class this week so there is no pretending that the summer will go on forever.

We have had almost nonstop rain since Friday. Despite that I still wanted to go to the Irish festival. It's the biggest in the world and the Trinity Irish dancers are well known world wide for producing the greatest dancers. So I got my mom and Emily to volunteer to come out with me and armed with umbrellas we headed out. (Milwaukee is known as the city of festivals. All summer long there are festivals each weekend ranging from music concerts to many ethnic festivals.) We stood in the rain for over two hours watching the Irish dance schools perform. It was definitely worth it - until the dancing ended and I was shivering uncontrollably. We searched for a comfortable tent but only found space on the outsides and finally left soaked. Due to the rain we left our cameras - sorry there aren't any pictures. To add to the excitement I left our lights on (which were on in the middle of the afternoon due to the overcast weather.) After several pleas we finally found a nice gentleman who helped us jumpstart the battery. (Jason bought this super cool emergency car kit so I had my own cables and lots of other stuff if I needed it.)

In other news I began a second job this week. I had a working interview on Monday afternoon and began Wednesday. This clinic is also in Glendale about a mile from our home. The office is two years old and new from top to bottom. I can't say I'm the biggest fan of their digital radiographs - their kind of an awkward transition between the old films and the new sensors but I'll get used to them. All of their charting is digital - I love that! I've been having a great time figuring out the software and trying to utilize all of it. They have an intraoral camera too which I'll get to use. This job compliments my job at the perio office which is Monday morning, Tuesday and Thursday. It makes for a ten hour monday but I still have Fridays off. Between the two jobs and the Saturdays I have lined up for the winter I should be averaging about 32-35 hours a week. Plus I might be able to pick up an occasional Friday temp day. It may have taken much longer than Jason and I would have liked, but I feel like it's been worth it to find offices that I am happy with the people and the quality of dentistry practiced there. (Especially if I end up working there for more than a year.) Due to my part time status at each office I have to carry my own benefits - but there are worse things in the world.

In other news - I'm married to a zombie, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. Jason mentioned that he hates the four am shift. For the most part I like it. I actually get to remember seeing him when he comes home between eight and nine pm. Unfortunately, due to the lack of sleep, conversation at the dinner table isn't exactly captivating. It beats the other shifts though, we'll see how we feel a couple of weeks from now.

Here's my dental school update: schools are beginning to send me notification that they have received my first application. Hence, they are politely asking for more money and more essays. Couldn't I just take another test? Actually, that wouldn't be much better. My goal is to have all of these redundant essays completed by the end of next week. Wish me luck, it involves documenting every single extracurricular I have participated in within the last seven years as well as talking about what an asset I would be to the school and the professon. Should be fun.

Chicago and a Day at the Museum

2007-08-12T18:05:00.001-07:00

I made the drive down to Chicago and picked up Rachel from the Naval Base along the way this weekend. We decided we would check out the Field Museum and walk through downtown. We were particularly interested in checking out the Ghiradelli and Hershey stores. We spent several hours at the museum - they had some really neat exhibits on Africa as well as man eating lions. I also enjoyed their mineral and gem exhibits - they brought back memories from organic chemistry. When we arrived we asked if there was an increase in visitors since the movie "Night at the Museum". The guy responded yes, even though only a few scenes had been filmed there. Rachel and I were totally surprised - we didn't know that museum had been involved at all. However, after walking a few feet into the main hall we recognized one of the characters from the movie: Rex.

The T-rex skeleton is actually named Sue in honor of the woman who found it. It's a recent find from the early nineties. The actual sex of the dinosaur is unknown. It was cool to find out different facts on the skeleton. For example - I didn't know that dinosaurs had teeth like sharks - continually replacing missing teeth. (Of course I would be interested in that right?) Additionally this is only one of (I think) four skeletons to this completeness. By the way, the skull alone weighs 600 pounds. It was so heavy they created a duplicate for the main display and then put the actual one upstairs on its own. A CT scan was used to evaluate the skull cavities and determine the size of the brain - the olfactory bulbs are gigantic in comparison to the rest of the brain!

The pictures you notice on the slide show with the mannequins are from downtown Chicago. There is a stretch along Michigan avenue called the Magnificent Mile. I think it's similar to the Fashion street in New York. In honor of the hip shops there; a local design school created these mannequins to be placed along the way. The ones pictured were a few of our favorites.

Following our perusal of the shops we ate dinner at Chipotle - a very good burrito place. Unfortunately, everything went downhill from there. I suspect that I got hit with the worst case of food poisoning I have ever experienced. It's hard to say what caused it but I got to know several of the gas attendants in the Chicago area and also did some porcelain bowl worshiping. I also made Rachel think she was going to miss her curfew and have to explain where she was - fortunately we got her back on time. Good news is 24 hours later all is well. I'm so glad we live somewhere where such experiences are an exception rather than the rule.

I wanted to include some other fun pictures - they aren't very good but it's what I have. I woke up last Sunday and found a praying mantis on my window screen. This was odd for two reasons - I didn't realize they were present in the area. Secondly, what in the world was it doing on my third story window?

The other picture is of my new garden. I'm pretty excited to see it coming along. Left to right is basil, chives and cilantro. The mint is a couple of days behind in development but should be coming along.

Tomorrow I have another working interview to fill some of the time I am not working at the periodontal office. I'm really hoping it will go well. The office is beautiful: digital x-rays and charting as well as spacious room s with a view. Instruments seem to be good and the team pleasant. It's also within a mile from my home. I'll be sure to update as I learn more.

Hooray for Six Flags!

2007-08-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

So last Thursday I took off work and Lizzy and I went to Six Flags with my lil bros. We got pretty adventurous and decided to get this caricature done. It was a lot of fun and I think it turned out so cute if I do say so myself ;)

Working all over Milwaukee

2007-08-03T21:03:00.001-07:00

Great News...I have some "permanent" work. On August second I officially began working with Dr. Nancy Barnett. After many interviews, (most with little to offer as far as hours or satisfaction) I finally find something that seems to fit well. I'll be working an average of twenty hours a week there, leaving Wednesdays and Fridays available to find work elsewhere. The office that I am in is a specialty office focusing on periodontics (gum health). I had worked in a perio clinic in Minnesota and really enjoyed it. The doctor is both laid back but efficient and committed to excellent care. I'm really happy with the way she runs her office and keeps her equipment. I'm also pumped about using digital x-rays.

Another definite perk to the job is that it is less than two miles away, meaning I bike to get there. I would almost describe Dr. Barnett as spunky. She works with her sister who is the receptionist and enjoys biking, swimming and recently finished a triathlon. She is well respected in the dental community which will also help influence my credibility here in Milwaukee. We seem to have the same vision for dental care and patient communication. It's a small office, with two to four people working a day. I think it will be good for me.

On my days off I have aligned myself with a temporary agency. Milwaukee dentists seem to prefer calling them rather than me directly for the ease of scheduling despite the overhead cost. The downside to that is I get paid less, but the up side is that I'm busier. In my travels all over the city relieving hygienists I have seen some scary things. I have been pleasantly surprised in a few offices of course, but it's amazing to me to see where people put their focus. For example; I have seen some beautiful appearing offices who look great but their patient care is less than optimal and the effort they put into keeping their employees safe is below where it should be. My biggest pet peeve has been the lack of essential tools and the poor or non-existence of sharpening of those that do exist. Many tools seem like they would be more effective as daggers than for removing deposit. (These instruments are why I think some hygienists get a bad reputation.) I don't think I could do temp work forever. It is certainly challenging to wake up everyday, go somewhere new and try and figure out how that office and their doctors practice dentistry.

To celebrate my working life Jason set up a rectangular hanging herbal garden for me. I just planted some cilantro, chives, spearmint and basil. Hopefully some wonderful things will start sprouting soon. It would be really neat to grow tomatoes but Murphy has squashed that dream.

As far as other exciting news goes, I just learned how to make a reversible skirt. It looks pretty cool - I'll have to post some pictures soon. It's been rewarding learning to use my sewing machine but I think I better stick to my day job.

My parents are hosting an exchange student from Spain for the next three weeks. We're hoping to meet up and introduce him to some truly American events such as the state fair. What could be more American than something deep fried on a stick? I'll be heading to Madison tomorrow to celebrate my birthday and hopefully play some tennis with my brother Curtis. The weather has been getting up into the nineties and finally feeling like August. I hope your summer is treating you just as well.

2007-08-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

ok. I think i have this figured out. It took me a while. So glad we've got this thing going on. Perhaps i will keep in touch better. Anything has got to be better than before. Whoo. I enjoyed reading everybodys things. I enjoyed the pictures as well. Sorry about your house Colette that stinks. Dirty rotten no good scoundrels. Lucky you had not signed yet. Well, i will talk to yall later.

2007-08-03T11:51:00.001-07:00

hello

2007-08-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECCA!!!

Ask Red

2007-08-01T10:49:00.000-07:00

Ok you asked for it....here's some samples of my weekly 'advice' column...ha ha ha

Dear Red,
A guy called me up for a date and my phone cut out on me right after he asked me, and he thinks I hung up on him and keeps avoiding me now. I would’ve said yes, now what do I do?
Signed,
Confused

Dear Confused.
He’s not avoiding you because he thinks you hung up on him; he’s avoiding you because you have an inadequate phone service provider. I would recommend upgrading your service or switching networks and then you can “reconnect.”
Over and out,
Red

Dear Red,
If I sit with a guy during Sacrament Meeting, does that mean we’re a couple?
~Inquiring Mind

Dear Inquiring,
Well, that really depends on which side of you he is sitting. If he is sitting to your right, then you’ll surely be engaged in no time. If he’s sitting on your left, proceed with caution as this could be strictly friendship.
Hope he ‘chooses the right’,
Red

Dear Red,
I worry that my Sunday School teacher thinks I’m not listening in class because I’m reading my Ward Newsletter. What is the etiquette for reading the newsletter during church??
Sincerely,
An Avid Reader

Dear Avid,
If multi-tasking just isn’t your forte and your cover was recently blown by an outburst of laughter while reading your “scriptures,” you might try politely asking the teacher to allow a moment of silence in honor of the newsletter before class begins.
Read guilt free,
Red

Dear Red:
If a spaceship were to come and abduct you off to a different planet, what would you most miss about Earth?
Phone home,
E.T.

Dear E.T.,
Well that’s a tad dramatic, I don’t think I’d say getting married is the same as being abducted, but I guess I can see some similarities. I think what I’ll miss most are those amazing YSA dances, yup that’s it.
Up, up, and away,
Red

Dear Red,
I’m doing my best to flirt, but this boy is oblivious. Why don’t boys pick up on the hints? I’m a pathological flirt! Am I losing my touch?
Please help!
Flirty McFlirty

Dear McFlirty,
Don’t fret, it’s not you, it’s him. No matter how obvious your flirting may seem, I guarantee the boy has no clue. Guys are just not equipped to pick up on our subtle hints. Try a more direct approach such as announcing your flirtation beforehand. If that still fails, take the plunge and just ask Sherlock out.
It’s elementary my dear,Red

Ok that's enough for now...more to come later ;) enjoy!!

Heidi's baby

2007-07-30T11:31:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many of you still have Heidi's email, or hear from her, but I just got an email from her and I thought I'd pass on the sad news for any who didn't hear. She had a baby girl in May, and apparently she died this past week. Heidi had mentioned months ago that her pregnancy was difficult and she was on bed rest because of risk of pre-term labor. She said it was probably their last kid because her pregnancy with Kaden was just as hard and she was on bed rest with him too. But it seemed like Isabel must have been born premature--she was a little over one pound, I think. And I think she must have been in NICU since she was born.

Here's what she wrote:
Our sweet little princess returned to her heavenly father due to an infection. She was a perfect little angel. The infection hit so quickly her sweet little body didn't have time to respond to medication. I talked with the nurses at 6:00 and she had just finished her bottle and was doing fine. Ed got there are 9:00 and her breathing had started to slow the nurses and doctors did everything possible, when we arrived her heart had not been beating and she wasn't breathing for almost 2 hours, at 1:30 am she had returned to her heavenly father. She had doubled her birth weight when she passed on she was 3 lb 7 oz.

Clearfield- Isabel entered this world on May 31st and returned to her Heavenly Father on July 25th 2007 . She over came many challenges in her short life. She was born at 1 lb 8oz and quickly learned to breathe and use a bottle on her own. She touched the lives of so many people and her sweet spirit will always be remembered. She loved people, especially her big brother she always smiled and held on to his finger when he came to visit her each day. Isabel was called back to her Heavenly Father due to an infection.

Sad stuff. Anyway, I just thought I'd pass on the news.

Wanna hear/see something gross?

2007-07-29T20:52:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I had a softball game yesterday and had to slide at 3rd base. I was safe, but the silly intramural umpire didn't know what the heck she was doing, and called me out. Anyways, this is what happened. Ironically, before the game, I had a discussion with Mike's little sister Lisa about how sliding wasn't worth it and if you had to slide you shouldn't have gone to that base anyways.

So at church today I was giving Cameron a drink and felt something drip onto my foot. I just figured that he had splurped water on me as he so often does. I ignored it and minutes later Shannon had to go to the potty. So I took her and then she wanted a drink. But before I pushed the drinking fountain button I felt another drip onto my foot. I looked down this time and, much to my disgust, there was all this yellow drippy pussy stuff leaking down my leg. I quickly went back into the bathroom and discretely cleaned it up without Shannon noticing. If she would have noticed I would have had to answer questions about why Mommy had a yucky leg. Ew.

Funny video

2007-07-29T18:17:00.001-07:00

So, if you have about 3 minutes to kill, check out this video. I thought it was pretty funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4vDClhnJjs

Moving adventures

2007-07-24T17:07:00.000-07:00

So, this weekend was quite a bit more of a weekend than we had anticipated.

Here's a little picture of how moving into our new home went. About 2 hours before we were supposed to officially close on the house, our realtor called and said our house had been vandalized. Apparently some kids have been going around the area (which is one of the safest places in all of Tucson with no--almost no--crime) breaking into houses that are for sale and vacant and having a party there and trashing the place. So here's some pictures of what they did.

The cops came out that night (Thursday) (after waiting for 3+ hours), and took fingerprints and stuff. Then we had to wait for the insurance agent to come check out the damage before we could start cleaning up. Because we found it before closing, it was still the responsibility of the last owners' homeowners insurance. So we waited all day Friday, and finally that night she made it out, and we started cleaning after she was done. It only took a few hours to clean up, thanks to the help of my parents and brother and sister-in-law and Jacob. I worked for a little while, but got a bit too hot anywhere except the living room where we had fans going (the AC wasn't working either). Besides the heat, I was kind of dead from all the packing and stress of the day, and not having gotten a nap or slept well the night before, along with the baby sucking all my energy, so I was pretty much good for nothing. But those guys did a good job and got everything cleaned up so we could move Sat. morning.
The moving went fine and actually was pretty quick. I recommend never living on the 3rd floor, however, unless you really love the exercise. I got winded every time I'd go back upstairs, so I ended up supervising more than moving (besides that my tummy got in the way of carrying boxes). Now we're mostly unpacked. Here's some pictures with our stuff scattered around, but most of the junk from the punk kids cleaned up. We'll have to get someone in to fix the broken window, and the holes they punched in the drywall, then we'll get to have the rooms repainted. Of course the one room that has a funky paint job is the only one the kids left alone, so it's the only one the insurance isn't covering to repaint. We might repaint it anyway, as long as the rest of the stuff is getting done. And we'll go get some new doors since they destroyed all but 2 of them (luckily one that they left in tact was to the toilet room). So here are pictures of mid-unpacking. Most of it ias actually unpacked now. We just haven't unpacked the books yet, because we decided to wait until the painting is done so we don't have to try to move a full bookcase.

So that's the story of our move. We're hoping the repairs will go quickly. Whenever it's all done I'll put some updated pictures on here so you can check it out.

Here are the pics that were in my post once upon a time...

2007-07-23T23:02:00.001-07:00

I want you to know this is a huge sacrifice...

2007-07-21T23:19:00.001-07:00

Yep... its true. I got my Harry Potter book today and it is sitting on the coffee table dogeared at page 48. I care more about writing to you kids than reading my Harry Potter. I hope you now feel the warm fuzzy glow in your hearts.

Anyways... heres an update on me.

This month we moved back to Provo for Mike to finish writing his dissertation. Then we will be done. It's about time. So now I shall bring you up to date on what is going on with us. Shannon is now 3 and potty trained. I won't post right now in this blog about potty training... such gruesome tales are not for the faint of heart. I will just say, that now, one of the first questions that Shannon likes to ask those who are tending her is "Are you good at wiping bottoms?" She has also perfected the "crazy eye." I hate it. She can cross one eye at a time. And she can do both eyes. Such a talented child. She likes hanging out with my sister Amy and one of her friends, Kasey. Kasey and Mike's little sister Lisa have taught Shannon the art of the "silent laugh, silent cry, and silent scream." To be quite honest... they really look pretty much the same. I'll have to have Mike take pictures of all three and see if you can tell which is which. We'll have a contest!!

Cameron is fat. Like Colette, but not really. He is just fat because he is a baby that eats lots. Colette is fat because she has a baby inside of her that eats lots. I just gave him his first haircut. He had this faux-hawk/receding hairline/bald spots combo going on that just wasn't working, so I decided to even things out. He was remarkably good and only tried to grab the clippers about 3 times. His new thing is screeching for things that he wants. I am not too happy with this new habit. For example, when I am getting his food ready for him, he will look from me to the food and screech. Then, when I start feeding him, if I am too slow between bites, or if I dare get distracted by anything else, he will screech again. He has been a bit slow with his physical milestones, much like Shannon was. He started rolling over at the beginning of this month, and he is just about 9 months old. For the most part though, he is just a happy easy going little guy with lots of teeth. I don't really like his teeth. He likes to bite things... anything really, tables, spoons, me, books, fingers, balls, Shannon, measuring tapes, me, kleenex, kidneys, power cords (just kidding... I was just seeing if you were paying attention, or if you've nodded off to sleep yet), and me.
As for myself, I really enjoyed my time in New Mexico. There were things I didn't like of course, but there were also a lot of things that I did like. I loved the ward that we had there and made a bunch of good friends. I loved it when Colette and George came to visit us. I don't know how Shannon figured out that Jacob's real name was George, but I'm glad to know his true identity now. I loved the mountains there and the spicy food. MMmmmmm. Green chiles HAVE to be from New Mexico to be awesome... unless Grandpa Ozaki grows them, of course. It is interesting to be back in Wymount but I've really been enjoying playing softball, although I have realized that I am woefully out of shape and need to get running to lose some weight. It is ironic that the same flab that helps me hit the ball far also slows me down as I run around the bases. Never fear though, the jogging stroller has arrived, and Shannon will now throw a fit if I don't go running in the morning... trust me, its great motivation to go!

This is getting long but I am almost done with the update! Mike recently had an interview in Connecticut. Yes, there is a possibility that we could be East Coasters. I don't really like the East coast, but I will admit, I've never given it a fair chance. I've always loved the open spaces and desert that abounds in the West. We'll see what happens and I'll keep ya posted!!

Chicago Adventures

2007-07-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

Thanks Stephanie for getting this Crown 9er blog going. I'm really excited about keeping in touch with everybody. For the most part I'm going to post on this site the same things I do for our website. If you want to catch up or read about Jason's veterinary adventures please visit

Last weekend my parents and I drove down to the Great Lakes Naval Base for Rachel's Boot Camp graduation. Conveniently, the nationwide training center is only an hour and a quarter drive from my home. Her ceremony was Friday morning; highlights involved the parade of states and watching the recruits as they stood for an hour. Later, Rachel told us that the sailor next to her fell asleep standing up and collapsed forward on the recruit in front of him. All of the recruits were not allowed to move, so even though Rachel saw it happening she couldn't stop it and the recruit who was landed on had to simply stand and bear the weight. My mom was the one with the camera, while she didn't catch this action, she taped Rachel swaying back and forth unintentionally as she tried not to lock her knees. Apparently this is such a common problem at graduations that they assign a couple of recruits to quietly walk among the ranks and wake up sleepy recruits or fix locked knees.

Following the graduation we went to Gurnee Mills, a local shopping Mecca for lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. My dad then returned so he could work that evening with all of the lucky inmates at the jail. The rest of the weekend my mom, Rachel and I explored northern Illinois.

Saturday we visited the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. This place rocked! It was a beautiful and huge building. They have an extensive collection with a fascinating display of anemone and coral throughout. I was super impressed with how clean all of the aquariums were and how well put together the ecosystems were duplicated for appearance and information. We spent a good six hours looking at and learning. We also really enjoyed a special exhibit with lizards from all over the world. They had a Komodo Lizard there that was a 120 pounds. We learned these "dragons" can eat 80% of their body weight in one sitting, I figured that to be 95 pounds in one sitting for the adult male there! My favorite displays were probably the whales and the Caribbean Reef tank. (The Amazon section was also fascinating with the poison arrow frogs and bird tarantulas.)

Through careful detective work we were able to find a decent place to park in downtown Chicago and manage to drive there and back without any problems. We also learned how to use the free Trolley, but only after walking several miles up and down Michigan Ave. Rachel was dead set on finding the Cheesecake Factory which was at the opposite end of Downtown then the Aquarium. Several blisters later, we finally found it and enjoyed a delicious dinner. We then quickly marched the miles back to the car in order to get her in before her liberty expired. Part of the rules for her first liberty from base involved that she be limited to a 50 mile radius and she had to remain in uniform at all times. Considering she had to keep her all white uniform spotless, this limited some of the activities we could do. It was also key that she make it back to her barracks no later than her curfew, as you can imagine, this made me a bit nervous as the driver but all worked out well.

Sunday Rachel had to clean her ship so my Mom and I went to the chapel on base to have church with the recruits. They had an LDS branch there with a lot of people really committed to serving the recruits. They did everything from allowing them to write messages to be phoned to loved ones to providing the postage for letters. (Recruits do not have phone privilages of their own.) During boot camp, church is one of those few moments where you can relax; this seems to a rare opportunity to write letters and get a break from your division. Following church we met with Rachel and went to the Illinois State Beach Park. My mom and I had packed a picnic lunch the night before so we spent the day walking along trails, taking a nap on the beach of Lake Michigan and getting severely sun burnt. (This had something to do with the inability to really plan the weekend and not knowing sunscreen would be a good thing to bring.) We then sent Rachel back to the base where she will be awaiting her "A" school. This is the term used to describe the school that sailors will go to receive their specific training, in Rachel's case, to become a medical corpsman which is also at the same base by opposite side as the recruit training station. This is a big change in her training considering she will now have the opportunity to call us and have more time on her own. As you can tell from the pictures, we are very proud of her and fully support the decision that she has made to serve her country and further develop her character.

Now that Rachel has weekend time available we hope to be able to work out some more explorations of Wisconsin and Illinois so we'll have to keep you updated as the adventures continue.

I got an A!!

2007-07-20T09:28:00.001-07:00

Ok so I'll just go ahead and talk about myself some more - Woohoo!

I probably have some fun pictures to post later too...

So I'm still working at the University of Texas and going on my 4th year...wait maybe 5th - o no I'm losing track of time! Yikes! The job is a job but I do enjoy working on campus, I love the campus feeling even though it's nothing like our old beloved campus, believe me. I'm also enrolled in a Master's Program - Master of Public Administration (MPA) to be exact. Now I know you are all wondering what that means and what I'm going to do with it. These are all very good questions to which I don't really have an answer. The MPA is basically the public sector version of the MBA so I'll be prepared to boss people around in federal and state agencies - something I'm sure I'll be excellent at - ha! Anyway my first session just finished up a few weeks ago and I got myself a big fat 'A'! I was pretty excited about that considering I honestly had no idea what I was going to get - freaky feeling. While going back to school as been really exciting I had forgotten how hard and annoying school can be sometimes. Staying up all night to write a paper is really not my favorite thing to do!

Anyway, other than that things are pretty much the same. My lil twin brothers are about to get their driver's license which freaks me out every time I think about it. My mom is still dating a Jew (which is weird for a whole lot of reasons) and I'm still single in the singles ward...but there are a lot of fun people to hang out with down here so it's be good times.

I recently moved into a house and have a new roomie...she's 6'4" so can you imagine the looks we get together!?! It's pretty hilarious. She is such good times and we pretty much have fun everyday - slumber party all the time!

O and on the funnier side...I totally write the advice column for our ward newsletter. It's anonymous and called 'Ask Red'. When we gave it that name I thought for sure people would know it was me right away but they don't - it cracks me up all the time. Anyway people submit questions about anything and once a week I answer one in the newsletter. I must say I'm pretty dang funny sometimes - ha - but seriously it's been a lot of fun. I'll try to remember to send you some of the better samples.

Well that's pretty much it and I better get back to work. I hope ya'll jump right in with more stories. I can't wait!

Later,
Steph

Updates....

2007-07-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

So, where's the updates? What are you guys up to these days. I think you all got my update--I'm getting fatter with a girl due in Nov. and we're moving this weekend. Woohoo! We're kind of ready...halfway packed, but we're working on it. We just spent at least a half hour this morning signing our lives away-so many papers to sign.
Anyway, so lets hear what's going on with y'all.

Remember when...

2007-07-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

We all jumped in the botany pond and it was freezing and gross!!!

Hey buddies!
I figured it was about time we find a way to keep in touch better! I want to know what's going on in your lives and I really want to see some pics!!

So tell me...what's new with you?

Steph