Utah fun!

Okay, more updates about Utah. I will eventually get to Christmas, but it will probably be like next week! Plus, Blogger is being especially irritating about how I organize my pictures, so this will be a short one.

I've spent a lot of time this week catching up on random Cedar stuff. My car is still in Nebraska, so I've been cruising around Cedar in my grandpa's sweet old '88 Chevy truck. Seriously, this thing is a beast, and it only fits 3 people in the cab, but it's fun to drive, and it's the best thing for loading up things like old toilets!

As most of you probably already know, Cafe Rio is my favorite place ever. I've found a suitable replacement in Omaha with Chipotle, but since there is actually a Cafe here in Cedar, I've been about 3 times. Yum! Plus, I've been stealing my brother's left-overs from the fridge. However, I don't think they will be too upset since we've had an on-going argument about whether Cafe Rio is better than Costa Vida (which it is!).

Here is the view from my parent's front porch. Not bad, huh? Yeah, I love the mountains, and it makes me happy to be back home. We did actually try to go up skiing the day after I took this picture, but the weather was so bad at Brian Head (the ski resort down by Cedar) that my mom ended up coming off the mountain early. They said they got several feet of snow, plus drifting winds. However, we didn't get anything down off the mountain, so we actually ended up having a green Christmas. Yes! (If you are curious about my animosity to snow, check out my blog from last winter. We got way too much snow for my liking.)

As I said, no snow at the house. Just rain. This is Shasta looking through the gate because I wouldn't let her in the house (she's not allowed in). Poor thing was soaked from running around in the rain digging in the dirt (hence the muddy nose).

The Toilet

The onslaught of finals finally got over, and I flew out to Utah the next Saturday. Luckily the flight wasn't too eventful, but I took a shuttle from Las Vegas to St. George, and when we got out, some guy took off with my bag instead of his. Luckily I had his stuff to hold for ransom, and he had his phone number on it, which we called. He was nice enough to bring it back, but it made both my dad and I laugh because all he said was "they look a lot alike!" Yeah, they didn't. Mine was a blue adidas duffle bag with a shoulder strap, and his was a black bag with a handle. Hmm.

Well this week has been pretty eventful with the fam, and my parents don't have wireless internet, so I finally decided to update. Most of my dad's side of the family lives here in Cedar, so we did a lot of family get-togethers thus far.

First was the traditional white elephant party. This is always an interesting event because I'm the oldest cousin, meaning there are a lot of young kids that don't really understand what a funny white elephant gift is. Therefore, my gift of old unearthed N'Sync CDs lost its effect when one of the 3-year-olds unwrapped it. Ha ha. However, the old WWII gas mask was hilarious, as well as a set of old dentures. My mom got the family pretty nervous by telling all kinds of stories about her dad who used to come up with all kinds of crazy presents. So of course, we spent a lot of time brain-storming to come up with our "gifts." Luckily my grandpa has an old work shed, and my brother and I headed out to see what treasures we could find. We came back with this beauty:

Yep, we found an old toilet!!!
This buddy was pretty dirty when we first unearthed it, and we brought it back to the garage to hose it down. Too bad my uncle drove up to drop off some of the cousins and caught a glimpse of what we were doing. Luckily he didn't ruin the suprise, but he did ask my dad if we had some kind of a blow-up in one of the bathrooms!

One of the cousins couldn't resist the extra-large present even though most of the family was afraid of it. (It took two people to carry in, and we had to utilize the elevator to get it down to the basement.) Poor kid! We did sweeten the deal by putting some large candy bars inside the toilet, but Blake ended up stealing it back so our poor aunt didn't have to deal with it. It also probably saved us from finding it in the middle of our driveway in the near future!! (Our aunt is well practiced in the art of pranks.)

Diet Coke-cicle

This is what happens when you leave a 24-pack of DC in your trunk overnight. Oh yeah, especially when it happens to be an ice-storm that night.

Haha! Is it weird that I kinda want to keep the exploded can? I don't know why. I'll probably just recycle it with the rest of the non-busted cans. Seriously, I thought this was hilarious! (Just in case you were worried, only two of them exploded. The rest are still intact, and perfect for drinking in their icy deliciousness!)

Studying woes

Today I will be completing my last two finals. It has been rough to keep myself motivated, and it has required a lot of self-bribery! Ha ha. For some reason I focus 5 times better if I'm wearing my headphones. I don't know why, because I'm home alone - it's not like there are any noises distracting me. Whatever works, right? Well anyways, I can't hear a thing, so I'm paranoid that someone may come to my door, or my fire alarm will go off, or something!

Yesterday I totally overdosed on both caffeine and sugar! We had a Christmas dessert day at the clinic yesterday, which meant that all the assistants and secretaries made us all kinds of delicious goodies. It was just what I needed after the two finals yesterday morning. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm growing about five cavities under my braces thanks to that. Good thing I know a lot of dentists who are almost eager to do free dental work! I'm just excited because after today I'm mentally checking out for the holidays, and I'm officially going to start a Diet Coke diet (we all know it needs to happen). We shall see if I am at all successful!

In other news, we got another snow storm last night. It actually started out as this weird hail/rain/ice thing. It totally freaked me out because I wandered out of the house around 8-o'clock to get me a fountain drink, and the sidewalks were all icy. It was one of the more strange things I've encountered out here, but I'm okay with it because we only got maybe 2 inches of snow. WAY better than last year's snow-fest.

Punched

This was pretty much how I felt after Dr. Dowd's glorious pharmacology final today. Just snuck up and punched me in the face while I was minding my own business...

No seriously, I thought this was hilarious. It must be on account of the lack of sleep and fun in my life right now!

Around the house

Check out my socks. I had to cut them so I could wear them with these sweet shoes!

Yep, these are like boots but they are high heels! Just thought I would share, especially since I've been wearing the socks around the house all day. In fact, if someone came to my door I probably wouldn't even take them off! I think they are really funny, and they are the perfect socks for me because they keep most of my foot warm while my toes still have freedom to move!

So basically it's finals... two-and-a-half-weeks. (Yeah, we don't do finals "week" anymore.) This is my attempt to distract myself from studying. Unfortunately, I must return to the joy that is pharmacology!

Thanksgiving fun

Okay guys, I pretty much failed to take pictures during this trip. However, I did have a really good time (minus the travel fiasco). The dental school gave us three days off, so I decided to head back to Utah for some family time. I had a great time hanging out with the brothers, the parents, and the dogs. I ate tons, and tons of delicious food, and I even managed to make up a sweet potato recipe that my whole family loved. Plus, we had the usual pie buffet which always makes me happy.

As far as the travel situation, I will someday make it back to Omaha. I have been delayed, switched flights, delayed, canceled, re-booked, delayed, until now I think that I practically live at the airport! However, I think the airports at Cedar and St. George are just plain cute, especially since it takes like five minutes to check in, and the people there are super nice. I was supposed to fly out last night, but instead it got cancelled and I got to sit and watch like four hours of Malcom in the Middle (Hi-larious by the way)!

Okay, so probably my favorite part of coming home was the fact that there are five little puppies hanging out at my parents house!

Look how flippin' cute! I had almost convinced myself to try and bring one home with me (don't worry, I didn't). However, playing with these little guys comes with a price - I have scratches all over my hands. I don't really care, though!

Airplane versus blizzard

Okay so it is Thanksgiving, and I decided to head on home for the holiday. Yay, right? Well about an hour before I leave for the airport, my dad calls me and tells me that there is supposed to be a blizzard in Salt Lake, and that he wants to get me a flight going into Cedar so I don't have to drive down. I say "okay" even though I already had plans to stay with a friend in Salt Lake. After the hassle of purchasing a flight last minute, I make it to the airport. I did manage to set off the metal detector with my earrings, but at least I wasn't traveling with a cat! (The guy in front of me at security had a cat which he had to take out of the carrier before they would let him through.)

The flight from Omaha to Salt Lake went well until the pilot announced that there was a storm, and they were trying to clear the runway, and that it would be another 40 minutes. Over an hour later, with several threats of possibly landing at another airport, we managed to touch down. Now comes the wait for my delayed flight to St. George. The lounge, which was packed with frustrated, delayed passengers, is now getting pretty sparse. It is about 12:20 my time (Nebraska), and I'm getting pretty tired. I hope that someone will wake me up when they finally decide to board my flight. Luckily I have a computer, which means I have about a million movies I can watch to keep myself entertained!

This reminded me of a Seinfield episode, but I couldn't embed it. Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NienKmtknI

Plethora of Blankets!

At last winter is here, which means I am able to snuggle under about seven blankets at night. I sleep with the window open, and who cares that my actual house reaches freezing temperatures. (That does make it more difficult to wake up, but I have a hard time with that anyways.) So yes, that is probably the best thing about winter for me. That, and the fact that it is almost Thanksgiving, and then it will be Christmas. Yay!

In case you were wondering, this is my fabulous bed. I got to have a lovely Sunday afternoon nap today - it was fantastic!

The other thing I love about this time of year is that I can leave my DC in the trunk of my car, and it's almost like keeping them in the fridge!

Boots!

Okay, for those of you who saw me this Sunday, you were probably curious as to my somewhat unusual footwear. Yes, I totally wore these sweet boots to church this Sunday. And I am the ward chorister, so I had to walk up to the front of the church - more than once - in them. (Don't worry, they are surprisingly comfortable, and this story doesn't involve falling!) Well these are actually my Halloween boots, and in an effort to get more use out of them, I am attempting to wear them in every-day situations. Ha ha, just kidding. I actually had a friend dare me to wear them to church if she wore her fake Halloween eyelashes. So that is why. It was actually super fun, and I freakin' like them. Too bad I feel somewhat hookerish in them, and I am taller than almost everybody (including the boys). However, I could get used to being able to reach the top shelf with those extra four inches! Whatever, at least I didn't wear this:

This was my Halloween costume. I haven't uploaded my other pictures yet. I'll get to that someday!

Weekly Ashley-isms

Here are some of the stupid things I have said both out loud and silently to myself this past week. Thought I would share!

• I just flossed the crap out of my teeth. I hate it when that happens!
• I wish they had Rockstar-flavored Coke. That would be awesome.
• I noticed you had a piece of food stuck in there. Maybe that is causing the sensitivity.
• What a weird shirt. I need to try it on! (Then I ended up buying it...)
• I miss Halloween...
• Why do I have so much energy? Oh yeah, I just drank a Rockstar...
• Hurry, turn off all the lights so no one will come to my house! (I ran out of candy on Halloween.)
• I don't remember his name. Something with "D". Can you be more specific? That's all the D names I have. - Jan Oh nevermind, I'll go look up his name. (I wasn't even close)

Thriller!

In honor of Halloween, here is Michael Jackson's Thriller. I love it, and I love it even more when people learn this dance and dress up like zombies. My favorite is that my mom used to teach dance lessons, and she said that she actually learned this dance and taught it to her students once. Isn't that the best thing you have ever heard? Someday I might learn the dance!



Next time any of you get a chance to see my mom, ask her to dance the Thriller for you!

Halloween!!!!

Okay, so I got way excited about Halloween this year. Actually I do every year, but who's counting, right? This year I am going to be a pirate, and I think that I will be a pretty awesome pirate. I actually just pulled most of my costume together, and of course I had to try it on. I didn't dare post it on facebook, though, because that will ruin the surprise (I don't think very many people have discovered my blog yet)! Okay, here it is. This is what I would look like if I had long black dreads!


Obviously you can't hardly see the whole costume, mostly because I'm not wearing it. I will get better pictures when Halloween actually happens! Until then, get EXCITED!!!

This was just for fun!

Heart attack grill

Okay, so my friend told me about this place, and she was very upset about it. I checked it out, and I too became very angry. I mean, honestly, why? The guy that runs this place is just insulting, especially to someone who is in the medical profession. Seriously! He runs around in a lab coat with a stethoscope, and hires glorified strippers to serve incredibly unhealthy food. There is something seriously wrong when a place can actually advertise that people that weigh over 350 lb can eat for free.

On another note, I actually went to a pretty good burger place this weekend, Five Guy's Burgers. It was delicious, but they definitely give you an overabundance of fries. If you go there, share your fries with someone!

Raccoons!

Okay guys, so here at Village Green where I live we get all kinds of wild-life. That includes squirrels, birds, the occasional frog on my doorstep, skunks, deer, turkey, and raccoons! According to the VG newsletter, they have caught over 20 skunks around here. I believe them because I've seen a couple of them wandering around the neighborhood, and was also startled one morning by one caught in a trap.

However, last night I had a somewhat unfortunate encounter. I finally decided to take out my trash when I got home last night around 10:00. When I lifted the lid I bumped into a raccoon hiding in the bottom of the dumpster! Well I tossed my bags in and ran away, terrified that it would take vengeance for having it's evening scavenge interrupted. I turned around to see one take off into the bushes, and another one crawling out of the dumpster! It scared the crap out of me. Man, those things are huge - they are like really fat cats, or medium-sized dogs. I bet they could do some damage if they decided to attack me! Anyways, I thought it was hilarious, and I bet if anyone was watching they probably thought I was crazy.

PS - this picture isn't my dumpster. The raccoons ran away too fast for me to get a picture!

This is the story of GI!

I was attempting to clean out my iTunes and I came across my old pod-casts from 1st year of dental school/medical school. (We only got pod-casts from classes we took with the med students.) We had this awesome anatomy professor who not only would teach us, but would write these awesome songs about anatomy! It was the oddest thing after sitting in lecture for an hour to see the instructor suddenly run over and pull out a guitar and bust out a song. It was awesome! Yeah, this file is huge, and I have no idea how to edit it. Sorry! Skip to like the last 5 minutes to hear the song - unless you are a nerd like me and you actually want to hear the whole lecture!

This made me feel oddly nostalgic. I certainly wouldn't want to go back (Freshman year totally sucked) but I admit I had some good times!

Okay, I lied, the file won't load on here. I will keep trying later!

Everything

Okay, I know I am behind the times, but Lifehouse just released some new music. However, this is not a new song, but it happens to be a new version of one of my favorite songs! Enjoy. Yeah, I am addicted to music because it keeps me moderately entertained while I force myself to study!

Lab TV

Lately I've been getting a lot of cases that require lots of lab work. Pretty much I'm making a lot of dentures right now. Anyways, we have a lab just for the Juniors and I was chilling out there one day for like five hours. We have a TV there and for some reason it's always on the sports channel. I promise there is nothing worth watching on the sports channel for 5 hours straight, but I do get to see a lot of funny commercials!

Ha ha, I thought this was hilarious! Oh yeah, the next day I brought my laptop and watched movies on it while I worked on my lab work. No more sports channel for me!

October

As many of you may know, Halloween just happens to be my favorite holiday. That is because you get to dress up crazy, and no one makes fun of you! I have yet to decide what I will become this All Hallow's Eve, but it will be good.

In honor of the month of October I have decided to wear orange and black bands on my braces! Just for fun. Also, I'm seeing how many people actually notice. My instructor noticed today and gave me a slightly hard time. Ha ha. Oh well, I am excited anyways!

PS. I am aware that is in fact still September.

Your dentist

Today I got my new loupes in the mail! I am super excited. Do I look like a real dentist now?

Hidden dangers

Sorry the sound is weird on this video. Anyways, I used to be a big That 70's Show fan, and I thought this was hilarious. My little brother even quotes this one!

Um yes, I wear a toe ring. However, you never hear just how dangerous those things are. I was at an institute dance and this girl stepped on my foot and ripped it off. Ouch! Now I am unable to wear my toe ring until my poor toe heals... so sad.

Update

Okay guys, I realize I haven't updated my blog in a while, but honestly I don't have much to blog about. I'm sure I can come up with something. Okay, here's something. I got my hair cut like a month and a half ago, which is a really long time when you have a short hair cut. Anyways, this past week people have been asking me if I got a haircut. I even got a comment from one of the instructors today. He said that my hair was really cute, and that he liked it, which was kinda ironic because I woke up way late this morning, and spent about 5 seconds on my hair. Just goes to show that apparently it doesn't matter what I do to my hair. However, I do enjoy the fact that with short hair I can completely change my style, and totally throw everyone off!

In other news, one of my instructors is trying to get me to join a bowling league. Every time I see him he reminds me about it. And I am scheduled to work with him for the next couple of weeks. I guess I better join, right?

On the wall

I get a kick out of the fact that my dad went to the same dental school I went to. At the school they have head shots of all the previous classes lining the hallway, and whenever I happen to walk past them, it never fails to make me smile to see my dad's old photo from '91. Today was a good instance of that. After a long, crappy day I knew he would understand exactly what I was going through. Also, he usually puts things into perspective for me, which I really need sometimes! Oh yeah, two of my uncles have their head shots on the wall. They are funny, and I like them too!

Brace face

I failed to mention that this week I got all my braces on. I've had the upper braces for about a month now, but I got them put on the week everyone left for break, so I guess not a lot of people noticed them before. I get so many comments about them now, and it's a little funny to me, but I don't really care. I've never had braces before, so it's been a new experience, and I have a lot more sympathy for my little brothers now! Also, I choose to go with blue bands, and my student dentist is trying to convince me to go for Halloween colors next month. (I'm getting them done at the school.) We'll have to see about that because it might make me feel a little too juvenile, but who cares, right?

Some random Wednesday

For some reason this week has felt ridiculously long to me. I don't know why. However, it was a pretty good week. I saw a bunch of patients, got some requirements out of the way, attempted to clean my house... yeah. Anyways, on Wednesday my friend Julianna randomly asked if I wanted to come jet-skiing with her (wave-running, whatever). Of course I said yes!

Across the river in Iowa there is this nifty reservoir - not ten minutes from my house! Now, it's no Lake Powell - it's pretty small, and the water is a nice muddy brown - but it's still a lake! Julianna's fiance John has two wave-runners and we took turns cruising around on them. Julianna and John soaked Qi Qi and I in a drive by, and I managed to dump both of us off the wave-runner while attempting to repay the favor! Poor Qi Qi. Ha ha. I also managed to re-live my wild childhood days of flipping doughnuts on the wave-runners. No, I did not flip it after that first attempt, but then again, Qi Qi was safely watching from the dock. All-in-all, very fun, very exciting, and very refreshing to get out of the house and on the lake in the middle of the week!

Peacock Fun!

When we were in Hawaii we stopped and had a picnic after hiking up to Waiamea Falls. We happened to discovered some very friendly wildlife. My brother Blake has a way with animals, especially when it comes to getting them to do things for food! Enjoy.

PS, please ignore the commentary...

I love this video because it really shows Blake's personality. Which is exactly why I love being around him!

Hawaii!!!!

Okay, so my family decided to go visit HAWAII and luckily they invited me! Here are some awesome pictures just for you to enjoy.

The beautiful beach right outside our hotel.

Two of the brothers on the dive ship. My parents, Blake, Mitchell, and I are all dive certified. This was lots of fun, and my dad has better pictures on his camera, but unfortunately they are unavailable at this moment!

We did a deep dive (about 90 feet) down to a wreck. We then did a more shallow dive through some awesome lava tubes where we saw 4 sharks! Yeah... can't say I was especially excited about that because we had been watching Shark Week on the discovery channel. Not to mention it was a bit claustrophobic in the tube with 5 other divers, 4 sharks, and sea urchins lurking on the ocean floor waiting to stab unsuspecting victims. All-in-all, a very exciting and awesome experience!

Me and Mitchell were collecting leis at the Polynesian Cultural Center. I got three, and Mitchell had five (but only because he found 2 in the garbage!). By the way, I just love his huge smile, and the fact that he is now taller than me! When did that happen? We watched some guy start a fire and climb a tree, and some dudes from Tonga (and a random Chinese guy) pounded on some drums. We ate tons of delicious food at a luau - including some of the best pineapple and pork ever- and we saw a very cool dance and fire show.

I want you for... um... I can't think of anything clever. This is my dad being awesome.

Me and two of the brothers finally going surfing! We rented these boards and just taught ourselves. I can't say I was good at it, but I'm glad I went, and I really wish I lived by a beach so I could get good at it. So much fun, but it is a lot of work, especially when you are trying to control those giant beginner boards! Yet another adventure, this was technically a military beach, and you had to have military ID to rent a board. Luckily my dad worked for the government doing dentistry on a reservation his first year out of dental school - and they still accepted it. Way to go dad!

All in all, a phenomenal trip. Not to mention the sweet tan lines I came back with!

Travel fest!

This year my summer was taken up mostly by clinic, and by studying for the National Boards. I took Boards July 27th, and I'm pleased to announce that I passed! I am glad to have that over with. Too bad Part II boards will be coming up much faster that I would like to think about, but oh well.

Luckily I did get to fully appreciate and enjoy my rather short summer break. I'm not complaining, because I thought it was a wonderful break! However, I do have to do some tallying, because I'm pretty sure I spent at least 4 days of solid traveling over the break (an awesome feat considering my break was only about 2 1/2 weeks long). Also, I had the most crazy experiences while traveling, not to mention all the interesting people you meet while on planes!

Omaha to Vegas via Denver - 6 hours plus 2 1/2 hours driving home. Two days layer I drove 3 1/2 hours to Salt Lake to go to my friend's wedding. After the wedding I headed to the Salt Lake airport at 5 am to fly to Phoenix for a 3 hour layover and finally on to Honolulu (YAY!) with a grand total of 12 hours inside the airport. I gained four hours, so I think I was awake almost a solid 24 hours without even trying! (I was pretty delirious at that point...)

I headed back to Salt Lake at 10 at night (Hawaii time). However, there was some difficulty boarding because apparently some old lady had something fall out of the overhead bin and hit her in the head! Yeah, so they brought an EMT guy down and checked her out. She was totally fine, but they were worried about liability, and the fact that we would be flying over open ocean if she needed medical attention in the near future! I don't really know if she decided to fly or not, but we did eventually get off the ground. I pretended to sleep for 6 hours and get this - when we landed some stupid lady opened the overhead bin (she wasn't even sitting close to me) and some hard plastic thing from a stroller fell out and hit me in the face! Pretty sure it messed up my glasses, but at least they didn't have to call the EMT for me! Well there was another 3 hour layover before finally flying to Salt Lake. I drank 2 Rockstars to make the drive back to Cedar because I lost those four hours... so sad! Grand total time in airport - 12 hours.

When I finally headed back to Omaha, I took a random shuttle to Vegas. I always get to the airport like 2 hours early, and my flight was delayed, so I spent 3 hours sitting in the airport. Finally made it on the plane, had to run to my connecting flight in Denver, and finally made it home around 10 o'clock. Then my friend came over and kept me up till 2:30 am. I didn't really mind, except I kept falling asleep in church the next day. Ha ha!

There you have it - Ashley's adventures around the country! It was amazing. I will post pictures in upcoming posts!

White trash moment..

Do you ever have those moments when you stop and think - "could I be more white trash?" Ha ha, I just had one.

So I've been studying for boards today (the big test you take after the 2nd year of dental school that basically allows you to proceed with your dental education). That is pretty much what I've been doing for the past week, so I'm getting pretty worn out. After a particularly fascinating topic on biochemistry, I decided to take a break.

I snatched some beef jerky from the cupboard, and headed outside. Here I was, in my front yard holding a hose, wearing basketball shorts and no shoes, watering flowers that are pretty much dead at this time of year. Not to mention the fact that I was still gnawing on my beef jerky which in itself is sad because I have braces (and jerky is not brace-friendly). Well here comes my neighbor strolling by and it hits me just how white trash I must look! I retreated to my house in shame...

Except I'll be honest, I kinda don't even care. Come over to my house, and you will see just how much I don't care. I have been living in my pajamas for a week now, and I'm pretty sure I have some form of boards study material in every single room of my house (including the bathroom). However, I'm pretty much stocked up on random study munchies and diet coke - it's like a party. Ha ha, it is pretty much awesome!

Harry Potter Glasses dude

Right now I'm studying for my national board exam, which is on Tuesday. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten my blog, and I haven't forgotten to find pointless videos to post in order to distract myself! (Just watch the beginning of this video, because he starts interviewing the guy, and that is boring.)

Good music

Yesterday I bought an actual CD at the store. It was monumental! I don't think I've done that in years. It was kinda exhilarating to take it out to the car and toss it in the CD player as I drove home!

What did I purchase, you may ask? It was the soundtrack to Eclipse. I'm really impressed with the music they have had on all three movies, and I love them all (although I've only downloaded the other two movie's soundtracks). I've tossed a couple of songs from the soundtracks on my playlist, so check them out if you wish. They aren't labeled, but if you've seen the movies you should recognize them!

ECLIPSE!!!

Okay, so this week the newest Twilight movie came out, and of course I had to go to it. I ended up having a patient cancel for Wednesday morning, so I decided it would be cool if I went to the midnight showing.

I went with a bunch of girls from the dental school, and they love it as much as I do. We even had a "Twi-hard" party last weekend where we watched New Moon and drank "blood" (cranberry juice). So for the movie I even went and found me an awesome Edward T-shirt. Yeah, don't worry, I used to make fun of people that owned these shirts. I got it at Hot Topic, and it was only 7 bucks, and I love it.

The girls ended up arriving at about 8 o'clock to get seats, and I got there about 10. We were awesome studying our dental decks waiting for the movie to start. Diana just finished reading Eclipse instead... Ha ha.

This is Fatima. She loves Twilight the most!
All the girls before the movie! It was amazing, and I want to go see it again. It was the best one of the series yet. Also, I have decided that I am "Team Jasper." Yes, make fun of me if you will, but I love him. Ha ha!

After the movie I didn't get home until 3 in the morning! Also, I still showed up to clinic the next morning just in case I randomly got a patient scheduled. Yeah, four hours of sleep... I was extra grouchy in traffic that morning... Good thing I had no patient. But it was totally worth it!

Bloody guaze

Um yes, another sweet movie made by the Seniors!

Once again, this is pretty funny, but is so much funnier because I know all the people in this video. Enjoy!

Mall salesmen

Okay, I have some friends who are in sales, so I should probably be a little careful, but I hate sales-people! They are so pushy, and I'm so not good at telling them no. And the very worst ones are those guys who work at the carts in the middle of the mall. You know the ones. They are always selling purses, or belts, or other useless products that no one actually needs.

Yesterday I went to the mall, and as I'm walking to the next store, this guy just grabs me. His pitch started out by insulting me just a little bit - "you keep your nails natural?" Yes, buddy, I do. I grow them myself. Well he drags me over to his little stand, and I decide to humor him, all the while preparing myself to say no. After telling me I look like a nurse, and dropping his price by about 30 bucks, I'm still telling him 'no,' and I still can't get him to leave me alone! I finally had to just walk away. So irritating! Oh yes, he was trying to sell me what I can describe as a fancy emery board that was originally 60 bucks. Seriously! I don't want one! (Those people bug...)

Father's Day

Okay these are my fabulous parents. (And Blake, and by the way, don't you just love the look on his face? I mean, what the heck. Totally classic, by the way.) Also, this is my dad at the beach. Please note the hat, glasses, and long-sleeve shirt underneath his T-shirt. This is pretty much standard for him, even when he's actually in the water. Ha ha!!

So I just wanted to post something in tribute to my father, who is amazing. He is one of my very favorite people in the world, and I am amazed at how much he is always doing for those around him. If he's not at the dental office, he usually at the church, or at home with the brothers. I love being able to call home and talk to him about dentistry, and the more I learn, the more I am impressed with him! As his beach attire might suggest, he has a pretty great sense of humor, and it's very entertaining to watch him interact with people. I think that is where I got my odd sense of humor (and my weirdly-shaped pinky toe). It always makes me happy when people tell me I'm like my father. Thanks for your amazing example. Love you, dad!

Also, I would be remiss if I didn't talk about my mom, who is just as amazing. I was teasing her the other day, because she has been put in charge of girls camp, and I was wondering what fabulous decoration she had concocted this time around. (She used to go all-out when she was in charge of decorating for my girls camp.) I've never know someone who is more willing to jump in and volunteer. She is the root of my musical talents, and I am so glad that I had her example (and musical genes) growing up. Just love her, and her enthusiasm for everything.

I think I can confidently say that I have the best parents in the world!

Dog, please!

This is Shasta. Isn't she beautiful? I basically grew up with dogs, and my parents currently have two golden retrievers: Shasta and Molly. My mom loves them almost as much as she loves her children!

So my friends here have dogs (and a really big cat), and I have been coveting them (not the cat)! Unfortunately I can't have a pet at my place unless it is a "service animal." So if I interpret this loosely, I might qualify. Basically, I just need a doctor's note. I've almost convinced myself that I'm going to get me a dog. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a cute little house dog who can keep me company. I think it's a wonderful idea. I'm just sad because I have to wait until after the summer because I'm going to go back to Utah for like 2 weeks, and I don't want to leave my new puppy for that long. Don't I look like I need a dog?

Forever wedding

Okay, I don't know how many of you are Office fans, but one of my very favorite episodes is the one where Jim and Pam get married, and the whole office dances down the walkway to the song "Forever." Well I had heard it was based on a YouTube video of people who actually did that for there real wedding. I just stumbled across it, so enjoy!

PS. I think these guys are totally awesome for doing this!

Um yes, I love Jim and Pam. And I would totally get married at Niagara Falls.

Cooking

I realized today that never before have I cooked this much. And yet at the same time, I've never cooked so little! Ha ha. I've pretty much boycotted making lunches, and instead have opted to go to the hospital cafeteria most days. However, it seems that at least 2 days out of the week I'm making or contributing to some form of dinner night. It's really nice, and it's given me a chance to improve my cooking skills! However, on other nights it seems that I am extra lazy, and instead opt to make cereal for dinner. Mmm, yummy!

Anyways, I'm running out of new main dishes to make, so I'm going to have to start getting creative pretty quick! My personal favorite is still making sweet pork because you can keep it in the fridge and use it in about a million different types of meals, and more importantly, you make it by cooking it in a crock-pot with Coke! Yep. Well tonight I'm going to be somewhat boring, and go for pasta. Yummy!

Inclement weather

That may be an understatement. Let me tell you what happened yesterday.

I start the day off by getting a text from the mom that says the weather looks like there might be tornados happening in my area. I look out the window and, noticing nothing but an over-abundance of humidity for the day, go on with my day as per usual. After class I headed out to my gym which is at 108th and Q, which is a good 15 minute drive from where I live. Just as I'm headed home, it starts raining. Scratch that, pouring. Not only is there a ridiculous amount of water coming down, it's coming sideways because of the wind.

So here I am, trying to drive home on the freeway with my wiper blades going as fast as they can go. Visibility is like 10 feet ahead of me, and every once in a while the wind blows so much water on my windshield that I can't see at all! Luckily traffic was extremely light, especially since a bunch of people stopped underneath overpasses to protect their cars from possible hail. Me, being the determined Utah driver that I am, continue forward. Luckily I did make it home safely, but in going from the parking lot to my house, I got completely drenched. It really looked like I'd just got out of the shower, or crawled out of the river or something! Ha ha. Once I got inside I just looked out the window at all the water, and it was creepy because the sky had a greenish hue. (That happens when there is a tornado.) There was a tornado that touched down, but it was north of Omaha. There was also golf-ball-sized hail, but that also missed Omaha. There were flash-flood warnings being put out, and there were several downed tree-branches that did cause some damage around town. All-in-all I felt pretty lucky that I didn't die or have a tree fall on my car, and I was way too jazzed about all the rain and thunder! Seriously, I should move to Washington because I love the rain!

I tried to get some photos, but it wouldn't let me copy them. So here is a link to a video of the tornado!

Tornado video

Reprimanded...

Okay, so I realize that I haven't written on here in forever, and I actually was reprimanded for this! Yeah, my bad. Ha ha. Well we started working in the clinic last week, which has been a whole new adventure of craziness! Yes, I am now allowed to schedule my own patients, bring 'em in, numb them up, and do some dentistry! Awesome, right? Well it is exciting, but also very frustrating considering all the hoops you have to jump when you are in clinic. The actual dental work is not all that intimidating. We have been practicing that stuff for two years now. It is all the other stuff that comes with working with a real person, as well as an institution. So today a bunch of us went to lunch, and we basically just told all our horror stories from the day. It was pathetic. The worst part is the fact that none of these horror stories had to do with the patient. It was all related to a professor who scared the crap out of us, or some issue with the computer system, or some problem trying to find materials... Bleh.

Okay, well I must say that I am totally enjoying dental school. I have a love/hate relationship with it, and right now I love it.

Stress...

So I got my dad to watch the 'Day in the Life' video clip. My dad is a dentist, and he actually went to Creighton, so he did all this stuff like 20 years ago.

Apparently he got all stressed out when he watched it! Ha ha. Imagine that. 20 years later dental school still stresses people out.

Oh man. Luckily I'm almost halfway through it, and even better, I'm more than halfway through finals! Coming up on final number six tomorrow morning... Good thing I keep finding dumb, highly amusing videos to distract myself!

Case of the Mondays (or Thursdays)

I already posted this on my facebook last December, so it is probably familiar. However, I always feel this is appropriate to describe how finals week makes me feel! Final #4 tomorrow! (Only four more after that...)

A day in the life

A Day In The Life from David Wagner on Vimeo.

This video was made by one of the seniors at the dental school. It probably isn't that funny unless you have been to dental school. So only watch this if you really feel like seeing what a day of dental school is like, or if you want to listen to a sweet 17-minute-long techno song! I thought it was hilarious because even though these are clearly exaggerations, it really is what happens!

Also, if you do watch it, FTKA is failed to keep appointment. We hate that.

I love Cafe Rio!

Okay, so I realize that I talk about dental school way too much on this blog. I also realize that this is probably really boring to all of those out there who aren't in dental school. So I'm going to refrain and talk about something else even though it is in fact finals week!

When I lived in Utah, I was a total Cafe Rio addict. Unfortunately I am unable to satisfy my cravings here in Nebraska unless I make it myself. So that is what I am doing! As far as I can tell, the rumor is true that they cook their sweet pork in Coke. Yum! So I decided to go right ahead. Well today I had to use a pair of pliers to open the bottle... yeah. Somehow I would like to hold finals week responsible for this shortcoming... Ha ha!

In case you were wondering, this method totally worked, and I was able to get it open! (Yeah, don't judge, please.) Also, I will let you know if this recipe tastes authentic! I do make some pretty delicious tomatilla dressing, so it sounds like it's going to be a good night tonight!

Okay, well that's about it for today. I would just like to report that the weather today is pristine, and I really, really wish I could go sit on the lawn instead of studying. Oh the joys!

Dragons

Why is it that going to the movies on a school night is so much more fun that going on the weekends? Maybe it's just because it's out of the ordinary, or it's slightly rebellious, or something. Whatever it is, I really enjoy going to movies, especially on some random Thursday night. So last Wednesday we had our third oral pathology exam, and it was strange, because afterwards it felt like we didn't have any more responsibilities for the week. Two of our classes got canceled for Friday, and most of us spent the day assisting for boards anyways. So we as a herd of 2nd year dental students (and one undergrad) decided to go see a movie in good ole' Council Bluffs. Our movie selection was "How to train your dragon," and I freakin' loved that show! Very cute. In this movie, there is a huge variety of dragons, and the main dragon is a "night fury." For some reason, I thought the name was so clever that I attempted to convince my friend to name his car after it. Surprisingly, he did not agree. Ha ha.

Anyways, here is a lovely preview for your viewing pleasure.

I thought it was especially entertaining because when we got to the theater, it was completely empty. I guess not everyone else finds mid-week movie outings as exciting as I do... Also, I'm already getting excited for all the awesome movies coming out this summer, including Iron Man 2, Prince of Persia, and Eclipse!! Also, what's the deal with Shrek.. 4 is it? Yeah, I thought they were done with that franchise, but apparently not.

In addition, here is a preview for Eclipse which, by the way, was surprisingly difficult to find. But I am way too excited for this movie because I recently bought New Moon, and it reminded me of how much I really love those books (and the movie)!

National Boards

"That prep is sexy!"

Yes, dental students are crazy, and have a slightly skewed sense of reality, especially when under pressure. This weekend 'my' senior is taking the national boards and I get to be his dental assistant. Basically this is the test you must pass in order to become a practicing dentist, and there is a written part as well as a clinic part. It's set up where you have to accomplish so many specific procedures on a patient, and then get graded on your work. It's all very cloak and dagger because there are no names involved - just numbers (I am now known as C205) - and the graders aren't allowed to see the student that is doing the work, which is where I come in! I lead the patient to the back of the clinic where they have a bunch of screens set up, so even I can't see what is going on back there. Only the patient knows what happens behind the curtains. The only feedback they get is if they receive the dreaded pink paper, which indicates a critical error, or even a fail. Luckily my senior received none of those (yay)! All in all, it was a nice preview of what I'll be doing in two years when I get ready to graduate from dental school!

Well, seeya later!

Okay, so I have this funny reputation for loving fountain drinks, and diet coke, and such. So as I was sipping my fountain drink from tonight (Dr. Pepper, yum), I thought of this!

So my friend Zach and I go get fountain drinks from Bucky's all the time, and they must recognize us because we come there so often. Well one night they just decided to be nice, and gave us free drinks. Sweet! Anyways, this blog is pretty much pointless except that I thought this Dumb and Dumber clip was pretty awesome! I also wanted the "nice skis" clip, but I couldn't find it. Ha ha, what a stupid movie.

Only in dental school

So many things that you would only experience in dental school.

• We get to say stuff like, "Where's my mandible?"
• We have collections of extracted teeth, and we are proud of the amount and quality we own.
• We can get away with naming our intramural sports teams things like "The Mamelons," or "The Dry Sockets," or "Hooty Cackers." And we think we are incredibly clever.
• We get to use nitrous (dental "laughing gas") on each other for "academic purposes."
• I actually laughed at my own stupid comment about pulpal necrosis on a plastic tooth today. (That was one of those "who am I?" moments...)
• You get random e-mails that have the subject as "bite mark study," and it goes on to ask for volunteers who would consent to being bitten (by dentures, not people, don't worry)!

There are plenty more, but that is all I can think of at the moment! Don't you wish you were in dental school?

St. Patty's

Okay, so I've never really lived somewhere that St. Patrick's has been a big deal. Well in step dental school. I love it, because my teachers were totally festive today, as well as a good percentage of the class. Of course there are some of those bums that totally forgot and wore blue (for shame!), just kidding. However, I'm pretty sure all the fuss is because St. P's is just an excuse for various bar-related festivities. Such as green beer. Ha ha. Yep, yay for mid-week alcohol..... Hmm, anyways I have decided that I freakin' like those dumb holidays like today and valentine's where no one really cares, but you can totally pretend it's a holiday anyways. For instance, here is my St. P outfit:

Yep, even my nails are green. However, I feel like a 16-year-old girl which, believe it or not, is not the image I want to portray as a brand new dentist who is already suspiciously young. Oh well, it is festive, and I like it!

Candy for your skull

So I got to go home for like a week for spring break, and I spent a good amount of time with my awesome little brother Blake. Anyways, he and I both share an affection for electronics, and music, and sweet speakers. So he had me test out some skullcandy headphones of his, waiting for my reaction. I tell you what, they were sweet! So I purchased some off ebay, and they arrived yesterday. Yes! And the best part- the name -

Skullcrushers

Doesn't that just sound intimidating? Well anyways, they have mini subwoofers in the headphones with adjustable base. So even ordinary songs suddenly become a party in your ears. Ha ha! Love it. Only problem is, I can't hear a thing. That could be good or bad, and I'm especially excited to test them out next time I get on a plane.

This is Blake (left) and Mitch last summer. Yep, they are neat.

Week back

Oh my. So this last week was our spring break (yay!) although I would prefer to refer to it as "late winter" break. Ha ha. Well it was good to get out of Nebraska for a little while, since I had the pleasure of heading back to Utah for the duration of the break. So my trip began with a 6 am flight (yeah, I was up at like 4:30 that morning - thanks to my buddy Stephen who gave me a ride that early!) from Omaha, to Denver, to Vegas. Sweet. My awesome mom came to pick me up, and despite the fact that she gets anxious about being away from her kids for too long, she spent the day shopping with me! We went to the mall in Vegas, and I totally got a "I'm a sucker for blondes" comment from a very friendly lady selling dresses. Ha ha!

That week I got to catch up on lots of sleep, chillax in my parent's pool, catch up on some TV, play some Wii Mario Kart, go skiing up at Brian Head, play some violin, go to a cello recital, eat lunch with my sweet Grandma Brown, get some overpriced ice-cream at Maggie Moo's, visit Wal-Mart (yay....), and spend lots and lots of time with the brothers! Yeah, they are pretty much awesome, and my brother Blake, who is 19, was extra nice to take time out of his busy life to hang out with his boring older sister. Ha ha. So I got to fly out of the Cedar airport this trip, and let me tell you, that airport is tiny! Pretty sure there were only about 10 people on the plane, but I did enjoy my own row of seats!

Well after a busy weekend of traveling and catching up with the Omaha crowd, it was particularly difficult getting back into school this week. I don't know if I'm out of practice with the school thing, or what, but this week has been ridiculous! Between the whole Oral pathology quiz controversy, and the 7 fillings in pedo this morning, I'm pretty much exhausted. Good thing tomorrow is Thursday, which means I am one day closer to the weekend!

Stinky blanket burn!!

Thank you Kelso!
I don't know what it is, but something about hearing Kelso scream "BURN!!" like a million times just makes me laugh. A lot!



"Way to use science in a burn!"

Was that place the sun?

Yeah... there is a reason this clip is so funny. So as several of my classmates have so cleverly pointed out... I am tan.




Yeah, so I go regular tanning, and when I bought a pass I got a bunch of free spray-on tan passes. I decided that in order to take a break from studying, and in preparation for spring break next week (yes!), I would go right ahead. Anyways, stupid guy at the tanning place told me to put lotion on my hands, and so instead of homogenously colored hands, I got weird lines. It is freaky, and I swear it keeps getting darker! Yeah... anyways, hopefully it will fade quick!



On the up side, look how white my teeth appear to be!

Saturday night

Okay, so my goal for this weekend was to get totally prepared for our oral pathology exam this Monday so that I could rock the socks off of it. Well, come to find out, I am really easily distracted... who knew! Ha ha, so instead of staying at home and studying, I ended up going to the Jays basketball game. Luckily I went with two other dental students, and we spent the entirety of the game quizing each other, and throwing out random pathological facts. I'm pretty sure the people sitting in front of us thought we were crazy. However, I'm also pretty sure that they were drinking, so they probably were entertained (and educated)! I guess the sad part about all of this is that I actually had a really fun time, even though I really didn't watch most of the game. Yes, I know, who knew pathology could be so exciting! By the way, the Jays totally won. Sweet!

Inspiration

With three tests last week and four more next week, I am in some serious need of motivation. Luckily we at the dental school love to send out random e-mails - thanks for this guys! (Ps, sorry I keep posting dumb videos on my blog. I shall repent and start taking more pictures!)