One Down Four to Go!!

I passed my first Board exam!! One step closer to becoming a dental hygienist. Hoorah!! I was so nervous for this first one, since I had no idea what it would be like. I studied and studied and STUDIED for it until I literally ran out of material to study. It was the written local anesthesia exam, which isn't a huge one, but i'm still really glad I passed. My next one is in two weeks and it's my Process of Care exam. I need to start studying for it, but my score on the last exam has given me a false sense of security...dang it!! Then a couple weeks after that and I have my clinical local anesthesia exam where I inject someone while two old ladies lean over my shoulder and make sure I do everything exactly right. Not excited for that one. Then my two biggest tests after that, and then I am done!!! So sorry I have been an awful blogger lately, but I have more on my plate than I can handle sometimes!! I just can't quit imagining about the day I graduate and how wonderful it will be to actually make money!!! Just the thought of it all is so exciting!!!

Africa

So as I was doing my usual internet skimming this morning, you know, Pinterest, Facebook, gmail, blogger, and I read something on Pinterest that made me remember/think about how fortunate I was to go volunteer in Africa. It just started a chain of thoughts about what a miracle it was that I even got a spot to go, and how everything just fell into place piece by piece. The whole thing was a huge testimony to me of the power of prayer and having faith that everything will work out. When I decided I wanted to go, I prayed about whether it was right or not. The answer I got was the strongest that I had ever felt, so I knew I needed to go. So I called my friend McCall and told her I wanted to go with her and her mom. The next day she called me and told me that her and I wouldn't be able to go because all the spots had filled the day before. I was devastated! How could this happen? I KNEW I was supposed to go, so what was I going to do now? I couldn't go any earlier because of school, and I couldn't go any later in the summer either. This was the only team I was able to go with, but now it was full. What the flip? So I said a little prayer and felt calm about things, so I let it be. A few days later McCall called me back and told me that a family that had signed up for the June team had just moved to the July team, so we were able to go if I still wanted to. Heck yes! I was so excited. Let the fundraising begin! So I sent out letters and let everyone know what I was doing. The girl I worked with had done something similar in Bulgaria, and she said she got one thousand dollars from Wal Mart, since her brother-in-law was over donations. Her nieces where actually coming into the office the day after we had talked about it, so she said I could talk to him about it when he brought them in. So when he got there she explained what I was doing, and he said I would probably be able to get the money. He just needed to run it by his boss, then it was a done deal. Woohoo! That was a HUGE chunk of what I had to raise. What a relief! But....the next day he called Anne while we were at work and told her I needed to get my paperwork into him that day. He said they had just had a meeting and told everyone that if the donation wasn't going to a local cause it was an absolute no. No if, ands, or buts. He said he would try to get me the money, but it wasn't looking very hopeful, and I needed to start looking for other ways to raise it. When Anne was telling me this she looked like she was about to cry, but I felt totally calm about it. I knew that the Lord wanted me to do this, so I had faith that he would help me get there. Anne was so confused about why I wasn't freaking out, but I told her that it would all be ok. She thought I was nuts ha ha. So a few weeks went by and I heard nothing. Then one day I went into work and Anne threw a handful of ripped paper over me and screamed "You got the money!!!" We were both so ecstatic! After work we went over to her brother-in-law's house and he handed me the check. He said "I have no idea how you got this money. I pushed this every day for two weeks, and they shut me down every day, so I gave up. Then today my boss walks up, hands me this check and says give this to her, then walked away. I really can't believe you got this." I just smiled and thanked him and we left. What a miracle! Then through all my wonderful aunts and uncles, friends, and so many other generous people I was able to raise the money I needed to. The opportunity I had to go to Africa was such a blessing and literally a miracle. I'm so so grateful I got to go and learn everything and experience a completely different world. Thank you again to everyone that helped me get there!!!

Krishna Temple

Yesterday I had the chance to walk around the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple with one of the men who helps run it. Most people know it as the place where the Festival of Colors is held everywhere in Spanish Fork. I've been to the Festival of Colors before, so I knew the outside was pretty amazing, but I had never seen inside of it. So yesterday Whitney, one of my classmates, had to drive her patient home after clinic because he didn't have a ride. She obviously didn't want to go alone, so I volunteered to go with her. Her patient was Indian and lived in the Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork. When we got there he offered to show us around. It was so interesting to see how different everything was. The smells, the floors, the design, all of it pretty much. I kind of felt like I was actually in India. It was pretty cool. But he took us to the upper level where their temple was, and we had to take off our shoes before we went in. When we got there he rang this big bell to let Krishna (their God) know we were there. Then we went around the room as he told us about the pictures on the wall and the different Guru's that have come and gone and how they have been reincarnated. It was so interesting to me! It got me thinking about religion in general, not just my religion. It was interesting to listen to his stories of how Krishna saved the people from a flood by holding up 21 square miles of land with his pinkie for seven days and seven nights without getting tired. I wondered to myself how he believed these crazy stories, but then I thought of things from his perspective. I'm sure if I had told him the story of Noah's ark, he would have thought I was nuts too! Don't think this is blasphemy or anything, but think about it-one single man built an ark that held two of every animal in the world that held up through forty days and forty nights of rain....it's quite the story! And if I didn't believe in God and his power I would have heard the story and thought people were crazy for believing it. But I've grown up learning about Noah's ark, just like he's grown up learning his stories. So it was just kind of an enlightening trip for me, I really enjoyed it!

P.S. Does anyone know why my font changes colors half way through? I can't figure it out and it's driving me crazy.

Up to Date

I guess it's about time for a new post! I haven't uploaded any pictures recently, so this one will just have to be boring words. I don't really have much to post about, just updating all of you! So here you go-

1. My birthday is in TWO days! Woohoo! I will be 23. I have one year until I start sounding old ha ha. I don't know why, but 24 just sounds so old to me.

2. Andy got a job at WMR which is a metal recycling plant in Provo. He isn't crazy about it, but they really like him there, and it gives us an income, so we won't be complaining anytime soon.

3. I got hired back at Buckle!!! I am pretty flippin excited about this. This year I get to actually do sales, where last year I was just in charge of dressing manikins and making the store look good. I think I will like sales better.:) And I will like it MUCH more than tutoring, even though I am still suffering through that...i'm still not sure why.

4. I only have four weeks left of this semester (19 more school days total, 13 more clinic days and 4 more fridays tuoring), then I start my LAST SEMESTER. I can smell the diploma!!!

5. I've been cooking up a storm since we moved into our new apartment. I have tried so many new recipes, and have found lots of things that Andy and I love! (Thanks to Pinterest and Miranda)

6. Andy and I have decided we are going on a trip when I graduate to Havasupai in AZ. My friend and I were planning a big friend trip there last year, but then she got engaged and that all went down the drain. But I have still wanted to go! So we are going for my graduation trip.

7. I am pretty much DYING to buy a house. I HATE paying rent. HATE it. With a passion. HATE. I feel like we are literally throwing money in the garbage. So we are looking at our options. It will probably still be awhile until we do, because we aren't sure how easy it will be to sell our contract for our apartment, so we will probably just stay put until it's done. But when it is, we are outta here!!

So that is that. Not much, but I can't really think of anything too exciting happening right now. Which is fine with me! Things are calm and I like it.

My First Class IV

So I know you are all probably going to think i'm nuts after this post, but I don't care, I love this! This past week in clinic I got my first class IV patient which means he had LOTS for me to clean. This man didn't speak English very well and had NEVER been to the dentist. Jackpot!!!! I have been waiting to work on a hard patient because I feel pretty confident cleaning easy patients. So Wednesday was my lucky day!! This man had serious periodontitis. It's sad to say, but he will actually be losing some teeth because it was so bad. The bone that was holding his teeth in was completely gone in some areas. So it was basically just his gums holding those teeth in his mouth. But it was so exciting to see in person!! We learn about these type of patients, but rarely do we see the ones that are THIS BAD. My instructors said he is one of the hardest patients I will probably ever have. The calculus on his teeth has been there for at least 15 maybe 20 years, so it's going to take me a long time to finish cleaning him. It took me 30 min just to clean THREE teeth!! And i'm still not done with them!! But i'm so happy that I was lucky enough to get him as a patient. I will learn so much from working on him!:)

I know it might not look like there is too much to clean on the back of his teeth, but there is 6-7 mm if calculus underneath his gums that I have to clean off. Yikes!!!

Our New Home

Now that we are finally home from Wyoming we can actually have a home. Hurray!! We found a cute little place in Orem about ten minutes away from school. Nice! So while Andy was working his last week for Vivint, I came home and set up house. It was lots of work, but I think it turned out pretty darn well! I haven't finished the kitchen or our bedroom yet, but I think I am going to take a little break from all the decorating. I've drained all my creative juices!! So here's what I have done so far-

Our living room

Our new couches

Our TV and entertainment center

Our end table and lamp

The other wall of our living room

Our bathroom

The bathroom counter

Our kitchen (which isn't finished yet)

The cute little table we bought

Again, the kitchen

And another kitchen picture

The beginning of our bedroom (I still have lots to finish)

Then we have another room, but it's pretty much our throw-anything-in-it room so I didn't thinks a picture would be a good idea :)

Only One More!!!

I only have ONE more year of school!!! Two semesters. Just TWO! AAAAAAHHHHH! As I am looking at my schedule and getting all geared up to go back to school, it's finally hitting me that after Preschool, Kindergarten, Elementary, Junior High, High School, and four years of college I will be free in TWO SEMESTERS. It's an exciting/scary thing. I'm used to school! I've only spent five years of my life not in school, pretty much all of them I have forgotten, so what's it going to be like?? But I can't wait to find out! Really though, I will definitely be sad to graduate from my program. For the first time I am so excited to go back to school! I love what I'm learning, and I love all the people I get to be around every day. I still have one more school year to soak it all up, and i'm sure by the end I will be ready to be done. But for now i'm excited to go back. Bring on the books!!!