Dental Hygiene

So I am almost finished with my first semester of the UVU dental hygiene program, and i'm LOVING it!!! I love the things I am learning, and the other 15 girls in my program are great. I love them all!! I must admit, it's been the longest semester of my life, but that's only because I feel like I have learned a years worth of material in just a few months. It's been a ton of work and studying, but I finally feel like i'm learning and studying things I actually need to know because I'll actually use it.

The first part of the semester was lectures and book

work, but last week we started working on each other in clinic. In January we start working on actual patients! I'm kind of nervous for that, but they tell

us if we just fake like we know what we are doing, everything will be fine :) ha ha I love my instructors!! They are really laid back, which is great because if they were uptight and strict this whole process would be tons more stressful!! But they are very understanding and try their best to help us understand and get good grades.

My first day in clinic with my partner Alyssa

Me and Mrs. Dowd

Mrs Veit-one of the funniest/most scatter-brained instructors alive :)

Jenny and I

Bobbi and Kelly

Lisa and Krista

So this is the program so far. Hopefully the rest of my two years go just as well!!

It's Been Awhile!

So I haven't posted anything in awhile!! I'm a lame blogger, but what can I say, I'm a busy girl!!! So I'll post about a few things that are going on right now. First is hygiene school. I LOVE IT!!! It's a ton of work, but I love learning about things that I will actually need to know!! It doesn't seem like worthless junk I will never use again in my life (like math), so it's really enjoyable. I took my first test for Oral Anatomy and Physiology on Monday and got 100. Woot woot!! I have another test for Dental Hygiene 1 this afternoon which I should be studying for....but I need a break! I can only study for so long until I get sidetracked. Anyway, that's school :) My dating life is fantastic...I'm dating the cutest guy named Andy....he's amazing. We spend pretty much all our free time together, and I love it!! He's met most of my family with the exception of Miranda, and they all love him. Myk and him get along really well, and he's so sweet with her. He makes me very very happy :) Life is good. The only complaint I have is that I don't have a job. The original plan was that I would just live off of what I saved over the summer and focus on school, but it stresses me out not to have some kind of an income. I want some play money!!! So I'm looking into a couple jobs that might give me like 6 hours of work a week. I can't work too much because school pretty much consumes my life, but I need something!! Hmm...what else is going on...ooo! I get to go to the Safetysuit concert tonight with Andy which is going to be super fun!! I love Safetysuit!!! So that's my life right now. Things are going well!!:)

Myk's Visit

Last weekend Mykenzie came down to visit me in Provo. I had a bunch of fun things to do that weekend, so I thought I would invite her to come along with me! Thursday night we went to the Strawberry Days Rodeo in Pleasant Grove. I LOVE rodeos!! And cowboys too :) It was pretty crowded because it was family night, but we were lucky enough to find seats waaaay at the top.
We went with Heather, Stan, Stan's cousin, and a couple other of Heather's friends. They were pretty fun to be with, and it's a good thing since we were with them two days in a row!
My favorite part of the whole rodeo was definitely the strawberries and cream they had. Mm mm mm!!!! It was mine and Myk's first time trying it and we fell in love! We had to go back for more afterward. On the way out of the rodeo Kenz and I got hollered at a couple times, and I think that was Mykenzies favorite part of the night ha ha. She was extra excited to move down here after that.:) The next day she spent the day by the pool while I went to work. When I got home we packed up our stuff and headed to Manti for the Manti Pageant. Neither of us had been, so we didn't know what to expect. I thought all the protesters were kind of funny...especially the last one we heard after the pageant. He had a megaphone and was shouting all sorts of ridiculous things. Right as a big group of us were walking by he shouted "Joseph Smith was a sex offender!!!" There were about 15 people there and ALL of us busted up laughing. Needless to say he stopped shouting things for a few minutes, and then left his little soapbox about two minutes after. Anyways, back to the Pageant. It was interesting...like I said, I didn't know what to expect, but it definitely wasn't what I saw!! The temple was beautiful, but I was too distracted with all the big movements the actors were making to really listen to what was being said. Personally I think that was a one time experience for me ha ha.After the pageant was over we went back to a little park where they allowed people to set up tents for the night. The park was pretty full!! We played thee funnest game I've ever played before we went to bed. Heather bought it and called it the Human Sling Shot. She had taken four feet of spandex and sewn the ends together. Then four people get in the middle and go to separate corners. The two people opposite each other run at each other and when they hit the other side they fling the two others and it goes and goes and goes. You get going pretty fast and it can get pretty dangerous, but that's what makes it fun!! So after that we went into the tent and fell asleep. Me and Mykenzie woke up around 3 in the morning because it was SO COLD!! We decided to wimp out and go sleep in my car. It was a genius idea if I do say so myself!! The next morning we drove home and Myk went back to Syracuse because she had to be at work. It was a great weekend and I was so glad she came down the visit.

C.A.S.A. Case

So awhile ago I wrote about the organization that I am volunteering for (C.A.S.A.), and I haven't done much with it yet except training, but I have finally been assigned a case!!! I went and read the report about why my child is in foster care today, and it broke my heart. Some people REALLY disgust me!! But I am excited to meet with her and get to know her better. I think one of the hardest things about all this will be the fact that I can't talk to anyone about it!! I signed a confidentiality agreement, so legally I can't tell anyone about her. Ugh. Talking is how I work things out, so for me to not be able to is going to be a toughy! But I'm very excited to finally be able to help and I know it will be a great adventure!!

Bump In the Road

We all must go through it sometime
You were not the first, you know
You stick your head in the sunshine
Don't expect the worst, though

If a bird can sing with a broken wing
You'll learn to bend when the wind blows
The leaves may fall, but the trees stay tall
This is a bump in the road
Don't give up, you will make it
Don't give up, you will make it

We all must go through it sometime
You were not the first, you know
Love got more hooks than a fish line
Belive it hurts, oh-ooh

If a bird can sing with a broken wing
You'll learn to bend when the wind blows
The leaves may fall, but the trees stay tall
This is a bump in the road
Don't give up, you will make it
Don't give up, you will make it

Out of the dark
Into the light
Over the edge
Over your life

We all must go through it sometime
You were not the first
You stick your head in the sunshine
Don't expect the worst, oh-ooh

If a bird can sing with a broken wing
You'll learn to bend when the wind blows
The leaves may fall, but the trees stay tall
This is a bump in the road
Don't give up, you will make it
Don't give up, you will make it

Bump In the Road by Erik Hassle

This song has been played on my
Ipod about 50 million times
this weekend!! It's amazing how
awful a broken heart feels, and
how long it takes to get over
a first love. Right now I'm
wondering if all the good days
were even worth it. It's been
almost three months, and I
don't feel like anything has
improved. I still think about
him EVERY day, and I hate it.
Love bites!! I am NOT a fan
at the moment.

I GOT IN!!!

Are you ready for my GREAT NEWS?? I got into the Dental Hygiene program at
WOOHOO!!
I can't tell you how flippin excited I am!! I had been waiting to get a letter from them all week long, and when the weekend came I decided I wouldn't check the mail because if it was bad news I didn't want it to ruin my whole weekend. Then on Sunday morning I couldn't wait any longer, so I went to the mailbox, and there it was, my lone piece of mail staring me in the face. AAAAHHHH!!!!
I rushed over to my friends Mckell and Lindsey's apartment so that I didn't have to open it alone. It took me awhile before I got the courage to open it, but when I did I was running around like I had just won the lottery. I was so excited!!! I was one of only fourteen to get accepted. Whoa!!
I start in the fall, and in just two years I will be a dental hygienist. Woot woot!

C.A.S.A.

So I have decided to volunteer with a program called C.A.S.A. It stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates. There was a service fair in one of the hallways at UVU, and this was the first stand I went to. I will basically be working with children who have suffered from neglect and abuse. Now I know what you're thinking-"Are you sure you want to do that? It's going to be sad!" I think just about every person I've talked to about it has said that to me. I'm not going to lie, it really frustrates me when people give me that response. Of course I know it will be hard! But I'm not thinking about me. These kids have been through so much that I can't even begin to comprehend, and I think that my being sad for awhile doesn't even compare to what these kids have had to go through. They have been neglected, abused, and taken out of their homes and placed with complete strangers. Who cares if it makes me sad for a little while, they need someone to talk to and to love them, and that's what I'm going to do. I will be assigned to a child's case and my job will be to take that child and do different activities with them a couple times a month. Pretty much just be a friend to them. I'm in training right now and they said at first the kids are a little shy, but after a couple months they will open up and tell us how they are really doing. I will work along side the child's therapist, attorney, teachers, and foster parents to make sure the child is progressing. I will also have to report back to the C.A.S.A. coordinator and the child's attorney every month to let them know how the child is doing. I'm so excited to start this and to meet the child that I will be working with!!! It's going to be a wonderful learning experience, and it will keep me serving until I go back to Africa!