Really?

Why yes, that is Paisley on the desk.

She wouldn't leave me alone because she wanted me to hold her, so we compromised. Ridiculous. But adorable (at least I think so).

Board Fact: the pain you feel in your side when running is usually pain in the liver from its blood vessels constricting. The brain is really bad at intepreting pain from organs, and it gets mixed up with the tissue that overlies that organ. This is also why people having heart attacks feel pain in their left arm.

Boards = Bored

I probably should have some cool stories to share, and in truth, I have done a couple of neat things since I got out of school. The most important being a Sip and See that Linda, Jill, Jenn, and I hosted for Jaime and Jemma. I don't have many pictures of it, and since most of you are either one of those 4 women, or someone who went to the Sip and See, I just didn't get around to posting pics. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, check it out on Jaime's blog. Otherwise, I have been sitting in this room doing one thing: studying. I have my National Boards Part 1 on June 7th, so I have been spending 4-6 hours a day minimum studying. I'm actually getting into information that is harder and that I don't remember, so I'm about to kick it up to about 8 hours a day. Who told me dental school was a good idea? Thanks a lot dad. The good news is that I'm halfway through my Dental Decks; the bad news is I don't remember half of it. The test should be interesting... Here is what I'm studying. The box is a little over a foot long and the cards are 5.5x5". All in all, a very boring summer.

Now and then I'll post some interesting facts that I come across. Like did you know that teeth start to form in the womb as early as 5 weeks? Or that prolonged thumbsucking (past the age of 4) causes flaring of the front teeth, a high palate from where the thumb sits, an overbite/overjet, and can lead to the maxilla (the upper jaw) to be too narrow? Or it is normal (and beneficiary) for kids to have spaces in between their teeth, which are called Primate Spaces?

These are the facts of life. I will share more later. I can tell you all about keeping your kiddos' teeth healthy if you want, just ask me. There are a lot of things you wouldn't think of that are super important for their development! Oh the wonderful world of dentistry!

Sorry So Long!

First and foremost, today was my last day of school!!! After 10 straight months of school I'm finally done! Now I get to study for my National Boards Part 1 for 3 weeks, then just a few more weeks until I start again on July 5.
Thankfully between now and then Jordan and I are going to Germany! Yay! Last night I talked to Jennifer and we worked out our schedule:

Day 1: arrive in Frankfurt; Gutenburg Museum; Rhine River dinner cruise

Day 2: Burg Eltz Castle; Mosel River- getting on and off a river boat in cute towns and vineyards; Jordan and I will spend the night at a bed and breakfast

Day 3: meet the Sims in Luxembourg; visit WWI battlefields including Verdun

Day 4: drive down to Switzerland and visit the Rhine Falls and Lake Constance on the border b/w Switz. and Germany; visit Lindau; spend the night somewhere in the Alps

Day 5: Neuschwanstein Castle, Ehrenburg Castle, and Linderhof Castle; spend the night near Innsbruck, Austria

Day 6: tour Innsbruck; drive to Eagle's Nest (Hitler's hideout); spend the night somewhere (?)

Day 7: Munich; Dachau Concentration Camp; Hofbrauhaus; drive back to Sims

Day 8: day-trip to Rothenburg (Medieval town)

Day 9: Fly home

And there you have it!! So exciting! As soon as I have all my grades I will let you how they are. So far they are very good, but I'm very worried about 2 of my finals from this week. We'll see... either way, I'm done with 2nd year! I start again on July 5th and see my first patient July 12th- - scary!