Everyday Elam

Yay!!

2012-01-09T18:14:00.000-08:00

I know most of you probably saw on Facebook, but for all you random folks out there - -

I passed my National Boards!!

One step closer to being a dentist! Just 4 more months of school and my regional board (which is my patient-based board) stand in my way. Yikes that's a lot.

11 Things That Changed My Life in 2011

2012-01-07T18:26:00.000-08:00

1. Soma Vanishing Back Full Coverage Bra

{I had 3 people tell me I looked thinner the week after I bought it- no more back fat!}

2. Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows Parts 1 & 2

{Jordan and I are obsessed with HP and the last 2 movies did not disappoint! They were amazing and we've already watched each of them at least 5 times.}

3. Foster The People: Torches

{This is my new favorite band! 'Pumped up Kicks' is their only song on the radio, but they have so many other good ones. I listen to this constantly at school and home.}

4. My friends!!

{They probably should have been 1st on the list! We've had such an amazing year getting to know each other!}

5. Big Sexy Hair: Root Pump Plus

{I used to not like putting any product in my hair, but now I always use this if I'm actually styling it (vs. my daily ponytail) because it gives me lots of volume without making it look oily.}

6. My Group Practice at school

{I absolutely loved my GPG last year, but this year it is even better with our senior faculty. He treats us with respect and teaches us so many things we wouldn't learn otherwise. He also happens to be hilariously sarcastic so we get along fantastically.}

7. San Antonio Public Library

{After spending lots of money at Half Price Books, I finally discovered the library and saved loads of mulah. I like to re-read a lot of books, so I bought the ones I liked, and didn't have to waste my money on the ones I didn't. I used my Christmas money to buy a Nook, and now I can get free books on that as well.}

8. Zinc Bistro and Wine Bar

{Jordan and I went there several years ago for a dental school event, but it wasn't until this year that we went for the food. Jordan had heard about their Zinc burger and wanted it for his birthday. It turned out to be a delicious burger and we've been back a couple times since October.}

9. Becker Vineyards

{I really like the wine from Becker Vineyards, which is located in Fredericksburg. I love that it is local and you can find it in most grocery stores.}

10. Modern Family

{Jordan and I used to be 'The Office' people, but it has declined the last few seasons. Everyone kept telling us we needed to watch 'Modern Family' and it took us forever to start. Now we can't get enough!}

11. Smashbox Bronzer

{It is really hard to find bronzer that doesn't make you look orange, but I found some I like (at least I don't think it makes me look orange).}

Christmas, Anniversary, New Years!!

2012-01-02T19:19:00.000-08:00

WARNING: this post is super long and probably boring.. sorry.

After my boards were over, the rest of my Christmas break was amazing! We had a great time with my parents while they were here, and were thankful they were willing to drive 10 hours out of their way to bring me home! They are the best!!

Christmas day was spent with the in-laws, and it was perfect! Lots of good food, watching kids open toys I'm jealous of, and getting great presents as well. What's not to love?

One of the gifts from my mom were these stockings. We don't have a fireplace or mantle, so tacked to the wall had to suffice. They match perfectly with our living room decor- I love the animal print!

I tried my hand at decorating cookies for the first time and realized it was a lot harder than I thought. There were a lot of "oops" cookies to eat, though, so that was nice.

Jordan and I decided to go really light on the presents this year, but he never plays by the rules. I really wanted this camera bag for Ireland because it will hold all of my lenses. It's also super cute and looks like a purse. He did good! I got him a motorized tie rack... in my defense- he did ask for it, and I wanted him to have a nice one. It even has a light on it! ...I'm pretty sure I turned 80 yrs old when I bought it...

Something else exciting was our 4 year anniversary! I still can't believe how lucky I got with the hubs. He really is my best friend and we laugh all the time. We're a perfect balance for each other. I'm a Type A know-it-all with an opinion on everything, and he's laid back and goes with the flow. He got the Elam worry-wart gene, and it takes a lot to stress me out (if you think I'm stressed, you should talk to some of my classmates!). I definitely wouldn't be where I am without him because he has kept me sane these last 4 years of school. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us!

One of my good friends in dental school got married on New Years Eve in Lubbock, so we made a weekend of it. We left a day early and spent the night with some of our very best friends, Traci and James. It was so much fun to see their family- their girls are a hoot! I also can't believe her little baby is not so little anymore! (She's the one who had a baby freshman year of dental school-her 2nd- and her 3rd baby 6 days before walking the stage for dental school... she's my hero). I meant to get pictures with all of them, but we never got the chance. They really have become family after all our years together and I miss them terribly! While we were there, we visited her office (amazing) and went back to Hardin-Simmons to walk around. Jordan put this sticker on his dorm room our sophomore year, and we couldn't believe it was still there!

And just in case you wanted proof we graduated, here are our names off the wall of graduates.

And if we ever have a hard time thinking of babies names, and want to pay homage to dentistry, we have to look no further than HSU's first graduating class for ideas!!

From Abilene we drove to Lubbock for our friend's wedding. Here are 4 of my most favorite people in the whole world. We keep each other going in school by having lunch therapy sessions every day and wine-therapy every other week. I feel so blessed to have found such amazing friends!! I'm just so sad we will all be moving to different places when we graduate. We may all be sitting around our kitchen tables Skyping and drinking our wine come July... who knows!

This is the beautiful bride, Kendall. Her dress was fabulous- Vera Wang! The wedding was absolutely beautiful and we had so much fun at the reception. It was the perfect New Years Eve!

Overall, one of my favorite Christmas breaks... and it's a good thing because it's my last one. Oh my goodness that's scary!

Game On

2011-12-20T08:50:00.000-08:00

I am now supposed to take my boards tomorrow and Thursday (we shall see). Here is a rundown of how my weekend went:

Friday 6:20pm- board plane to leave at 6:50

Friday 7:00pm- announcement that there was a fire in the terminal and there is no power; the flight attendent admits "we're going to be here a while"

Friday 7:30pm- still no power; 15 passengers from our flight stranded

Friday 7:45pm- the powers that be decide we will be towed to another terminal and all the passengers will walk to the other terminal, go back through security again, and will board our plane

NOTE: 1/3 of our plane are young military kids trying to get home for Christmas. . . sad

Friday 8:30pm- we take off.... finally

Saturday- study ALL day

Sunday 8:30am- wake up and begin studying

Sunday 11:15am- receive e-mail that my boards have been cancelled

Sunday 11:16am- FREAK OUT

Sunday 1pm- retail therapy for the rest of the day (it was expensive therapy)

Monday 8:15am- wake up and call testing center, put on hold

Monday 10:00am- speak with operator and reschedule my boards (yes... I was on hold for almost 2 hours... I watched the Princess and The Frog in full); boards rescheduled to San Antonio on Wed and Thurs of this week

Monday 1:00pm- mom wakes up (she works night hours) and we all learn how much she and my dad have going on this week, freak out of trying to pack and leave by 3:30pm for something my dad needed to do begins

NOTE: My dad was in San Antonio/Houston last week, then DFW, then Oklahoma over the weekend. Jordan is supposed to drive to DFW for Christmas with my family on Tuesday. My parents are leaving for Indianapolis Friday (17 hr drive). . . i.e. My dad's been in the car way too much recently. He's the best dad in the world.

Monday 3:45pm- leave for my dad's appt in the POURING rain

Monday 3:55pm- we realize it ain't happenin' since we're going 20mph on the freeway

Monday 9:45pm- get home to San Antonio

I think I may need some wine.

Just Kidding!!!

2011-12-18T18:32:00.000-08:00

You can hold your prayers... my boards were cancelled for tomorrow and will be rescheduled at an unknown date. Hopefully it will be before I go back to school, but we'll see. BOO!!

Boards

2011-12-18T07:43:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow (Monday) and Tuesday I will be taking my National Boards Part II and am asking for you to please pray for me. Although I am not as stressed as I was before my Part I, I am still nervous and feel like I haven't studied enough (I have... I'm so bored I could cry). Please pray for peace of mind and that information would come back to my jumbled head... and that if I have to guess that I will guess correctly. Because let's face it... I will be guessing on a lot of them!

Thanks!!

More Christmas, Less Header

2011-12-14T06:52:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure why, but all of the sudden my headers are blurry.... I can't make any of them crisp. I even tried going back to what I've used before and they are still super blurry. Has this happened to anyone else???? I'm so sad!

Anyways, here are some more pictures of our house. I probably went a little overboard, but whatev.

Wow

2011-12-07T07:14:00.000-08:00

I was going to post more Christmas decorations, but my friend posted this on facebook and I felt like this was just way more amazing than my gingerbread men. What an amazing little boy this is! There is no telling how many people have been blessed by his singing- God is so great!! It sure does put my stresses and bad days in perspective.

2011-11-29T19:25:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas!! I am so happy that it is Christmas time again! I am really happy with how my decorations turned out this year in my living room. This picture of the tree was taken before I added my favorite ornaments... my polka dot&animal print stockings that are actually card holders! I'll take more pictures of the tree when I finish the kitchen and take pictures of that area.

Fall/Thanksgiving Decorations

2011-11-20T14:44:00.000-08:00

I really considered going straight from Halloween to Christmas, but I love fall colors, so I decided to decoratea for 2 weeks. I feel like my red shelf needs something different, but I don't have the time, energy, or money to find something different. Maybe you guys have an idea??

Be Thankful!

2011-11-14T14:36:00.000-08:00

Jealous of Jemma Jane!

2011-11-01T17:33:00.000-07:00

I want to keep this... do you think my niece would mind? She won't know any better, right??? It turned out better than I had hoped! I think Jaime is planning on recovering the stool with zebra print, so it will be even cuter when she does that!

From Our Vamily to Yours, Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T13:23:00.000-07:00

This Is Halloween!

2011-10-29T17:07:00.001-07:00

You're So Vain

2011-10-23T15:23:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited about my newest furniture project! This 1980's-inspired painted vanity is headed for Miss Jemma Jane's room! I have it primed (8 spray cans worth!) and ready for painting and I can't wait to show you the finished product!

Happy Birthday & Happy Halloween!

2011-10-11T15:14:00.000-07:00

Jordan turned 27 last week and Linda turned ??, so I baked a cake for the family to celebrate. Nothing too special or complicated, but still fun to decorate. Jordan and I went to Zinc Bistro & Wine Bar downtown to celebrate- it was delicious! Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures, sorry!

This weekend we went back to DFW for my high school friend, Ali's, wedding. It was beautiful and she was absolutely stunning! Ali was in our house party, so we wanted to make sure we made it to her special day. It was in downtown Dallas at a restaurant that has fountains outside.

Isn't she gorgeous??? I wish I had a full length picture because her dress was fabulous. If she posts pics on Facebook, I'll post it on here because it was amazing.

We got back yesterday (Monday) at noon, and I finished up my decorations. I've been working on Halloween decorations for over a week. Jordan and I LOVE Halloween, so it's a big deal around our house. I've pretty much taken down all my regular decorations and replaced them with Halloween stuff.

You can't tell in this picture, but the tree has purple lights on it. It also has cute ornaments like this one...

I love these plates! Who knew you could have Halloween damask?

I am very proud of this wreath because I made it! I bought a plain brown vine wreath and spray painted it, then added a hangy-down sign and a bow. I love how it turned out!

Sorry for the huge flash right in the middle!

I hope you guys have as much fun decorating for Halloween as I did!

My Nemesis Revealed

2011-10-01T12:14:00.000-07:00

This coffee table has been my nemesis for the last 4 years. I bought it before I got married for $100 from a very high end furniture store in DFW. It was on sale because of it's cloudy finish. Apparently it is some designer that is super nice, yada yada yada. I painted the bottom and stained the top, but the stain came out really cloudy and gross. I was hoping I could sand it off and restain it, but it just didn't work out. Then I painted it cream thinking I could glaze it to bring out the design on top... it was horrible. I should have taken a picture of it. The only choice I had was to paint all of it black and distress it. I pretty much hate it, but what can you do?? It's the best I could do. It still is a really nice piece, but I am so irritated by it. I want to sell it and get it out of my garage so I never have to see it again!

Can you tell how cloudy it was? Yuk.

I hope someone loves it and wants to take it home!

Paisley

2011-09-27T17:18:00.001-07:00

All Done!

2011-09-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

I'm finally done! I LOVE the way it turned out.

What do you think??

If you are interested in this beauty, just let me know!

Paisley loves her NaeNae

2011-09-15T16:46:00.000-07:00

Sneak Peek

2011-09-05T17:08:00.000-07:00

All weekend I've been working on my furniture. I still have to rebuild the top of the side table, but I finished the rest. Here's a sneak peek- - I love love love the way it came out!

The Painted Paisley

2011-09-01T18:25:00.000-07:00

Introducing....

I don't know if my brilliant furniture-painting ideas/business will ever pan out, but I'm excited to try!

I've had this coffee table in my garage since we got married and thought I probably should do something about it. For some reason the stain on the coffee table turned out super cloudy when I did it 4 years ago, so I decided to paint the whole thing. Another reason is because it's very large and bulky, so I thought soft creamy white with glazed details would be better. I'm almost done with it, so I'll post my after pictures soon.

I just loved this pretty lil thing. It was tucked away under some nasty light at Goodwill and I snatched it up for $9! I'm taking it to my parents next weekend to rebuild the top, and after she's all cleaned up with crystal knobs she's going to be a beauty!! I had thought about painting it something really fun, like turquoise, but I think I'm going to stick to black. I don't know if I'm daring enough to paint one of my first pieces so bright... but I can be pursuaded otherwise if you are interested in it!

I would really love to turn my love of painting and home decor into a side business, but we'll just have to wait and see. I don't even know how to start going about getting my name out there. I saw some other ladies selling furniture on Etsy, so I thought about that. What do you think??

Eye Love Picnik

2011-08-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to get a good picture of my eyes because I want to see what the color really is. I had a patient describe exactly how green my eyes are (most people think they are brown) and I really wanted to see for real. (Note: I wear magnifying glasses and apparently they work in reverse as well. Creepy? Maybe a little.) I haven't gotten a good pic yet, but this one I played around with and I think it looks cool. I wish my eyes were this green, but they aren't...

Second Birthday

2011-08-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

My parents came in town this weekend and we celebrated my birthday in style! Friday night we spent 3 hours eating a-ma-zing food at The Melting Pot. I can't even tell you how delicious it all was!! We didn't take any pictures, but trust me, it was fabulous. The best food I've had in a long time- and the most filling!

A couple of weeks ago I saw a patient who owns a vineyard in Johnson City called Texas Hills Vineyard. I knew my parents were coming in town this weekend, so I promised we would come visit. My mom and I really enjoy doing wine tastings, and knowing the owner made it even better! She and her husband gave us several extra tastings and took off a pretty good discount. I guess she liked the work I did!!

The hubbies are always good sports and hang out while my mom and I drink our wine. The wine you see in the picture is an Orange Moscato which was paired with dark chocolate. Wowzers was it good!!

Want Some Cake??

2011-08-17T17:58:00.000-07:00

Too bad.

Jordan hid it in our cabinet so no one would eat it except us.

Sorry....

The Big Two-Six

2011-08-11T18:23:00.000-07:00

Busy Sunday

2011-07-31T18:07:00.000-07:00

Jordan and I had a delicious sandwich at EZs a few weeks ago and decided to make it for ourselves. Super easy and yummy!

Chicken+RoastedRedPeppers+FetaCheese+MixedGreens+GreekOlives+Mayo+BalsalmicVinegar

FABULOUS

I was also busy making cupcakes for Scarlett and Clark's birthday party tomorrow.

They aren't anything too special, but I think they turned out cute!

Border Patrol

2011-07-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

As you know, I have been in Laredo for the last 2 weeks. I have to say, it wasn't as bad as I thought (at least most of the time). I was expecting it to be a rundown nasty border town, but there was a really nice area of town, which thankfully we were staying in.

I was however, totally thrown off when I showed up to my dorm room to find I shared bathroom/kitchen/living room with a total stranger. Who stunk. Like spoiled Indian food. Gross! The dorm room was so depressing I went out and bought this fun blanket to make me a little happier. And it's paisley of course. I'm so glad I'm done with dorm life!

The clinics we worked in were really nice with tons of assistants. It was like I was a real dentist (almost). I saw mostly kids, which was fun. I was suprised at how many kids actually like going to the denstist. What freaks! I had a little girl ask me to give her a shot today, and was disappointed when I didn't. Like I said... freaks.

When I went down to my rotation, I assured my mom and Jordan that I wasn't really close to the border. I knew the main clinic was on the north side of town, so I wasn't too worried. We were informed there was another clinic we were to work at. a little more south. The border is the blue dotted line, and as you can see, it's not that far...

This part of Laredo was crawling with border patrol officers who looked miserable in their bullet proof vests in the 109 degree heat. I was glad I had my friend, Justin, with me everywhere I went, although I don't know that his 6'4", 100 pound body could do much to protect me.

I don't think I'm going to be eating Mexican food for a while, though, since I ate some form of it every day. In fact, one day I ate Taco Palenque for lunch and dinner... quesadillas both times. I would highly recommend it! Taco Palenque... not eating quesadillas twice in one day...

When I got home today, the hubs had a little suprise for me! In case you can't see, that's a Great American Cookie Company cake... my favorite! I just love that man!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we all went to Jordan's parents' house for a 4th of July family day. Lots of yummy food and swimming! I've been wanting to try this cake decorating technique for a while, and it was the perfect time! Plus I LOVE the pennants! I have big plans for all kinds of these cuties! If anyone wants me to, I can write out a tutorial... just let me know.

In other news, I had my last first day of school EVER!! Yay! That is the good news... the bad news is I have to be in Laredo bright and early Monday morning for a 2 week rotation. Thanks for the heads up Dental School! I suppose I got lucky in that I'm going with a friend, but still. Yuk. I'm sure I'll have lots of funny stories from that adventure!

Tick Tock

2011-07-03T15:15:00.000-07:00

My summer is officially over as of Tuesday morning at 8am, which means I'm headed back to a building with no windows and no color. Yuk. All last year I had a plain black and white clock up on my wall in my room, and I always wanted to do something cute with it, but I was just too lazy. I decided it was time (ha ha.. get it) to change it up and add color to my room.

Rings

2011-06-21T10:39:00.000-07:00

One of the many photos my wedding photographer did NOT take was one of our rings. I LOVE my ring, and wanted to show it off, so I took my own. I took one on our comforter so it would match our room, with the intent to frame it.

This is the original.

Then I Photoshopped it.

Then I blew it up and framed it.

I love how it turned out! I eventually want to either buy or make a frame that is super thick and intricate and put it over our bed. For now, my thin sale frame will just have to do.

Summertime!

2011-06-16T14:48:00.000-07:00

Lots of things have happened since I blogged last. My superhero best friend, Traci, had her 3rd baby, graduated from dental school, and moved back to Abilene, all in one week.

Meet James Edward King IV!

He's so precious and I only had 6 days with him before they moved... so sad!

Right after I was done with school, I immediately went into an Oral Surgery rotation. We were super busy, had some weirdo patients, and had lots of fun. Thankfully I was with a couple of my really good friends, so it worked out great. There are only a few people in life that can enjoy a good tooth pullin' with you! After 2 weeks in my rotation, I left for my parents' house. I was commissioned for a master bathroom re-model, but it turned out my dad had to go out of town, so I only painted a small half bath. I love painting, and I got to paint it chocolate brown, so I was happy.

Now I've been back for 1.5 weeks, and have done NOTHING. I literally have sat on the couch reading books. Vampire books of course, but still.... I've officially read 18 books since I got out for the summer 5 weeks ago. That may be a little extreme... but I'm enjoying myself, so that's all that matters.

While I've been reading, Paisley has been just laying around being all kinds of useless. She had tests run this week to see how her liver is doing since we've implemented our changes, and she got a good report! Yay!! However, the tests made her sick and the poor thing ended up at the vet for a second time this week. She needed her stuffed animal to make her feel better... ok, probably not, but it sure was cute!

Jordan and I also started Weight Watchers a few weeks ago, and I've already lost 8lbs! The downside to this is that I haven't been able to bake anything yummy for the last month, which is so sad since I just started enjoying baking. We have friends coming over this week for game night and I just couldn't take it any more... so I baked an upside down pineapple cake. It's beeee-autiful!

And there you have it. That's what I've been up to for the last 5 weeks. I lead a very boring life, sorry!!

It's the Final Countdown

2011-05-28T15:01:00.000-07:00

Cue the 'Rocky' music.... It's the Final Countdown!

I graduate in 324 days, which means I officially have less than a year to go!

Weekend

2011-05-17T18:32:00.000-07:00

My parents came in town this weekend, and we had so much fun! Sunday we went to Fredericksburg to a couple of wineries. We tasted a lot of amazing wines, and even got Jordan in on the action.

I have many guilty pleasures. Raw cookie dough, vampire books/movies, ABC Family movies; and WWE wrestling. I have always liked it, and my husband has recently rekindled the love affair. I swoon for Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson... yup. When we found out they were coming to San Antonio, we just couldn't say no! So last night, we headed to the AT&T Center with the rest of SA and watched WWE Raw live. Oh man was it awesome!! Here are some pictures of John Cena, including a video of his entrance. Jill, please show Brody so he'll be super jealous!!

Please don't think less of us.

Cake Balls.... Yum!

2011-05-05T20:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T16:08:00.000-07:00

School stinks and is really hard, but every once in a while it's just great. These are flowers my denture patient gave me at our last appointment. So beautiful!!

It's Easter time! My mom sent us this delicious cookie cake to our house- yummy!

We've had a really busy weekend! Friday night we went out to Jill's in-laws for a barbecue, and oh man was it amazing! The food was absolutely delicious, and it was fun to be out in the country. We didn't do too much on Saturday, just study and bake, but today (Sunday) was tons of fun. We went to church and then to Jordan's parents house and Linda made an amazing lunch! We ate way too much, sat around trying to stay awake, and then the kids had an Easter egg hunt.

Briggs being silly. There's never a dull moment when these kiddos are around!

I made these cupcakes for today's lunch, and I think they came out really cute! My cake decorating teacher would be so proud...

Today was such a wonderful day. Jesus' death and resurrection is the greatest gift we could receive and I feel so blessed to have an amazing family to celebrate it with!

Tenley Evans

2011-04-12T20:06:00.000-07:00

Kelcy had her baby last Thursday... Meet Tenley Evans. I love these pictures of her and can't wait to meet her!

Zoo

2011-03-31T14:24:00.000-07:00

Picnik

2011-03-27T19:34:00.000-07:00

Photoshop shmotoshop. I have discovered Picnik and I LOVE it!! It doesn't have all the features of Photoshop, but it has really cool ones that Photoshop doesn't have. Plus it is WAY cheaper! Here are 2 before and afters.

I don't know if you can tell what I did... but I smoothed out our skin quite a bit, and I added blush, lipstick, and 'mascara'. There is also a feature to add tanning and it's pretty awesome. I would recommend going to Picnik and just play around with it!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

2011-03-19T14:34:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

For years Jordan and I have wanted to host a St. Patty's Day party b/c we love Ireland so much, but we haven't had the room or opportunity. This year we had a small shindig with 2 other couples and had lots of fun!

Baby Shower

2011-03-09T17:44:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday was my lifelong (literally) friend, Kelcy's, baby shower. From left to right: my mom, Misti, Kelcy, Kelcy's sis Amber, me, Kelcy's mom. Over Christmas Kelcy's dad found video of my mom and Kelcy's mom's baby showers from 26 years ago, and it is just crazy that here we are having baby showers!

Amber made a super cute diaper cake.

My cake decorating class paid off a little bit... we bought these bite size brownies, then I decorated them with little roses. All the food was so delicious, including the chocolate fountain- yum!

I love my feather wreath, and LOVE LOVE LOVE it in the pink that Jaime made for Jemma's room, so I decided to make one for baby Tenley's room. I think it turned out really cute and Kelcy liked it, so that's all that matters!

I am so excited about seeing Kelcy and Cody's baby. I have actually known both of them since we were born. Kelcy and I grew up on the same street and the 3 of us went to church together. I am so proud of them and all their accomplishments, and I know they will be amazing parents!

Cupcakes and Cakes

2011-03-04T20:13:00.000-08:00

Cute cupcakes.

This is my cake from this week, our last week. It was so much fun and I learned a lot. I am sad there won't be an excuse to bake a cake every week anymore, but it's probably for the best...

Rodeo

2011-02-19T20:40:00.000-08:00

Jordan and I went to the San Antonio Rodeo for the first time since we've lived here last Friday. We went with a couple of friends and had so much fun, but didn't stay for the concert because it was Train, and we just don't like them. I was lucky enough to score some free tickets to last night's rodeo from Jill and Brody, and I was so excited because it was Martina McBride. She is one of my favorite country singers and I think she is absolutely beautiful. Jordan was having a "guys night," so I took Traci and we had a blast! Here are a couple of pictures from where we were sitting WAYYYY up at the top.

And here's a little clip of Martina singing. Wow, what an amazing voice this woman has!!

While I was sitting at the rodeo last night with Traci, Jordan texts me and says his friend gave him 2 more tickets to today's 'Extreme Bulls' and that they were awesome seats. 3 times in 8 days?? Heck yes!! We knew we were getting good seats, but really?!?! 3rd row from the railing? Those bulls are a lot bigger than they look from the nosebleed section!! It was so amazing to be so close to the action and get to see the cowboys up close and personal. And let me tell you... they are all really cute... until they take off their hats and they are bald! Yuk! We were even sitting right next to the little boy who won the Mutton Busting!! He was ADORABLE! The concert was the Eli Young Band, which was great for 2 songs, and then we were both ready to go. I like my country singers to be country, not rock'n'roll wannabes. All in all, an amazing rodeo experience!! I can't wait for next year's rodeo!

Love and Cakes

2011-02-17T19:52:00.000-08:00

Let me start off by saying, I have the best husband ever! He is my best friend and I really think we have one of the healthiest marriages out there. I feel so blessed to have found someone that makes me this happy, and who I love taking care of (cuz face it ladies, we take care of our husbands). Everyone always says "opposites attract," but I have to disagree. At least for us. We are almost exactly alike, except he's nicer. At least that's what my mom says... But really, I don't think I could live with someone that was totally opposite from me. I'm messy, so any man who expected a picked up house would hate living with me. I don't cook, but Jordan likes junk food (like me) so that works out, too. Exept we're fatties.... oh well. We're happy. We like the same movies, food, TV shows, everything! Well, except music. We definitely disagree on music. Anyways, the point is, I love him so much and love having a day to celebrate our love. Of course I wasn't very romantic and just got him some cologne, but he was really excited about it. But he was so thoughtful!!! He had these beautiful tulips delivered to our house on Saturday! I LOVE LOVE tulips! He's so good.

And then on V-day he gave me this blazer. On our snow day we went to Bass Pro Shops and I found this, but couldn't bring myself to spend the $35 to buy it. He remembered how much I wanted it and went back and got it for me! He's so good.

We don't really believe in cards in our house. Such a waste of money. So my creative fella took one of my stationary cards and made it into a card, and then wrote a nice note inside. He's so good.

Ohhhh and my cookie cake. I get one twice a year- my birthday, and V-day. Yummmmmmm! These are my favorite!! He's so good.

We ended up going to one of our favorite Mexican food restaurants to eat on Monday. We were ready for the horrible wait, but when we got there, we were sat immediately. Apparently Mexican food isn't romantic. You know what they say... "beans beans they're good for your heart, the more you eat...." Just more proof that I've been living with Jordan Elam way too long!

I think I told a couple of you, but on Thursday nights some of my friends from school and I are taking a cake decorating class at Michael's. You would think 4 dentists would be good at fine detail work... maybe not so much. This is my cake from tonight. It is so much fun to get away for a few hours and do something colorful! I'm pretty sure we eat half the icing, but we leave enough to get our work done. Next week are cupcakes with pom-pom flowers!! So exciting...!!

Maggie

2011-02-07T18:20:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Jordan and I got the chance to pet sit Traci and James' new puppy, Maggie.

Oh. My. Goodness.

She is so beautiful!! It was so much fun having a puppy around the house. Difficult, but fun. Big puppies make much bigger messes than tiny puppies. Either way, I want a puppy... a cute cuddly one. I'm not so sure Paisley wants one, though. Puppies who are clumsy, who want to play rough, and who are bigger than her just aren't her favorite. Poor girls wanted to play, but Paisley is just so small!

Maggie would disappear from time to time and we would find her under the couch. I had been wanting to sweep under them forever, so she saved me the trouble! Silly girl!

As you all know, we had a "snow day" here in San Antonio last Friday. Here is my proof. It was so pretty for the 5 hours it lasted!

Paisley has been in snow before, and she didn't like it any more this time.

She did, however, love getting to run down the street because no cars were around to squash her. She got a little carried away...

My parents got TONS more snow than we did, but I guess I have to be happy for the little bit we did get. It was a fun day all in all!

Free Trials Rock

2011-01-26T19:29:00.000-08:00

I had a couple of questions in my comments, so I'll answer them for everyone to see. Yes, I did them all by myself in Photoshop. It's amazing what studyless nights can yield. I taught myself by looking at other blogs- there are so many talented women out there! I have so much to learn! I look at Pioneer Woman and Kim Klassen Cafe the most, but I do a lot of googling as well. I haven't bought Photoshop yet, but I'm going to. There are 2 versions: 1 for photographers and 1 for people like me. Right now I'm using their free 30 day trial, but I will be getting Photoshop Elements, and it is very reasonably priced.

Also, you HAVE HAVE HAVE to try this recipe. I posted the picture of them in with all the others.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Filled Cupcakes

1 box Betty Crocker Yellow Cake mix, plus ingredients listed on box to make the cake

1 large tube chocolate chip cookie dough

Chocolate Frosting

Roll the dough into 1 inch balls. Freeze at least 2 hours or over night, until frozen solid. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!!! If you do not freeze the cookie dough, it will bake inside the batter. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Follow the directions on the cake mix box to make the cake batter. Place paper cupcake cups into a pan and fill each one with batter until 2/3 full. Drop 1 frozen cookie dough ball in the center of each. Place in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes depending on your oven. Do not over-bake. I checked mine at 16 minutes and they were perfect. We didn't like it with the icing, so we left it off. Also, when you first bring them out of the oven, they are warm and moist, but way too sweet. And if I say that, you know it's bad. They are so much better after they have cooled off and you can actually taste the difference in the cookie and cupcake.

Go right now and buy the ingredients. You'll thank me.

Photoshop Before & Afters

2011-01-22T14:24:00.000-08:00

My Bay

2011-01-14T20:08:00.000-08:00

I had to decorate my room at school for Christmas. It's just so ugly and white all the time, so I did just enough not to get written up. Silly, I know. And you probably don't care, but I wanted a picture so I could take it down. That's right.... it's all still up. My patient asked me when I was going to take it down, so I guess it's time.

*sigh*

We're Falling Apart!

2011-01-07T10:31:00.000-08:00

I think we're all falling apart. Or maybe it's just Paisley and I... Jordan needs to watch out. This morning I woke up, showered, put my makeup on, dried my hair, then put it in a ponytail. When I turned to look at my hair in the mirror I couldn't!

My head couldn't turn to the left without being in excruciating pain. I tried to stretch it out by rolling my head around... absolutely not. Somehow I caused my left neck muscles to spasm, and now I can't even hold my head up straight. Awesome. I had to cancel both my patients for today (one of which was NOT very nice about it) and I've been laying on heat on/off all morning. The heating pad just wouldn't form to my neck to get good contact, so I came up with the perfect solution. Paisley laid on my head and neck and her body pushed the heating pad down perfectly on my neck!

I knew we kept her around for something...

Sorry for the poor resolution of my picture- I don't have an awesome iPhone like everyone else.

Paisley's Biopsy

2010-12-31T14:51:00.000-08:00

We've always known Paisley had something wrong with her liver, but it has gotten progressively worse, so we had to have some major tests run lately. After several non-invasive tests came back negative for particular liver diseases, it was necessary to do a liver biopsy. We are pretty sure which disease she has, but the biopsy will also help determine how far along the disease is and how to treat it. So we came back from my parents' house a little early so she could have surgery, and wowzers what a surgery it was!! She had to have a major incision on her tummy (as seen below) and had to spend the night at the vet so she could receive IV pain meds all night. Poor baby hasn't slept alone EVER! Thankfully she did very well in surgery and after, as well. The ladies at the vet said she had everyone "wrapped around her little finger" and they LOVED her (of course... duh)! She was so pitiful when we picked her up- so drugged up and sleepy! She slept all day! She isn't allowed to walk or play for 3 weeks, so that should be interesting since she is already starting to feel better and wants to go outside for a walk. Anyways, we should get the results back next week of her biopsy, and we'll go from there on treatment. I will update you when we know.

2010-12-27T20:18:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas started early with the Elams last week, then off to my parents' we went. I don't have pics from the Elams, but I have tons from this week. If you think I'm obsessed with Christmas decorating, you should see my mom's house! She has the most beautiful decorations- and so many of them!! Here are a few of her living room.

I played around with my fancy camera, and got the lights to look like stars... I think it looks really pretty!

We got some really good pictures of the family.

I finally have proof of my brother's existence! He rarely takes pictures, but we made him and there he is...

Thank you to everyone for our wonderful gifts!! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family with such amazing taste!

Jordan is the most wonderful husband in the entire world. I don't usually ask for specific presents, but all I wanted this year was a Macro lens for my camera so I could take really nice close-up pictures and to use some other features my stock lens doesn't have. Here are a couple of examples of how amazingly clear pictures it takes. I haven't had the chance to play with it very much, but over the next week I will.

My mom made a very tasty Christmas dinner, and we ate it on a beautiful table setting.

My mom's birthday was Sunday, so we all went to the Mannheim Steamroller concert at the Dallas Symphony. It was a great ending to an awesome week!

Soooo Cute!!

2010-12-12T17:46:00.000-08:00

I should live some where cold because I ABSOLUTELY LOVE coats!! They are one of my favorite clothing items, and I only get to wear them one month a year. Not fair. I found these on ModCloth.com and I had to share them!

Can you tell which one I'm going to buy??

The black & white houndstooth with red, of course!!!!

Portraits of Paisley

2010-12-08T17:05:00.000-08:00

No, I didn't have it taken somewhere, I took it. I'm not that pathetic (but almost). If you get my mom's Christmas cards, look for this bad boy- she's a proud NaeNae.

Post Edit: My dad thought she looked mad, and hated the pic, so we took some more. Do I have a test tomorrow? Yes I do. Am I spending hours dressing my dog up and taking pictures? Yes I am.

More Christmas

2010-12-07T19:16:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when you don't have to study at night... you make gingerbread houses. It was not as fun as I thought. That could be because I wanted to to be super cute, and the icing just wasn't working for me. It did NOT turn out like the pic on the box, but still cute, I think. And just so you know, their white icing does not taste good. Yuck-o.

I mad the snowman out of marshmellows and toothpicks and a sharpie. And leftover Halloween candy... gross.

Please don't judge me on what you are about to see. My mom wants a pic of Paisley in a cute Christmas outfit and I bought this one at Wal-Mart. It ended up being too small (how is that possible?? She's 4 lbs!) so I just wrapped it around her b/c it looked funny. Then, like any mother would, I took pictures! She looks so scruffy and she needs a bath, but hopefully you'll laugh like Jordan and I did.

She has big ears.

More Decorations

2010-12-01T06:59:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love our garland on the bed!

I made it last year, and wish it was Christmas all the time so I could leave it up all year long.

The Taste of Christmas

2010-11-29T17:49:00.000-08:00

Last year I discovered Peppermint Mocha Latte's from Starbucks and could not get enough of them. I even bought their peppermint syrup so I could make my own. I was at the store the other day and found this Coffeemate Peppermint Mocha creamer, and I just tried it out for the first time. YUM-O! For half the price of ONE Starbucks, I just got a ton of cups! It tastes just like Starbucks!

It's like Christmas in a cup!!

Decorations

2010-11-21T17:02:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. It's been forever since I blogged, but I just haven't had much to blog about. Several people have asked me for pictures of my decorations I put up this last weekend, so that's what I'll post. I haven't decorated the outside or our bedroom, so those pics will come later this week. I hope you enjoy!

The platter with the stocking and animal print was my inspiration for adding the animal print into the mix. I hand-painted the animal print ornaments to add around the room and I love how they came out! If you will notice, I stacked matching tins under the tree. Jordan and I decided to buy a cheap live tree to put outside, so we're waiting for Wally-World to get them in, then I'll have pics of that, too.

Quarter-Life Crisis

2010-08-29T18:26:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, I'm kind of freaking out right now. Jordan thinks I'm weird, but whatever, I can't help it. I suppose it's a quarter-life crisis instead of a mid-life crisis. I had already been having a hard time dealing with turning 25 and coming to terms with that. I mean, in 2 years I'll be a doctor... that's serious. And scary. And terrifying. And awesome. Anyways, back to my freak out. It's been really weird to have people I've known since middle school getting pregnant, but I've reached my limit. In the last 24 hours two of my very best friends have called to tell me they are pregnant!

First was Kelcy. We have been friends since we were in our mommies' tummies, and I am more than elated for her. I even cried when she told me (I know... I'm getting sappy in my old age). I'm just so happy for her and her husband, who I have also known since baby-hood. She is a nanny and has been wanting a baby for some time now, so I knew it was coming soon. I could hear it in her voice when she left me a voicemail, but still, it's very big news. It's kind of like going through an entire cycle of life with her, if that makes sense. We knew each other since we were born, and now here she is, about to have a baby. Maybe she'll have another one when I'm (finally) ready to. That would be fun.

Anywho, I thought one best friend was enough, but apparently not. Today after church I got a picture text from my college roommate, Jill, of 3 positive pregnancy tests. WHAT?!?! I could not believe it. I'm still having a hard time. I don't know why I'm so upset, but I am. Don't get me wrong, I am ecstatic for Jill and Matt. Maybe 'upset' isn't the right word, it's too negative. I don't really know what I am... I do know that I was surprised at Jill's message, and LOVED hearing her excitement when I called her. She's adorable and can't wait for her new adventure. It will be so much fun watching her as a mom because she is probably the nicest, most pure-hearted people I know.

Jill and Kelcy will both be AMAZING moms, and I can't wait to be auntie Maegan, but jeez. Jordan thinks it is because I want a baby, but let me assure you, it's not. You know how people say "there must be something in the water" ? Well, I'm drinking bottled water... I'm not taking any chances.

I expect beautiful Ali will be calling me any day now, too. I'm sure she and her hubby are trying since apparently everyone else is. Ridiculous.

So now, as you can see, I am alone in the married group of my bridesmaids.

Even though I am feeling very confused and old, I am also overjoyed for Kelcy and Jill. I'm proud of the women they have become, and can't wait to meet their beautiful babies.

What a wonderful gift God has given them!

Birthday Goodies

2010-08-17T19:13:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday was my 25th birthday, and I had such an amazing day! I slept in (who needs to learn about kids teeth?) and extracted some teeth, came home and went to Saltgrass and saw 'Dinner for Schmucks'. It was hilarious!! We laughed so hard, and I don't usually laugh out loud in movies.
I didn't really want anything particular this year, so Jordan was at a loss of what to get me. Of course, he came through, just like every other year. He got me 'Whip It', a dental Barbie (so cool!!), and a car-detailing that I desperately need. Everything was perfect!! He's so good.

Sunday after church the whole family went to Norris and Linda's for a big b-day party. Scarlett (6), Clark (3), Norris (29ish), and I (25) all have birthdays within 8 days of each other! Crazy, huh? We celebrated with delicious food and cupcakes. Here is a pic of my loot... so cute! They didn't even mean to coordinate, but it all came out that way! I love my new necklaces (a black one from Linda/Norris w/ an 'M' charm, and the one w/ fabric flowers that Jaime made), the pretty candle, pink ring, and notepads! Anndddd... I get to buy a new shirt from Target to go with my necklaces! Ooohhh or maybe some zebra flats... It just doesn't get any better. Thank you, girls!!

Here is Steve Carell promoting 'Dinner for Schmucks' on Letterman. It shows a little taste of what makes it so funny!

Weekend

2010-08-08T19:43:00.000-07:00

This weekend Jordan and I went home to go to my good friend's wedding. Ann and I went to high school and cheered together. She is the sweetest person I've ever known, literally. I have been so blessed by her friendship, and it was great to see her so happy!

And this is her from this weekend. Isn't she gorgeous?!?! I had so much fun watching her giggle and cry her way through the ceremony. I also got to see several of my other friends that I hadn't seen in a while, so it was just a great day all around!

They got married at Dallas Baptist University's new chapel, which was ridiculously amazing and beautiful.

My birthday is this upcoming Wednesday, so we celebrated a little early with my parents. My mom always gets me the best stuff!! Aren't these boots adorable? I can't wait for winter!

So Official

2010-08-04T18:19:00.000-07:00

To help our patients remember appointments, and just to be super cool, a lot of us made business cards. I spend 3+ hours going through Zazzle.com looking for the perfect card. You'd think it would be easy, but trust me, it isn't! There are SOOOO many cute things out there, but as a healthcare provider, I want to look professional and not too cutesy-girlie. This is what I came up with and I'm really excited about it! The back of the card also has the green paisley, not just plain white. A-dorable.

Also, as some of you may know, I started my Oral Surgery rotation this week. So far I've extracted 4 teeth and given multiple injections. Today I was at a clinic downtown, helping a senior extract a lady's 4 front teeth (which had all broken off down the the gumline, of course. Ew.). It's never good when the patient informs you she is a screamer... you just know the afternoon is going to be bad. Of course, most humans don't really scream out in pain when in public, that's just embarrassing. This lady was not kidding. Poor David went to examine her, just to look in the mouth, and she jumped when he touched her. Then came the injections. Holy moly. When I say she screamed, I mean she ssccreeeeeeammed! It was so loud that our professor came in to see what was going on. He proceeded to give her about 20+ injections (for real...) with her screaming and crying and shaking, all the while telling her to be quiet and as a grown woman she should not be acting like that. All in all, a successful afternoon since we got the teeth out. No wonder people hate dentists!

Another Lesson Learned

2010-08-01T15:39:00.000-07:00

My computer is being stubborn and I'm having trouble uploading my Germany pics, sorry. I just thought I'd share my Housewife Lesson #297:

Don't use the Clorox Toilet Wand attachment to scrub the tub, even if you don't have a sponge.

And don't worry... it was new when I used it...

Also, I'm notorious for getting burned b/c I usually am desperate for some color, so I lay out for too long. Today I decided to layout for an hour, and after a few minutes my shoulders felt like they were burning, so I sprayed on some sunblock.

Note to self: rub in the sunblock!!

We meet again

2010-07-21T17:59:00.000-07:00

Hello. My name is Maegan, nice to meet you...

I can't believe it has been over a month since I blogged! So many things have happened/changed in a month. The last time I blogged was right before Germany, so we'll pick up there. I plan on blogging day-by-day what happened in Germany b/c we have awesome pictures to share. It was the most amazing experience of my life and I want to go back ASAP. The Sims were absolutely incredible and we definitely would not have had as much fun or been able to function without them. We got back on Friday the 25th, and Tuesday I had a happy surprise waiting for me... my Board scores! I passed!! Not only did I pass, but I was above the national average on all 4 sections! Most of my friends scored higher than me, but I am just so proud of all of us for getting through it, so I don't even care that I'm the low man on the totem pole. I'm not a huge cry-er, but I had some good tears flowing when I opened that letter. It was one of the happiest moments of my life! I took the next few days to do absolutely nothing before going back to school on July 5th. School started back full swing, and I had a weeks worth of lectures and labs before seeing my first patient. Yes, that's right- I saw my first patient! Well, now I've seen several... It is so fun/confusing/frustrating/humbling/exciting all at the same time. There is so much to do and learn! So far all I have done is new patient exams, which aren't very hard or exciting, but still a challenge. I know I will have good stories to share throughout the year, but so far, nothing out of the ordinary. After a long week of being in clinic, Jordan and I left bright and early on Saturday morning to go to DFW for a wedding. The groom was in Jordan's fraternity, so we got to see some of our closest friends from college that we haven't seen in a while, and some since our own wedding. We had so much fun catching up with everyone and getting to see some good friends on their special day.

Hopefully tomorrow I will start my Germany posts, but don't hold your breath!

So Busy, So Sad

2010-06-15T13:19:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, this has been the craziest past few weeks. Last Monday I took my Boards, which was the hardest test I've ever taken in my entire life. 5 1/2 hrs of guessing wears you down in a big way. As my good friend said, I would rather be punched in the face 1,000 times by Arnold Schwarzeneggar than take that test again! Now it's just a waiting game...

After my test, I spent the next 2 days watching seasons 1 & 2 of True Blood. Yes, that's right. that's 24 hrs of TV in 48 hrs. And it was awesome!! I didn't have to study, or think, or care about anything. Ahh.. that was nice.

After that I spent the next few days shopping with my mom for clothes for Germany. It's really hard to find comfortable, cute shoes to travel in! We leave tomorrow, and we are so excited! We'll be gone until Friday the 25th- then I'll post tons and tons of pics.

And now the sad part... I've blogged many times about my best friend's dog, Remi, so maybe you remember how much I loved her. On Sunday there was a tragic accident and she was killed. When Traci told me what happened, my heart broke and still is. Remi has always been very special to me. In college, I would keep her when Traci and James went out of town, and would go over to their house in the middle of the day, just to play with her. She's the smartest, sweetest, most well behaved dog I've ever met. A million times more so than Paisley. When Traci was pregnant with her 2nd girl, Remi lived with me at my parents' house for about 7 months, and I became so attached to her it was hard to give her back. If it hadn't been for the apartment Jordan and I were moving into, I think we would have put up a fight to keep her. She was Paisley's very best friend... having been there since Paisley came home with me. Remi's name is the only one that you can say and Paisley will FREAK out; she loved her so much, just like the rest of us. I could go on and on about how amazing Remi was, but I will leave you with a few pictures. Please pray for Traci, James, and the girls- they have lost a very special member of their family.

She LOVED to play tug-of-war with the rope. You could pick her up off the ground and swing her around, that's how intense she was. And trust me, she won.

This is the day we brought Paisley home. They immediately fell in love with each other. Remi was so good with the annoying puppy that constantly bit her and took her toys.

Paisley wanted to do everything Remi did, just like a little kid with their parent. Notice Remi is hoarding the toys... there was never a dull moment with them!

Last Fact

2010-06-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

The last Boards Fact I have for you is:

My test is tomorrow (Monday) morning at 8 am and I am fa-reaking out! Please pray for me!

In honor of Beck and Scarlett

2010-06-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

Boards Facts:

Beck's triad= 3 signs of acute cardiac tamponade = low blood pressure, distension of veins in the neck, and muffled heart sounds

Scarlet fever: a rash associated with a Strep infection

Life Lesson #426

2010-06-01T16:04:00.001-07:00

Do NOT ever...ever... put your detergent, softener, etc. on top of your washer/dryer combo. In the event that your washer gets off-balance, it may cause excessive movement of the unit. This may cause your products to fall on the floor and dump their contents onto your carpet.

I should have taken a picture, but I was too irritated. I gave up after an hour of trying to get it up. The carpet may have a slight tint of green, but according to Jordan, it made our entire house smell good, so it's not all bad.

Boards Fact: it actually takes more muscles to smile than to frown (12 vs. 11), so when people say "it takes more muscles to frown, so you might as well smile," you can correct them.

Really?

2010-05-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-05-12T19:45:00.000-07:00

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!

Last Week

2010-04-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

I probably should have posted this before our big news, seeing as it all happened over a week ago, but I had 3 finals last week so I'm behind. Jordan and I got to hold sweet baby Jemma the day she came home from the hospital. She is beautiful and so good! With my crazy schedule I haven't been able to go back over there, so hopefully I can sometime this week.

Now for my trip pics. My grandpa turned 80 on April 18, so my family threw him a big party in Greenville, SC. My brother and I flew out there and surprised him- it was awesome! The Biltmore is just an hour from my aunt's house, so we went there first. It was amazing!!! I had been wanting to go forever b/c my parents have been several times and this was the first time I had been out there. I didn't get a lot of pics on my camera, but my mom has a million. Here are just a few. The ones of the whole house and the room inside aren't mine, but everything else is.

My favorite thing about the house was that they had hydrangeas everywhere (which are my favorite)! It was the Festival of Flowers, so every room had fresh arrangements that were ridiculously beautiful. This is a pic in the conservatory.

They have a winery on the property with wine tasting. It was so fun to try all the different wines! This is a room in the conservatory with a wine theme.

We were so fortunate to come when we did! Back home, my parents and I used to go to the Dallas Arboretum every year to see the tulips, and it happened to be the time that the tulips were in bloom at the Biltmore. It was breathtaking!

I made my family go to this McDonalds afterward. It was on the Travel Channel as being one of the most extreme fast food places in America. It has a fireplace and a grand piano.

On Saturday our whole family went to the zoo before Papaw's party. These are my

dad's sisters, Sonia and Deigh, Deigh's husband, David, his son Clayton, Deigh's kids, Emilee and Spencer, and Em's boyfriend, Andrew. (That's a lot of names, sorry!) My parents, Trey, and I also went to downtown Greenville where they have a really cool waterfall with a bridge spanning it and the most amazing landscaping I've ever seen in a downtown area. I'll for sure post pics of that when I get them. The cousins.

Papaw opening his presents.

The whole family!!

I had so much fun seeing my family since I hadn't seen most of them since our wedding. I can't wait to take Jordan back there and show him all the sites. Plus they are just a few hours from Charleston and Savannah, so we'll hit those up, too. Thank you so much Sonia for everything!

wir gehen nach Deutschland!!

2010-04-23T19:38:00.000-07:00

What does that mean? It means

We're going to Germany!!!

We've been keeping it a secret because we weren't sure, but tonight was our big night! We finally booked our plane tickets! How and why are we going there?

How... the most amazing family is stationed at Ramstein AFB and has offered to be our tour guides. Remember the junior bridesmaid in my wedding? Or the other ring bearer (besides Beck)? That's them! The Sims. I've written all about Sophie before and how much I love her. I am SOOOO excited to go and see her and the rest of the family!

Why... because we need to celebrate! This year has been the hardest of my entire life. School has just sucked the life right out of me and it doesn't end until after my National Boards part 1 are over. We're also celebrating Jordan's acceptance to UTSA for his Masters. And also because thanks to Obama (ha! yea right..) we got a pretty hefty tax return. Apparently my $140,000 dental education earns $2,000 in an 'education' tax credit. Thanks.... We are getting to have this amazing vacation for only a few bucks, and we decided we'll never get to have the opportunity like this again. We don't have to pay for a hotel or a rental car or train fair, so it would be a waste not to go. And of course all history teachers should see something historic!

So we're packing our bags and heading over the big blue ocean June 16-25. My tummy is a little uneasy... so nerve-racking! But so exciting!!!

Jemma Jane

2010-04-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

Jemma inside Jaime's belly yesterday...

Jemma in the real world!!
She is absolutely beautiful! Look at all that hair! 7.8lbs, born at 3:45pm. Jordan and I can't wait to hold her soon!

Easter Weekend

2010-04-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

This last weekend was great! My parents came in town and finally got to see our house... I took tons of naps... I got Easter candy... what more could a girl want? Thankfully my parents were just as worn out as Jordan and I were. Friday morning I had a test and then I came home and all 4 of us slept until 12 or 1pm. Then we went shopping and I got tons of great deals at Macy's and had some delicious Mexican food. Saturday I laid out to try and get some sun before Sunday b/c I was wearing a yellow skirt. Yellow skirt + pasty legs = nasty.... so I slathered on the self-tanner all last week and laid out a lot. I think it turned out well. We cooked out hot dogs and sat around all day doing nothing (ahh... so nice) until later when my mom had a hair appointment and my dad and I went and saw 'Clash of the Titans' (sub-par). Then we ate at Maggiano's for dinner- yum!

Anywho, Paisley wanted to lay out, too, and she picked this spot:

Silly girl.

Here are some pics of Sunday. We went to church and then had a delicious lunch at the in-laws beautiful remodeled house.

When we first moved in to our new house, I posted a picture of our friendly neighborhood peacocks, but promised a better one to come... well here it is! My mom hadn't seen them so we went hunting for them on Sunday. We got a treat! He is so beautiful! (the males are the pretty ones) I love driving to and from school and getting to see them.

Home Sweet Home

2010-03-28T17:33:00.001-07:00

My mom and dad are coming here for Easter, and I want our place to look amazing. My mom hasn't been here since the weekend we moved in, so she hasn't seen any of my decorating, which is crazy ridiculous. We are BFF and she usually is always the one to help me shop for decorating items. I had a really hard time without her. I had originally bought some plants for our front porch that were part shade, thinking we got some sun in the morning. It quickly became apparent that we don't get any sun, and my flowers were dying. I had to move all of them to our back yard, and they are doing great. Our porch has been bare for the last couple of weeks, and even my landlord noticed my missing flowers, so I thought it was time to spruce it up again. I also realized while I was outside that I never posted a picture of the front of our place, so here it is. Eventually we want to get something to go in that random space to the left of the stairs, but we just can't figure out what. Any ideas? That are cheap....

I know it's only March (almost April!!), but I am already excited about decorating it for Christmas!! Anybody else see garland wrapping up the railings?!

Shabby Chic

2010-03-25T16:31:00.000-07:00

I've always loved decorating, even as a kid. Until my senior year of high school I thought I was going to be an interior designer, and then realized the school I wanted to go to (Hardin-Simmons) didn't have an interior design program. That's when I decided to look into other careers. I know, lame reason for being a Biology major, but that's how it all started.

I have always had a very firm belief that there are too many beautiful colors to have white walls and white accessories. But lately, I've been looking at a ton of blogs and am loving what I see! There are so many gorgeous houses that are 'shabby chic' and I can't get enough. I don't think I could ever do it in my own house, but I sure wish I could. I just don't have the right personality or something... I don't know. But here are some pics of the amazing houses I've been keeping up with.

Check out Lola B's & Flea Market Trixie for more amazingness.

Poor, Pitiful Paisley

2010-03-20T17:59:00.000-07:00

Some people think I am stupid or ridiculous for thinking of Paisley like my kid, but since I consider myself a pseudo-adult, she is my pseudo-child. We have gone through so much with this crazy 4 lb dog, and things got even worse last night. Let's start from the beginning and recap: she has a liver condition and has to take medication, has to be tested every 3-4 months, and even has had an ultrasound (which needs to be redone soon). She has separation anxiety in a bad way. She wakes me up 3-5 times a night (literally) because she sleeps all day and has a tiny bladder.

This brings us up to date this week. Thursday when I got home from school she threw up a couple of times and was just all around pitiful. You know she doesn't feel good when her huge ears are tucked so far back you can't tell how big they are. Then, she started having loose stools (I'm being polite), thankfully, outside. Jordan ended up having to sleep down on the couch with her so she could go in and out all night. She felt fine yesterday, until about 1 and then it all started back up. I ended up having to stay home with her all evening b/c she was so sick. I called the vet and they said if it continued I needed to take her to the Emergency Clinic. Having worked for a vet and knowing how ridiculously expensive that is, I decided that was the absolute last resort.

However, at about 10, she went and I thought I saw blood (sorry for the details). I kind of freaked out, but decided I wasn't 100% sure and she was playing and acting normal, so I would wait it out. Bad idea. 2:30 am rolls around and I get a stool sample (gross) and see there really is blood, so we pack up and go to the Emergency Clinic.

Oh.

My.

Gosh.

One vet + one vet tech + 3 dogs = a long wait at 3 am.

After the proposed $700 testing was widdled down to $400, we were ready to leave. Oh wait, that doesn't include the $75 worth of medications she has that I have to give 3 times a day (at different times of course, so really at 5 different times a day).

And that definitely doesn't include the trauma to Paisley or myself. Remembering that she's my kid, think of how it is when your kids are really really sick and you can't do anything to help them. Then add in them screaming/crying in a back room b/c the doc is poking them - - at 5:30am. I'm not a big cryer, but that just sent me over the edge.

We finally got to go home at about 6:00am and didn't get home until when I would normally be waking up for school. As soon as we got home it started storming like crazy! That kept us up another hour! So sad. My alarm went off at 7:30 b/c that was the time I was supposed to get up to go have breakfast with Jaime and Jill, my sister-in-laws, and have pedicures.

*sigh*

I really could have used some R&R after last night, but instead I slept until noon. I definitely got some practice in for being a real mom. Boo!

And even after all that, I still love her and feel so bad that she's sick, just like a mommy. So don't ever make fun of me for thinking she is a child, b/c she really sort of is one... At least until I have kids, and then she'll probably be a dog that is loved a whole heck of a lot.

Heating pads even make doggies feel better! So pitiful.

Brace Yourself

2010-03-18T18:08:00.000-07:00

Although I won't be doing any super hard cases any time soon, I have been learning a little about orthodontics. This semester I completed a selective that will enable me to do Invisalign starting next Spring (2011). Here is our last project- I thought it looked nifty.

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!!

2010-03-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

Things that make me smile/laugh:

So Proud!

2010-03-16T06:19:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to let everyone know our good news!

Jordan got accepted into the Masters program at the University of Texas at San Antonio!!

He will start working on his Masters in American History this summer. I am so proud of him! Now he has somewhat of an actual connection to UT (at least that's what he's going to say) besides me being at the University of Texas Health Science Center. But UTSA does have a football team now, so maybe he'll become a fan of that instead. HA! Yea right. Go Roadrunners, right?

So Many Toys, So Little Time

2010-03-11T18:19:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here trying to study, and I feel a small thumping on the back of my chair and the sound of a soft growl. I look down to find Paisley shaking a stuffed dog, hitting my chair with it, trying to get me to play with her. I tell her 'no' and go back to studying. A few mins later I feel the same thing, so I turn around and of course, there she is, but this time it's a Care Bear. I laugh to myself and think about how cute she is, but I continue to study.

Then a few mins later I hear a heavier thudding sound coming from the guest room. The lights are off but I know she's in there, so I turn on the lights and find her with this teddy bear in her mouth. You can't get a sense of it, but this bear is as big, if not bigger than she is.
I look around the corner of the bed where there is a basket of all our stuffed animals, and this is what I find...

I guess she wanted to try them all out to find just the right toy to shake around. Silly girl.

Just for Laughs

2010-03-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

Pretty Pretty Paisleys

2010-03-06T11:45:00.000-08:00

This past week was my Spring Break, and I spent most of it at my parent's house. My mom and I did some serious shopping on Monday, so I'll post a few pics of my loot when I get the chance. Today I am putting off studying as much as possible, and in doing so I looked on Etsy and found tons of gorgeous paisley jewelry. I actually bought this first piece because I love it so much! There are some seriously creative and talented people out there!

I also found these ADORABLE boxes!! She had so many of them, and they were all amazing! I think I might try my hand at these at some point. So cute!

I Got the Feva'

2010-02-23T16:29:00.000-08:00

I think I've caught the bug... I definitely am having some serious baby fever. Or puppy fever more like it. Babies will come soon enough, just not now. But puppies... I want another- big time. I can't remember if I've blogged about it, but Paisley has some serious separation anxiety. We've had some issues with her "acting out" and things you usually hear about with kids, but they actually really happen with dogs, too. Our vet told us one of the best options for a dog like Paisley is to get another one. It has been proven that dogs with companions live longer and happier. So for the last few months I have been researching breeds. We decided we want a dog that's a little bigger than Paisley, but still not over ~20lbs. Another big stipulation is that it can't shed, which cuts down on 90% of breeds we love. Today in class I found the cutest breed in the world! Well, after papipoos of course... these are cavapoos!!! They are Cavalier King Charles Spaniels mixed with poodles. Hopefully this summer we will bring home a little bundle of joy!

Lost in Translation

2010-02-21T19:42:00.000-08:00

Life just plain stinks right now, so to keep a little humor in our lives, my dental school friends and I try to find funny tid-bits to send each other. Unfortunately they usually come in the middle of class, and we laugh out loud, some even having to leave class. There's something about the fact that you're not supposed to be laughing, and trying to suppress the giggles that makes you giggle even harder. This is just a little taste of what we got last week. Thanks to my friend, Carly, and her "Lost in Translation" e-mail, we lived through another awful lecture by a woman who wears 80's sweaters and pleated pants who teaches us about wearing safety belts.

someone is very angry inside...

mmm.. coleslaw!

Romantic Shmomantic

2010-02-14T14:27:00.000-08:00

Jordan and I decided to celebrate our Valentine's Day last night, thinking there would be less people out. Wrong. But that's a different story. He went out yesterday afternoon to "run errands" (aka "get your present") and on the way home called me and made me promise not to get mad about what he got me. We had decided not to do anything really big, and only spend about $50 or less. I knew when he said that it was going to blow my present out of the water.

He came home with beautiful roses,

A yummy cookie cake,

and a Sheplers gift card for $100 towards my boots I'm wanting. What?!?

And this is what I got him:

Granted, he really did want it... I just think I might have lost my touch. I used to make him all kinds of romantic things. A paint can decoupaged with pics of us and filled with goodies, scrapbooks & picture albums, etc. The only problem is that when you make stuff like that you can never get rid of it, and I already have box full b/c I don't want it out on shelves, but can't bring myself to throw it away either. I guess we're finally old enough that Valentine's Day is going to be practical (at least for his gifts), which is fine by me.
{As a side note, Zombieland is actually hilarious, one of our new favorites. It is rated R for language, so keep that in mind.}

Oh well, he loved it. And I loved all of my presents. To keep up with the romantic feel of the evening, we went and saw Wolfman.

It was eehhhh so so. Super gory, and the wolfman kept popping out, so I don't know if I would recommend it. I'd wait to rent it if you are interested. Anyway, after the movie we went to BJ's to eat, came home and watched about 45 mins of Harry Potter: Prisoner of Azkaban, and went to sleep at 11:30. All in all, a very good Valentine's Day!

Happy V-Day

2010-02-11T09:23:00.000-08:00

Yes, this is what I look at all day. And yes, we all think its cool that it is heart-shaped. So Happy Valentine's Day to you!!

2010-02-08T16:36:00.000-08:00

I promised pictures of my dark hair, and here it is:

As the brown has faded a little, highlights are starting to show through and I like it a lot better. This is a pic from our church's Valentine's Dinner last Saturday night.

We also had our official "unveiling" of our new place for our friends! Last night (for the Superbowl) we cooked out for our friends who helped us move as a way of saying thanks. We are so blessed to have friends that were willing to spend their Saturday morning/afternoon helping us last month. God has been so good to us! In order to get ready for the big day, I spent about 2+ hours in HomeGoods and spent way too much money. I finally have everything the way I want it. In the next pics you'll see my bathroom completely done. My AMAZING sis-in-law, Jaime, added a strip of damask to a plain black shower curtain for me. It turned out beautifully! I decided to accent with green instead of red and I love the way it looks!

This may not be exciting to some, but I am estatic about my next find. Hopefully by now you know Jordan and I love Ireland, so St. Patty's day is a big deal for us. I am super picky about decorations, and have been on the lookout for the perfect St. Patrick's day dishes for several years, and I finally found some I adore! This might have been my favorite purchase at Home Goods!

House Updated

2010-01-26T18:16:00.001-08:00

Here's a little tour of our place now that it is decorated a little more. These first 3 are from the entry. The mirror was one of my Christmas presents from Jordan, and it used to be gold. The House of Elam plaque was my 2 year anniversary gift- so thoughtful! The black frames/gold toile is one of my favorite projects. It turned out so cute (I think). It is actually covering a huge, hideous electrical panel that for some reason they stuck as the first thing you see when you walk in the door. A woman did not design this townhouse! I already had all the frames and spray painted them black, and found the fabric at Garden Ridge for $6 (for 2 yds!!).

The next thing I finished decorating was our entertainment center. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but this actually is 2 bookshelves from World Market that my dad joined with the piece in the middle. He's a-ma-zing. He is also building us doors for the bottom shelves so we can hide our stuff. Yes, that is p90x on the TV. Jordan is on my right working out while I'm taking pictures and blogging. I think I'm also going to have some cereal here in a minute and love it.

I also hung our shelf/picture over our couch. The other couch has our Live/Laugh/Love pic, but I am still missing a curtain, so I didn't want to take a picture of it. Hopefully the curtain will come tomorrow- it's in the mail as we speak.

This also tops my favorite projects. I've been wanting to make the apathouioiucry (I don't know how to spell it) jars forever, and I finally got to. I plan on changing them out for the seasons/holidays and can't wait to see how they come out. As you can probably tell, I spent 4 hours in Garden Ridge and Hobby Lobby on Friday afternoon. I think it was well worth it!

Other big news for this week: I dyed my hair dark brown, pics to come. I'm not crazy about it, but I think it's just b/c there aren't very many highlights. Next time I'm going to have her put a tad of red and gold in it to break up the brown. Jordan loves it, so that's good. He says it brings out my eyes- - good answer! Also, I made my first 'A' on a big test!! After finding that out, I didn't feel so guilty about all my decorating cents spent. I deserve it, right!? Ha!

Words Fail Me

2010-01-22T07:21:00.000-08:00

I have a confession. I am a Britney Spears fan. Yes, it is true. I went to her concert in 12th grade and was REALLY disappointed when I missed her tour this year due to school. But I am apparently not her biggest fan, because there is someone out there that decided, "hey, Britney would look awesome on my coffee table." And not just Brit, but also Kid Rock.

I am just lost for words on how to describe this. She looks like an American Gladiator named Slash or Bolt, not a beautiful (and yet disturbed) pop star! Blasphemy. Thankfully, there also is someone out there that thought, "hey, I can do something with that." I'm impressed.

Proof

2010-01-21T13:45:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, there was a house that my parents and I passed frequently that raised horses and other farm animals. One day I saw zebras, yes zebras. I told my parents what I saw and they didn't (and still don't) believe me because we never saw them again. But I swear I saw zebras!! Well, I've been telling people about the peacocks that roam the neighborhood that I drive through to get to school, and here is my proof. Today on my way home I had to stop as they were crossing the road, so I pulled out my camera and took pics. Of course the sun was directly behind the house, so they are extremely poor quality, but you can still see them. One of the males even had his feathers up! You can barely make him out on the bottom picture when he was actually facing me. He is facing away from me in the first one. I will try again another day. Also be on the lookout for deer, because we have those, too!

As Promised

2010-01-18T13:58:00.000-08:00

I went ahead and took pics of our new place, even though it is not fully decorated. I tried to do the best I could over the weekend. I will probably get a really bad grade on my Oral Pathology test this week, but at least my kitchen is done! Please excuse any messes/trash/random things you see. There are A LOT of things we don't have yet, or haven't put up. My living room and bedroom curtains both got discontinued within the last month, so I am on the hunt for 1 more of each. Annoying. I also don't have my shower curtain up yet, but my lovely sis-in-law is making it for me, so hopefully soon. I also didn't include a pic of our study b/c its the only room that is absolutely not done. I will continue to post pics as our decorations go up- I have lots of ideas!!

So far Paisley LOVES the new place! It rained last week, so she really didn't get to play outside, but she ran up and down the stairs and got pooped. We bought her a new toy and she is so cute with it b/c it is as long as she is. Being a puppy is tough.

Excuse Me

2010-01-15T06:15:00.000-08:00

Please excuse my lack of blogging in the last month. Several big things have happened since the first of the year. First, I started school again, which has turned out to be ridiculously busy. I knew this semester was supposed to be bad, and I'm already behind and it's only the 2nd week- not good. Second, we moved! Yay! Last weekend we moved into our townhouse, so I've been spending time that I should have been studying, unpacking boxes and organizing. This weekend my goal is to take pics and decorate a little bit. Third excuse, we don't have internet at our house yet, so I have to do everything at school. Next Wednesday we will be up and running with cable and internet, so I will be able to blog more. I'll try to take pics and load them on my computer so when I come up to school to study I can post them.

Just a little story. I e-mailed both of my parents at the same time and asked their anniversary b/c it was a security question for Bank of America. Within a few minutes I got back e-mails from both of them with these exact answers:

mom: 7/30/77

dad: 6/30/77

Uh oh. Dad's in trouble! :O)

Peek a Boo Kitty

2010-01-07T14:29:00.000-08:00

This one's for you Lauren.

So Cute.. and Yummy!

2010-01-05T15:41:00.000-08:00

I probably should pay attention in class, but sometime it just doesn't happen. I thought these were adorable.

Something to Tide You Over

2010-01-04T13:57:00.000-08:00

Last week, the 29th, was Jordan and I's 2 year anniversary. We had an amazing night- we got all dressed up, went to Fogo de Chao, walked around on the Riverwalk, and stayed at the Westin on the river. I should be posting really cute pictures from that evening, but being the forgetful person that I am, I left our camera at home that night. Can you believe that? And instead of turning around to get it (which would have taken maybe 30 mins total) we decided to buy a disposable camera. Do you know how much those cost in hotel lobbies?! FOURTEEN dollars! I know, I almost choked. But we did what we had to do to immortilize our outfits. (they were new and cute.. both of us.)

I don't know how many of you are meat lovers, but I am. Which is why I had been looking forward to the Brazilian steakhouse for 364 days since the last time we went on our 1 year anniversary. You see, the whole point of these amazing restaurants is that it is all you can eat steak. Delicious steak, too, not just cheap run-of-the-mill steak. So now I will look forward to our anniversary for another 364 days. As soon as I get my disposable camera developed, I will share the pictures.

As if all you can eat steak wasn't enough beef for one week, my matron of honor, Traci, and her husband, James, asked us to dinner for James' birthday 2 days later. A steak dinner. At Ruth's Chris. A-ma-zing! It was an incredible steak and it was great to hang out with them again after such a long time. Dental school strains friendships!

Aaannnnddd if that weren't enough, we decided to go to Cheesy Jane's for a cheeseburger and shakes on Saturday night. Beef, again. And let me tell you... I could eat a steak right now and love it.

The point is: I love anything beef. However, I do not love it as much as these people:

this is a bed...

and my favorite...
I guess I'm just not a true beef lover... and I guess I'm ok with that if that's what beef-lovers do.

Bedroom Decorations

2009-12-27T18:02:00.000-08:00

Life is so sad now that Christmas is over. I already took our decorations down, which is total blasphemy, because of the move. They were replaced with ugly cardboard boxes, yuk! The only decorations that are still up are the ones in our room because I just finished our garland. I also put a new bow on the feather wreath and got a Nativity scene from Santa. It is white/cream with sparkles all over it- gorgeous!

Maybe One Day... sigh

2009-12-23T19:31:00.000-08:00

Today I found a collection of dishes that I MUST have!! In the future, I plan to have a black, white, and red (I know, shocking) kitchen, and plan to accent with toile, so these are perfect!!! Can you hear it?? They are calling my name and begging me to buy them! I don't think I've been this excited about things I can't afford in a long time. Or ever. Just wanted to share the beauty.

Bedroom Help!

2009-12-18T10:29:00.000-08:00

*sigh*

What a wonderful day today is!! I got up, watched 2 of my recorded shows, ate some Frosted Flakes, ate a couple of cookies, and have been piddling and cleaning the house. Why is cleaning so amazing, you ask? I will tell you. Cleaning my apartment is amazing because it means I'm not at school. I'm not at school because I'M DONE!!! I had my last final yesterday, so now I have 2 glorious weeks off!

Anyway, as you all know, we are moving soon. This means a whole new house to decorate, which is so exciting for me! My first order of business is our bedroom. Ladies, if I can give you any advice it is this. Do NOT let your husbands pick out your bedroom decor, bedding, colors, etc. It will only bring you hardship! They don't care nearly as much as we do about what the house looks like, so if you go against your better judgement and pick blue and brown to "compromise" with him, you're only setting yourself up for disappointment. Don't get me wrong, I really do like blue and brown together. However, black and white with a touch of red is my absolute favorite and I know how to decorate with it. I know I've said it before, but if I could do my entire house in black and white, I would be 100% happy. Don't be suprised to find a charcoal gray or black dining room in my house one day, I have big plans.

Back to the issue at hand. Since I did go with blue and brown, I have NO idea what to do. It's too early in our marriage to get rid of our furniture, so I just have to make due. I think I want to go for a glam/shabby chic/elegant/whatever look. I like my lamps and kind of want to go off that, I guess. Silver, crystal, and cream accents. The biggest thing I need is something for over the bed. I hate, absolutely hate, the picture that is over it right now. Why I bought it, I don't know. I am thinking about doing an oval ornate frame with our initials in really pretty script letters, but I don't know if that's too corny. Maybe that and a couple of candle sconces on either side. I just don't know how that will look, so please please give me ideas for what to do!! I'm stuck, which is rare for me with decorating! So sad.

Just an idea of what it could look like:

Also, this is my new wreath. It's supposed to be ivory, but it's a little yellow. Tell me if you think it comes off as yellow or cream... I was thinking about buying some white feathers and gluing them in to tone it down.

Random Christms Findings

2009-12-10T16:26:00.001-08:00

First I want to start out with a little story. I was in lab yesterday, and my professor -who might be the biggest cowboy/redneck I've ever heard- came to look at my work. One of the first things he said was (and please add a ridiculously drawn out accent to go with it... like in the movies), "oohhhhh... you got some Cherstmas shoes! M' daddy had some Cherstmas boots he us't to we'r."

What?!?

Maybe the red flowers look like poinsettas?? I don't know, but it cracked me up. And I didn't have the heart to correct him.

I mean, if I were going to wear Christmas shoes, I would make them these... duh!!
And don't tempt me.

On to more random Christmas dentist findings. This is a Santa I found in Estes Park, CO last year and had to have it! It's so hard to find dentist stuff that isn't creepy, and he is just adorable!!

And this will one day be my office. This is a dentist office I found on-line, and it just makes my heart sing! I love it!!

Isn't he adorable? Who doesn't like this cutie dentist in "Frosty"??

And last but not least, just a few games you could get the kiddos for Christmas. I bet "Crazy Dentist: Whack Yourself a Perfect Smile" whould be a hit!