Encouragement

This is my friend Lauren and her husband Jeffrey. Besides Traci, she is one of my closest friends and I am very thankful she and I are next to each other in the alphabet. We first met at the Welcome to the Profession Ceremony at school b/c her last name is Edwards and mine is Elam. Our conversation consisted of a lot of "me too!!'s" and went like this: "I went to school in Abilene -me too! I just got married -me too! I live in Signature Ridge -me too!" It was such a blessing to have so much in common with someone right off the bat; it made the first few days of dental school easier. We quickly found out that we had even more in common (like going on the exact same cruise 3 months apart) and most of our labs together. At first I was really intimidated by her b/c she was extremely studious and wore high heels every day (I hate high heels..it was very impressive). Now we know almost everything about each other b/c we spend more time with each other than anybody else. Maybe this has to do with the 8 hours a week we spend in Gross lab.. but I'm not sure.... Anyways, being a newlywed and in dental school can put a damper on that "honeymoon" stage really fast, and she is the one other person who completely understands. She knows how hard it is to balance studying and being a wife, which is why I am writing this blog about her. She, like most of us in dental school, is in need of some serious encouragement. Although I am not the "sensitive type," I do think my friends deserve to know how special they are to me.

Lauren, you are an awesome woman and I have really appreciated your firiendship this semester. You have listened to all my complaints and given me great advice in almost every area of my life. I just want you to know that I am praying for you and know we can get through the next 2 weeks. Hopefully next semester we'll actually hang out outside of school and maybe you'll learn to love Paisley... maybe. I've enjoyed all the giggles and laughs we've shared and telling secrets in the middle of class. Remember I am here for you if you need anything!

Twilight and Christmas- it doesn't get any better!

My Fellow Twilighters

Sarah, Liz, Traci, and Emily

Last Thursday was Traci's (my BFF) birthday, so we went to Maggiano's with a huge group from school. It was a-maz-ing!! As Ben would say, it changed my life. The first three pics are from Maggiano's. After dinner a group of us went to the midnight showing of Twilight. We got there an hour early and had to sit on the second row at the very bottom- not cool. We also had to endure 2 hours of teenagers freaking out everytime Edward came on screen. I was so disappointed after the movie that I would have cried if I wasn't so tired. It wasn't the best experience.

Thankfully, I had bought tickets for Jaime, Jill, and I to go see it on Saturday. This time, I absolutely loved the movie. I think the atmosphere definitely had a big impact the first time, because this time, it was all adults and it was wonderful. Of course it wasn't as good as the book, but good enough for me to be excited when I left the theater. The have already announced 'New Moon,' the second of the four books being made into movies. -Just 12 more months 'til it comes out!!-

The last set of pictures are from my apartment. Lauren decorated for Christmas 2 weeks ago and I have wanted to ever since. I made up my mind to just go ahead and do it and let my mind relax from my last 3 finals (4 to go...). Jordan was really aprehensive about the black and white because he likes traditional colors, but now that it's up, he loves our tree and decorations. It definitely pays to have a Christmas wedding! I didn't have to buy very much and our house is totally decorated!

Cariology Rap

You must.. must... watch this video. This is probably the best thing I've experienced all year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIXhIHUPyvo

If this link doesn't work, go to youtube.com and type in "cariology rap." It will be the first video on the list. Who said dentistry wasn't hip and cool??

Seriously...

I always thought Paisley was a cat. Now I really think that "The Pet Stork" (her breeder) sent me a little kitty cat instead of a puppy.... please excuse the bra. Also notice her awesome new collar/scarf- Hook 'Em Horns!

Near Death Experience

Today I had a near death experience. Those of you who know me well know I am not squeemish about most things and I am not overly dramatic. However, today I thought I was going to die. I had opened our patio door to let Paisley run in and out and went to study. I went back into our living room to check on her and there it was... a killer bee. Ok, maybe it was a regular bee, but it was a killer to me. Out of all the things in the world to be afraid of, bees are my fear. Give me spiders all day, but I freak out about bees. I was by myself, totally freaking out. I had to keep yelling at Paisley because she kept chasing it around and literally jumping in the air trying to catch it, all the while trying to figure out what to do. I thought about opening the door wider and hoping it would leave, but no. What if it followed me into the other room? What if it settled in my bed and when I got in it tonight it was waiting for me, ready to pounce? No, no. I had to kill it myself. I picked up our new MacArthur Park church directory and smacked the life out of it. Then, fighting off Paisley, I carried it in Jordan's hat to the sink where I washed it down the drain. For some reason I got satisfaction by turning on the dispose-all... Take that killer bee!!!

Wurstfest

Last Saturday Jordan and I met some of our friends from HSU in New Braunfels for Wurstfest, a fair that celebrates 2 things: beer and sausage. I have no comment on the first... but the sausage was fantastic! We are officially old, though, having left and been in bed by 11:30 that night. We are sad for 23 & 24 year olds!!

I took this picture to document something extremely rare... a line for the men's restroom! Notice there isn't one for the women's.

Halloween- Finally!

Jordan's costume was so much better than mine. I had some awesome red shorts to go with my sweater, but they shrunk in the dryer. Apparently you can't dry wool... who knew?

Scarlett, the princess butterfly, so cute!



Clark as a caterpillar. He could barely walk in his tubes:



Beck (aka Superman) and the cutest scarecrow ever:

My Gross Anatomy lab group (minus Christian and Bobbi-with an 'I')

Lauren (as herself), Alexandra (as Avril Lavigne), and James (as a biker dude)

My decorations. Note the awesome flowers Jordan

got me for my Gross Anatomy test grade

Yeah that's right, I have trolls.