Last Weekend

Last weekend was very interesting. We started out with something fun, and ended in the total opposite. Friday night Lauren and her husband, Jeffrey, had all of our friends over for a formal dinner party. It was awesome! She cooked a spiral ham and all kinds of sides and 2 amazing desserts. She even pulled out her china. The most amazing part.. there were 14 of us in their apartment... comfortably. Good Job! Christian and his wife brought their son, Tyson, who is wearing a brand new outfit Alexandra brought for him. Jordan says he looks like the Christmas pope with the hat standing straight up! After our incredible dinner we watched "Elf" and laughed our heads off.

Saturday was our half and half day. Half boring studying, half super fun date night. Jordan took me to Santa's Ranch in New Braunfels to drive through their Christmas lights. It was so pretty and great! The best part was when I realized I had spilled our hot chocolate all over my lap and seat... it just doesn't get any better! Thankfully we were right by Jill's house and stopped by for some emergency clean-up action. No stain no foul.

Sunday was more like 25% fun, 75% studying. Church and dinner with the fam is always fun. Clark was being so funny at lunch squinting his eyes as hard as he could and laughing. What a weirdo :O) The rest of the day/night was spent studying.

Then there was Monday. Oh the dreaded day. Tuesday was my Gross Anatomy final, so I spent every waking hour (literally) studying. It is so depressing to think about how much time I spent on that stupid subject. I couldn't go to sleep and ended up studying from 3-4 am. Who does that?? I suppose it paid off.. I made B's on it and so I'm getting a B in the class- yay!!!

Tuesday I finished decorating and patted myself on the back. I love Chrismas!!!!

Ugh

Reason #132,976 why I hate Biochemistry:

Words like perhydrocyclopentanophenanthrene

Really?!?!

Paisley is not defective!

I don't know who all I told about Paisley's potential condition, but to those of you who were so concerned you couldn't sleep at night, everything is ok! She had some blood protein levels that were too high, which made the doctors think she might have something wrong with her liver. Today we went to an "imaging specialist" fo her to get an ultrasound. They said she was really really good and just laid there- which is very suprising- and they didn't find anything. Very good news!!!

Sleep-overs

As you all know, Remi and Paisley are best friends. Remi comes and spends the night with us sometimes just so Paisley can play with her... ok, we love to play with her, too. Here are a few random pics of Paisley and Remi at our house.

Yes, when Remi spends the night with us, she sleeps in the bed with us. It's nice and cozy with the four of us in bed!

This is how they've always slept, ever since Paisley was a little baby.

This is Jordan trying to hold Remi still to take a picture.. and her looking at him like "why are you choking me?!?"

Gross Anatomy Final

I survived.

My Dearest Sophie

Being the absent-minded dental student that I am, I forgot to do this on Sophie's birthday, which was the 3rd. Hopefull she'll understand... I usually call her on her birthday, but she and her family recently moved to Germany, so this was impossible. Happy Birthday Sophie!! Once again, I am going to tell you all aout someone very near and dear to my heart. She is the coolest, most intelligent 10 year old I've ever met- - and I love her to death. Early in my sophomore year of college, I coached an Upward soccer team of 4-5 year olds. My favorite player was a little girl named Sophie Sims. She reminded me a lot of myself at that age and she had the cutest dimples I had ever seen. I also loved her parents, Jennifer and Pat. After the season, I didn't see Sophie again for about a year, but by random chance, Jordan and I ran into Sophie and Jennifer at Olive Garden. By this time, little Gavin had come along (she found out she was pregnant during our soccer season). I offered to babysit for Pat and Jennifer so they could go out by themselves, eager to hang out with the kiddos. Ever since that first night I babysat, I have been madly in love with the Sims family. They really are like family to me and I miss them so much since they moved to Germany.

Sophie is amazing. Even though she's so much younger than me, I really never babysat her... we just kind of hung out. She wants to be a vet when she grows up, and I have no doubt she will achieve this. She's also an amazing goalie and I love goinng to her soccer games. She is not only smart, but talented in everything she does. She plays the piano, sings, paints, plays every sport, cooks, makes random crafts, and basically everything else you could of. She was a junior bridesmaid in my wedding, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I can't wait to see her again and see her face light up. Last year for her birthday Jennifer brought her to Dallas to go to the American Girl Dolls store/restaurant at the Galleria Mall. I was able to meet them there and share her special day- it was great. I erally miss not even getting to hear her voice this year. :O( I love you Sophie!!

Here are a few pictures of the family: Pat, Jennifer, Sophie, Gavin, and Olivia. Pat is a Major in the Airforce (hence Germany). For my graduation from dental school we are going to visit them!! I can't wait!!

I'm not sure what happened with the pics.... sorry.

And my favorite picture of the Year....

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!