Long Time, No Write

A lot has happened since I wrote last!  The 3 biggies are that I graduated, we moved to DFW, and we went to Ireland!  This has been an amazing year so far and I know God has great things in store for us.  I'll break it down by month:

January-March: completely uneventful!

April: serious stress!  

Everyone was finishing up in clinic and getting ready for our regional board exam.  We had to do 2 fillings, a deep cleaning, and a root canal all in 2 days.  Thankfully, everything went perfectly and it was relatively stress free.  This is a picture of the group I have worked with for the last 2 years.  They were all a huge blessing, especially my faculty, Dr. Hill. 

May:graduations!

Jordan was first up, graduating with his Masters in American History.  I was so proud of him!  He worked so hard the last 2 years and it really paid off.  

I was next and was blessed with my aunts and grandpa coming in town.  We celebrated at Maggiano's with family and friends.  My bestie, Traci, and her family came in town, too!

Right after graduation we packed up a UHaul and moved in with my parents in DFW.  

June: Ireland!!

Soon after graduation we packed our bags and headed to Ireland and London for a week.  It was absolutely amazing and I could blog about each day individually, but I'm sure that would get old fast.  These pictures are some highlights of the trip.  We spent 2 days in Dublin, then drove to the Waterford Crystal Factory and Blarney Castle.  After that we went on a Ring of Kerry tour and stayed at the most amazing hotel ever.  We then drove up to the Cliffs of Moher, only to be disappointed with too much fog.  We drove to Limerick and had dinner in a 14th Century castle.  We flew ridiculously early to London and spent 2 days there.  They were preparing for the Olympics, so traffic was crazy and several parks were closed.  It was really hard to come home!!

Since we came back from our trip life has been extremely boring.  I started working at Monarch Dental and am loving it.  I have an amazing staff and awesome lead dentist to mentor under.  Jordan started at Ft. Worth Christian and is having so much fun teaching kids who care!  FWC has been such a blessing!  We've been attending The Hills (a church where most of the FWC students and faculty go).  We're in the process of finding a house and can't wait to start our new lives in a new home!  I'll definitely keep everyone posted on the house hunt.

And there you have it!  6 months of our lives rolled up in one post!

Side note: we used a dear family friend to plan our trip and couldn't be happier with how it turned out.  We had originally booked a coach bus tour, but it was cancelled and Randy spent a week on the phone booking all of our hotels and tours individually.  He took care of everything for us!  He mostly plans cruises, but is willing to help out with any trip.

Visit his Facebook page for more info: https://www.facebook.com/DayleeTravel

Yay!!

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

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!!

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

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!!!

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!!