Family Retreat and Things

I know I said this the last time, but sorry it has been so long since I last posted anything! I was kicked off my laptop so Jordan could take part in his fraternity's Fantasy Football Draft so I'm using this much needed study break to blog. Not much has happened since I last blogged, just studying, a few minor melt-downs, and Family Retreat.

I don't know if you know, but my husband is a rockstar... Once a year he gets to rock out in front of a crowd at Family Retreat. He looks forward to it every year, and so do I b/c it's the only time he lets me listen/watch him play. He's so humble about his awesomeness and thinks I don't like listening to him. I actually LOVE it and wish he would play for me more. We drove out to the H.E. Butts Camp (yes, the "B" in HEB grocery stores stands for Butts- the owners last name- yay Texas) with Norris and Linda. When we got there, Ben was already wanting to do a sound check, so I stayed and played with Beck and Briggs and hung out with Jaime and Linda, who were constantly having to corral the boys. I didn't get many pics, but here are a few:

Now, I know what you're thinking: "don't you go to a Church of Christ church?? Why are there instruments involved??" And my response is yes, it is a little ironic that Jordan plays in a band that consists of the preacher (on drums), the song leader (on guitar and vocals), and several other prominent leaders in our church. Not to mention Herb Smith (an elder) who rocked out on the harmonica and the McCauleys (another elder) who have their own family country band. Which by the way, inspired me to learn to play the bass b/c Denisa looked so awesome playing! Maybe next summer we'll break out the Electric Elam family band. We'd def have to come up with a better name by then.

I'm so proud to be his wife! If you don't know who my brother-in-law Ben is, he's the one next to Jordan. He's our song leader and my non-Elam bud. We share a love for food and must stick together at all times.

This little girl twirled in a circle with her head on her shoulder for about 20 mins. I just thought it was funny!

Some MORE Birthday...

Ok, I know my birthday was 10 days ago, but I have more presents to share. Last Friday we went out with a couple of our 'couple' friends to Perico's for some good Mexican food and margaritas. (Notice I got to wear Jill's present!) It was the first time we had all been together since last semester, so it was so much fun! I love these girls!

Lauren had been looking for an excuse to make a cake with fondant icing, and this was her chance. Once again, she shocked an amazed me with her Betty Crocker talent. If dentistry doesn't work out, I think pastry cheffing (is that a word?) will, considering this was her first fondant cake ever.

I hadn't seen Jaime and Ben since my birthday, so on Sunday we went to lunch at Fudrucker's (YUM) and she gave me my present. SO cute!! I absolutely love everything! She made all of it by hand- very talented! I know most of you know Jaime and have been to her craft blog, but just in case, please hop over to busybizzyB and see her stuff. She also has a link to her Etsy shop that is full of ADORABLE baby clothes and such.

FURocious!

Birthday Week

I don't know how many of you knew, but Tuesday was my 24th birthday! I feel so old... not really. My birthday week started on Friday night when Jordan and I went to Abilene and I got to see my old roomie, Jill, and her husband. I absolutely love and miss her! The main reason we went to Abilene was to meet the Sims, my favorite non-family family. If you've read my blog before, or went to my wedding, you should know who they are. Sophie was my junior bridesmaid and Gavin was a ring bearer. They are stationed in Germany right now, but are in the States for the month. I had been looking forward to seeing them since they left last year! I had so much fun! I ate lunch with the whole crew- Pat, Jennifer, Sophie, Gavin, and Olivia. They are all grown up and so much fun to talk to. Gavin drilled me over my favorite dinosaurs and Olivia informed us that her "favkdj dinosoiiosur is the Tricerakfjl;k -tops" (translated: favorite dinosaur is the Triceratops). This is quite impressive considering she's 2. She also said the pledge of allegiance and I wished I had my video camera to capture it. Jennifer promised to tape it and put it on their website sometime, so hopefully I can share it then. Gavin made a whole army of dinosaurs in the chair next to us, and "made" me a brontosaurus, which I said was my favorite, and was informed it did not exist. Apparently they are now called brachiosauruses... smart kid. And of course, my dear Sophie! We went by ourselves to a pottery place and painted a mug and a vase. I love hanging out with her b/c even though she's 10, you can talk to her like a grown up and she knows what you're talking about. She's just that smart and awesome. And she already knows TONS of German and is in all gifted classes. Hopefully they will come back to the States in the next 3 years, or I will go crazy! I love them!!

My parents also met us in Abilene b/c I haven't seen them in a while and won't for a while. I hate living away from them, especially on my birthday. I just feel like its one of those days you spend with your parents. They were gracious enough to drive to Abilene to meet us, and we had a blast! We ate at Perini's steakhouse (the best ever) and just hung out. I miss them so much! I was really excited about what my mom picked out for me- a set of luggage. But not any ol' luggage- CUTE luggage!

Monday after we got back into town we went to Jill and Brody's house to deliver a safe and see the kids b/c we missed their birthdays last week. She gave me the cutest necklace/earring set. It will be perfect with all my black attire! We also went to Jordan's parents house b/c it was also Norris' b-day last week. If you're keeping count, there are 4 of us in one week... craziness. They gave me a TJ Maxx card, which is always wonderful. I can't wait to go shopping!

Last year was my first year to ever have to go to school on my birthday and it was a total bummer this year as well. I spent the morning hours learning about periodontal disease from Dr. "Archie" Jones and about chronic inflammation from Dr. Neal "the Pinkster" Pinckard. Don't worry, I'm not being disrespectful. The man calls himself "the Pinkster" in 3rd person. I can't say my morning was awful, though, because 3 of my friends brought me a cookie cake to school, not even knowing it is my absolute favorite!! The only bad part was, "Pink" made me stand up and had everyone sing to me. Oh well. Thankfully I had finished the labwork for our afternoon lab early and I was able to go home around 2:45 and lay on the couch.

Jordan did such a good job on my presents, just like usual. He always freaks out and thinks I'm going to hate them, but I always love them. He got me a long list of movies I've been wanting, an iTunes gift card, and best of all, a shoulder-heater-upper-thing that will sooth my aching shoulders after sitting in class for 8 hours. Please don't judge my taste in movies. I never get girlie movies, so he loaded me up. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 1 and 2 are both amazing. (and I hate those kinds of movies)

For dinner Jordan and I decided to try Formosa Garden's Hibachi dinner. We were kind of nervous about it, but it turned out to be fantastic! If you've been to Formosa, you've seen how they added the Hibachi tables in that extra room off to the side. The thing you don't know is that the room is basically sound proof... with no music.... just Jordan and I and our chef.... awkward. He was actually pretty funny, but still. After being totally stuffed we came home and watched Harry Potter: the Order of the Phoenix. (We are finally caught up and ready to see the latest one tomorrow!) As soon as there was a little room in our tummies, we annihilated my cookie cake that he got me. 2 cookie cakes in one day... not a bad birthday!

Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes!! It has been a pretty good week!

Finally another Fun Food Friday

This week I made taco soup, which is Jordan's "favorite thing I make." It is so easy and I ended up freezing a ton of it. Prepared with ground turkey breast instead of ground beef, it only has 6pts per serving if you get 10 servings out of the pot. Yum!! (this doesn't include the cheese or sour cream) Please don't judge my chipped bowl. Somehow I managed to use the only chipped bowl out of 12. Amazing.



2 lbs ground turkey breast
1 onion, chopped and sauteed
1 can of Rotelle tomatoes
1 can chopped tomatoes (I don't put this in b/c Jordan and I don't like tomatoes very much)
1 can each: red kidney beans, white kidney beans (canellini), pinto beans, black beans
2 cans whole corn (drained)
2 cups water
1 package Hidden Valley dry ranch mix
2 packages of taco seasoning (to taste, I think I put more in- we have a bottle of it)

Sautee onion and add meat to brown in skillet. Dump all beans and tomatoes in crockpot without draining. Drain corn and put it in. Add water and seasonings. Add meat/onion. Simmer for at least 2 hours.

If you want, add cheese and sour cream. We also ate it with tortilla chips. I can't wait to have leftovers for lunch today!

Just a lil Taste

Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what I've been doing my first few weeks of school.

This is the lab I'm in:

This is my lab bench. I know, super cool, right??

This is one of our first projects using a handpiece in the mouth (on a maniquine). It was pretty frustrating, but it's good to finally be doing something useful.

This is my very first crown prep. It pretty much stinks....
And this is a picture of Jordan and I from our Dental School Picnic on Sunday.

Other than that, not too much has happened. Tomorrow (Wednesday) I have my first exam and I have a Nutrition final on Friday. If you need me to assess your nutritional status, explain to you how nutrition affects your oral health, or just plain bore you, please let me know. It is what I have been studying 3 hours a night for the last few nights. And yes, nutrition does actually affect your mouth. Please don't be offended if your dentist asks you about your weight...

Another Question (actually 2 more)

Does anyone have a twin bed they would like to get rid of??

Does anyone need a safe that's about 2 x 3 x 3 ft (ish)? My dad is getting rid of his and we don't own anything expensive or have room...