I'm excited to share that I recently stumbled across the website for a group that is a ministry of the Christian Medical and Dental Association. The group is called Side by Side and, as their website explains, it is specifically for "women who are married to medical and dental students, residents, fellows, as
well as staff physicians and dentists." I was able to get in contact with my local chapter and attended their first meeting for the school year on November 2nd.
Ever since Robbie started school, I have been trying to find a way to connect with as many other wives as possible who are in similar situations. I have met a few other Dental School wives through this blog and I know some of Robbie's classmate's wives, but I have yet to be able to enjoy regular hang-out time with a group of them. All the ladies that came were super friendly and I enjoyed hearing a little bit about each of their experiences.
On the downside, I was the only one there whose husband was in Dental School instead of Medical School. On the plus-side, hearing about the length of the Medical School process reminded me of how grateful I should be that Dental School is only four years, that a residency is not required, and that Dentistry in general is an extremely family-friendly field. I hope to get a few more of my fellow Dental School wives to start going with me to the biweekly meetings.
For my fellow Dental School wives reading this, you should check out Side by Side's website to see if there is a chapter in your area and let me know how things go for you!
Sharing my experiences as a Dental School wife (and now Dentist's wife!)
Showing posts with label hanging out with friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hanging out with friends. Show all posts
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Last Post Before Puerto Rico
We're leaving for Puerto Rico tomorrow night so I wanted to write one more post before we left.
Robbie took the Part I Boards this past Monday. I can't say he loved the experience (who would enjoy a 7 hour test?!) but it's nice to finally have them done after weeks of preparing. The day after he took the test, he seemed to have a bit of a mental hangover. Robbie felt the hardest part of the test was a section called "testlets" that described clinical scenarios and you had to diagnose what the patient had based off the description. All of his classmates that took the test before Robbie's group came out feeling like they completely failed and they have all passed so far. It takes about 2-3 weeks for them to give you your score so I will give an update when we hear back. I'm confident that Robbie passed just fine but I know he won't feel completely at ease until he gets it in writing.
We went up to visit our families in Fort Collins for a few days after the test. We also got to hang out with our friends, Dan and Chelsea (two of our favorite people!). I've known Dan since high school when we were in Student Council together and his dad is also the pastor of our home church in Fort Collins. He is like the brother I never had growing up and he's a huge nerd when it comes to animals and Disney. Dan met Chelsea in Hawaii and he seriously could not find a better girl. The first time I met Chelsea in person was when Robbie and I went to California and she was working at Disneyland so she got us in for free. Chelsea is sweet, intelligent, funny, easy to talk to, thoughtful, and wise beyond her years (not to mention she has hair like a Disney princess). Maybe that is why we get along with them so well... they remind us of Disney so much!
Next time I write will be after we get back from our trip so hopefully I'll have a lot of fun pictures and stories to share! Robbie starts school back up on the 12th.
Robbie took the Part I Boards this past Monday. I can't say he loved the experience (who would enjoy a 7 hour test?!) but it's nice to finally have them done after weeks of preparing. The day after he took the test, he seemed to have a bit of a mental hangover. Robbie felt the hardest part of the test was a section called "testlets" that described clinical scenarios and you had to diagnose what the patient had based off the description. All of his classmates that took the test before Robbie's group came out feeling like they completely failed and they have all passed so far. It takes about 2-3 weeks for them to give you your score so I will give an update when we hear back. I'm confident that Robbie passed just fine but I know he won't feel completely at ease until he gets it in writing.
We went up to visit our families in Fort Collins for a few days after the test. We also got to hang out with our friends, Dan and Chelsea (two of our favorite people!). I've known Dan since high school when we were in Student Council together and his dad is also the pastor of our home church in Fort Collins. He is like the brother I never had growing up and he's a huge nerd when it comes to animals and Disney. Dan met Chelsea in Hawaii and he seriously could not find a better girl. The first time I met Chelsea in person was when Robbie and I went to California and she was working at Disneyland so she got us in for free. Chelsea is sweet, intelligent, funny, easy to talk to, thoughtful, and wise beyond her years (not to mention she has hair like a Disney princess). Maybe that is why we get along with them so well... they remind us of Disney so much!
 |
| Here's Dan and Chelsea when we went with them to tour Celestial Seasonings Tea in Boulder, CO last year |
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Fun Summer Happenings
Apparently the gorgeous summer weather as well as the changes in Robbie's school schedule have completely thrown off my consistency in blogging! Once fall semester starts, I promise I will be back on a normal routine but until then my posts might be a little more sporadic.
This past week my friend Jeanette graduated. She is one of those crazy people who love to be in school so it was a little bittersweet for her. I, on the other hand, am totally stoked for her to be done (at least for now) so that I won't have to schedule time with her three weeks in advance!
In other news, I think it's safe to share with the world now (because she has had a chance to tell our relatives) that my oldest sister, Altair, is pregnant and due in November! We don't know what she's having yet, but it's exciting to think about having yet another niece/nephew before Christmas this year. My other sister who is pregnant, Ariane, could seriously pop any day now!
Robbie and I have had a good amount of time to spend together lately which has been really nice. While he is definitely working hard in his summer classes and studying for boards, we've still been able to hang out at the pool, go to the movies, and have some nice dinners together at home. His birthday is only a few days away and all that I've gotten out of him is that he wants a gluten free cake. Honestly, Robbie's love language is acts of service so if I made him a yummy dinner and gave him a foot rub, he would be completely satisfied.
Hope you're all having a fun summer!
This past week my friend Jeanette graduated. She is one of those crazy people who love to be in school so it was a little bittersweet for her. I, on the other hand, am totally stoked for her to be done (at least for now) so that I won't have to schedule time with her three weeks in advance!
In other news, I think it's safe to share with the world now (because she has had a chance to tell our relatives) that my oldest sister, Altair, is pregnant and due in November! We don't know what she's having yet, but it's exciting to think about having yet another niece/nephew before Christmas this year. My other sister who is pregnant, Ariane, could seriously pop any day now!
 |
| Left to right: Altair (sister), Darcy (Ariane's friend), and Ariane (sister). So much pregnancy in one photo! |
Robbie and I have had a good amount of time to spend together lately which has been really nice. While he is definitely working hard in his summer classes and studying for boards, we've still been able to hang out at the pool, go to the movies, and have some nice dinners together at home. His birthday is only a few days away and all that I've gotten out of him is that he wants a gluten free cake. Honestly, Robbie's love language is acts of service so if I made him a yummy dinner and gave him a foot rub, he would be completely satisfied.
Hope you're all having a fun summer!
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
What to Do When You're Bored
There's really no way around it-- having a husband in Dental School can leave you with a lot of spare time on your hands. Here's my super creative list of things you can do if you are feeling bored:
1) Exercise-- go for a walk, go for a bike ride, take a group fitness class, go swimming, pull up a workout video on youtube (or buy a fitness DVD) and follow along in your living room, look up equipment-free exercises on Pinterest and create your own workout routine.
2) Get a job (or volunteer) somewhere-- you don't have to make it your career, but it's just something to get you out of the house and interacting with people (I think this one is more important if you are an extrovert. Me? I like having all my quiet alone time).
3) Explore the city where you live-- visit a zoo or museum or garden or sculpture park; I especially like to try out new places in my city using Groupon.com.
4) Go to Barnes and Noble and read a book or magazine.
5) Keep a journal or blog--about being the wife of a Dental Student, about crafts, about recipes you like, about cats wearing funny hats, whatever you want. Sometimes it can be so therapeutic to just put your thoughts down on a page. It's also amazing to look back at the things you've experienced.
6) Go to SuperTarget-- I can seriously kill so much time at Super Target without buying a single thing. I just like looking at stuff!
7) Clean-- it may just be me, but I feel like there is always something in my home that could be cleaned whether it's laundry, the bathtub, the kitchen, the cat litterbox, the windows, etc. My favorite thing to do is pull up Pandora on my phone. start my Hillsong United station, and place my phone in a bowl to amplify the music while I clean. I have had some of the most wonderful times of worship while doing the dishes.
8) Join a Bible study (or invite other women over to your house for one!)-- my friend and I have been doing the Esther Study by Beth Moore and it's been such a great time! We split the cost of downloading the videos for the weekly sessions and meet up once a week to watch them together. Then during the week there are 5 days of personal study at home that take maybe 20-30 minutes each day.
9) Hang out with other Dental School wives-- if they have kids, offer to babysit for them so they can have a break. Their husbands are just as busy as yours so they know what you're going through!
10) Go to Hobby Lobby-- not only is there a lot of fun stuff to look at, but they also offer craft classes. I am thinking about taking a Bob Ross painting class at Hobby Lobby. I'll let you know how it goes!
11) Write a letter-- to a grandparent, to an old friend you haven't seen in awhile, to your husband to tell him how much you appreciate him. Who doesn't like receiving letters?
12) De-clutter/Organize your home-- go through your clothes and pull out items to donate; go through your makeup (or lotion or hair products, etc) and toss anything you haven't used in the last couple months; Pinterest has tons of pins on how to organize your home on the cheap
13) Pinterest.com-- do I really need to explain this one? :)
14) Visit thrift stores and garage sales-- I haven't done this yet, but I think it would be fun. Especially if you were just looking at Pinterest and got a great idea but didn't want to spend a ton of money to accomplish it.
15) Try out a new recipe-- Robbie particularly appreciates when I make him gluten free baked goods as a surprise for when he comes home from school.
16) Wimp.com-- this is a site that picks 5 fun and interesting videos each day that are family friendly. Topics range from funny animals, to science, to funny pranks, to sports, etc.
1) Exercise-- go for a walk, go for a bike ride, take a group fitness class, go swimming, pull up a workout video on youtube (or buy a fitness DVD) and follow along in your living room, look up equipment-free exercises on Pinterest and create your own workout routine.
2) Get a job (or volunteer) somewhere-- you don't have to make it your career, but it's just something to get you out of the house and interacting with people (I think this one is more important if you are an extrovert. Me? I like having all my quiet alone time).
3) Explore the city where you live-- visit a zoo or museum or garden or sculpture park; I especially like to try out new places in my city using Groupon.com.
4) Go to Barnes and Noble and read a book or magazine.
5) Keep a journal or blog--about being the wife of a Dental Student, about crafts, about recipes you like, about cats wearing funny hats, whatever you want. Sometimes it can be so therapeutic to just put your thoughts down on a page. It's also amazing to look back at the things you've experienced.
 |
| It's a blog within a blog... Have you seen the movie Inception? |
6) Go to SuperTarget-- I can seriously kill so much time at Super Target without buying a single thing. I just like looking at stuff!
7) Clean-- it may just be me, but I feel like there is always something in my home that could be cleaned whether it's laundry, the bathtub, the kitchen, the cat litterbox, the windows, etc. My favorite thing to do is pull up Pandora on my phone. start my Hillsong United station, and place my phone in a bowl to amplify the music while I clean. I have had some of the most wonderful times of worship while doing the dishes.
 |
| I found this trick on Pinterest. It really works at amplifying the sound! |
9) Hang out with other Dental School wives-- if they have kids, offer to babysit for them so they can have a break. Their husbands are just as busy as yours so they know what you're going through!
 |
| We are awesome Dental School wives |
10) Go to Hobby Lobby-- not only is there a lot of fun stuff to look at, but they also offer craft classes. I am thinking about taking a Bob Ross painting class at Hobby Lobby. I'll let you know how it goes!
11) Write a letter-- to a grandparent, to an old friend you haven't seen in awhile, to your husband to tell him how much you appreciate him. Who doesn't like receiving letters?
12) De-clutter/Organize your home-- go through your clothes and pull out items to donate; go through your makeup (or lotion or hair products, etc) and toss anything you haven't used in the last couple months; Pinterest has tons of pins on how to organize your home on the cheap
13) Pinterest.com-- do I really need to explain this one? :)
14) Visit thrift stores and garage sales-- I haven't done this yet, but I think it would be fun. Especially if you were just looking at Pinterest and got a great idea but didn't want to spend a ton of money to accomplish it.
15) Try out a new recipe-- Robbie particularly appreciates when I make him gluten free baked goods as a surprise for when he comes home from school.
16) Wimp.com-- this is a site that picks 5 fun and interesting videos each day that are family friendly. Topics range from funny animals, to science, to funny pranks, to sports, etc.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Meeting Kate and Joe
Today we were able to meet up with Kate and her soon-to-be-Dental-Student husband, Joe. They are moving from California to Pennsylvania for Dental School so we were able to grab Starbucks with them on their way through Denver.
Joe and Kate, we had such a great time meeting you both! Robbie and I both think that Joe is going to make an excellent Dentist and that Kate will be such a wonderful help to him throughout the whole process. Thanks for stopping in Denver! :)
In other news, Robbie and I forgot that they were sweeping and re-striping our parking lot this morning so we went outside and our car was gone! VERY luckily, the office had only spot towed it to the other side of the apartment complex so we got to play hide and seek with our car for 10 minutes before we were able to find it. Definitely beats paying $300 if they had decided to have it towed for real.
Also, I finally decided to join Twitter today (for the sole purpose of getting more traffic for my blog). I haven't had enough time to really mess with it at all and I'm not at all familiar with how it really works. If anyone has any pointers for using Twitter, please feel free to leave them in the comments.
Lastly, I'm going to the eye doctor tomorrow for a check-up and *drum roll*.... to get fitted for contacts! I've tried contacts in the past and have never loved them, but I've decided to give them another try. I actually really like how I look in glasses so I'm getting an updated prescription for my glasses as well. Sometimes I like to think that my glasses make me look like Alexandra Cabot, the Assistant District Attorney from Law and Order: SVU. Especially when I get a really serious expression on my face like this:
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Food with Friends
We just renewed our lease this morning which makes me really excited for three reasons: 1) I love our apartment; 2) It means we can know for sure that we won't be moving again until at least next May; and 3) This means I can start painting!! Woo hoo!! Our lease allows us to paint as long as we restore it to the original color (white) before we move out. I was holding off in case we decided to move somewhere else but now that I know we'll be here another year, I feel like I can commit to a new color. I'm one of those weirdos who really love to paint and find it more therapeutic than bothersome. As I get closer to deciding on colors, I will have to post a few pictures of what I'm thinking of doing.
This evening we're having dinner with two other couples we met through Dental School. Instead of making one big meal though, we're all bringing finger foods to share. This can sometimes be a little challenging because a lot of finger foods have gluten (which Robbie cannot eat). Here's what I've decided to make:
This is a copycat recipe from The Melting Pot! They actually won't let me use their photo, but click on the title to take you to their website.
This evening we're having dinner with two other couples we met through Dental School. Instead of making one big meal though, we're all bringing finger foods to share. This can sometimes be a little challenging because a lot of finger foods have gluten (which Robbie cannot eat). Here's what I've decided to make:
This is her picture, not mine. Hopefully mine will look half as good!
This is a copycat recipe from The Melting Pot! They actually won't let me use their photo, but click on the title to take you to their website.
Her photo, not mine. I bought gluten free cookies and fruit for dipping!
I will give an update tomorrow about how all of these turned out. I unfortunately don't have a pumpkin to serve the dip in, so it won't look quite as snazzy. Also, I am attempting to make the fondue in my crock pot so we'll see how that goes!
Just looking at these photos is making me hungry already! One of the other gals is bringing homemade white strawberry-lemon sangria. *so excited!!!* Both of my friends are really good cooks so any time we get together I feel like we have such amazing food! I enjoy baking a lot more than cooking, so I'm striving to keep up with the delicious goodies they always bring.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)