Off to Vegas!

Yes, that is a Downton Abbey calendar behind me!

All ready to go to Vegas for two and a half days! I'm only taking the purse with me since it's such a short trip and I'm too cheap to pay for luggage. :) Hooray for traveling light!

Painting Our Bedroom

Yesterday I decided to paint one wall in our bedroom. Robbie helped me pick out the color, buy the supplies, and move the furniture then I busted it out in just over an hour including all the prep-work. The key to my success in finishing so quickly? This bad boy:

It is the most wonderful tool ever invented for painting. I didn't even have to tape off the baseboards because this tool makes such nice smooth edges. For $5 it was totally worth it!

This trim work took me all of 20 minutes to get two coats up! I will never paint again without that little tool for cutting in the edges. (I would like to point out that Robbie keeps referring to the edges of the wall as "margins" because he is a Dental nerd.)

This is the first coat of paint.

And the final result! The color is Mosaic Tile by Behr.


I'm still deciding on colors for our office/future baby room but now I don't feel like I'm in such a rush since I got a little bit of painting out of my system.

Summer's a Comin'!

I love Colorado weather, but April was really annoying this year compared to other years. We kept having 2 really nice days of weather followed by a couple days of snow storm ("blizzard" for the out-of-staters) and it just kept flip flopping like that back and forth. But I just checked the forecast and it's supposed to be sunny and in the mid-70's from now until Tuesday evening! Woo hoo!! It's actually such a nice day out today that I was able to pull out my bicycle and go on a four mile ride. I rode down the street to Starbucks to get an iced peach green tea lemonade and brought it back to share with Robbie.

sluuuurrrrp!

As a kid, I always liked the winter time the best and had plans to move to Alaska when I grew up (I think this idea came mostly from my love for the "Julie of the Wolves" book series). But the last couple years I've been enjoying warm weather and being in the outdoors so much more that I just can't wait for summer to come.

Robbie's second semester will be coming to a close in less than two weeks so he's got a lot of studying to do right now. The semester ends on Wednesday the 8th of May and then summer semester will start up on Monday the 13th (I am a little disappointed that he won't have a longer break than 5 days in between). This summer will be somewhat intense too because he's taking his written boards in July.

In spite of the fact that Dental School won't be easing up over the summer, I'm still looking forward to a lot of things including:

• hot weather
• a Fourth of July BBQ with our friends
• swimming in our pool
• bike rides
• having our windows open to let in the delicious fresh air
• eating ripe watermelon
• getting a little sun so I'm not quite so pale
• just being outdoors in general

The only things I'm not looking forward to about summer are:

• Wasps (our apartment complex seems to have an abundance of them in the summer and they all seem target me and no one else)
• Mosquitoes (that carry the dreaded West Nile Virus!! duh duh duh!!)

In other news, I'm flying out to Las Vegas this Monday to hang out with my sister for her birthday. I checked the weather and it's going to be 98 degrees so she told me to make sure to bring my bathing suit. I'm especially looking forward to going to Firefly (a wonderful tapas restaurant) while I'm there to have warm spinach salad, bacon wrapped dates, and sangria. YUM!

This is us the last time I went to visit her. Yes, we're crazy.

Ikea

One of the benefits of living in Aurora is that I am now only 20 minutes away from Ikea! Yesterday, I had some time in the afternoon so I took a little trip over there just to look around. I was able to use my "Ikea Family" card to get a free coffee as well so that's always nice.

The first time I visited an Ikea was actually when I was visiting my sister in Istanbul, Turkey in 2007 and I have loved it ever since. I can't tell you how excited I was when they announced that they were building one in Centennial, Colorado (basically that's south Denver). I'm not that into shopping, but I am a big fan of Scandinavian style furniture and I love meatballs so basically Ikea and I were made for one another.

I won't lie... one of my main purposes for visiting Ikea was to scope out prices on baby furniture, especially the cribs. Did you know that you can buy a crib at Ikea for $99? To be fair, I was checking out kitchen tables and outdoor furniture as well. I refuse to buy anything big without Robbie seeing it first and agreeing that we should get it so I only spent $3.19 on a set of lint roller refills. It was still fun to look around and see what they had that was new since the last time I went. Hopefully I can get him to come back with me sometime soon to see some really inexpensive outdoor furniture that would work well on our patio.

How I'm Feeling Today

I just can't get over the looks on their faces!

One of the best love stories ever told. And they didn't even need to use words.

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:

Caprese Skewers with Balsamic Drizzle

This is her picture, not mine. Hopefully mine will look half as good!

Spinach-Artichoke Cheese Fondue with Veggies for Dipping

 
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.

Vanilla-Pumpkin Dip

 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.

New Blog Pages

I just added a couple new tabs at the top of the blog. Check them out and give me ideas for other things I should add! I'm so proud of myself for figuring out how to add them all on my own! haha

Thoughts on Motherhood

creepy looking baby tooth

Maybe it's that I have been feeding an adorable pregnant squirrel on our patio, or maybe it's that I got to feel my sister's baby kick inside her belly for the first time a few days ago, or maybe it's the oncoming spring weather (which today is more of a blizzard actually), or maybe it's that one of my Dental School wife friends has been talking about trying to get pregnant this summer... but whatever the reason I have had babies on my brain lately!

Robbie and I are really looking forward to becoming parents someday (and no, we are not pregnant right now if you were wondering haha). Heck, we've been discussing baby names since before we were married! We knew from the start of Dental School that we would want to start a family before he was done with all four years and we've received a lot of positive confirmation that it is totally possible. Not only do many of his classmates already have at least one kid, but all of the upper classmen Robbie has talked to say that once you get through first semester of second year, Dental School starts to really become more manageable. We have been told that third and fourth year especially are more like a regular 8-5 job because you are in the clinic most of the day instead of studying for a million tests.

I love making lists, so here are some of my thoughts and concerns about motherhood.


1) Children are a blessing. Yes, it costs money to have a baby and you have to think about the costs of healthcare, food, time, etc. but for what children cost financially, parents receive infinitely more back in love, joy, and lessons from God.

"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them..." -Psalm 127:3-5a

2) Like marriage, having kids brings our own sinful tendencies to the surface and forces us to deal with them before God. We come under the ever-watchful eyes of children who are not afraid to point out when we mess up. We are forced to live out what we teach to our kids or face the blaringly honest accusations of hypocrisy. You want to teach your kids to be kind to others? You better be ready to show unconditional kindness to others. You want to teach your kids to have servant hearts instead of selfish hearts? You better be the leading example of servitude. You want to teach your kids to be grateful? You better learn to focus on thanking God for what you have instead of complaining. The prospect of having my own selfishness exposed is both amazing and terrifying!

3) Babies don't cost as much as our society claims. I am cheap to a fault at times but I see a lot of extravagant waste in our culture, especially in the areas of weddings and having kids. Half of the things I see on baby registries are completely unnecessary. Yes it's fun to have a themed nursery with all sorts of cute matchy-matchy baby stuff, but that's really for the parents to enjoy, isn't it? The baby doesn't care if he's sleeping on Winnie the Pooh sheets or plain white sheets. The baby won't remember if his crib skirt matched the wall decals and the pillow on the rocking chair and the rug. He won't care if he's changed on a fancy changing table or on a towel on the bed. His needs are food, a clean diaper, shelter, medical care, and affection (the most expensive obviously being medical care). Diapers can get expensive too, but there's always the cloth diaper option. All I'm saying is that when people say that babies are expensive, they are including the cost of convenience and luxury, not just necessity.

4) I'm overwhelmed by all the health information surrounding having a baby. Really this is my biggest concern right now. I feel like the big stuff about being a parent would all work itself out but when it comes to all the little decisions I have to make about pregnancy and birth, I just feel absolutely overwhelmed. What kind of vitamins should I take? What foods are safe/unsafe? How often should I exercise and how vigorously? How will my hormones affect my mood? How will being pregnant affect my sex life? What will my insurance cover? What are the pros and cons of having a home birth vs. a hospital birth vs. a birthing center birth? Should I use a Midwife or an OB/GYN? It's enough to make your head swim. Really, I don't think there's any one right way to have a baby; however, in this case ignorance is not bliss because it could greatly affect my health and the health of my baby.

Thank goodness I will not be the first woman in the world to have a baby (poor Eve! Can you imagine?! What do you think Adam was thinking as his wife's belly got bigger and bigger?). I'm also relieved that I have so many mom friends that I can ask for guidance and advice. The greatest comfort though is that God promises to give wisdom and understanding to anyone who asks for it and that He knows more about the human body than all of our human doctors combined. 

Here's the pregnant squirrel I have been feeding on our patio. She is quite plump compared to the other squirrels!

This is the same pregnant squirrel. Notice how the first photo is sunny and the grass is green? This photo with the snow is the very next day. Ah Colorado... I love your bi-polar ways.

Here's me with my mom and sister getting pedicures for my mom's birthday. Look at my sister's adorable pregnant belly!!!

The Annoyances/Injustices of Dental School

Since Robbie has started school, I've begun to realize that I have a pretty nasty temper. Not towards Robbie, mind you, but towards inefficiency, bureaucracy, and just plain unfairness. Any time I perceive that my husband's time, money, talents, etc. are being wasted (or worse, abused) I feel a great deal of anger boiling up inside of me threatening to cause a verbal explosion of words I usually don't like to use.

For example, it greatly frustrates me that we are paying so much for his schooling and yet some of the staff seem to treat their job like it's a joke. Don't get me wrong-- there are some truly excellent teachers at the school, but I can think of several teachers who are simply terrible or classes that are a complete waste of time in regards to making them better Dentists. When all of the upper classmen say, "Oh don't worry, we all failed that class but he will curve it at the end," just tells me that that teacher is not doing his job properly. It's so annoying to see the inefficiency and lack of communication as well as to see the students treated like little kids when they are supposed to be in professional school. 

The most recent example of injustice occurred last week when Robbie informed me that 17 high speed handpieces had gone missing from the simulation lab at school. Each of those handpieces costs about $1000, so having 17 stolen is comparable to one semester of in-state tuition being stolen from the school. Not cool. But what pissed me off was the schools response to the issue. They informed the students that the sim lab would be closed outside of school hours "until further notice." Basically that left them a couple hours of time outside of class during the week to complete all of their lab assignments and practice work. Not only were they treating all of the students like criminals (without any proof that it was in fact a student who had stolen the handpieces), but they were taking away extremely valuable practice time that the students desperately need to become Dentists. 

My initial gut reaction was to go to the school and give the staff a piece of my mind on their ridiculous solution to the problem. Why not assign a handpiece to each student instead of having them floating around freely? Or have a check-in/check-out system for the handpieces? How do you know it's not one of the staff members or cleaning crew taking the handpieces? I desperately wanted to give full vent to my anger. Luckily, God brought to mind several reasons why this was not an appropriate thing to do.

1) Robbie is not 5 years old and I am not his mother. He is an adult pursuing a professional degree. In his life, he will face many injustices and difficulties and it is not my job to run to his aide and "fix things" by showing off how awesomely mad I can get. It is my job to remind him that God is still in control and that our responsibility is to shine Christ's love in all situations.

2) Spouting off a bunch of curses to the staff would only hurt Robbie and would not improve the situation. I frequently need to remind myself that my actions as Robbie's wife have a profound effect on other people's perception of him. Proverbs describes the impact a wife of noble character can have on her husband and how people view him. When my actions are based out of a desire to control or belittle others, it reflects poorly on Robbie, too. (What kind of man must he be to marry someone like that? etc.) When my actions are based out of a heart that trusts in God, it builds other people's respect for both Robbie and me.

 "An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life... Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land." -Proverbs 31:10-12,23

 "An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who shames him is like rottenness in his bones." -Proverbs 12:4

 "House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD." -Proverbs 19:14

3) Proverbs has even more to say on controlling ones anger and words. 

 "He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is quick tempered exalts folly." -Proverbs 14:29

 "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city." -Proverbs 16:32

 "There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." -Proverbs 12:18

 "He who guards his mouth and tongue guards his soul from troubles." -Proverbs 21:23

 "Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit." -Proverbs 25:28 

"A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man holds it in check." -Proverbs 29:11

The situation with the sim lab has actually improved some since last week (and it happened without me going in and cussing people out! Imagine that!). The lab was open on Saturday for a certain period of time because the school had someone in there checking in and out the handpieces. I am so glad I didn't make a fool of myself (and Robbie) and that the situation is already improving without me even needing to say a word.

Thank God for lessons in patience and self control! I know I need to grow in that area a lot and that having a character that pleases Jesus will make me a better wife and mother.

How We Began

Four years ago yesterday, Robbie and I were introduced in front of our church. Less than three weeks later we were courting. Five months after that we got engaged. Three months after that we were married! In honor of the month that we met, I thought it would be fun to tell our story.



Basically from middle school all the way up to a year before I met Robbie, I really desperately wanted to get married. I had pretty low self esteem and I experienced a lot of heartache because I was constantly trying to get emotional satisfaction from the guys I knew. Marriage was an idol that caused me to think, "If I could just get married, then I would be happy. If a guy would only pursue me, then I would feel beautiful."

Around my third year in college, I came to the realization that nothing would satisfy this yearning in my heart for love except Jesus. Once I understood that Jesus loved me more deeply than any man ever could and that he pursued me better than any man ever could, I began to experience freedom. I still had the desire to get married, but it no longer consumed me. I knew in the depths of who I was that even if I never got married, Jesus was enough.

I became so content in being single that when God did finally bring my husband along about six months later, He knew I would need something very direct for me to be willing to enter that relationship. I was working with the Youth Group at our church when the Youth Pastor, Jeff, told me he wanted to introduce me to his wife's brother, Robbie. My response was, "I'm really not interested in dating right now." For a couple months, Jeff kept mentioning introducing Robbie to me.

Robbie finally came as a chaperone on a Youth Group outing to an indoor trampoline arena in Denver called Jumpstreet. Before driving down to Denver, we all met in front of the church to carpool. I remember seeing Robbie for the first time and thinking that he was attractive but still wanting to steer clear of the whole dating thing. Jeff introduced us and I shook his hand briefly, gave a quick, "Nice to meet you," and then scurried away to act busy while collecting all the students' permission slips.

The whole time we were at Jumpstreet I avoided him. I made the mistake of telling some of the high school girls that "Jeff is trying to set me up with that guy" and the girls mercilessly joked with me that they were going to tell Robbie that I wanted to talk to him. I hid in the bathroom half the time (it still makes me laugh that I was hiding in the bathroom from my husband).

Suddenly, one of the high school boys (I think his name was Stephen) was jumping on the trampoline and the lower half of his leg just snapped. I kid you not! His leg looked like it had an extra joint between the knee and the ankle. Jeff and Robbie rushed over to him (Robbie had just gotten his E.M.T. certificate) and did what they could until the ambulance arrived. I still feel so bad for that kid but because everyone's attention was now focused on him, it took the focus off Robbie and I. The students decided to circle up nearby to pray for him while he was being loaded into the ambulance and somehow Robbie ended up next to me. I still love that the first time we held hands it was to pray for someone else.

Since there was not much else we could do to help Stephen, and the students were getting hungry, we went down the street to McDonald's. One of the high school girls was feeling really motion sick (and/or sick from seeing Stephen's leg snap) so Robbie drove her down the street to a gas station to get some Dramomine. In the meantime, Jeff sat me down and said, "Ariel, I just want to let you know that Danielle and I have been praying about it for several months and we really feel like you and Robbie are supposed to be together." I really don't remember my exact response but it was something like, "um... okay..." 

Jeff and Danielle asked me to come to their house that following Thursday to help them paint their living room and kitchen. They told me Robbie would be coming as well. I remember one of the things I kept praying that week was, "God, if I'm supposed to be with Robbie, why would you tell Jeff and not me?" and I sensed that God's response was, "I want you to trust what I am doing in other people." Looking back now, I realize that if God had tried to speak to me directly about being with Robbie, I would've dismissed it as my own selfish desires and not as direction from Him. God knew that I needed to hear it from someone I respected as a godly person before I would feel that it wasn't just my own emotions making me want to date Robbie.

Thursday finally came so I went over to start painting. Robbie got there about an hour after me because he had class. His arrival was announced by Jeff and Danielle's younger son, Avery, who shouted, "Wobbie!" I didn't want to rush over and seem too excited to see him so I simply gave him a nice little smile and kept on painting. Robbie still insists that it was a smirk and not a smile.

We were quickly assigned to the tiny kitchen to paint together. Our conversation flowed so easily that it felt like we had been friends for much longer than those couple hours. I thought he was so funny, handsome, and intelligent. We all took a break from painting to grab dinner at Q'doba. On the way back from Q'doba, Jeff and Danielle's older son, Mason, asked, "Are you guys girlfriends? Are you going to marry her, Robs?" I wanted to crawl under the car seat and die at that point. Robbie kept his cool and made some joke right back at Mason, completely diffusing the situation. It's still something that I love about his personality-- he can make truly awkward situations so much more bearable with his light-hearted sense of humor.

It started to rain when we got back to Jeff and Danielle's house. I had Bible study that evening so Robbie helped me carry my things to the car. I got in my car to drive off and he came around to the driver side window. While standing there in the rain, he told me that he would really like to take me out sometime and asked for my phone number. I could not have been more excited. The whole way to Bible study I called basically every female friend I had to tell them what had happened. My friends at Bible study all laughed at how giddy and glowing I was in spite of the fact that my car broke down in the parking lot just as I pulled in. Who can care about her car breaking down when her future husband is in possession of her phone number?

Long before I met Robbie, I prayed that the first man to bring me flowers would be my husband. Here's the first bouquet I ever received:

Robbie brought them to me on April 30th, 2009, the day he asked to court me with the intent of marriage. April of 2009 was such a great month!

One of our first dates at a hockey game. It was the first time Robbie put his arm around me.

At my sister's house for 4th of July-- playing with my her dog, Oakley

Hiking Horsetooth Falls in Fort Collins

 

Eating delicious (and gluten free) rice cakes

"3 month courting anniversary" at Casa Bonita

Engaged on September 11, 2009

Married on December 20, 2009

When the Challenges Just Keep Coming

Just before Robbie started Dental School, I bought a little journal and had people who knew him write letters of encouragement and advice for him. That way if he was going through a particularly difficult week, he would have someone other than just me telling him that he can do it (sometimes I start to sound like a broken record).

All of the notes his friends wrote were so wonderful and heartfelt! To know that we are not alone in this--that people who care about us are praying for his success, praying for his growth as a man, praying for our marriage-- is just indescribable to me. One of our friends wrote something that I've brought up many times when Robbie is feeling weary. He wrote:

"Robbie, you are preparing to endure a difficult but necessary trial in your life. Necessary for your career- yes, but more importantly, this is a rite of passage. It's what I call the 'hard thing.' Every young man must endure and victoriously conquer his trial before he can have the authority to speak into other men's lives."

What an excellent perspective! Dental School isn't supposed to be easy. If it was easy, where would the growth be? I believe one of the desires of a man's heart is to prove that he has what it takes. As his wife, I already see and know that he has what it takes to become a Dentist, but there's something in him that needs to prove it to himself. Robbie has told me that men both love and hate this struggle within themselves. They love to be faced with a challenge but at the same time hate to face the possibility of failure. Deep down, though, we all know that any task where success is guaranteed is not a true test at all.

Dental School does a pretty good job at keeping the students out of their comfort zones. Just as you seem to be getting a handle on one skill, they throw in a new one for you to learn. I've found that taking photos of his work has served as a good reminder and encouragement of how far he has come. "Remember when this was difficult for you? Now you can laugh at how hard it seemed at the time because you've gotten so much better!" 

"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way." -James 1:2-4 (The Message translation)

"Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation. Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." -Romans 5:3-5 (Amplified Bible translation)

I thought I would switch it up and use some different translations this time. :)

The Second Round of Applying to Dental School

In an earlier post, I wrote about the first time Robbie applied to Dental School. Here's the second half of that story.



MAY 2011- Getting a Job in a Dental Office
After receiving his rejection letter from the University of Colorado in April, Robbie began the process of re-applying to Dental School.  I had been working at a dental office as a dental rover (read "office gopher") for about a year. An opportunity arose for me to work at the front desk for two out of the four days I worked which left the rover position open for those two days. Robbie cornered my boss and requested/pleaded/begged for the position to add more dental experience to his resume and amazingly my boss agreed!


JULY 2011- Submitting the Application
This time around, Robbie knew it would be better to get his application in earlier (the first time he submitted it in September) so once he had tweaked his personal statement and received a letter of recommendation from our boss, he submitted his application. He applied to fewer schools the second time around because he felt more sure of where he would like to attend: University of Colorado, Midwestern, or Creighton. It was also nice to not have to pay as much and to not have to fill out so many secondary applications! He planned on retaking the D.A.T. but was putting it off until December.

While we were waiting to hear back from schools, Robbie started looking into Nursing School and Chiropractic School but I really felt like God was urging us to not make a back-up plan. I know that could sound a little "unwise" or "over-confident" by worldly standards, but God was challenging us both to trust Him more. With perfect timing, our pastor was preaching on the Exodus story when the Israelites were in the desert living daily off the manna God provided. If they tried to save up extra manna, it would be rotten by the next day. God was teaching them that they didn't need to rely on their own "back-up plans" just in case He failed to provide. I love that God often puts us in situations where we need Him to come through for us and that He loves proving how trustworthy He is!


SEPTEMBER 2011- The Interview
Once again, Robbie only received one interview offer and it was from the University of Colorado. This time around, however, he was in the first group of applicants to be interviewed instead of one of the last. At C.U. you have two separate one-hour long interviews with one staff member at a time. I remember Robbie calling me afterwards to tell me how well both his interviews had gone. Both had taken the full hour and he felt like he made a lasting impression with each staff member. Once again, now all we had to do was wait!


NOVEMBER 2011- The "Let's go to Disneyland for Thanksgiving so we don't think about whether or not you're going to get in to Dental School next week!" Trip
This was actually one of the funnest trips we've been on together. A friend of ours was working at Disneyland at the time so she was able to get us in for free! We ended up going the week after Thanksgiving so there were no lines or crowds and the weather was PERFECT. We seriously rode California Screamin' and Space Mountain over and over with less than 10 minute waits in line. It was an excellent distraction from the nervousness of waiting for the acceptance period to begin on December 1st.


DECEMBER 1st, 2011- Getting "The Call"
On the very first day that Dental Schools are allowed to begin accepting students, Robbie called me at work to let me know he would be starting at C.U. in the fall and he would not need to retake the D.A.T. *COMMENCE RELIEF AND REJOICING!* When I got home that evening, he told me that he was hanging out with his friend Brian when the school called to accept him. When he got off the phone with them, he had to ask Brian if the phone conversation really had just taken place and that he wasn't going crazy. About a week later he received his acceptance letter in the mail confirming that he had not, in fact, gone crazy.


It's amazing to see God's perfect provision in keeping Robbie from getting in the first time around. Robbie's class is slightly older on average and many of them are married with kids. His personality fits so well with his group compared to the second years. I know that many of the friendships we've made with his classmates and their wives will be lifelong friendships and we probably wouldn't have met these specific people if he had gotten in the first time he applied. Additionally, after applying the first time, we moved in with his parents so that we wouldn't have to start a new lease somewhere before moving for school. It enabled us to put money in savings and it helped me to get so much closer to his parents. Robbie and I both had an extra year to mature and grow as a married couple before he started Dental School. We would've missed out on all these benefits if things had gone the way we originally wanted! God really isn't joking when He says that He knows the plans He has for us, plans to prosper and not harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future.


"Oh LORD, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thoughts from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O LORD, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it. Where can I go from Your spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me and Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night," even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them." -Psalm 139:1-16

My Bucket List

Robbie and I really enjoy talking about places we would like to visit and things we would like to do someday. Here's some of the things that have made it to my bucket list.

1. Open a tea cafe. I envision a huge wall with all sorts of fun mugs to pick from and lots of cozy seating so people can come and have Bible studies or just hang out.
2. Adopt one or two kiddos from another country. This has been a dream of ours for a long time now but we would love to adopt a little girl from China or India (or both!) in addition to having one or two of our own biological kids.
3. Go to Disney World. Better yet... go to Disney World and participate in the Princess Half Marathon. I have been having knee problems for awhile which have prevented me from running, but I would totally be okay with walking it. And I would wear an awesome costume.
4. Visit iCream in Chicago. This place looks awesome!! You go in and choose your flavor, color, and mix-ins then they shoot it with liquid nitrogen to make you fresh ice cream instantly. Or you can get hot steamed pudding!
5. Own one or two German Shepherds. I just freaking love those dogs! This will have to wait until Riesy is gone since she hates other animals so much. I don't think she'd ever forgive us if we got a dog while she was still living.
6. Visit the Australia Zoo where Steve Irwin worked. The Crocodile Hunter was totally my hero growing up. He inspired my love of all animals.
7. Become tri-lingual. I've got English and Spanish down... one more to go! I'm thinking something really different like Chinese or Hebrew or Arabic!
8. Swim with a shark. Some days this sounds less scary than others. I love sharks and I think they are amazing, but I am a total wuss when it comes to the idea of swimming with one. We'll have to do it on a day I'm feeling extra brave.
9. Get my pilot's license. I took some flight lessons as a kid and loved it. I think it would be awesome to be able to fly small planes on my own.
10. Go on Dental service trips to other countries. I really hope we have this opportunity someday! It would be amazing to assist Robbie in providing care to under-served areas.

There are a bunch more I'm sure that I just can't think of right now, but I'm getting pretty sleepy. Goodnight world!

Pinterest

Can I just say that I absolutely love Pinterest!? I have found innumerable good ideas on that site over the past year from recipes to crafts to decorating tips to just plain humorous pictures. I love organization and categorizing things so Pinterest and I were a match made in heaven.

I also have a love of internet memes (which are abundant on Pinterest). If you aren't sure what a meme is, google defines it as "An image, video, etc. that is passed electronically from one Internet user to another." It's usually an image that is instantly recognizable and people often put their own funny caption on it. Here are some examples:

1) Grumpy Cat

2) Condescending Willy Wonka

 
3) And of course... the Overworked Dental Student meme!

Here's a link to my dental humor board that I keep for Robbie. It has a lot of the Overworked Dental Student meme on there.