Rocky

If you are friends with me on Facebook, you probably already know that I was recently introduced to the Rocky films for the first time in my life. So far, Robbie and I have only watched five of the six movies together but I keep asking one question, "Why has no one ever shown me this before now?!" The first Rocky film is one of the greatest movies I have ever seen in my entire life!

Not only is the acting impeccable and the dialogue superbly entertaining, but the story itself was the most elegant portrayal about the desires of a man's heart that I have ever seen in a film. If you know much about the making of Rocky, it was actually written by Sylvester Stallone when he was trying to make it into the movie industry. He approached studio after studio about it but refused to sell the rights unless  he was allowed to play Rocky because he felt so strongly about how the character should be portrayed (mostly, I'm guessing, because Rocky was a picture of himself).

My favorite aspect of Rocky was the relationship between Rocky and his girlfriend, Adrian. I am not a cryer at all when it comes to movies, but several of their interactions brought tears to my eyes because I connected with their experiences in such a deep level of my heart. In many ways, their relationship reminded me of Robbie and myself and the process of getting into/going through Dental School. One scene in particular comes the night before the "big fight" against Apollo Creed (his opponent who happened to be the World Heavyweight Champion). Rocky lays down on the bed next to Adrian and shares with her that he knows he can't win the fight. Then he tells her something profound.

"Ah come on, Adrian, it's true. I was nobody. But that don't matter either, you know? 'Cause I was thinkin', it really don't matter if I lose this fight. It really don't matter if this guy opens my head, either. 'Cause all I wanna do is go the distance. Nobody's ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I'm still standin', I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren't just another bum from the neighborhood."

I think those few lines are what cause so many men to love this movie. Here's Rocky, this tough, hardened, ballsy guy about to face the biggest challenge of his life and in a moment of vulnerability he acknowledges his weakness and fear. Then he describes something that I believe God built into the heart of every man-- the desire to prove that he has what it takes, that he's not a phony.

What I like most about this scene is that in that moment of vulnerability, Adrian didn't try to convince Rocky that he could win. She didn't even tell him to not go to the fight out of her own fear of him getting hurt. She just laid there with him and held him. Without words she showed him that she believed in him as a man and would support him in whatever he decided to do about the fight (*spoiler* he still went to the fight the next day).

I think every Dental Student will have their serious moments of self doubt through the process. In those moments, I will have the opportunity to speak life into Robbie by standing alongside him, showing him I believe in him, and pointing him to the one who enables him to achieve what he's meant to achieve.

I remember one time, in particular, when Robbie came home completely crushed by the tasks he was facing in school. We parked the car at our apartment and before going inside I began to pray for him. After just a moment, I distinctly sensed God telling me, "Have Robbie pray." So I told Robbie and through his tears, he shared with Jesus what was making him afraid and asked for strength and confidence. Before my eyes, Robbie's appearance changed as a calmness washed over him. God is the one who lead Robbie to pursue dentistry in the first place so by coming to Him, Robbie received his "daily bread," the need for that moment, which was peace that he would be able to finish the race set before him.

I am confident in my husband's ability to become a Dentist because I am confident in my God's faithfulness and might. And when that (figurative) bell of Dental school rings and Robbie's still standing, Robbie will know that he has what it takes and will give all glory to God.

Robbie's Birthday

That is one happy man right there! Instead of getting a cake for Robbie's birthday, we decided to go to Gluten Escape to get a few cupcakes and some cookies. We ended up purchasing six cupcakes (a mint chocolate, two banana creme, a red velvet, and two vanilla chocolate chip) and four cookies (two Mexican wedding cookies, a ginger snap, and a sweet potato chocolate chip). They were all so delicious, especially the Mexican wedding cookies!

Yesterday, we went to see Man of Steel with two of Robbie's classmates and his classmate's wife. It was slightly disappointing overall, though I did appreciate the nerdy little references they sprinkled throughout the movie (such as the truck with Lexcorp on the side and his childhood friend named Lana). We both felt like the pacing was too quick in some parts of the movie and that the fighting scenes really seemed to drag on towards the end. Honestly, it had a lot of good ideas but just wasn't executed well.


As far as Dental School goes, Robbie had a test this past Monday in Pathology and two tests on Tuesday in Health/Data Collection and Operative Dentistry so last weekend was pretty jam packed with studying. I'm frustrated with the teacher for Health/Data Collections because he seems like one of those teachers who get off on messing with their students' heads and then ripping on them afterwards for not meeting his expectations. Apparently the test they were given had some answers marked down ahead of time ("by accident" of course...) but only some of them were correct so it was making all the students second guess themselves. The average for the test was a 78% but the highest score was only 92% and the lowest was 43%! The teacher recently sent out an email telling them all how he was so disappointed in them and how he had expected everyone to get 100%. I think this calls for the confused Jackie Chan meme.

I honestly would've emailed him back saying, "Maybe if you were a better teacher we wouldn't all have done so poorly," but that's why Robbie is in Dental School and I am not. I think I need to go look at my previous post about how I should respond to the Injustices of Dental School. Okay, I'm done ranting.

We just payed the $345 for Robbie to sign up for the Part I NBDE. I believe he is planning on taking them around July 20th. It seems like he's having mixed feelings on how well the first year prepared them for the material that's covered on the Boards (for some subjects he feels well prepared while others he feels will require quite a bit of study time). He has been using the NBDE app like crazy but he's also been pouring over old practice tests that were released a few years back. I know he is going to do just fine but we are both looking forward to them being over!

Where Did the Week Go?!

It's June 3rd already? Seriously?! This past week feels like a whirlwind. Robbie had a little time off from school so everything else got moved to the back burner while I was spending time with him, including writing blog posts. He's back in school now so here's a catch up on my week!

Last Monday I got to have breakfast with my bestie, Jeanette. We were next door neighbors growing up so I have basically known her since she was born. Now we both live in Denver, but we live on completely opposite sides and she is really busy finishing up her Masters degree so we don't get to see each other as often as we'd like. I went to her house and we went for a long walk and caught up on our life sagas then we ate at Jelly Cafe (which makes this the 4th time in the last month and a half I have eaten there... It's my new favorite breakfast place and they offer gluten free donuts for Robbie!).

Jeanette is the type of friend with whom, even when you haven't seen each other in a long time, you can immediately pick up where you left off like you never spent time apart. I was the youngest of four girls and she is almost two years younger than me, so she's like the little sister I never had.

This is a pic of Jeanette and me when we went to see the Nutcracker Ballet this past December. Apparently we don't take enough pictures of the two of us because this is the most recent one I have! haha

On Monday afternoon, Robbie and I went to a BBQ at a fellow Dental Student's house. The next day, we babysat their two girls again and had a blast!

Making playdough flower gardens

Feeding bread to the geese at the park

Playing "Tea Party" on the playground. Robbie barely fit at the table.

I really don't remember what we did on Wednesday or Thursday. It probably involved Robbie studying and me playing Tomb Raider II. We also watched the movie Django Unchained which I enjoyed though it does have quite a bit of blood and cussing (viewer discretion is advised).

Friday afternoon we drove to Fort Collins so I could take some maternity photos at a sculpture park for my sister, Ariane. Here are a few of my favorites:

Friday night and all day Saturday were pretty awful because I caught a stomach bug. I'm still feeling a little sick, but I've been taking probiotics and I drank some Rooibos tea which both seemed to help a lot. Of course since I mentioned being sick on Facebook, everyone and their mom is like, "Are you pregnant?!" No, thanks for asking though. haha

Yesterday, Robbie and I went to see the movie Mud at the theater. It was a little slow at parts but was really well acted and had an intriguing plot. I really liked the way it ended, too. Robbie is back in school today and had a test first thing this morning in Periodontics. His birthday is coming up really soon so I'm trying to think of something fun we could do together. I'll let you know what I come up with!