Spanish

Today at work I learned a couple new words to add to my old repertoire.

No hay latalia(the Peruvian and the Latino said it different, so I have no idea how to spell it) which means: We don't have that size.

Zapatos chico. Which means: the smallest shoe

Recently I have also learned:
Incienas(gums)
anestesia(anesthesia)
sangray(blood)
mober la cabeza a la de recha (move your head to the right)
mober la cabeza a la izquierda (move your head to the left)

and a couple other ones that I can't remember. I ALSO learned to sing Happy Birthday in Portuguese,
Parabéns a você,
Nesta data querida.
Muitas felicidades,
Muitos anos de vida.

That looks really weird because when I learned it, I wrote it as I pronounced it, so the correct spelling is different. Anyway, I ALSO learned how to say I miss you in Portuguese. There are two ways: sinto falta OR sinto saudades. (which is a really misleading word because it sounds like "sow dodge")

Anyway, thats all folks for my awesome language skills! Chugging along!

Fast forward

You know the country song "living in fast-forward" ? Well, pretty sure he meant it in a different sense, and pretty sure I don't even like that song, but THAT IS HOW I FEEL! Sunday was a very nice, relaxing day. I felt like I got ready for the upcoming week and was really prepared. By yesterday I was so exhausted that I crashed on the couch for over two hours between school and work. Work was long. I think I have an eye infection so I have been reduced to wearing my glasses. Sigh. Doesn't help the feeling of tiredness. Not enough hours in a day! Someone at the institute building gave me this tidbit of wisdom yesterday "If a college student isn't tired, they're dead." I have to agree with my friend Heather, life is really going great though. Loving the weather, loving life, having a good time, just wondering where time is? My sleeping habits and eating habits are TERRIBLE as of late(good thing my mom doesn't read my blog) but I'm hoping this weekend I will be able to rejuvenate again, or maybe by tomorrow I'll have to crash on another couch.

Clinic today: We learned to prophy each other. I have done this previously as an assistant and so I felt really good about it. Granted, there were some things we had to re-learn, because as assistants, we don't always learn the 'correct' way. Haahaa. But it was really good. Katee worked on me and my teeth feel dazzlingly clean! We were commenting on how I probably have THE cleanest teeth for a person with braces, ever! Then we passed off the intra-oral camera PE which was pretty good once I watched Kelsie pass it off, and she knew what she was doing.

Oh, but in other good news, all I have left to take towards my bachelors degree is a statistics class and then one more elective---YAY! That means I'll just tack them on to other semesters and I won't have to take any classes this summer! YAY!

Happy Fall Days

This picture is of Jessica, Michelle, me and
Aleesha. (her roommates and me) I know Michelle because she came with us to Zions Nat'l Park over Labor Day, and we all got together this Friday in SLC and went to the Body Worlds Exhibit-go if you get the chance!



















Here you can see me....uh, sitting? Pondering the rest of my life? Actually, I think I was looking at the sunset and the beautiful leaves by the temple.













See, isn't it beautiful? I thought there should be some professional photographer around to take this exact picture and blow it up all big---but Aleesha did a WONDERFUL job, and I could probably just blow this one up all big!!!! Maybe I need to recruit her to come do an awesome one of the Ogden temple...one more reason to come visit me Leesh!







This is us walking...crunching leaves....eating apples....enjoying the day where we were earnestly AVOIDING homework and ENJOYING life. College life. Young, single adult girl life. Life in general, and life to the fullest







This is me...smelling the world and breathing in all of its wonderfulness! I LOVE the smell of fall.
















Here is Aleesha and I having a grand time sharing our dessert. It was really good too. Right about this time I realized my necklace was missing and had a panic attack---its a really special necklace. So I didn't even know where to start looking, we'd been all over! Then Aleesha, because she is a genius, thats why we're friends, looked through all the pictures on her camera and determined I still had it on in the picture where I was sitting and looking at the temple---about 20yards away. We ended up finding the charms, just not the chain. YAY!





This is the Body Worlds Exhibit. It was an asbolutely INCREDIBLE experience, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has a chance to go. I do not, however, recommend it for little kids. A little too...real. There was awesome stuff though like hearts and lungs and the digestive tract and camels sliced in three so you can see the insides and bodies and just all sorts of really interesting things. It was a great experience and I really enjoyed it.

Adaptation

In my life, I feel like I have learned to adapt really well. Moving 13 times by the time you are 16, having nine kids in your family, being in leadership positions---you kind of just have to learn to adapt and go with things, or you will never have fun and have good experiences!

But let me tell ya, 'adaptation' in the dental world is NO EASY BUSINESS! I am having the hardest time. Although, today I feel like I really improved and I feel like I learned a lot and I am getting better but JOHNNY! SOMEONE TEACH ME TO ADAPT! Sometimes, I dislike learning new things because you really just can't be good at them right off. Ruff.

Excitement

Aleesha, I PROMISE I am working really, really, REALLY hard so that I don't feel like I should be studying when I spend ALL afternoon with you! I haven't seen you in ages and I am SO EXCITED! I am also excited for the Body World exhibit!!!! 

Oh and PS I watched the movie Dear Frankie with my sister Kayli on Wednesday (prob the reason I feel so nervous about how much homework I have right now) and for anyone interested, it was really good. I really liked it. I think it's one you would love Aleesha. Heartbreaking though. Sometimes life's challenges just make me really sad that such horrible things can happen to people.

Clinic Dyslexia

Today was going...rough. We had a new instrument---the Barnhart---and between that and my typodont's cheeks life was just difficult. Prof. C came over and instructed me personally for about five minutes, and the mud seemed to clear a little. I was mostly having problems doing the first line angle of the tooth and fulcruming(my finger wouldn't stay straight for some odd reason, it felt like it was completely unconnected to my hand!) at the same time, once I turned the instrument to do the rest of the tooth I was fine. I did a lingual molar perfectly---then when she walked away I switched to another tooth. Bad idea, I couldn't figure it out again. So, Kiersten, one of the instructors, came over and instructed me individually again for about five minutes---suddenly a light clicked, and I was doing great. That is, as long as I remembered my posture, where my mirror was, how to fulcrum, not to hurt my patient---and I actually felt some CEJ on Pam! Yay!
Then Kelsie worked on me, because they are realizing how much poor Pam has had to work on my braces. Kelsie was completely opposite of me, she had had no problems on the typodont, but was having a few on the real teeth. Kiersten came over to lend a hand---and between the two hands their lateral pressure was a LITTLE heavy....I moved Kelsie's hand, she apologized, and when I opened my mouth again she exclaims "There's blood everywhere!" Yeah...thanks, I noticed. Haahaa. Not her fault, there were a LOT of hands in my mouth, and it's always awkward to place instruments when someone's hand is around yours. So then she was frustrated and I felt bad---I don't blame ya Kelsie!
Then, we had to pass off our instrument PE---knowing exactly what part of the instrument is called what, how to identify whether it is non-rigid or rigid, anterior or posterior, subgingival or supragingival. I thought I had this one down no problem. Until I was diagnosed with dyslexia from Prof C. I mixed up sub and supra and tip and toe EVERY SINGLE TIME I had to say them---so frustrating because I really did know what I was talking about! I didn't know whether to laugh at myself or cry. I thought Prof C wouldn't pass me off---but she DID! She wrote a note on the bottom saying 'we all have dyslexia days'. So sweet.
So all in all, not a terrible day, definitely a learning day...and now I have to go study for and take an anatomy test. Have a lovely day one and all.

Oh and PS I borrowed Prof C's loupes today and they are AWESOME! I would have to take out a student loan to buy some of my own, but when I was using them I had no posture problems, felt like I could see completely in the back of the mouth, and it wasn't so hard to get light where I needed it. I really really want some---I don't know how I'm gonna swing it though!

Previous Thoughts that I finally got around to Posting

I feel like I do not have time to appreciate how wonderfully beautiful previous moments of my life have been. And before I appreciate the magic of life, life has moved callously on and such sweet moments will never again be recaptured.

I suppose this is a melancholy mood-but I just wish to rejoice more fully in the sunshine. I think back to the quote I've found to be so true "beautiful hours move so quickly." In this particular moment of retrospection, I can feel my yearning for progression in life's 'seasons'---yet the pull of my childhood whispers the warning that once lost, this time will never be replaced. In a few years I will never be a young, single, college student again. Life will never be so solely focused upon me ever again. Completed assignments, looming tests, impossible clinical skills, late night parties with groups of friends---these will be all too quickly moments passed by. Will I be glad that I appreciated them and wish the hours hadn't move by quite so quickly?

What is so heart-breaking about life is that a moment once past can never be recaptured. Even a treasured moment passes and is only a memory. Are we supposed to continue so quickly with the changing moments so that we can appreciate each one? How can we focus on each moment when it is only a moment? Are some moments supposed to be disguised by sadness so that reflection on past treasured times can occur? Is that what wisdom is? And what makes it so foreboding? Is that why we fear the future? because the present is so great and we know we'll soon forget? The frailties of the human mind are certainly cruel---but maybe in the same regard they are are kind--so the past does not seem so sharp and only soft pain is felt in its passing. If perfect memory was retained, moving on might be too harsh of an experience.

Nothing is so constant as change--but teach me how then, to forget my love of the past sufficiently enough to embrace the future with no reservations. Can this be a wisdom taught---or is that something that can only be experienced with the bitter-sweet time of age? Loving life so completely is, like all loves, cruel. It causes a tear in the soul when you love the last moment as much as the future moment. Can life ever be truly joyful when it is built upon such a melancholy foundation? What was once a pleasantly-planned future has become all too suddenly an all-encompassing present. I'm too young for this transformation!

But I have been told that I cannot have roots and wings. The only requirement is courage.

Clinic today and football

Clinic today...a little stressful. Okay, a lot stressful. I didn't pass off my exploring PE the first go-round, so I was at it again today. I passed---but I still feel like I'm struggling. Kim said I wasn't perfect, but we are all brand-new at this stuff, and I was doing really well, but STILL. I just wish I was perfect at it, okay!
We also used some more disclosing agent so we could tell when we really were getting plaque/calculus off. That was fun because Prof. C came over to help Julie a little with my braces---and my teeth felt so nice afterwards! Julie did a great job with my braces by the way. And with putting up with my terrified self who couldn't seem to get anything right. Good thing people are forced to be my patients, or I don't think anyone would let me work on them!
Happier note, radiology clinic was AWESOME today! I didn't have to retake ANY of the conventional films that I took. YEEHAW!

On to the second subject of this post: football. So, I posted a pic of my little bro and the fam at his football game last Wednesday. BUT I didn't stress how amazingly awesome the game was, and how phenomenal my little bro played. They were down by two touchdowns at half-time, came back to tie it in the fourth, and won in overtime! It was the most exciting football game I've ever been to in my life. Adding to this was the fact that my little bro was astounding---they were calling his name over the loudspeaker just about every play. He had some great tackles and the COOLEST touchdown---caught a kick-off in the endzone and ran the ENTIRE field! So exciting. Here are some pics to keep things lively(The last one is him getting interviewed at the end of the game) and have a great day all!

Crazy Busy

So, life has been crazy busy, and not just with school work. This makes me MORE than a little nervous to go back to school tomorrow after having Friday off--because I feel like I did absolutely nothing over the weekend. AHH! But, it was a TON of fun. My ENTIRE family was home, all nine siblings and twenty-six nieces and nephews. This is us, at my little bro's football game.
He's really not that little. He's stuck in the middle of all of us if you can make him out. We had a great weekend with everyone. Poor Kayli was sick, it was sad to have her come all the way from Indiana and then to feel so poorly the entire time. The nieces and nephews were loads of fun. The last night of pictionary-drawing (some fun version of pictionary that we play) was hysterical and way too fun. There was lots of chocolate and treats involved, which is always a good thing. It was generally just a good time. I'm scared to think of school tomorrow though.

Clinic Oct. 15

Today we learned how to scale. It was a fun adventure! They had me switch partners so that someone else could work on my braces....poor, poor students that have to work on me :). Scaling was more fun than exploring, but I think that learning how to scale will help me with the explorer. Because the scaler is so much sharper, I was a lot more aware of my adaptation and where the sharp end was in the gums---I think that will help me explore better because of my awareness. Also, I had a hard time fulcruming on the lower canine---evil tooth! There is nowhere to put your fulcrum finger to keep you steady and then when you try to adapt your fulcrum finger comes off, so then you pop off the tooth. I got a bit better by the end, but that tooth will definitely take some practice!

Drowning

Today...I felt like I was drowning. Clinic started out great. Radiology went splendidly---at least, the conventional films did. I don't know what happened with the digital films...but I eventually got it right. At least you don't have to wait to get it processed on digital films. Then...we started dental hygiene clinic, and all things were deceptively nice. Then, my pod partner worked on my for 2/3 of the time---and by the time I got to work on exploring, I only had five minutes before I had to pass it off and be cleaning up. Definitely not enough time--and it was just sad. Actually, I felt really good about it, but Prof. C had to remind me about some stuff a few too many times. Sigh. Oh well. At least someday I know I will have it 'perfect'. Which, actually, means a lot. Life is crazy. Crazy. Crazy. All my bro's and sister's are home right now---which means there are TWENTY-SIX nieces and nephews at my parental's home. I spent all day there yesterday, it was complete...chaos. Loved every minute of it. Wish I didn't have to go to school. Have a whined enough? Life really is going splendidly right now. I have no complaints. Just...mom? How soon is dinner on? (I love going home:) ) My niece Little Megs wants to notify all of you that she was an absolute dove and used my keys and went outside and got my backpack for me, she said "You have the heaviest backpack ever!" 

Clinic 10-08-08

I just read Savannah's blog about clinic today---and can I just say ditto? Clinic was a whirlwind and a blur. I feel bad for Kelsie, who had to put up with my completely unknowledgeable self all morning long, AND my braces! Kudos to everyone who can probe me! Also, we did the disclosing agent again, but this time it was a different brand---and it dyed the glue on my braces. It was a dark pink, and I scrubbed at it, and it just went brighter. One of the TA's had the bright idea that brushing with hydrogen peroxide would make it go away----that is the GROSSEST stuff EVER! Plus, it didn't work. So then, I had an ortho appointment today (to finally fix that wire guys--no worries, I won't poke you anymore!) and my tongue was purple and my teeth were pink. They had a pretty good laugh about that. I got a sweet hat for my Halloween costume today! I'm excited. AND I have a million pages of homework, an anatomy test to take, and I have to be at a stake meeting by 6:45. Plus, I should probably shower and get myself decent looking by that time, so ciao!

Random pics

Okay, because I do not have a digital camera, or have access to my store of pictures at my parents house, I had to search through some pictures on my family's website to find the two pictures of my little brother I used on my last post. While searching for those pictures, I came across these two pictures, that I just had to post. They do, in fact, show an amazing amount of my family's character. :)

Trading Sessions and Compliments

While talking on the phone with my best friend Aleesha today, she brought up the subject of my family's trading sessions. This thought brought back a lot of endearing memories to me, and I thought about all the good ol' days. Dating back to the furthest reaches of my memory my family has 'traded'. Especially on Halloween, we would all go trick-or-treating, and the first thing we would do upon coming home was: dump out all of our candy, and trade it amongst ourselves. Sometimes you'd trade because you really wanted what someone else had, and sometimes you would just trade for fun. Trading sessions was what I looked forward to about Halloween. Dad and mom had trump cards and could get things without trading...but usually between siblings we drove a pretty hard bargain. Now, trading sessions did not just occur for Halloween, we had trading sessions multiple other times. I think primarily I had trading sessions with my little brother Ethan. At one point in time he looked like this (minus the crazy hair...I think that craziness was why the picture was taken). What a nice, little boy, and we had lots of good times together. We would take out the top drawer in our dressers, which was the designated "junk drawer" and put it all in a pile, go through what we wanted and didn't want, and then trade our 'junk' back and forth. Usually we had a really great time and it was lots of fun to get someone else's junk for awhile instead of your own. Novelty is an amazing thing:). Then, as we got older, it became a much more involved process. We got mom and dad to join us, and my older brother Wyatt, and we would wear crazy hats and bring out things that were of some actual value that we were just keeping around for a rainy day. We would spend a couple hours bickering back and forth and having a generally good time. Now my brother is big, and looks like this:
I feel old whenever I look at pictures of him now. He looks too old to be my little brother. Crazy world. Cockeyed.(Name that book all of you AP Eng peoples!)Anyway, that is my rendition of our 'trading sessions' in the Rasmussen household. I really enjoyed those sessions.

On to the second subject of this post: compliments. So, I actually spent some time in the bathroom this morning, getting ready. I wore something beside scrubs or basketball shorts and a t-shirt, and I didn't just pull my hair into a pony tail. It took me about ten minutes longer than usual to get ready, and that meant I didn't really get a breakfast today. But GUESS WHAT??? Just about every single person I met today commented on how cute I looked. One teacher even said "You look beautiful today compared to usual!" Umm....I think that was a compliment??? I realize I never take the time to get ready...but I don't even have time to sleep and eat, so really, is doing my hair a high priority? I always thought not, but today made me rethink it a little more. Is it SO surprising to see me dressed and groomed? I feel more than a little sheepish. Maybe a little less sleep would be beneficial...on the other hand, probably not. :)

Another day, another dollar.....oh wait, just another day

Clinic was fun today---we got to antagonize each other with two great purple drops of disclosing agent....it turned your entire mouth purple and showed everyone where their plaque build-up was. Ironically enough, the only places I HAD plaque was the places most people DON'T have plaque...my two front teeth, underneath my braces bracket. Upon brushing and thinking about this conundrum I realize that it is harder to brush underneath the wires of braces on front teeth than it is on posterior teeth. Go figure.

On a much happier note than this, the longest day of my life, I went home on Saturday and stayed and watched conference at my parentals. Happily enough, my Mongolian roommate Sana came along as well---we were hoping to get a chance to ride the noble steeds in the fields behind our house, unfortunately, the rain never stopped drizzling. It was cold enough that I certainly didn't want to go out, and at least Sana got to see them, right?

My mother is amazing and made roast beef, mashed potatoes, lemon pudding salad, gravy, and broccoli with cheese. I've forgotten how absolutely HEAVENLY broccoli is. Especially when dad cooks it. He doesn't make it all healthy like my mother does. Good ol' dads. :) My mother also played the piano and let me sing my little heart out for a good hour between conferences. What a good mother I have. Have I ever said that before? I think I might need to devote an entire post to that subject. Unfortunately, I should be studying for a dental anatomy exam. I was avoiding it by running with my old roommate Jennica. We had a blast, and did exactly what I was trying to do---avoid anatomy. But since I really do have a test tomorrow, and it really does require some memorization, I had better go. Maybe I should've gone grocery shopping with my roommates. :)

Good Lookin' BLUE Teeth and Fire Alarms

Well...last clinic was gums, today was teeth! We looked at each others teeth and I found out I had a filling I didn't even know I had! I also found out that I need to get some sealant put on tooth #14 pronto! Haahaa. But for the most part, everything was healthy, and normal. UNTIL.....I had BLUE TEETH! The occlusal surfaces on some of my back teeth were BLUE! We were trying to figure out if I had bitten anything that color, but I kept thinking "All I've eaten today is frosted flakes!" But then, we discovered what it was....the Listerine we rinse with before we work on each other. It was pretty funny.

Life is going well. This morning at 3AM our fire alarm went off. I remember getting up and walking to the top of the stairs and watching a bunch of roommates discuss downstairs, and then I went back to bed and they turned off. Annoying, and loud, so I don't really know what happened there. I'll talk to my roommates later. Also yesterday morning in anatomy Prof. Perry stopped the lecture and said "We're going to have a little break so that she (points directly at me) can wake up!" It might've been embarassing if I wasn't so happy to have a break! Haahaa. I munched on starbursts the rest of the lecture and managed a wakeful state. Oh wow. Life is...life.