Walmart

There are some crazy people at Walmart. People that brandish non-offending, large, Hickory farm sausages. People that press every 'touch me' button in the children's aisle. People that look at every cereal box. People that sword fight, and people that wear the child cowboy hats and take pictures with their phones. People that take the name of every product and consider it as a name for their future children. I, of course, would never admit to knowing these people. But I can tell ya, Walmart can be a real good time at ten o'clock at night with your future inlaws. HAHAHAHAAA!

Holidays

I love Christmas. I love snow. I love beautiful warm blankets. I hate driving in bad weather. That is the WORST part of Christmas vacation...especially cause you are going all over visiting people. I love food. I love parties. I love getting presents for people. I love chilling on the couch and reading a book. Oh wait...is there really time for that? Haahaa

Funny story:
Yesterday I went to Provo with my parents, Megan, and Kami, and we all painted Kami's house. Completely. It was crazy. And the house....was a mess. Basically. Anyway, I was painting one particularly precarious window that felt like it might crash down onto the first floor at any moment. I noted how sad that would be, especially since I would never got to marry Sterling. My sister Megan, who seemed a little bitter towards men in general that day, stated that Sterling would mourn for a week, and then move on to another girl. Dad gave him the benefit of the doubt and said maybe a week and a half. I pretended not to hear their continuing conversation on young couples that one passes away, and declared haughtily that Sterling would mourn a long time for me. Later that night, I was relating the story to Sterling, and I said, "Wouldn't that be SO sad?" and he moved in to give me a hug and said quite seriously "Yeah, it would be the saddest week and a half of my life." WHAT IS THIS???!!?!?!?!? WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE??!?!?!?! Gotta say, I was having a hard time pretending to be put out, and not laughing though. Haahaa.

Finished

One more down....one more to go. I can't believe I can actually say that. One more semester to go. Wow. I took my last final a couple minutes ago. Issues, of course. I took it on my brother Wyatt's computer, because it was open book, and I thought it would be nice to be undisturbed, since no one is at his house. Of course, the computer flipped out, and it wouldn't show that it was saving answers, and it wouldn't show how much time I had left, and then it wouldn't save my test and finish it. So I logged out and logged back in...and it just brought my test back up. Thankfully. It was a smooth-sailing test cause I had a 100 in the class, so I could do pretty poorly and still pull an A. Which is a terrible mind set to have. But hey. Let me just tell everyone--never be engaged during finals. It really makes you not want to work at all. But, I am done, I did well enough on everything that they won't kick me out of the hygiene program....and I can happily say I have survived one more semester!!!!
Now, I am going to.....well, I'd like to say I am going to relax. But I am going to work and study. More. Sigh. But I am happy that I'm studying for boards now, because that means the end is DEFINITELY in sight.
Happy story: Yesterday Sterling and I made dinner at his house cause his mom had a dr's appointment and got home late. So we had a FABULOUS time making dinner...although, I tried making mom's cinnamon rolls. Which I think would've been fine, except it was so cold, they didn't really raise, so then I stuck them in the oven to raise, and that kinda helped, but it was a little late. Anyway, after dinner I was sitting on the couch wrapped up in a blanket watching Sterling and his little sister Jenny put lights on the Christmas tree. Jenny said something about Sterling's stuff being ALL OVER the living room, and Sterling said his stuff had been on the table, but someone had thrown it all in a pile. And so I said "Hey, I moved it cause we were eating, and I set it very nicely, in one pile on the couch." and so then Sterling got this mischievous look on his face and told me that it was a very nice-looking pile. A beautiful pile. A wonderful, incredibly neat pile. Such a happy pile. He had never seen a pile so amazing in his life. Right when I was trying not to smile and thinking he was done, he waited about two minutes, putting up lights....and then started all over again. I was laughing SO HARD! If you ever need someone to praise the neatness of a pile....incessantly.....for multiple minutes....you know who to call.

two quick ones

Well...at least I realized how fast I can do 1B's and class V's today. My patient cancelled (sick baby) last night at 11pm, and since my familia all bailed on me (they were helping clean my sisters new house she's moving into....if she ever makes it out of Colombia!!!), my wonderful roommate Kelsey came in for me this morning. It was fabulous because she is a 1st year student, so she told me what I did wrong...haahaa. I wish she would've told me more though---I need to correct some of my bad habits! Just kidding. But it was funny cause I was explaining to her how much easier it is to instrument an ultrasonic through a 1B like her, that has so little build-up, than to try and scale, cause really-scaling is pretty pointless. The other thing I kept getting flustered about was the fact she knew everything I was doing, and so I felt like explaining anything was pointless, but then I felt like I wasn't talking to her, and she wasn't seeing a normal pt encounter anyway. So that was a really fast appointment, and I could easily have done two patients, but who knew that I would be doing her!
My second patient was a recall class V. The only problem with double scheduling on Class V's, is that you never really know how hard it will be. Some class V's come in squeaky clean before you even start cleaning. Some class V's come in almost a Class II all over again. But this was a squeaky clean Class V, and she had to leave by two. So she was done by two. And once again I had a whole barrel of time. So now I just need to remember this experience for next semester and not waste any time, because I have a feeling with boards being early, and mockboards the end of January---there won't be any time to squander!
Drum roll....HAPPY LAST DAY OF CLINICALS!!!! ONE MORE SEMESTER TO GO!

Slow Down, Please

Can I just say, life seems to get more and more and more and even MORE whirlwindish and crazy-like, and I am thinking that it will NEVER slow down! Can I take a couple years off life, please? I'll come back! Maybe.
Not any one thing in particular that is making it crazy, just everything put together. Sterling and I called and are putting money down on an apartment---not the 25th st one that we had originally planned, but I am super excited for the one we are going with-- and we had a FABULOUS thanksgiving weekend, fun had on all sides. Then its just the regular, class, finals, work, schedules, bridal showers for my best friend, bridal showers for me, Christmas shopping---I think I made a list when falling asleep last night of eight different people I needed to call, scheduling patients, meeting with professors....its just a hectic time of year, and I feel like I hit Monday. Sigh.
But life is wonderful too. Sterling's family was awesome--I have never met his oldest brother before (of Cindy's boys) and it was good, he was super nice and I really liked him. Sterling also met my oldest brother for the first time this weekend...and at least he survived a Rasmussen basketball game, and all went smoothly :) . Now I just need to finish some school assignments and life will be fabulous!

RED

I love red. More than most people realize. It's kind of an obsession. Notice how I'm in red in both of these pictures. Its okay though. Cause did you notice how AWESOME these pictures are???? The above picture was taken on Sunday because my sister had wanted me to wear that red coat for engagements and I forgot it, and she was miffed, so since I was wearing it, she took the picture. Its beautiful and I love it. The below picture was taken by my sister-in-law a couple of weekends ago before we went to an Institute dance. Happy times. Now. I am really studying. And I'll do really well on my Dental Materials Final. I promise.

PS I wish you could see Sterling's tie better from this picture....its red. And its paisley. I think its the coolest thing ever made. I LOVE IT!

Ponderings of an Engaged Person

I've decided that engaged persons are crazy. Absolutely crazy. I get all mopey when he's not around. I get all excited when I know he's coming. When he's a couple buildings away and we can't see each other until lunch its absolutely irritating. And when he shows up to my work with one rose and a big smile I absolutely melt and wonder why we have to work and go to school at all.
I've also decided that weddings are for the birds. Honestly. Such a hassle. I've been considering elopement quite heavily. I wonder if Sterling would let me. Probably if I convinced him its what I really wanted. Of course then I wouldn't be able to do the daddy/daughter dance. And I wouldn't be able to chuck my bouquet at unsuspecting friends, and I wouldn't be able to have oodles of pretty roses concocted to perfection by my wonderful sister Kami, and I wouldn't be able to watch all the little girls spin around in their pretty dresses, and show 'aunt lindsay' how beautiful they are. And I wouldn't be able to....well, I guess I better just make some more wedding plans.
I've also decided that the living on love phraseology is a reality. Honestly. As we make more and more plans, we realize more and more how crazy getting married is. I think life should be backwards. At 20 they should give us our retirement funds, so we can enjoy some years together, and then figure out how to survive, and then we might actually have it down by the time we're...oh I don't know, 80 or so.
We have found an apartment (he's moving in over Christmas break so he doesn't have to commute anymore, and then we'll both live there once we're married) and its on historic 25th street and it is so cute, and I absolutely love it...but I'm even more tickled that Sterling thinks its absolutely perfect. We had quite a few options, and we've been looking pretty faithfully. But our good ol' institute apartment board has pretty much exploded with new housing because the semester ends in a couple weeks, and we found this little gem of an apartment. It fit all our little requirements...and its really clean(my biggest requirement). Which pretty much means plans are moving forward at its usual accelerated pace.
I put in an application at JCPenney's today. They are taking me back for the four weeks of Christmas vacation. I'll be working two jobs again. Sigh. But it'll be good. My one nervous thought is when I try to think about making it to all the family events--his and mine. That might get a little rough with my work schedule. Sigh. Lets just hope the canyon weather stays clear!
And can I just say I STRONGLY dislike working opposite weekend shifts than Sterling? I work morning, and he works night. It should be against the law.

1A Patients

You have to have two 1A patients this semester, and I have waited until the day before our last day of clinic to fit them in----but it went pretty well. The patients were a family from my home ward in Hyrum and it was a five year old girl and three year old boy. They requested nitrous right off---which threw me just a little because I haven't set it up by myself before. So after a few seconds, I remembered how easy it was, and with a little strength help from Prof. Costley I had it hooked up to my unit and we were smooth sailing. On nitrous the kids were as happy and giggly as could be--they've had a lot of dental work done in the past, and the little girl could tell when I had turned off the nitrous and was pretending with oxygen---it was pretty hilarious. Prof. Costley had me disclose both of them, and since I have not done that at all this semester, it was actually a really good experience. I think it made things go faster as well, because kids are mostly plaque and I could tell the areas to focus on right off.
Two 1A pts are always a little crazy because then mom and baby brother/sister have to sit chairside, and it feels squished, and then you put the nitrous stand in there as well, and it just felt a little claustrophobic---but our lab coat makes me feel claustrophobic, so I guess thats not saying much! Haahaa, but I am glad I got to see them, they were super great kids, kept their mouths open and didn't complain at all, and they were happy with their blown-up pink and blue gloves! Yay for another day down and we're almost to the end of the semester! Yay!

Patients Lacking

So for about the past month I have been easy-breezy sailing through clinic, because I've had all my appointment slots filled, everyone knew about their appointment and showed up, and I was working towards all the classification requirements I needed to fulfill. So. Then today happened. I got here in the morning, and the day was going just as planned: Pt showed up right on time, sat in chair, filled out health history, started to do extra and intra and....he had an active herpetic lesion. Sad sauce. So I had to dismiss him until it heals and then I can treat him later. Sigh. So that meant it was only 8:15 in the morning, and I had no patient. After calling a few people, Shaylee and I realized we both didn't have a pt and decided to work on each other---and passed off three PE's, so I have a nice sealant on tooth number 3! Yay! So at least that was productive.

Then we get to the afternoon clinic (intermission-Sterling came and said hi to me during lunch for about 3 minutes and it was so happy!) and my patient calls me about ten minutes before his appointment time, and says he can't come. All righty then. I call a few people, no one can really come in, so I walk back into the office, and they said someone just walked in and wanted a teeth cleaning---so I took her to my chair! Unfortunately, she was on a time crunch...so I never did get to cleaning her teeth. I did her OD, 4 BWX, 2 PA's (all were conventional, which was super annoying and time consuming) and everything, right up until the point of treatment, and then she had to leave. But happily enough, I rescheduled her for my first clinic day back next semester---which means everything's done, and when she comes back I can just start right in to scaling! Happy first day of next semester clinicals!

OFFICIALLY!

I HAVE A RING!!!!! And its the most gorgeous, beautiful ring in the whole entire world, and it is absolutely amazing. And then he went to class. Sigh. He was going to SLC this morning, and I wasn't sure why, but I didn't pressure too much for an answer because there's always wedding plans and stuff, and then we met up at the duck pond in between classes, and he was so excited he didn't even say anything first--he just told me that he loved me, and then gave me a beautiful set of scriptures with his last name at the end of my name--and then he told me he was going to ask me for the biggest favor of my life, and then he got down on one knee and opened the box and asked me to marry him---and of course I said yes!!! And the setting was beautiful, the duck pond was beautiful, the sun was shining and the sky was a gorgeous blue and the leaves are all bright yellow and it was an abnormally warm, beautiful November 9th day. Oh happy. I'd post pics of the ring...but I haven't taken any yet. I haven't taken it off my finger yet! Haahaa. Its gold and a round diamond and a solitaire. And its gorgeous. So I'll just post some of my fav engagement pics!

Clinicals 11-5-09

Today was a fabulous day. One of those days where everything you're doing is going towards passing things off, taking exams, etc. I did two quads of a class III exam, two PE's, two Eaglesoft pts, and I completed 8 quads towards the end of the semester. So pretty much I probably could've scheduled a second pt, but I am super happy with having an easy going afternoon, and it was nice to have the time to put everything into Eaglesoft, cause that isn't the easiest program ever! Or maybe its just me. Anyway. Moving on. In the afternoon one of the first years shadowed me...makes you remember all the corners you cut, and reminds you to be exact, thats for sure!
Other than that...not much else is happening. Lindsay Ann is the BEST sister-in-law ever (I'm sure Sterling would agree) and not only did I have her smashingly good lasagna for our awesome dinner last night, but I had the leftovers for lunch today. It was fabulous. Only, I forgot it at home. Luckily my roommate has class in the same building I have clinicals, so she was a peach and she brought it to me. Oh life. I don't feel quite so out of my league now with clinicals, I'm slowly passing off enough requirements that I might actually make it. yay! And then I feel like I need to be getting so much better at so many things, and its just not happening. Oh well. Almost four weeks til the end of the semester...I can make it!

10-29-09

Clinicals today. It was good. I got a class 2 exam in the morning. It was hard, and long, and my back hurts. But I needed the exam, so that was good. I did two quads of a five and one quad of a three in the afternoon, and had some fun playing around with my files for the first time. I used the one quad of a class III as an exam, which is good. That means all I really need is three quads of a class III exam, but I think I can go back and count some other ones. I am totally fine on the amount of three's, well, I have over 8 quads...but I haven't had ANY of them at WSU, which is a problem. So....three more quads of a class three. Thats all I need. Sigh. I have one guy scheduled next week I think, so lets keep fingers crossed!
I'm mostly just hungry now. And hoping that pod wrap is fast. Haahaa. Thats about it.

good times

We had lab in the afternoon, so I only had one patient in the afternoon. A first year came and watched, which was kinda fun, but probably pretty boring for her, since it was a recall patient and I just had three quads to finish scaling. Not much else. Life is TOO busy, but I'm loving learning everything.

Clinics for the Week

I had VA on Tuesday, and it went pretty well. As per my norm, my first patient no-showed, so I had a pt come in at 9:30, but I didn't have much time with him, and he would NOT get numb! He was the first anesthesia injections I've done on a patient---of course, he didn't know that--- and so Prof M redid my injections. Still no numbness. Argh! So we did Oraqix and papillary injections. Still...not really numb. So we scheduled him for the next day and some nitrous, and I got credit for one quad. Argh. Although, it was nice to get some experience with injections. Second patient also needed anesthesia, I did fine with it, and finished two quads, which was all that he needed since he had been seen before. Three quads in an entire day. I can't do this and fulfill all my requirements!

Today at WSU we had lab in the morning and learned a bunch of stuff so that we can do it on our own---Arestin, blood glucose testing, subgingival irrigation, and it was pretty fun. We talked to hot dogs. And injected stuff into them. Maybe you had to be there. But then it was awesome because I had a pt this afternoon that I got to give two injections of Arestin to! Yay! It was pretty fun. It was a fairly chill afternoon---after opening three ultrasonics to get one that had an o-ring that worked. I didn't even know what they were until today. I did three quads of a class V. Probably should've tried to double book myself, but it was nice to get her done, feel like I could really spend some time on her, and feel good about life in general.

Thats all folks!

Mockboards

WEll....technically my patient would have been dismissed because he had an abscess on the other side of his mouth. Luckily, its a MOCKboard....so they let me get away with it. I didn't pass anyway though. Sigh. I was really close though. And Prof Perry is amazing and went over every single detail with me this afternoon, and I actually feel really good about it. I was good on my probe depths and recession, and all that sort of stuff, so that was happy. And I think I knew my mistakes, I had just been working on it for so long, and gotten SO MUCH off, that you start to miss smaller things. Also, by the end of the appointment he was REALLY tender, and so next time: don't give an option for anesthesia. Its required for board patients. Because I really think thats why I missed them, cause I had got the major bulk, and then he wouldn't let me get lower. Oh well. It was actually a really great day, and I am so glad its over, and all in all it was super successful. Sigh. One more stress down.

Cancellations

Clinic this week. More than a little stressful. Two patients that were supposed to be good classifications. Two cancellations. I did find patients to come in....but that wastes a lot of time so it was a busy day. Lets just say-not excited for mockboards. I'm done with stress. Done. Until I called my mom today and turned hysterical on her. Poor mother. I never want girls. Ever. The VA was a very similar experience. Both my patients no-showed. I found a patient both times, but lost some serious time. Argh. It's all right though---tonight I'm chillin' with some chocolate icecream and then I am going to sleep. Nice, happy, 8 hr shift tomorrow and then Sunday. Sunday is my favorite day of the week because I don't allow myself to do ANY school related things, and I don't even think about them, and it is seriously pure joy. Thats all for today folks!

Wake-Up

Okay, so my very first HARD Class III patient Tuesday at the VA, and let me tell ya, I was eating a load of humble pie! I suppose I've been pretty cocky about my abilities at removing calculus. Not anymore. It was a rough day, with lots of juggling, lots of time wasted, but it was four quads of a Class III, so I can't really complain.
Lets just say Lindsay keeps learning lessons! Today I spent an hour working on a health history of a patient....who already had a chart and I had no idea. I've never had that happen before, and it was kinda maddening--but no one's fault but my own. Sigh. But I did get one quad of a Class III and two quads of a Class V. I only finished one quad, but I buffed up my skills of conventional film (I wish the entire universe used phosphor plate!!!) and I've got her rescheduled.
HAPPY NEWS! I got my new loupes during lunch...and I'll come back and tell ya how afternoon clinic went!
Afternoon was great, sometimes it seems to take so much longer than the average day! I did OD, 4 bitewings, and two quads of a Class V, which wasn't the easiest, but it wasn't incredibly difficult either. Glad its over. Now I am going to study and take a test. Fabulous. Oh, but PS I got my loupes and I used them today and I love, love, LOVE them, it wasn't really that hard to get used to, it was just really fun to see things!

High Blood Sugar

Lets just say starting Monday its been a little bit of a rough week. Lindsay has a nervous breakdown. Lindsay has an emotional meltdown. Lindsay gets sick. Lindsay is too sick to sleep which just compounds the problem. Lindsay works an 8hr shift anyway. Lindsay comes home and hooks up to meds. Lindsay sleeps soundly through an entire night from 8-6. Lindsay wakes up and still feels terrible. Lindsay has to go to clinicals anyway.
Lindsay has a FABULOUS first patient, he was blind, and he was wonderful. He was only a 1B which was frustrating, first of all cause I don't need that classification, and secondly because he was a hard class 1B. Oh well. Lovely first of the morning. I really need to start scheduling two patients when they are 1B's because I have way too much extra time.
Then Lindsay gets to her afternoon. Patient comes in, sweating. Patient takes blood sugar test. Patient's blood sugar is 320!!!!!!!! Patient gives injection of insulin. Lindsay prays patients blood sugar goes down in next half hour. Lindsay spends an entire HOUR working on patients health history. THREE PAGES later, patient retakes blood sugar. 312!!!!!!!!!!! Lindsay has to dismiss patient and try to reschedule (which was crazy because patient goes into surgery in two weeks, and Lindsay is scheduled that far) and then Lindsay is stuck with an hour, and nothing to do. Luckily, Lindsay's AWESOME friend Heather is reading Hamlet in the library and comes up to get her teeth cleaned. Lets just say, Lindsay was speedy quick and finished a 1B HHX through status RX in one hour. Sigh.
Good note: Lindsay is actually feeling a little bit better. And ravenously hungry. That must be a good sign.

Power Outage

Today was a really good day. Generally speaking. I mean, it would've been a really good day if I was already a RDH, was working in a dental office, and dreamed of class 1B's all day long. As it is, I am SCRAMBLING to find some decent classifications so that I can fulfill all of my requirements. Today I had a class V and a class 1B. Sigh. I feel really confident now though, that I could do two of those in one appointment time, which means I could do four patients per clinic day. Unfortunately, I knew one was a Class V, and who knows what kind of work goes into those, and the other one was a new patient, so I had no idea she'd be a 1B. sigh. It was good to have a Class V this morning, because Kara---being the amazing person that she is---reminded me that we needed to do exams on patients, so I made my first patient an exam, and I'm glad I accomplished something. And I'm kinda glad I had a 1B this afternoon because........
The power went out.
All over Ogden.
Over 10,000 people were without power.
Just so happened that 16 of us were working hard at Midtown Clinic.
It's ok though, because my professor was scale checking, I had already rubber cup polished, so I didn't need the power for anything.
Other students....not so lucky as me.
My hardest thing was trying to figure out a way for her to pay, since I hadn't put any information into the computer yet, and we didn't have the computers to use anyway. Ah---how did people function without computers????
The power has now come back on, but not our clinics software program, so I can't insert my afternoon patient into Eaglesoft, like I had planned, which would have fulfilled another requirement that I need to get done. Argh. Thats ok though. I'll just sit here and blog until pod wrap.

No Window

You never really realize how important your drivers side window is...until you don't have one. On Saturday night my committee had a social in Huntsville, and I went running right before. I was trying to cool down fast, so while I waited for the AC to kick in, I rolled down my window a couple of inches. Then I went over a bump. Then my window slid ALL the way down. Then it wouldn't go back up. Then I was very sad. But I didn't have a lot of time to think about it, I was jumping in the shower, getting ready, and heading to the social. We drove to Huntsville with my window down the entire way, and let me tell ya, it was LOADS of fun. Memories of "Pioneer" songs floating through my head! Haahaa. On the way back, it was a little less joyous. Lets just say the girls huddled under a quilt I keep in my trunk, and the boys tried to look like they weren't cold. The next day, my landlord gave me a tarp/canvas to hang over the door so that the window was covered. Which was lucky, since yesterday it RAINED all day long. Yes. Oh, one good thing about an open window though---I got treats left on my seat!!!! I got rained on though, to work, from work, and then decided not to go to FHE, because I didn't want to get cold and wet again. But today it is getting fixed, mostly because my dad was concerned that I wouldn't have a window while I go to Heber Valley, then Park City, then SLC, then Logan this weekend. And let me tell ya, I will be VERY grateful to have a window back. My car is a little bit of my personal statement of freedom and allows me to feel like I am personally in charge of everything I do right now in my life. And lets just say driving to Farr West this morning for a dental appointment was more than a little chilly. I'm very grateful to have it fixed, and I will FOREVER now, be grateful for my drivers side window.

Heroic Save

Today I had two patients scheduled from the WSU recall list---people who wanted their teeth cleaned, heard about WSU, and through various means provided their number so that we, as students, could call them and schedule appointments. I talked to both my morning and my afternoon patients, scheduled the appointments, both said they could be here. When I called to remind them yesterday, my morning patient reaffirmed that they could come, my second patient I couldn't get a hold of. So I called my dad to see if his afternoon was free just in case, and felt good about my upcoming day.

I get here this morning. My patient doesn't show. I call and he...had to work. And you didn't know that last night?!?!?!?!?!? My dad had a meeting, my friends are all in classes. I ran down to the institute lounge, and through the Student Union Building...and after twenty minutes of searching, I found a young freshman football player who thought it would be great to get a free cleaning (by then I was offering to pay for it). Brought him up to the WSU clinic.....drum roll....and he was a perfect Class II!!!!! I took four bitewings, and then he agreed to come back to be my mock board patient!!!! YAY!!!! So, even though I didn't get anything cleaned, it was a heroic safe to my nerve-wracking morning because now I do not have to worry about a mock board patient. And they actually told me that this is exactly what I am looking for in March for REAL boards....could the student union be my lucky trick again??!?!?! Probably not. Sigh. He is a freshman football player, but I am PRAYING that he is responsible enough to really come back in October for my test. I really, really, REALLY emphasized and stressed to him how important this was to me and my grade and how he was an absolute blessing--and he seemed to get it and promised to come back. Here's hoping.

My second patient also didn't show. Sigh. So I called my Papa Bear up, and he agreed to come in. He was a Class V, so at least it wasn't a 1B experience so that was nice. My professor came up to me afterwards and said "Was your dad asking about you breaking up with someone or something like that?" Apparently he thought it quite amusing that the dean of education was sitting in a dental chair talking love-life to his little girl. His student. Haahaa. Now that I think about it, it is kinda funny. Completely cleaned him, loaded him up with some fluoride goop, and sent him on his way. Yay! Thank you so much dad!

So it was a stressful day, but it turned out nicely, and now I just hope my future patients show up, cause my dad is supposed to be my emergency patient, and unfortunately, now he can't come in for another six months!

Today I fell in love

He's tall, and strapping about 6 foot 3 with broad shoulders and intelligent, chocolate brown eyes. He's African American and he was wearing a dark blue pin-stripe shirt, with a burgundy paisley tie and a creamy suit coat, and I gotta say, that has to be the sharpest looking outfit I have ever seen! He was the most respectful, kind, and generous man I have ever met, and he was so proper and formal I felt like I was walking into a 1940's movie and I should have an elegant evening dress on and I should curtsy and let him kiss my hand. I do have to say, he had dashingly bright white hair, and he probably isn't quite as trim as he used to be...although he's more trim than most men more than half his age. Okay, so my true love was 81 years old, but a more charming man I've never met. He was my patient today at the VA hospital, and I think he's old enough that he must of served in WWII, plus he is a lawyer, and he grew up in North Carolina, which means he was getting a law degree in the midst of racial segregation and fighting. I would DEARLY love to hear his story, and sometimes I ache over my lost calling in life of majoring in history and traveling around the world writing people's unknown stories. Sigh. Anyway. The afternoon was VERY confusing because he was supposed to have a partial denture made, the lab hadn't made it, the dr. didn't have it...and they basically wasted a lot of my time because I stood around waiting for the dr's to do stuff, and not getting anything done myself. We only counted his mouth as three quads, but one quad was considered a class 3, so I guess I can't complain too much! And he was such a charming patient, it was a fabulous afternoon. Makes me want to marry a southern gentleman. Too bad he's married, and most of them have died off. Sigh. More proof I should've been born in a different era.

Clinic

So, I've been at the VA twice already, once for patients, once for CA...but yesterday was my first day back at the WSU clinic. Can I just say---I absolutely LOVE professors who explain to you how to improve, and watch you do it, so you feel a little bit secure in the knowledge that you might be learning how to do things correctly! I feel a lot more calm about instrumentation, because when things come up that professors point out, I feel like I can learn and accommodate that....whereas before I just tacked it on to this overwhelming monumental list of things I didn't think I could possibly learn in this lifetime. Funny how a couple months later I'm feeling pretty ok.
Really though, it wasn't that exciting of a day. My sister and brother-in-law came in, I had high hopes that my bro-in-law would be a difficult classification because he hasn't been in to a dentist in over 8 years....but no, just a 1B. Not that I can fault him for taking excellent care of his oral health...but still. I did take a full mouth of xrays on him though, because he hadn't been in the dental office so long, he fit all the prerequisites for needing lots of xrays. And I sure utilized that. I love phosphur plates PS and I think the whole world should switch to only using them. So I finished two class 1B's. It was nice to get some xrays in...finish eight quads....and really just to get accustomed to the clinic routine once again. Lets hope I get some harder classifications quickly though...cause I'll be needing them!

On a happier note, for everyone else who reads this blog, my first evening program activity was a RIOT! So much fun! We had over 200 people in attendance, I had to send my presidency members to buy more food, and we still ran out by 10pm. I spent from 7-5 in clinic and from 5-11pm at the institute building, but oh so much fun. I suppose you can't go wrong with S'mores and Emperors New Groove, but it was just so surprising because all of our summer activities were so small! I suppose thats whats to be expected when everyone moves back in for the semester! I think it really pumped my committee though, to see how important their jobs really are---and I certainly delegated the responsibilities! We had a few moments of 'series of unfortunate events'...we didn't have the right key to get to the sound system....we forgot matches(how do you make smores over non-burning coals??!?!?!?!?!?!?!) we needed extra plug-ins.....Simon heroically risked his life on the roof to rig our projector sheet....Sam's Club doesn't carry marshmellows(who in the world would have ever guessed???!?!?!?!!) But we live and learn....and by the time you finally learn, your time is up, and its the next years turn! But I am loving it so so so SO very much, although there were some rough moments this week. Personally, I think I am blessed to be alive and standing and so supported by everyone! THANK YOU SO MUCH! This has really got to be the BEST position ever!

Angel

Lets see...throw me back in to a world I have contentedly forgotten for the last four months, expect me to clean teeth in a completely unfamiliar environment, with completely unfamiliar equipment....throw in to my complete frantic and frightened mindset a veteran with schizophrenia, who was homeless, and sometimes smoked....and it actually turned out fabulous. Very compliant patient, very patient and understanding professors, and slowly I felt a little more comfortable. Okay, not really...but at least I wasn't on the verge of absolute hysteria by the end of the appointment. Second patient no-showed, which was terrible since that meant I didn't get any quads for the day, but was fabulous because I did a bunch of paperwork for the next day's clinic, and I feel MUCH more confident with the previously foreign computer program used at the VA. One day down. Seven months to go.

Rejoice and mourn!

So I have the happiest news in the whole entire universe!!!! The state of Utah, along with the rest of the world, has had a large amount of funding cut from its education programs, including Weber State University. I am on a state scholarship. And they cut the amount my scholarship was paying. I got more than a little annoyed, and wrote an email to three different state legislators and told them that I thought it was completely ridiculous that, on a scholarship that pays a certain percentage for 60 credits, and I have only used 50 credits of scholarship, they would cut it on my last 10 credits. Plus, they gave me the scholarship...you can't just cut the amount!?!?!!?!?!?!??! Anyway, long story short, I had a voicemail from my dearest father this afternoon, and he opened my mail and THEY REINSTATED THE INITIAL AMOUNT FOR MY SCHOLARSHIP!!!!!! I am more than a little excited about this. Especially since I just paid $1,100 today in fees that have nothing to do with tuition and student fees. Just dental hygiene fees. Ouch. This is where the mourning comes in. Good thing I bought gas this morning, might be the last time in a while!!!!!

New Ghetto House

I moved again....and after six hours of some of the hardest labor of my entire existence, the living room and kitchen are now clean enough that I feel I can live here. And I love it. I love, love, love, love, LOVE it!!!!! It's absolutely perfect, and it feels like home. Which is kinda a new thing for me, I haven't had an apartment feel like home for awhile. And I'm living with Kelsey and Elizabeth, and Kelsey was my roommate last year and we had good times, and I am REALLY excited about this year. I think it will be great to have the three of us in our little ghetto house, and now that it is all clean, and Kelsey's thinking about replacing our 60's brown plaid curtains, I think it will look spectacularly nice. The yard is amazingly beautiful cause the landlord's wife next door does all the gardening. Thats the update on my life. Have a beautiful day one and all. PS NO MORE CATS!!!! YAY!!!!! YAY FOR NO-PET HOUSES!

Smells and Musicals

Today has been just one of those awesome days. "Good day." Haahaa!!!!! Anyway, I thought today would be really long and terrible, because it is one of my days that I work an eight hour shift at the hotel and then eat in my car and work a six hour shift at JCP. But I was thinkin' it was okay cause its one of my last times doing this....then, today has just been hilarious from the very beginning. Melinda and I were cleaning on the second floor, and the duvet cover was dirty, and so I had to walk down to the housekeeping room to get a new one to put on. I hate that. But when I got down there, it reeked like none other. So....I told Chantelle. A couple hours later we were cleaning a room right next to the housekeeping closet, and it was such a strong smell it was giving me a headache. I don't know if they ever figured out what that one was, but I think Jackee used half a gallon of air freshener in that hallway, haahaa!!! Then we walked into a room and I almost puked, it smelled like stale popcorn. Then Melinda decided I must have an extra sensitive nose today, cause every single room I walked into, I defined the smell, and thought it was really strong. Like the coffee room...etc. So I decided we should have a Housekeeping Musical, with a song focused solely on smells. So then all day long Melinda and I kept thinking of great ideas of things to put into our musical. And Chantelle added dance moves (shiver shimmy....good one Chan!!!!) and basically I was laughing so hard all day long, but I think you had to be there. So the day went by REALLY fast, and was a really good day. Some major high points:
Lindsay to Chantelle while taking lunch: "Stop working, CHICKEN LIVER!!!!"
Lindsay over walkie "CHAN----TELLE!!!!!" Merrill: "Yes?"
Lindsay to Melinda: "You just missed some MAJOR shoe saving escapades." Chantelle "Yeah, and chicken liver."
Melinda to Lindsay: "You're the only girl I know who says 'thats intense', its kinda a guy thing."
*Chantelle thought the lid was on her pen....little did she know she had lines up and down the back of her neck, well into her hair line.
Chantelle: SPREAD EAGLE(was she flapping, or trying to explain distance between rooms???? Don't really know)
Chantelle opens laundry chute WITHOUT putting bin underneath: "AHHHHH!!!! There's a MOUNTAIN of laundry!!!!!!" Um....yes, yes, that would be what happens darling!

I know there were lots of really funny things, especially Melinda saying some really witty things, but I can't think of them right now. Lets just say I am SO excited to be done with JCP and not have to do back to school anymore and run up and down the stairs 300 times within a shift...and thats no exaggeration, Mindi and I counted! But I will miss Michelle and Mindy and Stephanie...and my managers Russ and Pam. Lots of good times with those people! Not so sorry to be up til 11pm straightening everything people touch! Oh, and update on my life: I'm moving next weekend, just a couple streets. And I'm really, really, REALLY excited for this semester. I think it's going to be a blast. YAY for SENIOR YEARS!!! Am I really graduating with a bachelors in May? Hannah, my life is flashing before my eyes!

Rasmussen Reunion 2009

Our reunion started with a sweet new game called Koob. Everyone had a great time with it---I really loved it, but that might've been cause I was actually decent at it, and Lindsay Ann and I had some good times moaning about losing. It was pretty outrageous.

We had a carnival, and it had to be the most fun I've ever had at a carnival in my entire life. We had Brett being a Mad Scientist, lighting pickles up, making eggs fall into pop cans...stuff like that. We had Wyatt and his assistant Megan giving pony rides in the corral, we had Andrea testing your knowledge and giving out books, Derek was at the balloon toss with prizes, Lindsay Ann and Kami were face painting, Grandpa was making snow cones the entire time, I had a book nook with lots of free books (dad had a bunch free from the university so there were books everywere!) and Mom and Leo provided lunch of hot dogs and chips. Ethan was all suited up at the dunking booth--which later became a main attraction for everyone, and all the little kids got dunked. It was a really fabulous idea, with amazing planning and talents that went into it, and everyone had such a great time!

Last night we had our annual karaoke contest, and it was pretty intense. We started out with races, all sorts of wacky races, and then had dinner, and then moved on to the karaoke, which Derek and Brooke and family won for the third year running---we'll have to do something about that! It was a really fun night. I danced so hard that I thought I would die of exhaustion last night, and my calves are sore today from running around on my toes so much! I must say, we have some crazy-awesome dancing skills in this familia!

Gathering

The reunion barely started and two people already have stitches (luckily one was home-made since we have a doc in the house ) there are kids EVERYWHERE, I thought about bringing my stuff inside, but don't really see any open spaces, so I think I'll keep it in my car. Luckily my sister saved me a spot to sleep in her trailer. There are kids everywhere. Did I already say that? Cause literally, you step on them all the time when you aren't watching, and there's already mocking, and pictures, and annoyance at pictures, and boys playing basketball, and girls annoyed that the boys are playing basketball, and secret meetings to practice songs for the karaoke contest, and DELICIOUS food, did I ever tell anyone how much I LOVE guacamole??? And Danica wrote me love notes. And I got kisses and hugs from Brynne and Chad and basically everyone, and I even got to be official tooth-brusher for the 3 and under crowd. Good times. I like that position. Fun had by all, and I LOVE MY FAMILY! Megan mauled me she was so excited to see me. (inserted by Megan herself :) ) Basically life is good. And I don't have to go to work for THREE WHOLE DAYS. I don't know where my blessings come from, but life is absolutely amazing.

Shakespearean

So...I got to go to the Shakespeare Festival! The fun of it has kinda been knocked out of me, since I came straight home to Dad's office to write up two modules for dental hygiene before going to a clinic tomorrow, and then straight to work, and then to 16 more hours of work the next day, and then I have to play the organ and accompany a singer in church on Sunday! AGH!
But..the festival was absolutely fantastic! I got to be with my mom. We ate popsicles, read a book out loud to each other (that was started on the drive down to Cedar), watched plays, and slept. We went shopping one morning, but since I was there for a class, I actually had to attend not only every performance (the fun part!) but also every orientation for every performance and every literary seminar for every performance. They were SUPER interesting, and the audience was fairly entertaining, but that took four more hours out of every day that I was sitting writing papers, instead of spending lovely time with my mother. We did go shopping one morning, and I convinced my mother to buy TWO dresses that are absolutely BEAUTIFUL, and it just occurred to me that I should've taken pictures and posted, but now she's in Logan. Sigh. I also bought a $68 hoodie, for only twenty bucks, and I am absolutely in LOVE with it. The material pattern makes me think of Amy's diaper bag. The cute little purple flowers. I wish it wasn't summer so I could wear it EVERY day!
Mom and I both decided we loved The Secret Garden the VERY BEST--it was a musical, and both of us cried, and laughed, and cried, and were equally amazed at the absolutely incredible talent of the singers. I have always loved that book, but I have never seen it performed, and it was incredible. Our second favorite was Comedy of Errors, which was absolutely hilarious, and the cast was spontaneous enough to yell out at the crowd, and we'd yell back, and it was just really true fun. Our two favorite people, an actor and an actress, were in this play, and we scoured the other shows the rest of the time for their faces. Foxfire was good, Private Lives was hilarious and very good(probably my third favorite), and As You Like It was a perfect fairy tale happy ending story, and a great show to end our stay with. We also saw Henry V, and I just wish I had've done some research or some reading before this play, cause I think it was really well played, and the main King was an amazing actor and had some great speeches, but I just didn't follow it very well. At one point mom was all annoyed and leaned over and said "Do you know whats going on?" And I waved my hand "I don't know, the English are fighting the French" which was probably the only obvious thing happening, mom busted up laughing at me. But all in all, they were amazing, and it was a great opportunity!
We have already decided to make it a yearly trip, especially since next year they are doing Pride and Prejudice...and another one that I was excited about that I can't think of right now.

Joy

And I'm OFF to four whole days in Cedar City with my mom at the Shakespearian Festival. I am so excited. Not even so much for the event (although that is exciting) but just to have the days off work...my meals provided....free time to read two books I stole from Andrea/Megan....a little bit of summer??? YAY!!!!!!!!!

What I'd do with 10 Grand

I have a feeling that I am VERY much like my father in some respects. One of these is that sometimes I feel utterly unsentimental, and when I ponder on this idea, I blame my whole feelinglessness on my father. Ever practical, pragmatic, father of mine. This was recently brought to my attention because I got my roommate's piano tuned for her, so that I can play it anytime I want---and be able to stand how it sounds, because before it was so incredibly terrible, off-pitch sounding, that I couldn't handle it. I was given a fabulous reference for a piano tuner, and he really did an amazing job. He knew exactly how old the piano was, that it used to be a player piano, and that the carvings on the piano made it really valuable. He himself, was a history lesson, and I spent a good three hours curled on the couch reading his autobiography while he tuned the piano. At first, he thought the piano was a lost cause, it was so old, so out of tune, and he thought he'd for sure break strings trying to bring it all the way back up to pitch. But he was fabulous, brought it up to pitch, and didn't harm the piano at all. But this is not at all what I wanted to talk about. Point of story: he told my roommate the piano was worth between 12,000-15,000 dollars. She just paid a whopping $850 for it. The first thoughts in my mind, were of course, historically based. I love history, I love imagining all that this piano lived through since it was built in 1910, and it is a really neat thought. But, poor, hungry college student that I am, I quickly turned my thoughts to all that I could do with the profit of selling this piano. I then related my deep thoughts to my good friend and manager at the hotel the next day. She was shocked at my lack of respect for such an antique item, and amazed that I wouldn't want to keep it around. I have to say this: I do value old items, I am a HUGE history lover, and it is in fact, my favorite subject. But I absolutely love my mom's piano, and it isn't ancient, or rebuilt, or anything of the sort. It's quite new, as far as piano's go, but I made amazing memories with that lovely piano, and maybe in a hundred years it'll be worth something---but only because I loved it so much. I don't know, I think it is neat, but I'd rather sell it. Then she told me she had her grandmother's china in her closet. Yes, that is a really neat thing, but whats the point of keeping china in your closet and never using it? Yes, your grandmother loved it, and it is very special---but if it is never used and never seen, whats the use? At least this piano you can continue to use! 

So: while I may be wholly unsentimental and callous, here is what I would do with 10 grand:

First and foremost, quit both jobs and move in with my parents for July and August. It's only two months of work, I'd only make a little over 1200 anyway, and sometimes I think people forget how important it is to make memories now---before you regret the many times you DIDN'T stop to make them. Plus, I'd be just in time for all of her garden harvesting, canning, freezing, cooking--and I could learn OH so much that I have previously avoided learning, and now badly want to know.

Secondly, although I have a year of school left, I would be hurting a LOT less to work, and so, depending on how hard classes are, I would definitely only be working part time in the school year, and not working at all if I wanted. Once again, this is the last year of my education, and there are lots of opportunities to participate in so much and enjoy so many memories that I will never be able to get back again. Is this senioritis? Or have I just LOVED my college experiences so much and wish I didn't have to work to make up for it????

Thirdly, I would put all the rest in the bank, to save for my wedding, the months I'm putting my husband through school, and maybe a SWEET honeymoon. 

Oh, and I would also buy a laptop and an ipod. I am losing good music because my cd's are so old and scratched---and its annoying when you need a computer and have to drive 15 minutes to a siblings because the library is closed. Not so annoying when I can't afford one, and definitely doable--but if I had 10 grand, might as well. 

I just really, really loved the idea of being able to spend two whole months riding horses with my dad, learning to cook from my mother, playing the piano, and hiking up the mountainside. Instead of spending an inane amount of hours selling people shoes and cleaning their hotel rooms for a ridiculously small amount of money. Not that I'm really complaining, because I know I am incredibly blessed to not only have one, but two jobs in this economy, and I really am happy that I can pay for so much, and I'm keeping my goal of getting my bachelors degree without going in debt. I think June was just a long month---and I am incredibly excited to take four days off in a couple weeks and spend it with my mother in Cedar City at the Shakespearian Festival! Yes!

So...what would you do with 10 grand?

Lots to Share

Lots to share...and so little time to share it in. Lets start with the CRAZY JCP lady:

Lindsay, doing a pretty good job at finding stuff to do on an INCREDIBLY slow Wednesday afternoon, happily turns to help a customer who comes up to the register with what looks like a return. Crazy lady, plops a Walmart bag on the counter, with shoes inside, and says she has no receipt and no box, but needs to return these shoes because they hurt her toes. Besides the fact that we do not return things without at least a box OR a receipt, we have never carried those shoes. Ever. I promise. Scouts honor. I tell the lady that I am very sorry, but those shoes were not from our store, but maybe they could be from the Layton JCP, as they sometimes carry different stock. She scowls at me and tells me most definitely that these shoes WERE in fact, from this store, and she could even show me the Skechers wall that they came from. I admitted that, in fact, we do have a Skechers wall, but this particular Skecher had never been there. How, I ask you, am I suppose to return a shoe that we have never had, I don't have a box to, and I most definitely don't have a receipt to, and so therefore have no way of knowing what it is worth or how to put it into our system??? I tried very kindly to tell her that we couldn't do the return, but luckily, right then, a manager walked by. Thank you Zona!!! I called her over and told her very politely, because we were standing right in front of the customer, that this woman had no receipt, had no box, and we most definitely had never carried this shoe, and yet this lady wanted to do a return. Zona was kind for a while, and then told the lady quite abruptly that we could not do a return. The lady, by then, red-faced and sweating and inches away from Zona's face, furiously stocked away, grabbing her shoes with her. Zona followed her to the front of the store, where she again, tried to return the shoes. Apparently, the lady claimed to have made the purchase with her JCP card, so Zona brought up her purchases on the computer, and no Skecher shoe had been bought with her card. She also told the lady that "Lindsay knows every shoe on the floor, and if we would have had it, she would've found a way to return it for you." For which I was very grateful. Apparently after that she was apologetic, claiming she really had thought she'd bought them here. She doesn't realize, obviously, the shoe master she was conversing with. HAAHAAHAA!!!!

Other news, after basically pulling an all nighter, getting a little sleep, working all day, and doing it all again---I finally got eleven straight hours of sleep last night. It was pure bliss. Then I had all these wonderful plans of things I wanted to do this afternoon, since I don't go in to work until 230, but the piano tuner took four hours. Happy to have a tuned piano, but a little disheartening since it is not really perfect, and one note still drives me crazy, but he said it's been so long since its been tuned, it would take another full tuning to fix. And so, my morning was spent, in mostly happiness listening to his life story which was very fascinating indeed, but I saw no sun today, and I sorely miss the sun. Sigh. On to work!

If I could choose to look like anyone....my sisters have all been picking on their posts who they would pick to look like. I thought it was kind of interesting. Well, Andrea's I knew right off, but I thought the others were a little odd. These are the people I would pick. Now, if I was picking voice, or talents, it would be other people--but strictly on looks: I would first and foremost pick Catherine Zeta Jones. I think she is the most beautiful person. But in close second would be Halle Berry. I love her with short hair--and someday hope to cut mine as short. Both of them look ravishing in red dresses.

Happy Fathers Day

I love you dad!

Happenings

So...what with institute happenings going on every week, a few hours at Freedom Riders, some FHE, some other activities, and 60 or so hours a week at the hotel and JCP, and no access to the internet, my blogging abilities have greatly decreased. Just wanted to let everyone know that life is going fabulously, I find time to have lots of fun amidst crazy sleeping hours, and think about being in a dryer and getting fluffed up like a warm towel. Cozy, I know.

Lovin' Life with My Little Bro Ethan

Ethan is my little brother. He is my only little brother. He is spoiled rotten, and I hate to say it, but I spoil him too. There's just something about him that everyone loves. He just graduated this week, and I thought that deserved a post for our years growing up together. Ethan is good at absolutely everything he does. Really good. So while he is quite cocky and annoying sometimes, its hard to tell him to pipe down, when he really is as good as he thinks he is. Don't ever tell him I said that. He learned quicker, had faster reflexes, and was brighter in almost everything we competed in. Somehow, I don't think I ever really resented it though--it was just who he is. In a recent conversation we were talking about something he was struggling with, and I was taking the whole thing quite lightly. Until it hit me, quite suddenly, that at the exact same age I had been going through the exact same situation. Poor kid.  And that made me realize how suddenly we've grown up. Thanks Ethan, for all the wonderful years where you were my best friend no matter where we lived or moved, and for those rare moments later in our teenage years where we really connected and had some great times.

This is my little brother Ethan, and myself. We were a little crazy sometimes. He is two years younger than me---and the source of many, MANY memories of my childhood. I don't really know what we were doing in the picture above---but it was fun, let me tell ya.
This is one of my favorite pictures of Ethan and me. It was as we were leaving for the bus stop, the one year we went to the same school at South Ogden Junior High, and mom made us stop cause she thought we looked cute. I'm so glad she did.This picture shows that we loved each other from the very beginnings of our existence....and that he was mostly always the same size as me. I remember that we were best friends for quite a while when we were small. We were always very different though. I remember when we were little and lived in Ogden, he knew an old lady across the street would give him a treat if he knocked on her door, but I always was too nervous, and thought it was rude to take advantage....but Ethan went over there all the time---and sometimes he brought me back treats too.This is a picture of Ethan and I when we were in YM/YW together, and dad was the YM President...Good times.We were at a youth conference and  that river was actually off limits, cause it was too fast-flowing, or something ridiculous like that. Pretty sure Ethan, Brach, Aleesha, and myself played in it every day. Maybe not the best of examples, but it sure was a lot of fun.I have lots of great memories with Ethan. He had an old bike that had pegs on it. We used to ride it together to school at Longfellow Elementary in Minot, North Dakota. I think we had about 12 different ways to ride one bike together. My favorite was sitting back to back, him riding, and me with my feet on the pegs watching everything go by backwards. I also remember that when we finally had two bikes, he used to ride behind me and make our wheels hit, and it always scared me. One time on the way home from school he did that and both our bikes flipped and we landed really hard---it was an amazing crash really. I remember wanting to be mad, but he was smiling as he stood up and we both burst out laughing. Kinda hard to be mad after that. We rode our bikes all over Minot. Several times to buy 25 cent candy at the little corner store, we'd ride through Oak Park, and Nubbin Park, and we'd even ride our bike all the way out to the gas station on the way to where our horses were kept out of town.

I also remember all the games we played. Ethan was always my protector and I was always the one protected. I was the pioneer mother, and he was the one who found food, or I was protected from the Indians, or all sorts of things. I remember really clearly one time playing firefighters on the trampoline, and every time you bounced, it took you up a floor to blow out the fire. It was so vivid in my mind that I still remember what the dilapidated building, smoldering in flames, looked like in my head. 

I also remember playing spies a lot too. We used to borrow mom's walkie talkies and tour the neighborhood together. We fit in a little cupboard underneath the kitchen sink, and we'd slide into it, and keep one another posted on what was happening in the Rasmussen household. We also had a secret lab in his room downstairs where we made computers out of  shoe boxes and mom helped us laminate fingerprinted business cards. It was hi-tech and I LOVED playing it with him.
As we got older, I remember picking his smelly self up from football, wrestling, or track and listening to what he had to say from his day. I remember one time I picked him up and I was crying from a song that was playing on the radio, and his face was so hilarious, cause he didn't realize that that was all that was wrong!
One of the most terrible days of my life was when I got a call while working at JCPenney, and they told me Ethan was in Ogden, at the hospital, and had been hurt in football. Seeing his cocky, nothing-can-hurt-me self in a hospital bed was very scary. I brought him my phone charger, a shake, and a book. We chatted a good portion of the night actually. Luckily, he was all right, and could still play football. A few months later I was at the game he got hurt really bad. I went down to the field at half time to see if he was all right. I was bawling before I even said a word, and he said "why did you come down here?" I wanted to tell him that I knew it was his dream, and that I couldn't imagine him without football at the moment, and---I said "I don't know." and gave him a big hug.

This picture is the morning after Ethan's first prom, and my last. We both look pretty beat, but it was fun to be going to the same dance as my little brother.

So Ethan was pretty much my closest friend throughout my childhood. As we got older, we had other friends we were probably closer with--but we still had moments when we would hit it off, have a great time, and talk about our lives with one another, and I still cherish those moments---even if he is an ornery teenager jock now.




This is a picture of a mermaid we spent SIX HOURS working on one day in North Dakota. That river brings back loads of memories--most of them with Ethan. We were so proud. The other one is Ethan and I with some of our oldest nieces and nephews, now those two are about the same age as we were when we were holding them. Crazy.

       

Ethan and I started a lot of things together:swimming lessons, t-ball, new schools, we had the same piano teachers, the same church leaders. It was fun to have someone there to go through life with. Especially someone who always convinced you to drive him home between sacrament meeting and priesthood to snack on the brownies left on the counter. So delish. And so fun.

Ethan is a ornery kid now, who doesn't talk to me much cause he has a girlfriend---but he still lets me punch his stomach every time I come home to visit, and he still shows me where all the snacks are. His motto's are something along the lines of "I don't wear a watch, I decide what time it is." He tells everyone that "He'll decide" and its a huge family joke now. But even though he thinks he knows everything about the world--thats kinda part of his charm. As much as I worry about this kid, I know he is an amazing person, and I am really glad I got to spend my childhood with him. Congrats on the graduation Ethan, and good luck on the next crazy years of your life, cause right now, all I got to say is young single adult life is crazy, fun, busy, and hard. But you love it, and you'll live it up. 

Shel Silverstein

Sometimes I really miss having my dad

recite random poetry to me---usually of a nature

that my mother huffily disapproved of, but 

had to try hard not to laugh at along with us.

I really loved commuting with my dad my first year

of early college--one day it was raining and he sang a

song about rain drops falling on sad Tim's head all the 

way from Willard to Mantua. Good times. Here's some

stellar oldies and goodies:

"My beard grows down to my toes, 
I never wears no clothes, 
I wraps my hair 
Around my bare, 
And down the road I goes." 

---insert

Rasmussen children singing "Ba da

dum da dum dee dum dee dum dee dum."
— Shel Silverstein

""I cannot go to school today" 
Said little Peggy Ann McKay. 
"I have the measles and the mumps, 
A gash, a rash and purple bumps. 

My mouth is wet, my throat is dry. 
I'm going blind in my right eye. 
My tonsils are as big as rocks, 
I've counted sixteen chicken pox. 

And there's one more - that's seventeen, 
And don't you think my face looks green? 
My leg is cut, my eyes are blue, 
It might be the instamatic flu. 

I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke, 
I'm sure that my left leg is broke. 
My hip hurts when I move my chin, 
My belly button's caving in. 

My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained, 
My 'pendix pains each time it rains. 
My toes are cold, my toes are numb, 

I have a sliver in my thumb. 

My neck is stiff, my voice is weak, 
I hardly whisper when I speak. 
My tongue is filling up my mouth, 

I think my hair is falling out. 

My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight, 
My temperature is one-o-eight. 
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear, 

There's a hole inside my ear. 

I have a hangnail, and my heart is ... 
What? What's that? What's that you say? 
You say today is .............. Saturday? 

G'bye, I'm going out to play!"" 
— Shel Silverstein

hiking pics

Here's a bunch of pictures, in no particular order cause I don't have the time to arrange them, of the awesome hikes Aleesha, Chris Bentley, and I went on this Monday. We started out climbing Ben Lomond, ran in to mounds of snow, and switched to a hike called Malan's Peak, which was about 6 miles, and fairly steep on the way up. SO much fun though, I wish I had time to go through all my sweet pictures, but this'll do.