Gnat In My Lipgloss

I've had to deal with migraines for many years now, but the one that accosted me last night beat them all. I was at my sister's when I realized that I was getting one, but it came on very slowly. We joked about how my niece's new toys, all of which created seizure-inducing flashing lights and bone chilling sounds, would make anyone have a migraine. It was all fun and games then, but before long I was seeing big yellow spots on her kitchen floor. Trust me, my sister doesn't use that color scheme! She kindly suggested that I should drive home before it got any worse, which was a very good idea. She gave me two Excedrin Migraine and sent me on my way. By the time I got home, I was in serious pain. Cody got home a few hours later and entered a completely blacked out house. I haven't really blogged a lot about my husband, but he really is a great guy. He was so sweet last night. When he realized how bad I hurt, he did everything in his power to help. I begged him not to turn on any lights and he went out of his way to avoid doing so. I laid on the couch with a dark towel over my eyes, to block out the hideous light of the moon (not even kidding). He sat down and offered to rub my neck, which is where most of my migraines stem from. I just cried as he took care of me. He filled up the bathtub for me so I could sit in the soothing hot water, and he got two towels for me because he knows that I like to put one behind my head to make me more comfortable. He actually led me by the hand (I still had to keep the towel over my eyes) into the bathroom and fixed everything with a minimum amount of light for me. While I was soaking in the tub he made the bed and brought all my pillows and blankets into our room. When he was done he turned out all the lights and closed the door so I couldn't hear any of the noise from the house. When I was done with my bath all I had to do was crawl into bed and try to go to sleep. He brought me anything I thought would help alleviate the pain. He really is a wonderful huband and I love him very much- even when he does mess with my vaporizer!

I had such a good day today! I have been planning for about two weeks to take down my Christmas tree today, but awesome me got it taken down last night (yes, the actual night of Christmas- sorry, I couldn't stand it anymore). So this morning I got to sleep in until I actually wanted to get out of bed, then I got up and took my time getting ready. After this I got to watch one of my favorite babies, Hunter. He had kinda a hard day, but we did alright. While I was watching him, one of my best friends, Ashley came over and hung out. Ashley moved to Columbia about a year ago and I've really missed having her around all the time. She used to live right across the hallway from me, so I got used to her being around. We got to sit and talk, with a few little baby interruptions, for about 3 hours. Jaimme, Hunter's mommy, came to pick him up and was able to stay for about an hour and talk too. We all had so much fun together, I wish we could do it again tomorrow! My poor little puppies, however, were not so happy. They got stuck outside for quite awhile while the baby was here. It was a nice, balmy day so they were fine, just a little disgruntled at being ignored for so long. All in all, I've just enjoyed today. Thank-you Lord for today!

My sister is one of the funniest people I know. I laugh more with her than with any other person. Maybe we have so much fun cause we are so alike, somehow we always manage to end up laughing with tears streaming down our faces. Tonight was no exception. We spent Christmas evening at our parents house and around nine o'clock we started home. Amber was giving me a ride, and before we left she took a moment to send a text. I look over to see what she's doing and she is sitting in the driver's seat with her sunglasses on when it is pitch black outside! I innocently ask if she knows she has them on and she just gets this shocked look on her face. Wow, this is my ride home tonight? We just cracked up laughing and couldn't stop. We finally get the car started and are on our way. We decide to stop at Sonic because little baby Anna is wanting a "banilla shake". Seriously, we drove three circles around Sonic before she finally stopped and ordered. We get our food and she starts to drive off- except her car is in park. After a moment of complete confusion (Why the hell is my car not going?) she realizes the problem. She promptly changes gears and pushes on the gas...and.... we go backwards. Again the look of confusion followed closely by complete irritation and disbelief. One more try and we're finally able to complete the drive home safely. Maybe you just had to be there...

Why is the personal property tax always due at Christmas time?
How can a ten pound dog be strong enough to jerk her head right out of my hands when the brush appears?
How can a house go from freezing cold to burning hot when you barely adjust the temperature?
How is it that I always manage to spill every uncovered drink within my reach?
Why are red and green THE colors of Christmas?
Why don't vegetables taste good?
Why can't I live off of bread and potatoes?
What possesses men to wipe their dirty, greesy hands on the whitest towel in the house?
Why can some people cook anything they want, while others can barely boil water?
How can my dog find and destroy the ONE kleenex that fell out of my pocket?
Shouldn't it be illegal for teachers to assign homework BEFORE the semester begins?
Why are commercials ten times louder than the show you are watching?
Why do men think scaring the living daylights out of women is funny?
Why does math have to be EVERYWHERE?
Why do we always look for the worst in each other?
Why can't the calender-makers find a better way to hang calenders than putting in a little hole that obviously will not last an entire year?
How is it that scientists can replace someone's heart, but they can't cure the common cold?

I am soooo proud of myself! I stayed home all day today, trying to kick this cold, and I got a little bored. So I decided to tackle some projects that I've been waiting for Cody to do. The shower head in our master bathroom has been messed up ever since we moved in here. It's one of those hand held ones that you can detach. I really like that kind, but this one was broken and wouldn't stay in place. It's kinda frustrating to have to dance around the shower trying to stay under the waterstream, especially on a cold day! Sooo, I bought a new shower head the other day and asked Cody to install it. Well, Cody works like 70 hours a week, and I, ummm, don't so much work. He hadn't gotten around to installing it, so I decided to try it myself. I had to use a new tool, some sort of wrench-like thing, but that's not what dad called it, to get the old shower head off. Once that was done I quickly put on the new one and nervously turned on the water. It came out in all the right places and none of the wrong ones! Score one for Stacey!

So, since my first project ended so well, I decided to try some more. I've been wanting some decor hung for quite some time, but this is not really my forte. For one thing, hanging these requires the use of a power drill. Now, for those of you who know me well you realize what dangers putting any power tool in my hands could cause. But I really wanted those hung. I got Cody's drill out, figured out how to use it and started hanging. My first piece of decor went very well. My second one worked out okay, but I hung it too high and had to try again (yes this did leave some large holes in my wall) my third project again went well. Everything was great until the fourth one. It was a little shelf that hung on the wall, and everything started just fine. In fact I got it hung and decorated it. About an hour later I heard a terrible crashing sound from that room. Fortunately nothing broke (except my wall) which is good cause I had put a plate my mom painted me on that shelf. I decided to stop with the new projects til Cody got home.

Though not all my projects worked out, I am still extremely proud on myself for trying something new today!

This blog may come across wrong, and I really don't intend for it to sound so negative, but I'm kinda ready for Christmas to be over now. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. I love the decorations, the presents, the candy and other good eats, but this year I'm just kinda done. I was so excited to get my Christmas tree, and we had fun decorating it together (it's okay Amber you can puke, I know that was a little too romantic for either of us) but now I can't wait to get that monstrosity out of my living room. I'm usually singing Christmas songs even after Christmas, but this year I'm not feelin' those so much. I need to lose some weight, so the wonderful food I usually plow into will make me feel guilty. Cody and I have to do two Christmases in one day, just like thanksgiving, and that makes it hard. He just works so much there is really no other option. Justin, Beth and Parker probably won't be at Christmas when Cody and I are there, so I won't be able to see Parker open his gifts. AND my brother isn't coming down this year! I don't know, it just doesn't really seem like Christmas this year. I am however, really excited for Anna to open her gifts from me and Cody- and I'm excited to see Cody open his gifts. So, don't misunderstand, I don't want to skip Christmas, just hurry it up and have it be over with :).

I am just a little grumpy today. There's no real reason behind this, except maybe the fact that I'm only one test away from being done with the semester and I'm tired of studying. OR, it could be the annoying bicycle with the lawn mower motor attached that keeps driving up and down my previously peaceful street. Either way, I just can't shake this "life sucks" mood I seem to be in. I think maybe I just feel ready to start our "real" life. The one where I'm done with school and we are in our own house and raising our family. Most times I'm able to wait patiently for all of that, but every once in a while I just get anxious. That anxiousness was brought on today because I found out someone I went to highschool with is pregnant again. She had the cutest picture of herself with her big belly on myspace, and it just made me want to be pregnant. I feel as though I've waited so long to start a family. I know that I've made the right choice to go back to school, I know we will benefit so much from the extra income I will be making, but I'm ready to be done already. Maybe I need to spend some extra time with Jaimme and Leslie and play with their babies to get my fix. I'm not sure if that will help, or just make me want one all the more! So, for the record, expect an announcement from me around June or July of 2010! ....see how far away that is...2010? seriously?

I want to apologize now to everyone for forgetting to title the blog about my stupid car. Apparently this is very big issue with some people and I just didn't realize how important titles were. So, I'm so so so sorry that I didn't title it. Its been requested of me to go ahead and retroactively title it so it's title will now be "Fun Times". So everyone please refer to this blog in the future as "Fun Times". I hope this has cleared everyone's mind of worry about titles or the lack thereof. ;)

Well, I think my face is broken. My sweet wonderful little niece accidentally hit me right on my nose with her cute little head. It totally was not her fault, and I'm not blaming her at all, but man it hurts. I'm pretty sure I might have blacked-out a little. All I know is my face hurts and I'm pretty sure I've suffered some sort of brain damage. Hopefully I won't have two black eyes tomorrow. :)

As I was driving to school today I discovered some surprising news about myself. I am still holding a grudge, that I thought I would have let go of several years ago. Ya know how you just kinda forget about stuff for awhile, but when you remember ALL the nasty things that happened, you suddenly are angry all over again? Now, I really have no idea why I was thinking about this incidence, after all it was several years ago, and has had no lasting affect on my life; however, one tiny memory pops up and BAM I'm completely pissed again. I was left feeling
competely abandoned and betrayed, and quite frankly I really could have ended up phyiscally hurt! I was very scared and close to tears. I had never been put in such a situation, and appartently I am still laying the blame elsewhere. Okay, I've had some complaints (Adam) that I never fully explain myself on my blogg... soooo, who am I holding such a ridiculous and long lasting grudge against? My old CAR!!!! This stupid car left me on the side of I-44 several years ago. I was on my way to meet the rest of my family in Lockwood when a car behind me started honking at me. They moved up next to me and started wildly pointing at the back of my car. About the same time I noticed that the interior of my car was FILLING WITH SMOKE! Terror quickly sets in and I immediately pull to the side of the road and jump out of my car. Now, here I am a young girl, all by herself with her car on FIRE at the side of a VERY busy interstate. Luckily I do have my phone on me, so I take it out to call my hero and savior, my dad. No answer! You've got to be freakin' kiddin' me! I leave a very tearful message requesting him to come to my aid (apparently forgetting to tell him where I'm at, opps). So I proceed to call every male I have ever come into contact with and NO ONE answers. About this time a semi pulls up behind me. At this point I'm just praying that I don't end up on the evening news. The trucker is missing several teeth and probably hasn't bathed in quite some time. He inquires about my situation, and I quickly inform him that my daddy is on his way. Finally the scary man drives away. Now I see a policeman pull up- finally someone to protect me while I find someone, anyone, to come rescue me. The policeman gets out of his car and asks if I'm okay. Trying to keep the tears at a minimum, I tell him that I think my dad will come-eventually. To my amazement, he says okay and gets into his kidnapper-repelant police car and drives away! I've just been abandoned by the law. Great. Just when I'm about to completely loose all my dignity, my phone rings- Adam is coming to save me! Now, Adam is actually my brother-in-law, but he's more like a second big brother to me, so needless to say I was very happy to know he was on his way. Unfortunately he was still like 30 minutes away. As I am waiting the cop comes back to check on me- kindof making up for leaving me earlier. He asks if I've reached anyone and tells me I can wait for Adam in his car. Reluctently I follow him to his car. Now, I generally think the police are very trustworthy people, but sitting in this car with a man I've never met before was a little disconcerting. We try to make small talk for awhile, but eventually silence is all that fills the void. Where is Adam??? Finally, I see his car in the distance. I was rescued! And now, many years later I am still whole-heartedly hating that stupid, jerk-face car! Maybe in a few more years I'll be over it. Maybe.

Well, this first semester of school has finally (well almost finally) ended! I only have three more finals to take! By next Tuesday I will have successfully finished the first semester of the Dental Hygiene program. Whew! This has probably been the hardest semester I've ever had. The work was hard, but the emotional aspect was definitely the hardest for me. I feel like I have learned so much about myself these last few months. I've learned that I can't do everything perfectly, and that that is ok. I've learned that I'm not nearly as strong as I thought I was and that I'm surrounded by people who are willing to be strong for me when I can't be. I've learned that I can make it through circumstances I thought were impossible. I've learned, truly learned, that God is taking care of me. Me, not just other people, not just the ones who are perfect and do everything the right way, but ME. This amazes me. Afterall, I'm definitely not "the perfect christian" like I should be. I am afraid of everything, I doubt myself, therefore I doubt God, and I have a long, long, way to go before I am truely trusting Him with my life. But I am learning. He is faithful and keeps His promises, even when we can't see how He is working in our lives.

So, because I feel like I may deserve a little break from all this learning I've been doing... (by the way did you know that getting Flouride treatments is one of the most important things we can do for our teeth? I learned that)... I'm going to have a good vacation and do lots of fun things! I have almost 4 weeks off from school and I'm planning to fill those weeks to the brim with fun. First I will be going to KC and seeing my grandma and hanging out with my brother and his girlfriend. Then when I get home, I going for a massage (thanks to all the people at Access)! Yes, you can all be jealous, 'cause it'll be wonderful. Then it'll be Christmas! After celebrating Christmas, I'm planning a trip to see one of my best friends who lives in Columbia, MO. I can't wait to see her new house! I also plan on spending lots and lots of time with my sister and niece and mom... so be ready guys! Hopefully I'll get to have a day with my sister-in-law and nephew too....you reading this Beth?? We need to hang out! And I already have a shopping day planned with my mother-in-law!

So, all in all, this should be a great 4 weeks for me before I have to get back to the grind of things. Somewhere in there I'll have to find SOME time to do a little homework, afterall we've already been assigned some from a professor I've never met! Seriously, these guys need to calm it down a bit! Anyway, if anyone gets bored, give me a call- I'll be ready to go!

Seriously, people, the drama is getting out of control! Last time I had checked, highschool was somewhere around (well the years aren't important) but many years ago! Can't we all just live together, happy in our medication induced euphoria? I mean I can share my xanax if some doesn't have any. I am just sooooooo tired of people trying to convince me that someone else is bad for this or that, wanting me to agree and throw in some badmouthing fun myself. I guess because this crazy gossip-party could describe all of my highschool years and many of my college years I am just tired of it. And there's a difference between needing to talk with a close friend about something that's upsetting you and just tearing into people you barely know! I need to come up with a new phrase that will stop people mid-tear, and let them know that I'm not interested. I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't react well to hearing "Get over yourself, you have way more problems than they do, and I don't give a crap what they've done to you." I don't know, now that I've said it maybe that would work. I'll let ya know....

I got the cutest pictures of my little nephew at Thanksgiving this year. He just looks so innocent. I don't have a lot of pictures of him, so I thought I would share these with you. We had a great time at Linda's. Melanie even played some football- brave woman! There was so much good food, I was stuffed by the time we headed home. My sister-in-law made a really good new dessert called dump cake...yum! The only thing missing was Melanie's mashed potatoes!

I don't have any huge dramas in my life right now, and I'm feeling rather emotionally stable (amazing I know) so I'm just gonna blog about all the little things I have caught my little pooches partaking of. Here goes...

fake plants... of any sort, shape or color
garlic bread, which was then hidden in the couch for later... don't ask
toilet paper- daisy's fav
chocolate chip cookies
halls cough drops
harry potter book- still feelin' that one
their own poop- yep, he's that gross
Daisy's poop- he doesn't even let it cool
flies- Wrigley's fav
dirt
grass
bird seed- they both loved this
tampons pulled from trash
Cody's freshly made grilled cheese sandwich- still snickering over that one
ice that falls out of fridge
hand lotion
and yes... Dad's favorite.... JUNE BUGS!!!

Well, I think my trial period with blogging is over. I officially love it. It is just an outlet for all my feelings, good or bad. I also LOVE reading all my responses from you guys. My little heart is just so happy when I see I have a new comment. I find myself wanting to comment back to the comments, but I don't have a way to do that :(. So keep talking to me guys, I really like reading them! I also find myself carrying my camera around more so that I can take pictures of my life to post them on my blog at a later date! Ha, I'm so pathetic. Oh well, as Amber always says, it is what it is!

So, I haven't had a whole lot to blog about lately. I'll just give you a general idea of my life right now...

We bought our first christmas tree this year, after almost 3 years of marriage! We finally have a place to put it too! Anyway, we don't have any lights for it yet, and all my decorations are packed away at my parents house for the time being, so we just have a huge bare tree in our living room. Yet it still makes me happy to see it.

I had a bad time at school yesterday. I had to switch out patients half way through because my patient had a cold sore and we can't work on them if they have anything contagious. This meant that I had to find a new patient (not easy to do) break down the entire chair and clean it (very time consuming) and then start all over again with my new patient. All in all, I had very little time to practice what I needed to practice and was very frustrated by the end. However, I did get a very reassuring email from our director letting me know that it wasn't my fault and that she would work extra with me next time. Her little pep talks always make me feel better. (no, it's not brown nosing either!)

Well, that's about all I have to say. I'm looking forward to the holidays and eating all that great food!

I've been a little sick lately, just an annoying cold. I just can't seem to kick it though. So I was getting ready for bed last night and I heard a little voice in my head, sounding remarkably like my mother's, urging me to use my vaporizer. Now, I'm pretty sure that my mom thinks vaporizers can cure cancer, so I went ahead and fixed it up just in case she's right. It was working perfectly, giving off the perfect amount of steam (the result of the perfect combination of salt and water my mother had fixed for me earlier that day) and creating a wonderful soft gurgling noise in the background. Perfect conditions for me to fall asleep. Which I almost did... then I heard (in the very far off world of wakefulness) the sound of water pouring into my vaporizer. I slowly opened my heavy eyes to see my very thoughtful husband messing with my very perfect vaporizer.
Now, vaporizers are like emergency breaks in cars... men have to adjust them whenever they are anywhere near them. Cody is no different. The perfectly working vaporizer was a allure he just couldn't resist tampering with. I knew the outcome of this tampering before he was even finished pouring in the first glass of unneeded water. This happens every year... he doesn't think it's producing enough steam so he adds way to much water, then he decides that didn't do the trick so he pours in enough salt to kill anything green within a ten mile radius. This apparently has the desired effect, for he then comes to bed. Here's the fun part... about ten minutes in the vaporizer starts spewing burning hot salt water everywhere accompanied by a loud gruesome fart-like noise that no one could possibly sleep through. I try anyway, knowing that the vaporizer is my only hope of getting through this night without coughing my head off. Cody has no such aspirations however, and innocently says, "I think I may have messed the vaporizer up." Really?? Nooo.... Well, because I know he was just trying to help me out I nicely say, "Yeah, I think maybe you did." To which he responds, "I was just trying to help you feel better, but I think it would have been better if I just left it alone, it's the thought that counts right?" Now what do I say to that? OF COURSE it would have been better if he had just left it alone, it was perfect! So, knowing he can't sleep with it that loud I tell him he can unplug it if he wants to. Self sacrifice in the works. To which he calmly responds... "you can just reach down and pull the plug." Okay. Fine. I reach down and try to decipher which is the right plug, pick one that seems right, and pull it out. My clock goes black. Sigh. I HATE having to reset clocks (this could be a whole other blog, seriously why can't the numbers just go backwards?). I finally get the right plug and the vaporizer goes silent. Finally, I can sleep.
Ten minutes later... my throat is so dry I can't swallow. I get up in the freezing cold house and get myself a nice big glass of orange juice (my dad's cure to cancer). Luckily we have just enough left to cure my dry throat. I drink about half and take the rest with me to the bedroom to drink later on in the night. While I'm up I notice that Cody has drifted off into a very peaceful sleep, uninterrupted by such things as sore throats and freezing houses, and I decided that maybe I could plug the vaporizer back in without waking him up, assuring me of that peaceful sleep. So I reach down and plug it in. No such luck, he immediately begins to wake up, due I'm sure to the gaseous noises emitting from the vaporizer. Sigh, fine I'll just leave it unplugged. I reach down and unplug the vaporizer AND.... knock over my glass of orange juice!!!! Seriously? Giving up all pretence of trying not to wake my slumbering, unsick husband, I turn on the overhead light to clean up the mess. Orange juice is EVERYWHERE. On my sheets, pillow, WALL, carpet and headboard. I go get a towel and sop up what I can, turn out the lights and lay back down in bed. No vaporizer, No more soothing OJ for my sore throat, a wet bed and a snoring husband. Yes, it is the thought that counts, but sometimes, I wish he wouldn't think about me so much.

Is it just inbred in the human race to have to have things complicated in order to feel as though they are "professional"? Does everything have to have at least two names (one of them completely unpronounceable) to be accepted as "scientific"? I mean really people, does it matter whether I have one space or two spaces after each sentence? Do teachers really sit there and evaluate each and every little space! Okay, the source of all these questions? The two page paper I was assigned that should have only taken about 30 minutes to write, but instead took almost 3 hours because I had to have each journal/book/manual cited exactly in the right way, each tab scrutinized to be sure it was the right measurement and each frickin "parenthetical citation" (please note the extreme sarcasm here) in the appropriate place with the appropriate names and dates. Really, who freakin cares! I've always said that there is someone, somewhere, that has way to much time on their hands that just sits around making up stupid rules that the rest of the world has to follow.
Some other examples of his ridiculous rule making include: not being able to use calculators on math tests (I mean really, let's make sure we're in the right century here folks!) not being able to park in those yellow striped lanes in the wal-mart parking lot, really how often are those used and they take up a lot of useable space!, how about having to have the receipt to return a product that actually has the store label written on it! I could go on and on, but I'm actually getting myself all riled up listing them. Anyway, let's just try to simplify things from now on, okay?

I got a phone call from a really good friend tonight who is going through a really hard time right now. She had had a hard day and was upset and crying and just needed to talk. I was happy to listen to her, afterall, she has been there for me so many times before. As we talked my heart just ached for her. She's in a situation that I have no power over. I can't snap my fingers and make it all go away, I can't really give her what she needs to truly be comforted. As a friend, I want to be the fixer. I want to walk through the problem with you and talk about how it can be made better and then smile and laugh when it's all over. But what do you do when that's not possible? When all you can do is hold them while they cry? When you know the silence on the other side of the line is your friend trying so hard to hold it all together. Trying to talk through her tears. That just tears me up inside. That helpless feeling you get when you know you're not enough. I can tell her that I'm here for her, that she can call me anytime, but I know I'm not the one she needs most right now. How do you help when all you can do is cry with them?

I am so excited because one of my very favorite holidays is coming up...Thanksgiving! I know, most people think Christmas is the best, and I admit, it is good...but Thanksgiving has always been my favorite. It's not the food so much (though I do love me some good ole Grandma Sue pecan pie minus the pecans!) It's just getting together with family and having the whole day to be together. We start early with the cooking, okay, watching Mom cook; this is the best time cause all the "girls" stay in the kitchen and the boys have to leave :) We get some really good girl talk here. Then me and my sister usually pitch in and set the table up with all the yummy food, this is usually our one contribution to the meal that wasn't bought somewhere else. We can always hear the boys in the living room talking about things boys talk about...computers, sports, computers. By this time, I'm starving but we have to wait for the broccoli cheese casserole to get done (my sister's favorite...urgh). Finally we get to sit done and eat! Dad and Amber always joke about who gets the most of Dennise's rolls. And Cody and I load up on mashed potatoes. After dinner it's finally time for dessert! This is the hard part... finding the delicate balance of exactly how much of each "favorite" dessert you can stuff in your mouth before you get to full to eat anymore. I always start with the chocolate pie, but I make sure I get that pecan in there too, and if there's room later I may try some pumpkin. Grandma always scolds me for taking the pecans off the pie, but we both know she's secretly glad because she always eats them off my plate. I have so many memories of wonderful times on this one day of the year. I am looking forward to making new ones with Cody's family too. Yah, Thanksgiving is by far the best holiday there is!

I know I actually chose to go back to school and I knew what I was getting into, blah, blah, blah... but ya know what? I'm tired of studying! I know I shouldn't complain, I'm still soooo thankful I was accepted into this program, and again, I chose to do this BUT I'm tired of studying! Okay, now that that's out... I really do love this program! I got the opportunity to go to Sparta recently and work with some low income kids, and I LOVED it. I never thought I would want to work with kids (ya know, small mouths, big attitudes) and especially not low income kids who probably haven't bathed in quite awhile, whose parents don't care enough to teach them any hygiene, oral or other, but, this trip changed all that. These little kids look up at you like you KNOW things, like you have all the answers.... yikes! I just loved teaching them how to improve their lives. We put a floride varnish on their teeth and at the end of the day you knew you actually made a difference in their little lives. You're probably thinking, yeah, okay kids have pretty good teeth, they go see the dentist all the time etc.... But not these kids. I saw children who actually made me cry. Some of these kids had half their teeth just gone, and not because they were losing their baby teeth, but because they just rotted out of their mouth. Some had teeth that were only half there, the other half nowhere to be found. One child wouldn't open her mouth because her teeth caused her so much pain. So, yeah at the end of the day we KNEW we had made a difference. I loved it, I want to work with these kids! I want to see those innocent little eyes looking up at me, trusting me when I say I won't hurt them, believing me even through their obvious fear... depending on ME. Wow, what an amazing feeling!

Well, here we go. I'm trying this out with no commitments- don't judge me if I am an absentee blogger sometimes. I'm crazy busy at times, and I might forget. I've thought about doing this for awhile now, but I have had my doubts. I don't have a lot of time to donate to this, I'm not sure anyone actually wants to peek into my crazy brain, I don't know if I have enough to say to have my very own blogspot. Then I realized - I need another reason to not study (I've about used up all my old ideas), a peek into my brain might make others feel better about themselves, and I ALWAYS have something to say. I can't promise these blogs will always be funny or entertaining, I can't promise I won't get too mushy or that I won't spell things wrong. Sometimes I get up on my soapbox, sometimes I say too much- but in all my faults, you will always find me at the heart of my blogs. Feel free to comment back- It makes me feel great to see people actually read what I write! Hope you enjoy!