OH HAPPY DAY!!!

This is how I feel right now...

Today I found my boards patient!

It may not be for another 5 months... but hey!

A girl's gotta celebrate!

Dallan's Mission

My little brother Dallan left about a week and a half ago on his mission to Tucson Arizona.

Yes it has taken me this long to blog about it, because honestly every time I sat down for longer than 2 seconds to think about him being gone I would just start tearing up. So how's a girl supposed to get through writing about it?

I'm so proud of him. He had a rough couple of days at first in the MTC, but through a lot of prayer (both on his part and from countless family members and friends) he has made it through the first week and has learned how to control some of the anxiety that creeps in. He will be such a good missionary because of his ability to relate to other people and make instant friends. People will see his smilin' eyes and just want to be near him!

As for me, I miss those smilin' eyes already...

Better stop now before I start tearing up again!

Anyway

You can spend your whole life building something from nothing

One storm can come and blow it all away.

Build it anyway.

You can chase a dream that seems so out of reach

And you know it might not ever come your way.

Dream it anyway.

God is great, but sometimes life ain't good.

And when I pray, it doesn't always turn out like I think it should.

But I do it anyway.

This world's gone crazy and it's hard to believe

That tomorrow will be better than today.

Believe it anyway.

You can love someone with all your heart for all the right reasons

And in a moment they can choose to walk away.

Love them anyway.

God is great, but sometimes life ain't good

And when I pray, it doesn't always turn out like I think it should

But I do it anyway.

I do it anyway.

You can pour your soul out singin' a song you believe in

That tomorrow they'll forget you ever sang.

Sing it anyway.

I sing.

I dream.

I love.

Anyway.

I do it anyway.

photo found here

Country Twang

Okay.. I told Bridger the other night that the latest American Idol Scotty McCreery looked exactly like the guy from the Mad Magazine. He asked how the heck I even knew what that was, but really I just remember this little character from a deck of cards my grandparents had at their ranch. We played with them all the time! Anyway- I was going to post two separate pictures to show you how strangely alike they look- but turns out I wasn't the only one who thought so! Comparisons of these two were all over the place!

Scotty has such a unique voice to American Idol with such a deep country twang. He really does have the perfect voice for country music. That being said, I can't help but think 'Scotty McCreepy' when I watch him perform. He holds the mic like some sort of flute and gets these crazy eyes goin' on when he sings an upbeat song, I can hardly stand to watch him. He tones it down a bit for the slower songs, but I just can't take him seriously- it looks so weird!

I was sad Lauren came in second. This girl has got some serious pipes! She's a little boring to watch but come on, she's 16 years old- give her some time to learn some stage presence. Below are some videos of my favorites- as well as a really beautiful version of I Told You So by both Lauren and Scotty. Country music was represented well in the Top 2 this year!

Content

It's crazy how many emotions a girl can go through in 24 hours..

I mean let's get real- last night I was an anxious mess thinking about what the new semester would bring. I was on the brink of tears all night, and the tears came flowin' when I watched a sad ending to a movie. There was no stopping them!

I went from waking up at about 9 or 10 for about 3 weeks to waking up at 5:30 this morning, went and cleaned the school before it started, and saw the familiar and happy faces of the girls I had missed so much while on break. It has happened after every break from hygiene school, but my anxiety was soon replaced with the knowledge that it has all worked out in the past and I have some pretty great people to help each other along the way. We are now seniors (YAY!) and as I saw the incoming class filter through the halls I couldn't help but be proud of how far I've come. When I was in their same position a year ago, I knew NOTHING about dental hygiene. Sure- brush your teeth twice a day and floss- what else is there to know? Holy moly- little did I know all I would learn. A year ago I hardly knew what a periodontal probe was, I couldn't identify the correct end of an instrument, and- oh yeah- remember when I almost fainted the first time we inserted a probe beneath the gum tissue? That was crazy. I really have come SO FAR and needed to acknowledge that today.

After an overly long nap (you know the kind where you wake up hot, groggy, disoriented and more tired than before?) when I returned from school, we got together with some friends in our apartment complex and ward for some family night s'mores. Four hours later Bridger and I trounced back to our apartment cold and wet but with the biggest smiles. We've met some really great and fun people while living here, many of which have become good friends and who I know I will really, really miss once we move away!

As I looked over at Bridger sleeping (thank you overly long nap for keeping me up at this hour), I realized that I feel completely different from even 24 hours ago. I feel so happy, blessed, and just completely content- I've got it pretty good!

Back to school, back to school...

Is my 3 week break from school really over? But I just got started!!!

The first two weeks of my spring break were spent in Idaho with the family. Bridger still had school and I knew I was more of a distraction than anything being at home. I mean think about it- he'd be gone all day, so by the time he'd come home I would be ready to party, only to be disappointed when he had finals to study for, presentations to prepare, and papers to write. So I did us both a favor and headed home!

What's a girl to do for 2 weeks without her hubby?

I slept in like crazy, played a little piano, read a couple books, watched McKay's tennis matches, got pedicures with my mom, did a little spring cleaning with her, saw some of my favorite people, went on several walks, took countless baths, and celebrated Easter with the family and a bunch of cute kids! I don't think I've been so relaxed in years!

Despite all the fun I had in Boise, I was missing the hubby... A LOT. We were talking about how hopefully Dallan's mission call would come on Thursday (the next day), because if not we would have to wait until Friday to come drive down to Utah. I knew I had neglected him for long enough when he said, "Then I'm going to start fasting NOW that it comes tomorrow!" Luckily for both of us it showed up in the mail Thursday afternoon and we headed to Utah as soon as McKay got out of school!

We were able to open Dallan's mission call that night at Brick Oven with lots of family. He is going to Tucson, Arizona and leaves June 29th! I'm so proud of him and can't believe he is assigned to leave so soon. He is going to school for the spring semester so we still get our weekly Modern Family/Office nights with some Ticket to Ride!

The weather is finally nice, so Bridger and I are taking full advantage of it. As mentioned in my previous post, we are on a co-ed softball league so Bridger has been making me practice hitting, throwing and catching. It's been nice to be outside in the sunshine! We had a double header on Friday, and while we lost our first game pretty bad we won the second by a long shot! I was so nervous, which was clearly manifest when I struck up my first time to bat (side note: since when do we only get 2 strikes? Worst rule in the rulebook I swear!) but I eventually got in the groove of things and had a few good hits!

Sadly, the break has come to an end and I'm faced with the anxiety that a new semester always brings for me. We are working on much harder patients these upcoming semesters and I'm having a hard time finding them. Wish me luck!!!

It's All In The Legs....

Did I ever mention that Bridger and I joined a co-ed softball team? And how scared I am to actually play? It really took some persuading on Bridger's part to get me to do it. I just knew the rest of the wives would probably be rockstars out there.

During the break between the Saturday General Conference sessions we invited two of the couples to go and practice our skills a little bit. A little hitting, catching and throwing. To my surprise the wives weren't as bad as we thought we would be, but I can still tell the husbands are getting nervous we won't know where to throw the ball.

We started practicing our throwing and I warned the others about the weaklings I have for arms. I explained how I took an Exercise Physiology class while I was at BYU and we had to do strength tests in our lab. I was feeling pretty dang confident after scoring in the 95th-ish percentile for leg strength, but was soon put back in my place when I was only in the 30- or 40-something percentile for arm strength. Yeah.... I told you they were weak!

Anyway, fast forward a few days to our ward activity playing Minute to Win It. The whole thing was such a riot! After the games we were just messing around and shooting some hoops. Bridger and our friend Nick were trying to help me with my shot because it's pretty sad! I was quick to remind them about my 30th percentile arm strength, to which Nick replied, "Just use your legs." My legs? Okay.

I lined up to the basket, threw the ball up in the air, and hit the ball of my knee.

AND INTO THE BASKET!!!

Apparently that isn't what he meant by using my legs, but it was pretty dang awesome if I do say so myself.

Speaking of legs, Bridger rolled his ankle while playing basketball late last night. Just in time for the first softball game on Friday (which I will not be at because I am going to BOISE!!) He went so long without hurting himself too. He's basically a cripple right now, limping around like an old man. Poor guy.