Sunday, June 5, 2011

Not too many words for tonight.
Settling in to a new city. Searching for a job. Adjusting to new things on every level. But, there are pretty neighborhoods to walk through and markets to explore.








(Eastern Market, Washington DC)

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Big things to come

It's a bitter sweet end. Exciting at the same time. There were tears shed and goodbyes said. But, there are so many adventures to come. NYC, DC, and Dallas - watch out! Here we come!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Not all who wander are lost

2011 has been quite a daunting year so far. Lots to think about, many decisions to be made, and still a lot to get through.
This weekend, we had our 2nd unexpected 3-day weekend in a row. The weekends are almost feeling too long now (dare I say that?). To do something different, last night Jamie and I had an art night. I discovered the way I approach art is how I approach so many things in life.
Once we had set up the canvases and pulled out the paint and brushes, Jamie thought for about 2 seconds before a brush hit that canvas. Meanwhile, I sipped on my wine while scouring etsy for inspiration, trying to decide "what I was feeling", and what I wanted my piece to say. Once I decided what I wanted, I made a sketch on paper first, then sketched on my canvas, picked out and mixed all the colors I thought I wanted. TOO MUCH PLANNING.
And the painting, oh the painting...dare I say it stressed me out? With every stroke I scrutinized if that is what I wanted it to look like. About ten times I repainted, and changed, and made new colors, and added, and took away.
And you know what?
Everything turned out alright. Maybe even great. I like the painting even more this morning.
So, I need to learn to enjoy the process more. Quit stressing about each and every detail (especially those I have no control over). Everything will turn out fine, and it will be even better if I can look back and tell stories of all the great things that helped me to "get there".

Wandering:

Friday, January 21, 2011

2-0-1-1



The year my passport expires....

The year of my favorite day 11-11-11 (!!!)......

The year I am set to graduate dental school (!!!!!!)......

The year I can no longer claim to be a "kid/student" because I need to get a job and start paying for things and having real responsibility ::freaking out::.....

I never thought it would arrive and here it is. So now what do I do? The anticipation and anxiety are so great that it's hard to get by day to day. At all times I've got butterflies in my stomach because a) I don't know how things are going to get worked out like school requirements/getting a job b) Things are often out of my hands and c) Life has the nerve to just keep on moving by without giving me a minute to stop and catch my breath.

People everywhere are getting jobs, getting married, getting pregnant, having babies and it's all so exciting but at the same time extremely overwhelming. How do you prepare for the moment that you've been waiting twenty years for?? It's like the sleepless night before a big trip or birthday party times a million. This is my super bowl.

So far I've been dealing by avoidance and day by day to do list. Send happy thoughts my way pretty please.

For now I leave you with a picture of my family. The ones who get me through and have been my stability and inspiration since 1984.


Monday, November 15, 2010

And another thing....

http://jezebel.com/5688773/kanye-wests-most-ridiculous-on+air-moments?skyline=true&s=i

Kanye West is a delusional idiot. And I can say that because I am a one-third owner of this blog. He has never proven himself to me, so I'll never understand why he's always saying how wonderful he is. Kanye West uses other (greater) artist's samples to talk over. He cons listeners into thinking he's rapping when he's actually just rhyming the same word with itself, putting an emphasis on the other syllable. I've had enough of his spoiled, childish rants. Can we say undeserving diva? The best thing Kanye ever did was put Dion from Clueless into his music video for "All Falls Down," but then again he probably didn't think of that himself anyway.

I've been listening to hip hop for a really long time and there are much better performers who let their music speak for them. I actually saw Kanye perform in Barcelona in 2006 and for an artist who claims to be changing the world with his words, there were probably about 5 Spaniards who even knew who he was. The highlight of that concert was the surprise Common cameo, as Kanye himself was completely uninspired and unengaged with the crowd, like a robot on repeat.

There's a lot of buzz about Kanye's new album, but I'll probably pass on Paranoid with a Peter Pan complex.

A little stress release....



So school, and my current life happenings, but mainly school, is stressing me out beyond belief. I wish not to include any of this negativity, or any school related events, here on our safe-haven blog. Just know this: your dentist has feelings too. And your dental student's feelings mostly consist of despair and anxiety with a glimmer of hope. And as a patient at the dental school, my life is entirely in your hands and you shouldn't have the authority to hold that kind of power.

As a way of coping, I tried a little exercise tonight to positively de-stress that did not involve crying or calling Mommy (she and dad called me so that doesn't quite count thankyouverymuch). ((I also ate some bread pudding, sue me)).

With help and advice from my classmate Mason, the ultimate camera/gadget photography guru, I made a decision to invest in a new heavy duty camera. I've always loved taking pictures, but have never had any formal training. To distract myself from my sorrows I put on some relaxing music and went around my apartment taking close up photographs of different colors and textures that helped me feel calm.













I think the sink water just may be my favorite. What do you do to de-stress? Here at PLSB we can use all the tips we can get. By the way, I know we've been MIA for about 5-6 months but hopefully we can take the time to get things on our website up and running again.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Election Night!



Anyone else watching the election coverage? Big stuff happening right now, and I have to admit that this is really only the second time I've been truly drawn to watching as the counts come in and analyzing how all the numbers will play out.
Why now?
In the last election I was really drawn to the history that was being made and how the nation pulled together to achieve something once thought impossible.
Now, it might be more selfish in the reason why I'm so interested. That, and I'm a lot more educated now, finally.

But first, as a quick aside. Did you just see this (whack) from Kentucky accept his new Senate seat?


From wikipedia.org
B and I are texting back and forth as we watch the election results coming in. One of the texts was that someone told him today that he looks like Rand Paul. Now, B has been told several times that he looks like Justin Timberlake; but I think its time this maybe budding politician moves up to being compared to one in the political world. Let's just hope he never says something like 'there are no rich, no middle class, and no poor in America'.

So, this election marks the beginning of what I'm calling in my head the start of "Real Life" planning. I will officially say that one of the few places we are considering after we both graduate in May is Washington DC (!), and the results of the election will affect B's job search. Not that the results are going to change my job search approach, but in my head I have been avoiding sending out CVs and cover letters with the excuse of 'I'll just wait until after the election'. Tomorrow "Real Life" will hit me and I will have no more excuses to not being able to answer the ever present (and starting to feel nagging) question "what are you doing next year?". Its pretty crazy how fast this last school year has already flown by and I know we will be all taking our licensure exam in May in just a few blinks.
Also, along these same lines - everyone send happy thoughts to Yasi tonight and tomorrow! She is among the early brave and is taking her Part II Board exams tomorrow and Thursday! Jamie and I, on the other hand, are waiting until December to tackle this huge exam. You will rock it Yasi!!

Happy election watching to everyone! And, bring on the "Real Life" challenges, because lets be honest - I can't wait!