Heartbeat!

Today we had our second doctor's appointment and we got to hear the baby's heartbeat! Very fast - whump, whump, whump, whump... :) I forgot to ask the doctor what the rate was so we could guess the gender of the baby. Next time I'll ask! In two more appointments we'll have the ultrasound to determine whether we are having a boy or a girl- pretty exciting! Aaron and I will have a hard time not going overboard once we do find out what we're having!
Anyway, two more days of school and then it's Christmas break. I'm so excited for a break! Can't wait!!!!

12.5 and counting...

According to one of my books, this week the baby is the size of a little lime! When I look at my stomach, I can't imagine a lime in there. I'm starting to get a firm bit of pudge on my stomach, but I bet it will be awhile till I start to show enough for people to notice. I'm still fighting the queasiness, although some days are better than others. I'm hoping that it will start to go away soon though! Tomorrow we have our second doctor's appointment, and hopefully we will get to hear the heartbeat with the Doppler.
Today I had my two finals for my 1st semester classes. The first one was fairly difficult, but I'm sure I at least passed. :) The second was actually open book, so it was pretty easy. It would be pretty terrible if I don't get an A on that final! :) When I left school today, it was snowing - we've probably accumulated 2-3 inches so far and it's really light and powdery. I shoveled our sidewalk and driveway, which was probably in vain since it's still snowing, but at least if we have to do it again, there is less to shovel!
Anyway, three days left in clinic and then it's Christmas vacation!!! Maybe then I'll find the time and motivation to clean my house... :)

Chewie is picking up the slack...

So tonight Aaron and I were watching TV in the living room, and out of nowhere, Chewie comes in with the hand broom in his mouth! Apparently Chewie is sick and tired of our house being a pit, and he knows Mommy is not her usual pick-up-on-the-weekend self so he took it upon himself to do a little housework! :) What a good dog... I wonder if I could get him to clean the toilets too??? Poor Chewie got a little miffed when I had to take the hand broom away... Now he's licking the carpet. Okay, I get the hint - time to sweep the living room!

10.5 weeks and counting...

So according to one of my prego books, the babe is close the size of a strawberry right now. Cool! It's amazing how fast they grow - just 8 weeks ago the baby was the size of a poppyseed and did not even look remotely like a human! I am counting down the weeks till the second trimester - I am really ready to be done with the queasiness! Plus, I know I will eventually be pining to be the size I am now, but the grass is always greener... :) It'll be a nice to have a bump to remind me that there really is a baby growing and I'm not just feeling sick for nothing!
Anyways, Thanksgiving break was great but it felt too short! It was nice to catch up with the fam and we did have a lot of fun making tons of cookies! For pics of that, check out Ellen's blog. I'm looking forward to Christmas break - two and a half weeks away!

First time to see the baby!

Today we had our first appointment with the doctor, and our official due date is June 28, 2009! We are pretty much right on track with where I thought we are at - today I am 9 weeks and 3 days along. The doctor did a "mini ultrasound" today just to confirm how far along we are and to check out the baby. This kind of ultrasound doesn't print pictures or anything like that, but we did get to see the baby's heart beating! Very exciting! The rest of the appointment was pretty normal - lots of paperwork to fill out, bloodwork, etc. I really like my doctor - she talks pretty fast but she seems fairly laid back.
Anyway, the last few days I felt pretty horrible, but today I felt a little better (probably because it's the day of my appointment!). I can't wait to get past the nausea!!! Maybe just a few weeks more...
Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

GO HAWKS!!!

I'm watching the Hawkeye game right now, and we are just demoralizing Minnesota! And, Shonn Greene just beat Tavian Banks single-season rushing record! I'm glad I'm not a Gopher fan today! :)
The puppies are really cute right now - Reuben keeps curling up right next to Chewie or he even lays his head on Chewie. I think he's trying to tell us to turn the heat up! :)
Anyway, I felt pretty good this morning, but the longer I'm awake today, the worse I'm feeling. I think right now how I'm feeling is really related to how tired I am. I didn't sleep in a ton today - I woke up around 7 and dozed for a little while after that. That's still sleeping in, and I did go to bed fairly early last night - who am I kidding, I go to bed early every night! (at least lately... :) ) I think I'm going to go to bed after the Hawkeyes finish steam-rolling Minnesota.
Just a few more days till our first OB appointment! And, just after that is Thanksgiving! Hurray!

A good day...

Today has been a pretty good day - probably the best I've felt in awhile! I was still a little sick this morning, but this afternoon and evening I've felt pretty good! I even felt like I could eat anything at all, which is really rare!
A week from tomorrow is our first doctor's appointment, and I'm counting down the days!!! I know that it's not going to change anything since I already have a good idea of my due date, but it just seems so official... And it's just one more step on the way to getting to meet this baby!
So I was at Target yesterday shopping for one of my friend's wedding showers, and on a whim I decided to try on a pair of maternity jeans (I have to admit my next-size-up jeans are getting a little snug!). Anyways, I don't know what pregnant woman would want SKINNY LEG jeans!?!?! But the only style they had were that style, and even when I tried on a few sizes bigger than what I used to wear, they were still really tight! It was kind of a depressing trip, because honestly I didn't think I had gained very much weight so far! I'm optimistic that other stores will carry other styles - I'm think something more like a relaxed fit is going to be the way to go! :) I don't need the maternity pants yet, but I'm thinking in a few weeks it might be more comfortable! Maybe by Christmas break I'll be needing them - I don't think the jeans I have now would be very comfy for a plane ride to Phoenix!
Anyway, I have two tests tomorrow, but both for classes that are kind of "fluff" classes. I should probably get on with my studying... Hope you all have a great week!

Fun stuff!!!

I got a package from UPS today, and this was inside! Aren't they cute??? They clip on the stroller or car seat so that they can't be thrown out by the baby! Thanks Ellen and Jim! It's a fun reminder that there is an end in sight to this pregnancy business, and it will be worth it in the end!
Honestly, this first trimester so far has been so different than I imagined it would be. I had no idea how tired I would be, and how sick I would be! There are all kinds of smells that really get to me - it's funny some of the things that really set me off. When I was in the Oral surgery rotation, the plastic that the suction tubing came in smelled so bad to me, and when I open the fridge and there's leftover pizza or something like that, it's pretty bad too! Last night we went to Old Chicago with my classmate and her husband, and nothing really sounded good to me except chocolate milk! Then all of the food came, and that just about did me in - my nose is so hypersensitive now! I bought a book about morning sickness, and I really like it. It's very encouraging and doesn't just say "eat crackers in the morning" or "just deal with it - it will go away in a few weeks." I'm starting to figure out what foods always sit well with me - they are usually pretty bland! :) Today has been pretty decent as far as the past few weeks have been - maybe as I get the food stuff figured out, the queasiness will be a lot more manageable!
Anyway, it's less than two weeks till my first doctor's appointment - it'll be the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Hopefully we get to hear the heartbeat!

Fall table

I'm a little late in posting this, but better late than never! Aaron gave me flowers for my birthday, and he coordinated them to go with my fall decorations on my kitchen table! I thought he did a good job!

Good day...

Today has been a pretty good day! This morning I slept in really late, then Aaron brought me breakfast in bed, then I stayed in bed until 1pm watching TV! It was wonderful! :) Then my friend Mary called me, and she came over a little bit later to watch the Hawkeye game. (Aaron started his new position at work today, so he had to be there at two this afternoon.) So we really expected the Hawks to lose the game today, so when we kicked the winning field goal with ONE SECOND LEFT!!!! we went crazy! Anyways, we met up with some other friends downtown later, and then we went to another friend's apartment later - it really felt like I was back in undergrad, but I feel old! I've been going to bed a lot earlier lately because I've been exhausted - I guess sleeping in as much as I did today has to count for something!
Well, I think I'm going to get ready for bed. Hopefully Aaron will be home from work soon!

Rachael - hope you are feeling better!!! We are praying for you!

queasy queasy...

Well, I haven't been feeling the best these past few days. I'm certainly convinced now that I'm pregant! :) Last night I gave Aaron a list of things to get from the grocery store that I thought sounded good. I've read that ginger is good for settling down queasy stomachs, so I had him get some ginger snaps and some ginger tea so I could try that. I also had him get some Honey Nut Cheerios, Cheeze Its, apples, and cottage cheese - tonight, none of it sounds that great! Truthfully, nothing sounds that great.
I can't complain, it does come and go - right now I'm doing better than earlier today.

I voted today - I'll be interested to see how the election pans out. I'm not even going to watch the election coverage on TV though because I think it's really annoying. All they are going on are exit polls and maybe some incomplete results... The next few days will be more interesting to watch!

Hope you all are doing well!

Hurray for breakfast...

The past few days I've been a little queasier than before, and it's funny how it does seem to peak right around the time I get up in the morning. My pregnancy book says it's because I have an empty stomach, and I believe it! You can ask Aaron - I'm probably the crankiest right after school when I'm STARVING! and I don't feel very good when I'm getting ready in the morning for school (I can't say I'm cranky then because Aaron is already gone to work, so I don't have anyone to be cranky with! :) ). But once I eat breakfast I do a lot better. It comes and goes.
Anyway, this morning I made pancakes and now I feel a lot better! Chewie and Reuben always like it when I make pancakes because they usually get the leftovers or the ones that are a little dark. It's too hard to make up batter for only one person, because you can't cut an egg in half! :)
Well, I'm going to try to be more productive today than I was yesterday. Our house is pretty much a disaster right now and I need to do laundry... Hope you all have enjoyed your extra hour of sleep!

Exciting news!!!

We're pregnant! So this obviously isn't the pregnancy test, but I thought it got the point across! We are about six weeks along, so it's still pretty early. It was too hard to keep it a secret! I haven't been to the doctor yet - my appointment is in about three weeks, so that's when we'll get the "official" due date. My guess is the end of June/beginning of July, which is right when I'll be finishing up my third year of school. Good timing! :) We're excited!

long time no update!

I realized I haven't updated my blog since very early in my Oral Surgery block, and I'm already halfway through it! Life has been busy lately, as cliche as that sounds. I've started an IV in oral surgery, and I'm scheduled for another on Friday. It's good to know how to do it, but I don't think I'll be doing IV sedation out in practice - it's a really big liability, and I think the cases that require that much sedation are better referred! But, it's fun to do it now in school.
I felt like a big dope at school today though, because I couldn't find the right codes to put into the computer today for some of the patient appointments, and then I accidently put in the wrong code for a patient today and I had to have the faculty approve the change... Ugh... The computer can be really annoying. I feel like I'm doing okay clinically, but there is always so much paperwork - even more than when we are in practice because there are eval's we have to have people fill out, and it's easy to forget to have the instructors fill them out. My mind is elsewhere lately... :)
Anyways, hope everything is going well with all of you!

Almost one week down...

It's Thursday night and I'm pooped! This is the first week of my Oral Surgery rotation, and I've been on hospital assignment for the last two days. Yesterday and today I had to be at the hospital at 6:30 am for rounds, and I have to be there again tomorrow morning for rounds. That's early! Yesterday I was there till 5pm and today I was there till almost 6pm. I've gotten to observe alot and assist some too - today I scrubbed in on our afternoon surgery which was pretty cool but tiring! On Tuesday I saw my first oral surg. patient - I was scheduled for a pt. with 5 teeth that needed to be pulled but he rescheduled, so I was reassigned an emergency case that came in. That pt. had a swelling and a broken down tooth, so I just pulled that tooth. It went really well and I learned a lot. I'll be a lot more confident this next week when I see more patients.
Anyway, I am happy to be home for the evening! I have some pictures from the I-MOM weekend I want to post, but I can't find the camera cord right now...
Hope you have a great weekend!

One block down!

So today I finished my Oral Diagnosis and Radiology rotation! I took my radiology final this morning, and then we had the rest of the day to finish up our requirements (which I luckily got done yesterday so I had the rest of the day off!). There were out of state interviews today for dental school applicants, so I volunteered to give a couple tours around the dental school. It was a lot of fun - they had a lot of good questions to ask, and they made me feel old! I've really enjoyed dental school so far, so I hope they all left with a feeling that it isn't too horrible! :)

Tonight I"m heading up to Cedar Falls to spend the night before I-MOM tomorrow - should be a busy day!

Weekend in Atlanta!

This is the view from our hotel room downtown Atlanta. We flew down last Friday evening with Aaron's parents and met up with his sister there. On Saturday, we went to see Les Miserables at the Fox theater which was really cool!!



We had a lot of fun in Atlanta and we would love to go back sometime to see more of the city! We got back on Sunday and got caught up for the week. This week has been pretty crazy busy for me - I had a Pathology test today and on Friday I have a Radiology test. This weekend I'll be heading up to Waterloo for Iowa Mission of Mercy, a weekend of free dental care donated by Iowa dentists, hygienists, assistants, dental students, lab techs, etc. This is the first year that Iowa has done this, and I think it's pretty cool! My dad and I went to Texas the spring of my undergrad freshman year for TMOM and that was a really cool experience. I think that's what really cemented what I wanted to do in life, and it was inspiring to see so many people helping out people who really need the help. This weekend I get to practice in the capacity that I work in the dental school, so I will get to do drilling and filling, shots, etc. when I'm there. I'm very excited for the weekend! I'll try to post some pictures after the weekend.
Anyway, it's bedtime and I'm sleepy! Good-night all have a great rest of the week!

What I've been up to lately...

This is from Labor day weekend - Aaron and I spent some of the weekend with my family in Guttenberg. It was really great to see them all since we don't get to see them as often as we would like. I like Alex's "smile" in this picture. :)

I love this picture! Aren't they cute - definitely full of mischief! :)

One of Aaron's good friends got married last weekend and he was an usher in the wedding. The couple spent the night at the Marriott where Aaron works, so we decorated their hotel room. I made these chocolate covered strawberries, put together a little gift basked with snacks, and Aaron bought some champagne to put in there too. Add some rose petals, and voila!!!


I've been working on crocheting a baby blanket for my friend Mandie who is due October 6th. Here's the finished blanket - it ended up a lot bigger than I thought it would be, but atleast her baby can grow into it! :)

I went to a baby shower for her today - she is one of my dental school classmates, so about 30 of the girls in my class came for her baby shower. One of the girls in my class made this cake- we got a kick out of it!

She got a lot of cute stuff, and we had a very good time. Good luck, Mandie!

Back to school!

I have been back to school officially for five days now - we started back last Thursday and Friday with Orientation and then Monday I started my rotation in Oral Diagnosis, Radiology, and Pathology. I think this is a really great rotation to start out in because I am getting to learn the ins and outs of the new computer system (we just switched to paperless records this summer). No drilling and filling for these five weeks - I am doing comprehensive exams and treatment planning in Oral Diagnosis, I'll be following a Pathologist for part of the rotation, then I am in Radiology for the rest of the time making radiographs and writing up reports. Yesterday I had my first patient in Oral Diagnosis and tomorrow I have two more. Today I was in Radiology all day and learned a lot - I made radiographs for three patients. I am learning so much already! There is still such a learning curve in dental school, but it's alot of fun to see all of the knowledge we already have being put into use. My next rotation is in Oral Surgery - I don't think there is any way to really practice pulling a tooth until you actually do it, so that will be quite the experience the first time I do it! I'll let you all know how that goes. :)
Anyway, it's going to be a busy year - hopefully Aaron won't forget what I look like! :)

Trip pics

Aaron and I at the airport before the trip - you have no idea how hard it is to get him to pose for a picture!



At the East Beach Grill where we ate breakfast - I had wheat germ pancakes there!



Rachael and I at Stearn's Wharf



Aaron and Rachael at the wharf



At the beach by Rachael and Justin's apartment



Sanford Winery north of Santa Barbara



Beautiful vineyards by the Sanford winery - gorgeous!



Joann cutting my hair



Something's Fishy - good sushi!



Outside the MGM Grand - we stayed in the MGM Signature Suites which are attached to the MGM Grand



By a Picasso at the Picasso restaurant in Bellagio

Mid-trip update sans photos...

Today is our last day in Santa Barbara - time flies! We have had a fantastic time here and we have done lots of things. I will post some pictures once we get home - I don't have the transfer cord with me right now. Anyway, Rachael and Justin have been wonderful hosts - they picked us up from the Santa Maria airport on Friday evening and drove us into Santa Barbara for some late dinner at the Brew House. On Saturday they gave us a tour of Santa Barbara, beginning with breakfast at a cafe on the beach (who knew wheat germ pancakes could be so good???), a trolley ride to Stearn's Wharf, the farmer's market, and a tour of State Street. In the evening we went to Bouchon, a French restaurant which is hidden away behind bushes so you'd never know it was a restaurant when you walk by it on the street! Very good food, good ambiance. Saturday evening we went over to David and Joann's house (friends of Rachael and Justin) to hang out on their patio - they are really nice! On a side note, the weather here is lovely - pretty much moderate all the time. On Sunday we went to a movie (do not see Stepbrothers even if someone will pay you to go... :)), then went to church, then to Palapa for very good Mexican food and margaritas. Monday evening we met up with David and Joann again for happy hour at the Hollister brew house, then we went over to their house again for stuffed peppers (very tasty :) ). Tuesday, Aaron and I drove around to four different wineries/vineyards to do wine tastings. It was beautiful driving - we headed up on highway 101 which is right by the ocean and next to the mountains - beautiful! We went to the Firestone Vineyard (all of you Bachelor fans may recognize the name), the Roblar winery, the Sunstone winery, and the Sanford winery. They are near different small towns, so it was fun to drive through all of them - some are quite tourist-y, like Solvang that has windmills and Dutch architecture. The great thing about the wine tasting is that you pay $10 and get to taste 6-8 different wines, then you get to keep the wine glass! Anyway, Tuesday evening we had Indian food at the All India Cafe - some of the best we've had. Excellent naan! Then we hung out with Rachael and Justin - played some Phase 10 (we've played a lot of Phase 10 this trip! :) ) and opened one of the bottles of wine we got at Sunstone. Today Aaron, Justin, and I went to Cajun Kitchen for breakfast (more wheat germ pancakes - different than the other cafe, not quite as good but still tasty). I got my hair cut this morning by Joann - you'll have to wait for pictures, but it's short! :) I like it alot, but I don't recognize myself yet in the mirror. We met up with Rachael for lunch at Something's fishy, a sushi bar. Really good spicy yellowfin roll and at half price! Nice! :)
So that is the trip so far - I am waiting for the laundry to get done so I can finish packing. Tonight we go back to Vegas - it's kind of weird to leave Santa Barbara and yet not be going home. Hope you are all having a good week!

Leavin' on a jet plane...

Aaron and I are leaving very soon to go to Las Vegas and then Santa Barbara!!! We are so excited!!! Our flight leaves tonight at 8:30 for Las Vegas - we are very excited to fly into the city at night to see the city lights. I'm not sure if I'll be able to update along the way, but we'll see!

Girls day

Yesterday my mom and grandma came down to Iowa City for a girls day. We went shopping - found some great deals for Grandma :). We had lunch at Quinton's, which is where this picture is at. I think it was a hit. :) Later in the evening we met up with Aaron, my dad, and Tyler at Biaggi's in Cedar Rapids (which took forever to get seated, but they comped us appetizers to make up for it!). It was a very good day!

Happy Birthday Rachael!!!

Tomorrow (Monday) is my sister-in-law's birthday - Happy Birthday Rachael!!! Hope you have a fantastic birthday and we are so excited to see you on Friday!!!

I'm still alive :)

I haven't blogged in awhile, I know. Here are a few updates for what has been going on with us lately. I painted the living room and kitchen recently with the help of my mother-in-law, and now it is "Lime Granita" - light green. :) I really like how it turned out. The living room used to be a golden yellow color which I never really loved even though I picked it out! Sometimes paint just doesn't quite turn out how you pictured it in your head. So after two years of living with the yellow, I am much happier with the green. I think it brightens up the room and makes it feel bigger. The kitchen used to be red (it was a bear to paint - it took three to four coats to keep it from looking magenta!) and I loved the red. However, with the oak cabinets and the 80's floors it made it feel kind of old, and again it made it feel darker and smaller. The green makes the kitchen feel really big, which was the first impression we had when we looked at this house to begin with. I think it was one of the major selling points for us! So I am happy how it has turned out. Now I need to look into some curtains for both the living room and kitchen... darn. :)



On a different note, Aaron's sister Rachael and her husband Justin came back to visit this past weekend.


They came back to Iowa City for five days, and then they are off to Davenport to see Justin's sister's new baby boy. While they were here we celebrated Rachael's birthday and I made her birthday cake - red velvet cake with pecan coconut cream cheese frosting. The cake was from my Grandma Trunnell's recipe, and the frosting was a Paula Dean recipe and I think they went well together. I told Aaron I may have missed my calling in life since I really like to bake things! (I could never make it as a baker - they get up way too early!) Here is the birthday cake...


I also made the cake with the traditional frosting too. I have to say, after trying both it is hard to decide which is better. I think it depends on what you are in the mood for.


Anyway, I had to throw in some pictures of Aaron and his dad making the pizza we had for Rachael's birthday dinner. It was really good! Pizza margarita (maybe that's not how you spell it) with homemade tomato sauce, homemade pizza dough, fresh mozzerella, and fresh basil (from the planter on my deck :) - it's ridiculous how much that little basil plant has grown!).



Well, it has been a good summer so far - I'm excited that I still have a few weeks left before I have to go back to school. We'll be heading out to California in August to see Rachael and Justin, and then we'll spend a few days in Vegas after that. We're excited for that! Hope you all are having a good summer!

busy night!

Tonight I worked at Redhead, waiting tables. We were super busy at one point tonight - the restaurant was almost full and I was working on my own tonight! Kim, the owner/chef had to help me run drinks and get orders in, and one of the regulars wrote up her own ticket so I didn't have to take their order! It wasn't too crazy except for that one point in time because about 5 different tables came in within about 10 minutes of each other! When people come in, I have to get their drink orders, get drinks, go through the specials, get their meal orders, and put those in to the kitchen all within about the first 10 minutes they are there. So that's where it tends to get backed up... :) However, with all the chaos, I doubled my normal Tuesday night tips so I can't complain!
I think I'm starting to get better which is good. My voice is coming back and I felt fine at work tonight. So yay. :)
Hope you all are having a great week!

Aaron's Birthday...

So I have never put any video on the blog so this is a test run... Happy Birthday Aaron!

Fourth of July weekend

Aaron and I had a good fourth of July weekend - we went to Guttenberg and saw most of my family (except my sister and her family who were off exploring South Dakota I believe?). It was not exactly how I would have wanted to spend the fourth, though, because I was sick! July 3rd I woke up with a bad headache and just felt miserable. Then, that evening I felt warm so I took my temp and it was 99.8 or something like that. On a whim I decided to check it a again, and it was 100.1. Uh oh! So I kept checking it and it went all the way up to 101 - while I was taking 800 mg of ibuprofen! Not good... The day of the fourth Aaron and I worked - he at the Marriott and I at Redhead, waiting tables. I made some good money, but then I was pooped out! We stopped at Wal-mart before we headed out of town, and I bought a new camera (the dogs basically ruined the old one). I'm a big fan of Kodak - they are so easy to use, they take nice pictures, and when you push the button to take the pictures, there is very little delay. So our new camera is the Kodak Easyshare M763, and I hope I like it as much as our old Kodak camera. Anyways, this is good news for you, my fellow blog readers, because now I have pictures to post to break up the monotony of words. :)

This is sick Megan, but the proud wife who made "dirt dessert" for her husband's birthday (we celebrated it early this past weekend with my fam). In hindsight, 6 packages of instant pudding should have raised red flags as to the amount of "dirt dessert" that it would make, but really, can you ever have too much dessert???

This is happy Aaron, very excited that his sick wife actually made dirt dessert for his birthday. :)

Aaron asked for a Honda VTX 1300 motorcycle many times for his birthday this year - somehow that doesn't quite fit in the birthday budget, but I think Mom and Dad had the right idea here... :) Someday, babe...

I have never seen a kid enjoy sweet things as much as my nephew Conner! As we were getting ready to sing happy birthday and then dish out the dessert, he would pull out a gummy worm and eat it, then another one. His brother Kyle didn't want anything to do with the gummy worms, but Conner said,"I like those worms!"

This is Conner eyeing the rest of the family getting dessert... Are they getting something I don't have??? I thought this was such a cute face.

Grandma says I need to get home more to see her. She's probably right. :) I think she is feeling much better because she was up and around all the time, doing dishes, folding laundry, playing with the kids. This is a good picture of her.
Anyways, it was a good weekend, and I did alot of sleeping and laying low to try to get rid of this bug. It drove me crazy all weekend because I lost my voice on the way to Guttenberg on Friday night, and I still don't have it back yet! (probably because I keep on talking :) ) Today is good for my voice because I'm home alone while Aaron's at work - the only ones I can talk to are Chewie and Reuben, and right now they are both napping. Speaking of Reuben and Chewie...

We've been driving all of our long trips in the car since the gas got to be about $4 a gallon, so Reuben has adapted to life in the back of the car (the seats fold down and open up to the trunk). His new favorite place to nap is in the trunk! He is a good car dog. Chewie, on the other hand...

not such a good car dog. He fights going to sleep - this is proof of that! I think he is worried he will miss out on something if he goes to sleep in the car.
Well, that was our weekend! This weekend is officially Aaron's birthday, so we'll have to see what I can come up with to surprise him a little. He always figures out what he's getting for his birthday, so I'll have to be tricky! :)
Hope you all have a good week!

It's officially summer!

Well, atleast that's how it feels. I'm sweaty right now because I went for a run this morning and then when I got home, Chewie smelled my shoes and he knew I had been outside... So he had to go for a run/walk too. Now I'm pooped! Poor Reuben - I think he could really do without walks altogether, but I would feel bad leaving him behind. Yesterday I took them on a really long walk - so long in fact that I brought them a bowl and a bottle of water so they could get a drink halfway through! Reuben ended up laying down about 5 times on the way back home from that walk. It was pretty funny - he would find a shady spot and just plunk down, like he was saying "I give up! I'm stopping right here and you can't move me!" So it took awhile to get home - I tried to tell him he could lay down in the AC sooner if he would not stop so many times, but you just can't reason with him. :) Today we went on a shorter walk than yesterday, so he only pooped out on me once. About 50 yards from our house. Again, you just can't reason with him.
Anyway, I think tonight we are having some friends over and are grilling out - reason #2 why it is officially summer. Yay for brats! :) Hope you are all having a good summer!

Strawberry shortcake!

I got home from school today and was watering my plants on the deck when I noticed some lovely red berries peaking out from the strawberry patch in the backyard. This is the second year I've had the strawberries, and they are doing pretty well this summer! I picked a cereal bowl full of strawberries today, so I decided to make some little Bisquick shortcakes to go with them. Yummy! There is just no comparison to fresh-picked strawberries - the store-bought ones aren't nearly as sweet... and the ones I grow are free. :)
Anyway, I have three tests left and a project to turn in before I am done with school for the year. Can't wait to be done!

Da... Da Da Duh Dump!!!

Silly title, I know. :) I went to the dump today because I cleaned out the garage. Hurray for me! :) It's probably my least favorite area to clean out, but it was the area in most need so I pulled everything thing out (and I mean EVERYTHING!) of the garage and swept and knocked down cobwebs. Gross. Aaron built some shelves in the garage awhile ago but we never got things organized on them - now I've have all of my "categories" organized, like painting things on the same shelves, gardening things on another, sewing stuff, etc. If nothing else, we should be able to find things easier and save money because we won't give up and go to Wal-mart and buy a replacement!
Anyway, every time I go to the dump I feel guilty because I feel like it's our easy way out of dealing with the crap we accumulate over time. I think that we should all have to take our garbage to the dump because it would remind us of how wasteful we really are! All of the plastic we throw away just sits out there in the landfill, poisoning the earth. Not a pretty thing to think about. It makes me want to buy less and use less because the trash doesn't just go Poof! and disappear when I put it out on the curb on Sunday night. It gets added to the pile of trash and just sits there, conveniently out of town so we don't have to smell it! Aaron and I have bought the reusable bags to take with us when we grocery shop - we still have the plastic bags at home from previous shopping trips but I use those as poop bags for the dogs. Once those run out, I think I may bite the bullet and buy the biodegradable poop bags!
Well, hope you all are doing well! I have Saturday and Sunday left to get stuff done before my last week of classes hits me!

No school this week...

So the dental school higher-ups have decided that we will not start back to school this week, but will start back to school on Monday. I'm really interested to see how this all pans out next week! At this point I'm prepared to make up a week at the end of school, but the e-mail I got made it seem like they might try to cut things back a little. I'm not crossing my fingers. :)
I reorganized the two closets in the living room today, and I put up two shelves in the closet under the stairs. Now all of our board games and cards are all tidy up on the shelves. :) I guess I have the rest of the week to work on the rest of our closets!
Hope you all are doing well!

quick update

I went to the Marriott this morning for breakfast - the water is going down enough that you don't have to walk through water to get to it! Hurray! :) Hopefully the water will continue to go down fairly quickly so people can get back into their homes soon and see what kind of damage has been done.

The river has crested.

Good news for the Iowa City/Coralville area - the Iowa River has crested. The Marriott has not flooded inside, however Aaron has had to walk through a foot of water to get in to work since there is no parking inside of the water. Apparently the Marriott is going to become the FEMA headquarters and some secret service people will be staying there - I'm not sure how bright of an idea that is when the Marriott is completely surrounded by water and there's nowhere to park where you don't have to walk through nasty flood water... but whatever. I can't complain because my husband is still working!
I got an e-mail today from the high-ups at the dental school saying that we may actually go back to school on Thursday. Sounds great to me! I would love to get two days of school in this week - it means we have less school to make up in July! It's going to be pretty stressful these next few weeks because we have a lot of projects to complete and final exams.
Today was Aaron's day off of work and it was nice to have the day off with him! We got to sleep in, I made pancakes for breakfast, we lounged around for a little while, then had lunch with Aaron's mom, tried to get to the casino (turns out you can't get there from Lone Tree! :) ), went to the casino (I didn't win... per usual :) ), had dinner at Sam's pizza, saw some friends, got some ice cream, and now we're home! Definitely made the most of the day!
Tomorrow - I want to go through some of the closets in my house. I think that there will be clothing drives and such for flood victims, so hopefully I can pull out some things that other people will be able to use. The older I get, the less of a pack-rat I have become. I used to save everything in high school - I have several boxes at my parents house full of "stuff" that was important to me. Now, I feel like if it's in a box and I don't use it, it can't be that important to me! I mean, I'm still sentimental about photo albums and such, and I will always keep some stuff like that around because it's always fun to look back at where I've been. But I think I'm starting to realize that more stuff is not always better!
Well, hope you are all safe and dry!

Sandbagging

These pictures are of the Marriott and the shops and townhouses across the street- Aaron still had to go into work this morning, but he wasn't cooking! Yesterday and today he was sandbagging for work - poor boy is very sore! Today I joined him in sandbagging, though I was only there for about 5 hours. It really felt good to be sandbagging because I've felt like I haven't been able to help out in any way with all of the devastation going on. I think all of this flooding is emotionally straining - there are so many uncertainties, even without our house being damaged by it. Aaron's work is very nearly flooded - tonight we stopped by and you have to drive through six inches of water to get in the hotel. We are definitely concerned about his working there in the near future - if the Marriott floods, will it be shut down for weeks or months in the clean-up process? Even if it doesn't flood, there is going to be a huge amount of clean-up necessary just to clean up all of the sandbags that have been laid down! It's concerning that all of the employees at the Marriott could be out of work for awhile. Really, there are going to be tons of people out of work in eastern Iowa - it's hard to wrap my mind around it.
On a different note, I missed my 5 year high school reunion tonight. Not a huge hardship, but I'm definitely disappointed to not be able to make it back up to Waterloo and see some of my classmates. There are no roads I could take to get to Waterloo without having to at least double the trip time, and that's just not practical or safe. I'm kind of on house arrest for the next week as I can't leave the area and I don't have to go to school! :)
Well, that's about all for now. I need to put Aaron to bed as he has to be at work tomorrow at 5am. Business as usual.

Flooding update

This is a picture of the street where my classmate lives. She is very fortunate in that she up the hill about 15 feet higher than the water. We are hoping we don't get anymore water, although we will probably get atleast another 3 feet by Tuesday.
The University of Iowa has canceled classes for next week, so it's a blessing and a curse for us dental students. We would have only had two weeks left of school - now we will have atleast a week off and then probably have to finish up the two weeks after that.
Anyway, we are safe and dry right now. The power is still on and we still have water -life is good!

Flooding!

Aaron and I are very fortunate to live in an area of Iowa City that has not been affected by the flooding. However, we have been affected by the many different road closures, and it is up in the air whether Aaron will be able to go to work at the Marriott in the morning or not. It is very possible that by the morning the Marriott could be flooded! Even if it doesn't flood, the roads to get there may be closed. One of my classmates is staying with us tonight - she lives in Coralville near an area that is being evacuated. She doesn't think that her apartment will flood, but she may not be able to get there because of all the roads that will be closed. Another one of my classmates called and said that their power is out - I am hoping we don't have to deal with that but we'll see what happens! The water is supposed to continue to rise in Iowa City until sometime next week.
Another classmate of mine lives in Cedar Rapids and she was evacuated on Tuesday. She said that the water has risen above her basement and into the first floor of her house. She and her husband just bought the house a few months ago! So sad!
Anyway, I think the University should cancel classes just because it is going to be so difficult tomorrow for many people to get to class. I will be trying to take the bus in - hopefully it will still be running!
Hope you are all safe!

...

Life has been pretty busy lately, although you could argue that life is always busy! Tuesday was Aaron's and my second anniversary - we ended up both working at the restaurant. How romantic! :) Just kidding. :) There's not a whole lot to do on a Tuesday night for an anniversary, and we aren't very sentimental, so we are going to Des Moines this weekend. Lucky for us, Aaron gets really good discounts on Marriott hotels now that he is working there full time, so we got a good deal on a hotel near the Jordan Creek mall. We just want a chance to relax a little bit! Friday night we are going back to Cedar Falls for our friends' wedding - should be a good time! Yay for being married! :)
Anyhoo, I had a bit of a scare this morning. I was eating breakfast when I heard Reuben upstairs rolling around on some of the dirty clothes in a duffle bag (he loves laundry, crazy dog ;) ). I didn't think much of it - he likes to get them just right so he can nap on them. Well, I heard him come down the stairs and I heard the duffle bag coming down the stairs with him. I got up to see this because I thought maybe he was dragging it down with his mouth. Turns out he had put his head through one of the duffle bag straps, rolled around a little, and wound up the bag so that the strap was tight around his neck and tangled with his collar!!! So my poor little puppy was on the verge of strangling himself with the duffle bag strap! I managed to get him untangled very quickly, and he was just fine. But it makes me glad he decided to come downstairs and find mommy!
Well, I think my laundry is ready to come out of the dryer, so good night to you all!

Work, work, work!

I feel like that has been the theme lately in the Brummer household. Friday night I worked with Aaron at Redhead - I was the "floater," meaning I got waters for tables, bused tables, did whatever the servers needed, etc. Then Saturday morning/afternoon, Aaron and I worked there again for a private graduation party, this time I served drinks and bused tables, etc. Then last night, I filled in as a server for the first time - it was a really busy night! We started out fairly slow - I had one or two tables at a time, then 7 pm hit and we got so busy! I think I had five tables going at one point, which is a fairly overwhelming for the first time serving! It's really fun for me to work at the restaurant though, because I get to learn all about the restaurant business. Anyway, it was a good night and I was really tired when I got home! I tried to go to bed when I got home, but I could not fall asleep for many reasons: 1. I smelled. And I could smell myself. 2. My legs were throbbing 3. My mind kept running all the night's specials through my head : "Maple braised pork ribs with blah blah blah." It was like my brain was trying to memorize all the specials exactly as they were on the board! 4. I drank Diet Pepsi all night when I was working - dumb. So it was not the most restful night, but thank goodness for the long weekend! Poor Aaron, he still had to get up for work at five this morning. Again, back to the work theme... :)
Hope you all have a happy Memorial Day weekend!

Finals are done!

Well, they were done yesterday, but I am just now getting around to blog... :) I had my pharmacology final on Friday, then yesterday I had my pros final in the morning and radiology in the afternoon. Today I just had to show up for clinic in the morning, but I wasn't scheduled for a patient so I got to leave. I have 10 out of my 12 requirements done for clinic, so I'm a low priority for scheduling. I think they have a hard time scheduling the D2 clinic, which is sad because it's free! However, I understand how annoying it would be to have to come multiple times just to get a couple fillings done. Anyway, I had the afternoon off, so I worked out, did a little studying for tomorrow's endo class, and then hung out with Aaron. It's nice to be done with tests for awhile - nice to have a life again! I have six more weeks of class left, but there are only a few more tests - one next week and then a few at the end of the six weeks. One of the classes, esthetic dentistry, is only a lab once a week where we are just graded on the project we do that day - no tests! We are pretty excited about that one.
Anyhoo, I don't have class on Thursday or Friday - hurray! On Thursday I am getting a massage and facial, courtesy of my lovely husband in celebration of being done with finals! Thanks babe! Then on Friday I am heading up to Cedar Falls to hang out with my madre for the day - should be fun! Saturday morning I want to work outside a little, clean up the front yard since now it's warm enough to plant some flowers. Should be a good weekend! Hope you all have a great week!

What a sweetheart!

Aaron may kill me for posting this, but I just had to share my excitement! So last night Aaron and I were out at Target and I saw this dress there that I really liked. They had my size in black, but I really liked the blue color. So I decided that I would look online and see if I could maybe order it in blue - when I checked, it said that it would take 4-6 weeks before it would even ship! So I gave up on the dress, but I was still kind of sad because it was a cute dress!
Today I got home from school and sitting on the couch was the dress in blue and a coordinating little bag from Target! I don't know how Aaron found it, but he did! So sweet... Thanks babe!
Here's a pic of the dress...

IV day

Today we had our IV practical for our anesthesia class. It's funny how if you let yourself get so worked up about something, the anticipation is worse than the actual event! I think this was the case for most of my classmates and me - today was not a day I was looking forward to and it ended up being - dare I say? - fun! :) Well, one of my classmates fainted just watching someone else start an IV, but she's the same one that started crying when she had to have the nitrous for our last practical, and last year she cried when she had to have several shots for our local anesthesia course. So, I guess you could say she doesn't like to be the patient. Good thing she's going to be the doctor! lol
Anyway, I had a patient this morning who needed one of his top teeth filled. Normally, when I do a procedure one week and do something similar the next I get faster, but today was not the case! Everything went pretty well until it was time to get the tooth ready to be filled. There are bands you place around the tooth to hold the filling in as you shape it, and there are wedges you stick on both sides of the tooth if you are filling both sides of the tooth. The wedges are important because they keep the filling material from being pushed down into the gums around the teeth. So today as I was placing the second wedge to hold the band in place, the clamp that holds the band popped right out of my patient's mouth and onto the floor! Oops! :) So then I had to start over and it was still not working how I wanted it to... Finally the instructor had pity on me and modified it with one of his neat little tricks. Ah, experience... So from that point on it went well and my patient has a shiny new filling! :)

Rain, rain go away!

It's raining again. Yuck. It was raining this morning when I left for school, then it cleared up over the lunch hour so I thought I might get a run in this afternoon. Well, after I got home from my pharmacology test, it started to rain again, so no luck! It rained yesterday and earlier this week - it has even hailed several times this week! And the worst part is that the ground is so wet it just can't absorb anymore water! The grass in the backyard is so tall but we can't do anything about it because it's still so soggy! Oh, there goes the tornado siren! Lovely.
Anyway, the pharm test was difficult - it's kind of frustrating because I put more time in studying for these tests and my grade is not showing it! Oh well...
Hope you all have a good weekend!

New Bed!!!

So Aaron and I upgraded to a king size bed and we are super excited! I was very excited to pick out new bedding, however, it was very discouraging shopping for a new headboard because they are so expensive! We decided to make our own headboard (and by we, I mean Aaron :) ), so we picked out some fabric, bought a board and some egg crate, and voila! A head board! Well, I'm sure it was a lot of work for Aaron to get it to just the right height for the bed and then attach it to the bed frame, so maybe not quite voila and done... :) I'm really happy with how it turned out! I think it goes with the bedding very nicely (which is from Kohls - yay for sales :) ).