I Didn't Know I Was Stylish!

I want to thank my friend Miranda over at Hanging Loose With The Tucci's for this award! I didn't realize I was considered stylish, but I'm glad to find out that I am (just don't go through my wardrobe!).

There are 4 duties to perform to accept the award:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award:


2. Share 7 things about yourself.


3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.


4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award

So here are 7 things about me:

1. I technically have gone to 3 different colleges: Marshall (B.S. Biology), WV State (just for 1 class - Organic Chemistry II), and WVU (B.S. Dental Hygiene).


2. I'm getting married on October 15, 2011!


3. I love to scrapbook, but don't think I have actually finished any one project.


4. I need to find a DH job soon!


5. There was a huge spider in my laundry room today and thankfully my parents found it before i did. I wanted to vomit after seeing it and was scared to use my toilet after dad flushed it.


6. I've lost 10lbs. since I have started my weight-loss program at the Y. It seems like it has taken a long time, but I consider maintaining my weight during the holidays as an accomplishment!


7. I got a Christmas card in the mail today! haha

Now I'm going give this award to 15 bloggers I've recently (or not-so-recently) discovered. They may or may not be a follower of mine.

1. The Country Chic Cottage
2. A Girl In Pearls & A Boy With Toys
3. Apothecary Fox
4. Be Awesome Instead
5. Color Me Katie
6. Crazy Shenanigans
7. I know, right?
8. In Between Laundry
9. It's Blogworthy
10. Knock Knocking
11. Lavender, Leopard, & Lace
12. Making Stuff Is Fun
13. Princess & The Blog
14. The Fickle Nickle
15. Thoughtful Day

The Day I Learned How To Ride A Bike

It wasn't until I was in 3rd grade that I decided I wanted to learn how to ride a bike (without the training wheels). It seemed like all the kids in my class had already learned and I was starting to feel a little left out. So I went home and told my dad that I wanted to try. We went out on the street in front of my house, and that is where I finally learned how to ride a two-wheeler!

I was so proud of myself until my neighbor, who also happened to be my 3rd grade teacher, came walking by and saw me. The next day in school she announced to the whole class that I had learned how to ride my bike. I was so embarrassed and could hear the snickering around the room. I did take great pride though that this is what was known about me and that I was not the kid who sat behind me and stapled his own thumb on purpose!

As I look back on it, I still don't think my teacher was trying to brag on me in a good way. She always was not very nice, even when she followed me to middle school. At least I wasn't in her class then! And then there was her schnauzer that used to bark and chase me when I played outside...

• When did you learn to ride a bike?
• Do you have any embarrassing classroom stories?
• Did you have a certain mean ole teacher?

The Day I Got In Trouble

The one time I ever remember getting in trouble at school was when I was in kindergarten. My classmates and I were seated at our tables, my table had blue chairs, one had red and the other had yellow. They sorta looked like these...

...well, whichever had the quietest table with their heads down got to go out on the playground first. In my mind, that was all that mattered! The red chair table got to go first... "I can't believe she picked them!" said my 5 year old mind. I was so upset that I slowly eyed the teacher, while still keeping my head down, and stuck my tongue out at her. She saw me! Panic went through every cell in my body. That meant that the yellow chair table got to go next and then finally the blue chair table, my table, but not me!

I was lectured and made to sit on the wall during recess while I watched all my classmates have so much fun. How terrible is that!? My teacher also told my babysitter, who picked me up at the end of the day. I remember begging her not to tell my parents, but that didn't work very well even though she felt sorry for me. Well, it must have taught me a lesson though because I never got in trouble in school from here on out!

The Day I Got A Note

Okay, I'm sure everyone here most likely sent notes and received notes when they were younger, it's something really nostalgic for me and I have a bunch in a shoebox somewhere that I kept. They were mostly from middle school which was the height of note passing for me and were usually folded into houses and triangle footballs.

Anyway, I was in 8th grade the day I got this particular note and was walking to the band room. One of my friends gave me this note and said they want me to read it by myself. So I walked down the hall a little ways and unfolded the note shaped like an envelope. On the outside it said: "Mariah Private". The note began with a "Dear Mariah" then went to talking how we'd been friends now for a while and how he'd really given this some thought. It said that in the beginning he liked me but then other people swooped in there and started dating me first. Then last night he had a dream where we were dating and it brought it all back. It ended with, and I quote: "So now I'll pop the question: Mariah, will you date me? Cause honey you must be tired you been running through my mind all day long." And it was signed with his name which will not be disclosed since many people reading this blog may know who he is! I randomly think of this note and it always makes me laugh! It's like a guy in a bar throwing out pickup lines, but so innocent since we were so young!

Isn't that note so middle school?
Did you ever pass notes?
Were you ever asked out in a note?

The Day Adam Came To Town

This post starts the beginning of my "The Day..." series. I will go back to memories I have and cherish, then share them with you! I hope you will enjoy!

So my BFF Adam was in town a couple weeks ago. I had this fabulous idea that we should take the rest of my pictures on my *disposable* camera that we had bought almost 3 years ago. I also thought it would be great to finally send our friends Jeffs this box of stuff, that was meant to be sent 2 years ago for Christmas, to him along with some other wacky items.

The box included, but was not limited to:

• Christmas presents from me and Ad from 2 years ago that we couldn't remember what they were cause they were wrapped.
  
• A huge pink birthday ribbon that said "Aged to Perfection!".
  
• A for sale flyer of a home in Huntington, hinting he should move "home".
  
• A TidBits. A little local paper we took from the Cam's Ham.
  
• A box of Cracker Jacks.

Adam and I went to develop the film at the Walgreens because apparently Walmart does not offer the 1hr photo anymore. But in the hour we waited, Adam and I went to the Jolly Pirate. While I was eating my donut, Adam played a scratch-off lotto ticket and won $200! Then he had to leave to make the trek back home, but I went and picked up the pictures. I was quite disappointed in how they turned out, but I'll leave you with a few gems.

Ritter Park in the Fall

Phil and I a couple years back, waiting to go to the Fright Farm.

Rory helping me make my huge stocking for the balcony Christmas decorating contest, while in Morgantown.

Adam with a Cam's Ham delicious ham sandwich and onion rings! YUM!

What has become of my old middle school (Cammack).

BSDH

I am officially a graduate for the last time!

My graduation was held on Satuday, May 15th at 8:30am... too early, I agree! The day before we had our graduation practice at 7:30am and that is what time we had to get there Saturday before graduation. Both were very long and hectic days filled with visits from family, getting a mani/pedi with my roomie for the last time, a pointless banquet with crappy food, packing up the trailer, good-byes to friends (sad), and good-bye to Morganhole (yessssss... finally!).

The week before graduation we had a cookout at my friend Kristen's house. It was great to hang out with my closest DH girls for (almost) the last time before graduation. We ate, played some games, and burned our DH books that we hated the most!

Now to rest up and prepare myself for the rest of my life!

Graduation Here I Come!

Today was officially my last day of school EVER! For the two whole ridiculous finals I had, I got 100% on both of them. Too easy, I'm tellin' ya!

Graduation is in 11 days! Woo hoo!

Phil and his parents are hopefully coming up this weekend to help me move alot of my big things out of the trailer with their truck. I'm hoping we'll go do some shopping first and take our time. I don't get to see his parents too often since I'm stuck up here and when I get to go home, my parents try to steal as much time as possible.

Since Friday my mom is officially retired! So it's kinda like my mom and I are graduating together! haha

The weekend after next is my graduation! Then the weekend after that one I get to go to the beach with my parents and Phil! I cannot wait to relax!

Update: My formal was so much fun! I feel like everyone was pretty much drunk the entire time, but it made for some good stories later on! haha The Purple Jesus drink we made was really good, but sadly I didn't snap a picture of it! Here is a picture of me and Phil in our masquerade masks I made instead:



And here's a picture of me and my six lovely DH friends before going to the formal:

Now I better go pack! Have I told you how much I can't wait to get out of this town???

What I wanna go do is go buy Anoop's CD that comes out tomorrow!

No More Drama Please!

I am getting ready to graduate for the last time ever! Thank goodness for that cause I don't know how much more I can handle! This round of school was especially hard because I had already been through 4 1/2 years of college, had been on a 2 1/2 year break from school, and was in a class with 21 other girls! No boys at all.

I really dislike the drama that can come from so many girls. I have 6 friends that I'm closer to than the rest and there is still drama in that small of a group! I am ready to get away! I am excited to finally leave Morgantown and begin the rest of my life! The sad part really hasn't hit me yet that I am leaving my friends. I figure it'll hit me on graduation day (May 15th) or after I have been home sitting on my butt for a week or two with no friends to hang out with.

I may or may not go to Charleston and back on Wednesday to screen a back-up patient for my board exam. I have not been able to get ahold of this patient so that is still up in the air. My actual board patient that I have had for the last month told me last week that he wasn't sure if he would have to work the Friday of my exam! WTF!? So I offered him money for the time he'd be missing work and he told me he'd let me know Monday. Then I called him back today and he said it was cool and could get out of work that day! He seriously made me hold my breath for the last 4 days! I just hope it will all work out! I guess the offer of money was good enough. I need some good in my life right now in the form of my board patient showing and finally passing this time! Then maybe I can be happy & sad about graduation with no nervousness in the way!

Drama! Drama! Drama! I cannot wait for it to end!

Wickedly Good

So, I had started reading "Lord of the Flies" recently, then after the third chapter I decided I wanted to read Charlaine Harris' book "Dead and Gone" instead. Now I really can't wait until True Blood comes back on!

Today my roomie and I made a trip to the local liquor store to pick us up some Everclear. We are planning to have a pre-party shindig at our place before our dental hygiene formal this Saturday. We are making some punch called Purple Jesus. Sounded yummy, and we decided we wanted purple drinks since the dental hygiene color is purple. Anyway, I have never made a punch with grain alcohol in it so I hope it turns out okay and not nasty like some I have tasted. Here is the recipe we are using. I'll let ya know how it turns out and get some pics too.

In other news, I am going on a tiny trip tomorrow. For a my independent study class, we are going to Snowshoe to spend the night then get up and go to some schools to teach them about good brushing and flossing. This program is called Lessons in a Lunch Box. I love a good sleepover so this will be fun.

AND the Glee premiere was on last night and it was so good! I love Idina Menzel and had no idea she was going to be a guest on the show! She played Elphaba in Wicked and Maureen in RENT (my favorite!) on Broadway AND is married to Taye Diggs (luck-y!)! She is gorgeous and has a beautiful voice too!

And now I will leave you with this tidbit about myself: I love the Kroger sushi!

*Countdown*

I've been really bad about posting recently, so I apologize! My time here in Morgantown is down to 6 more weeks (39 days to be exact), then I will never have to return! Hooray!!! One fun thing about my program is making the monthly bulletin board for the pediatric clinic. The March bulletin is shown in the picture above.
I've been super busy and I will tell you a little about that now.

My mom came to visit me, here in Morganhole, 2 weeks ago. We mostly drove around and shopped almost everywhere it seems and ate in between. Two weeks from now I have my dental hygiene formal, so we were looking for me a dress. Good ole Dress Barn to the rescue! No need to go anywhere else but the first place I looked, of course.

One week later, I got to go home for spring break! I love being home. Very comforting to be there with my family and Phil. So mom and I have been planning a trip for spring break, she took off the whole week from work just to go, and up until "the breakup" I was all for it. But since now I have to shell out so many bucks to take that stupid test over again, I felt really bad spending more money to go on this mini-trip but then I would feel bad to let my mom down by not going too. So we went. And it was a good time! We went to Asheville, NC where we went to the Biltmore and toured it for hours! It is ginormous! Apart from the actual "house" there were gardens, a winery, so much land and awesome views!

Mom and drove around using my GPS, Rudy. It helped most when looking for places to eat. We went to a place called "Papa's and Beer" and it was a Mexican restaurant. Go figure. It had some amazing bean dip in place of salsa. Rudy also helped us find places to shop. Some places good, some places not so much. In the good place we found I bought the book I am currently reading, which you can see in the column to your right. I also broke down and bought some eyeshadow primer called Too Faced Shadow Insurance. Mucho expensivo but it works great! Plus it was nice to not have to order online. I'm weird like that.

One day of our trip we treated ourselves to lunch at The Grove Park Inn in the Sunset Terrace. We both got the special which was a mushroom and cheese ravioli, drank sweet tea, and we shared a dessert. Delicious! And it also had spectacular views and a spa that I would have died to been able to go to!After we came home from this mini-vacay, I headed up to Charleston at 7am the next morning to volunteer and try to find me another board patient. I went to the Health Right there and I actually found someone! I just hope it turns out, but I'm seeing this patient again this week for a mid-week journey to Charleston and back to Morgantown. It's like teasing me that I actually get to go home, but then no. I also toured WV Tech's dental clinic with the other 3 girls that are taking it there with me.

Then came Easters. Two Easters. On Saturday, Phil and I spent time with and ate dinner with my family. We colored eggs, hid them and hunted them with my little cousin, and I tried to find a board patient out of my family members. No luck there! Anyway, I was hiding the eggs with my little cousin and she went in the grass and dumped them all out of the basket and started putting them "night night". She was covering them up with leaves, then she said she was putting Dora on, and pretended to turn off the lights. It was too cute! That is how many of our eggs ended up being cracked, but they served their purpose.

On Sunday, before I left to go back to school, Phil and I ate with his family at his grandmother's house. Very relaxing and I didn't want to leave :(

So that should be it really to catch y'all up! Oh, and WVU lost in the Final 4. Didn't watch it but heard it wasn't pretty. No comment really. Not a basketball fan or a WVU fan, but do support WV! haha Alright, enough already :)

My Worst Break-up Ever

I have been a little preoccupied lately. A very big event happened in my life this past Saturday, and it took up most of my time and thoughts preparing for it: March 13th, 2010 was the fateful day that SRTA broke up with me.

Let me give you a run-down. SRTA stands for Southern Regional Testing Agency. Instead of having a National Clinical Board, someone has decided to divide all the states into their own testing regions, and they even overlap states to make it more confusing. Anyway, I decided to take this test with the mindset that if I ever moved away from West Virginia that it would be somewhere to the warmer South. Like you all know, I was pretty worried about my patient showing up for the test and qualifying. These were my main worries… And here is how my time spent with SRTA was like a relationship:

• A relationship starts off with a hope, just like me preparing for this test and hoping for success for my future career.

• In the beginning of a relationship there is always a little worry that the guy doesn’t like you as much as you like him. This is like my worry that my patient wouldn’t work out.

• In a relationship, there should be butterflies in your stomach whenever you see that special someone, just like I had on my “date” with SRTA that March 13th.

• In a good relationship there are times when there is smooth sailing and everything is happy, as it was when my patient arrived the day of the board exam AND qualified!

• In a relationship there are ups and downs. One such down in my relationship with SRTA was that I had forgot to fill out part of a form, but it was nothing that I couldn’t apologize for and correct. And this had no bearing on my final score.

• At the end of a date in a relationship, there are those butterflies and questions like “Did he think it went as well as I thought it just did?”. This is how I felt after my clinical board.

• There is a time in a relationship where you are comfortable with the situation and who you are with. After I took the clinical part of this exam, I also had to take an electronic portion. I came out of this part thinking it was ridiculously easy.

• In a not-so-good relationship sometimes the person leads you on. Monday morning I checked my SRTA account to find out I had a big ole “PASS” typed out on the screen before me. This just confirmed my previous feelings of comfort.

• In a relationship you can be dumped. This is what SRTA did to me Monday evening when I found out I failed my clinical portion of the exam. My heart was broken.

This is me after I found out SRTA dumped me. Like what I've done with my hair?

• At the end of a relationship you can be sad and sometimes mad at who broke up with you. I was mad! I feel like SRTA lied to me and about me, and also sold me false promises of hope during my time with it. I was also sad because all the hard work I put into the relationship was now null and void. I talked to my girlfriends about this exam and they backed me up like good friends do. There were 6 of us in the same relationship and SRTA broke up with 4 of us and kept its 2 favorites (sort of The Bachelor-ish). We came together and shared our stories after the final rose, I mean after the exam was over. It makes me feel better to know I have people to go through this with me, but that also makes me feel really bad cause I don’t want any of us to fail. We all are good at what we do and can’t help that the judges grading us couldn’t see the same thing. It doesn’t help that I added up my score and found out I got a 74.75%, only 0.25% away from passing. Another girl got the same score, which makes us a little skeptical.

So now it’s time to start a new relationship with a SRTA in a different school. I have to pay another $915 (ridiculous! SRTA is only dating me for my money!) not to mention go through the turmoil of finding another board patient that would be willing to come to WVU to be screened and then be able to go to Bridgemont Community & Technical College in Montgomery, WV on April 30th. And so my life continues to be stressful for at least another couple months, and I feel bad for Phil having to put up with the moods I have during this process. He’s a trooper though, and at least I know he is my everlasting relationship.

A Cat Jumped On My Face!

I was thinking I was going to actually blog all this Sunday evening after Phil left, but he is not feeling too well tonight so I sent him to bed with Ibuprofen at 7:30pm! I hope this means he'll feel better in the morning and will want to get up earlier than usual to do something fun!

Since you all read about how bad last week was, I tried to be very optimistic this week! And it did make a difference... I found a board patient Thursday! This makes me feel a million times better! I just hope they are reliable and will show up! It would be nice to have a back-up patient too for just about that reason alone, because I am almost 100% certain they meet all the requirements to be my board patient.

That brings me to today, well last night too, cause Adam came to visit me! We spent the day together today and went to eat Indian food for lunch! It was so great to be able to just talk and have someone listen and to know they care! Not like I don't have anyone else around me that cares, but Adam has been my #1 best friend for a very long time and he just understands me, and I him. Out of our talks came the title of today's blog, in case you were wondering! Adam told me this and it cracked me up, but also made me want to start my cat farm more than ever!

While Adam was here, he started talking about making a Bucket List. I had actually considered it before, and have made my "Things to do before I'm 35" list, but he made me excited to actually start this new list. I also LOVE watching that show on MTV called "The Buried Life". So I thought that when I come up with an idea, I would just add it to a list on the side-column on this page! Go look for the beginnings of it now!

Almost 5 minutes after Adam left today, Phil pulled in. He wasn't himself really and it concerned me. He said he hadn't felt good since yesterday but just thought it was because he was having a hard day at work. But he still doesn't feel well. We did end up going to the mall to see "Alice in Wonderland" and he made it through. Once we got back to my place though, he went to bed like I stated above.

Now with my review of "Alice in Wonderland"! I thought it was great! We went to see the 3D version, but to tell you the truth I would like it just the same in 2D. The story is the same one we grew up knowing, but the special effects and acting was great! Johnny Depp was, of course, amazing! The acting made me forget they weren't the actual characters. I would recommend that you go see it. Very colorful. There was only one questionable part of the movie that made me think "why did they do it that way?" and seemed kind of out of place with the time period of the movie. I won't ruin it for you though!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Sink or Swim

It all comes down to this: I have my clinical dental hygiene boards coming up (March 13) and have less than 2 weeks to find a patient, and hopefully a back-up patient as well. These boards are super expensivo, meaning $1,040! And if don't find a patient, or have a patient that doesn't qualify, then I lose all that money and have to figure out how and where I'm going to take the boards again and pay the money again. They are so hard to find a patient for because there are so many requirements needed for the patient:

1. They cannot be allergic to Latex.
   
2. If they need to take a pre-med before having their teeth cleaned, they have to bring in a note from their physician.


3. They have to have most of their teeth with no extensive periodontal problems.


4. They cannot have a lot of cavities.


5. They have to have so much tartar on their teeth in just the right places.


6. The patient has to come in to be screened (once), come in early in the morning on a Saturday and be able to stay for an extended period of time for the actual exam (twice), and finally come in again for me to finish cleaning their teeth if they want (three times, I'm out).

So I've been trying my hardest to find this diamond in the rough with no avail. It doesn't help that it keeps on snowing here! *Patients hear that snow is coming and cancel their appointments days in advance.* I feel like I'm living in a frickin' snow globe!

On a more optimistic note, Monday is the start of a new week and [hopefully] the start of good things to come! And when I have this all over and done with, it's smooth sailing to graduation!

If anyone is around the Morgantown area, hasn't had their teeth cleaned in awhile, and can come see me in the next 2 weeks, let me know! And a big thanks to my friends and family who have been trying to help me out! You have no idea how much it means to me!

Going for the Gold

I haven’t blogged for a while, but during the whole snow-in I blogged a lot so I figured I am even. I have been sorta busy the last week. We had a stupid Dental Law Exam yesterday. And I am probably calling it stupid because I failed it the first go around, but it was stupid. It was a free exam, as in no money needed, except that since I failed it the first time and had to pay $20 so I could take it again. I could take it again immediately after I failed it. I could look at what answers I missed (I missed 3 that were true/false), then take the same exact test immediately after. I passed, of course, the second time but they got my damn money. Roomie and I thought we deserved a pedicure after this stupid exam. Now I have pretty purple toenails with a flowers on them. It’s nice to know that something so simple can make me so happy.

As you can see I changed my layout. Thanks to Miranda for giving me the html for the 3-column design! I changed my background too. Thanks to Jennifer and Angie for leading me to it! I have always thought that I wanted to learn how to quilt. I LOVE QUILTS! My great-great grandmother had made me a quilt when I was a baby and Phil’s grandmother quilts all the time. Maybe I’ll ask her if she’ll teach me. I think it would be better than my attempts at knitting. I only knitted ¼ of a scarf then lost interest and forgot how.

I went home last weekend and went bowling for a family birthday party. This was a new experience to bowl with the family because we usually just sit around, eat, and play board games. My 2 ½ year old cousin is getting so big! Everyone was around eating birthday cake when she says “I am so happy to see all of you today!” and then preceded to say everyone’s name! Too cute! It’s not like Phil and I get to see her very often so when she said our names ,with no prompting, it melted my heart. Valentine’s Day was great too! Phil went the “semi-homemade” route like I did and put together a picture album of picture of us together. He also got me the book “Animal Farm” (one of his faves) so I could read it too. I had painted him a mug at The Wow Factory with fishes on it. And I put a little furry little “Luv Puff” stuffed animal inside.

So I have been watching very little of the Olympics. Every time I turn the TV onto the channel, it is going to a commercial. And me hating commercials most of the time (thanks to at-home TiVo usage) likes to turn the channel and watch multiple shows at one time. So by the time one show grabs my attention, I forget about the Olympics. I did watch all of the opening ceremony. KD Lang was Awesome with a capital A. And I loved the tree scene with all the people dancing. I have caught a few curling “matches” but have not been able to figure out the scoring or anything. I refuse to look up the rules because I like trying to figure it out. Info Tidbit: The 2002 Winter Olympics is where I first heard Josh Groban sing and have been hooked ever since.

Roomie and I watched “The Hangover” for the second time on Thursday. That movie cracks me up with everything that each character says. This makes it one of my favorite movies of all time. I still wanna know where the chicken came from. We rented “The Time Travelers Wife” at Blockbuster yesterday and watched it. It was soooo good! It got kinda confusing, but in a good way that keeps you thinking. Tonight we watched “Julie & Julia” and I loved that movie too! It is what inspired me to blog right now! We are watching so many movies now because I brought my DVD player from home!

I think that is all I had to catch up on… I’ll need to remember this for next time and won’t make my posts so long! Have a good week!

Routine or Not

I am sitting in the same spot on the couch in the living room with my laptop where I spent most of my time the last 4 snow days. I feel like I deserve this laziness today because I actually went to school, but it is also depressing that this is what I want to do. This will probably be where I spend tomorrow as well since I have Wednesdays off from school this semester. Lucky me... ?

It is time now for Hollywood Week on American Idol! I am scared to make my weekly trip to Rachel's for our AI get-together because it is snowing again after it slushed (rained/snowed description) all day today (plus why would I want to leave my worn out area on the couch?). I'm afraid that it will freeze and I will not be able to get home. I'm excited to see how Ellen works out though!

I have a new book that I am reading... lack of studying for school also leaves me plenty of time to read... and it is called "Always Looking Up" by Michael J. Fox. I had read his first book more than several years back called "Lucky Man" and it was an inspiring memoir about his life before and after Parkinson's Disease. This new book continues where the last left off (the past 10 years). I think after this book that I may start reading some of the classics. I've always wanted to read "Lord of the Flies" and have been thinking of reading "Alice in Wonderland" before the movie comes out. Any suggestions?

Question: I want to do a semi-blog remodel but I do not know how to make my layout 3-column. Please help!

McDonalds = Romantic?

So, I got this in an email from my best friend, Adam, today. It had this link to the Herald Dispatch, our local newspaper in Huntington. It is describing how the McDonalds in Kenova, WV is offering a Valentine's Day Special. A meal for 2 for $9.99 all with candlelight, music, and a photograph! Does anyone else find this hilarious but me? I told Adam that Phil would absolutely LOVE this since McDonalds is like his favorite place to eat in the world (besides a BBQ called Little Richards in NC). I am not the biggest fan of Micky D's. All the menu items I've ever liked get taken off. Anyway, I may find myself at the Kenova McDonalds on February 13th from 5-7pm.

I'm watching The Bachelor right now and I'm finding it extremely boring compared to past seasons where there are home dates. I'm rooting for Gia mostly but think Jake is totally enamored with Ali, who I quit liking after she talked about Vienna constantly. Tenley is okay too, but don't think she is ready for such a big commitment right now. Vienna is just annoying. Maybe everything will change in the next hour of the show... it's supposed to be dramatic!

My roomie and I ventured out to the Kroger today to get out of the trailer! I got my favorite Kroger sushi and finally broke down and got the Maybelline Eye Studio eye shadow that I've been wanting for some time now. The color is called Irresistable Ivy and I'm excited to try it out!

I dug my car out today but broke roomie's shovel in the process! I'm hoping school will be canceled tomorrow since we are expecting 8 more inches of snow in the morning! C'mon WVU! What's another day?

P.S. Today has been 1 year since Phil proposed and I said yes! You can read about the proposal here!

My 1st Award!

I got my first award from my friend, and fellow blogger, Amanda at It's Blogworthy!

Amanda I met a few years back when I worked at an animal ER back home. We have kept in touch online ever since! If I could I would give her this award right back!

So now I have to write 7 facts about myself and give this award to 7 other bloggers!

7 Little Known Facts About Me

(you can find out more here)

1. I cannot stand to wash lettuce.

2. When asked what my favorite thing was when I was young and at bible school, my reply was “Bourbon”. What they didn’t know was that was my dog’s name.

3. I was a legal 21 when I first got drunk.

4. Phil and I met online and now we are engaged!

5. Some of my “husbands” include, but are not limited to: Randy Travis, Donnie Osmond, and Harrison Ford.

6. I like to hold onto my paper towels after I use them to dry my hands. You will most likely see them laying around my house when I finally let them go. It’s a bit of an obsession I don't realize I'm doing.

7. I wish that I was born with red hair so it would look good on me.

7 Bloggers

These bloggers are ones I have been following for the longest!

1. Daily Musings From Yours Truly
- this is Rachel who I got to start up a blog the same time I began mine. Rachel is a great friend who I met while in dental hygiene school and later found out we were the oldest in our class together and actually lived near eachother back home! Go check out her page :)

2. Tucci Times Three
- Miranda is a friend that I was in high school band with back in the day! I love reading her blog and seeing the changes her blog goes through. Amanda actually gave this award to Miranda already, but I felt the need to give one to her as well!

3. Bitch Cakes
- Every time I read this blog I am inspired to keep up with WW! She gives awesome recipes and takes you through every step of her weight loss.

4. Daniel McQuade Photography
- Daniel is a friend I met while attending Marshall. We were in some organizations together like the X-treme Fear Club! Daniel is a very talented photographer and shows his pictures on his page.

5. Chronicles of My Momdom
- Michelle is a friend I met in high school band as well! She now has a little girl who she blogs about in a rather hilarious manner! I always want to read more!

6. Our Little Corner of the World
- Carri is my best friend's sister! She is a beautiful woman who has a beautiful family who she enjoys blogging about!

7. Life Around Shepherdstown
- Adam is my best friend. I don't get to see him much, but it is nice to be able to see what he is doing through pictures on his blog! It's almost like his laugh comes through the page to me :)

In other news, WVU is actually closed Monday! Truly a miracle! Now to figure out to do all day long besides staring at this computer!

Oral Hygiene Care 101

***Warning: Teeth Geek Post Alert!***

I watch American Idol just about every week with my friend, Rachel, who is also a future dental hygienist such as myself. We comment on the people's teeth regularly who are trying out. Many of the people who are awful have terrible teeth and many who make it have those pearly whites. I wonder why? I tried googling it and came up with some information not pertaining to what I wanted to know. But anyway, I will talk about the stuff I did find out instead. I found that Eliott Yamin, from Season 5, had bad teeth due to his Diabetes. This could have been totally prevented with frequent visits to the dentist and good oral care habits. People with systemic diseases need to especially take care of their teeth because these health problems can lead to periodontal disease.

Some tips:

• brush your teeth at least twice daily for 2 minutes each time!
  
• floss your teeth at least once daily!(make a "C"-shape around your tooth and move the floss up and down making sure the floss goes under your gums)
  
• brush your tongue with your toothbrush or use a tongue scraper! (bacteria can accumulate on you tongue, just like your teeth, causing it to have a coated appearance and giving you bad breath!)


• visit your dental office regularly! your dentist or dental hygienist should provide you with the information you need to know to keep your smile happy

And no, I did not have to post this blog for school! Just tired of seeing bad teeth while people are singing on tv and thought people might be interested! Plus, I have nothing to do this semester so I'm bored.

I also found a funny "Idol translator". I guess it came up when I was searching for "American Idols, teeth" because of this: Likability: “Big teeth.” I don't understand what this means but everything else is pretty funny.

In other news... Phil was here for a much needed extended weekend! Went shopping at the Tanger Outlet, played tons of Wii Mario Party and Mario Kart with Katie(my roomie) and Joe(her boyfriend), and took turns cooking dinner for eachother. It was nice and relaxing!

Okay, going to start reading a new Charlaine Harris book called "Shakespeare's Landlord". It is the first in her Lily Bard Mystery Series.

Senioritis

It’s funny that it is called “Senioritis” because that technically means “inflammation of the senior”. I guess that could be correct in a way. Seniors tend to have big, or inflamed, egos or feel like they have absorbed so much information that it feels like their head is going to burst. The latter is how I feel right now. Really, that is how I’ve felt all three times I have been a senior (HHS, Marshall, WVU). I am completely ready to be out of school. I have passed my National Boards, completed my research presentation (after working on it for 2½ years), and now all I have to do is pass my Clinical Boards. This requires me to find a patient that fits a certain criteria, take another (but smaller) computer-based exam, and pay a whole bunch of money. The kicker is that if the day of the exam rolls around and the judges don’t think my patient fits that criteria, then I’m SOL, there goes all that money and I have to do it all over again, but this time find a school that I am not familiar with to take the clinical. I’m pretty sure my professors will help us with the process, so hopefully they are being nice that day.

A problem that my senioritis is causing me is going to bed very late and to wake up very late. These first two weeks of school have been very abnormal to where we don’t have to be at class until after noon. Starting this upcoming week, the only days I have to wake up early are Mondays and Fridays, and Wednesdays we don’t have class at all. I woke up today at 2pm. Not good AT ALL. I am not tired right now, that is why I am updating this blog at 2 in the morning. Monday is not going to be fun.

Okay. Now for a favorite product of mine. I love that new Aquafresh Iso-Active toothpaste! The one I have is a bright green colored gel and it becomes very foamy in your mouth. Some of my professors told me before I bought it that they didn’t like the taste and it caused their gingiva to slough (just a minor reaction some products can cause in your mouth and will go away once you switch products), but I haven’t had any problems with it except that the gel can be messy around the cap.

Well, I'm off to read one of my books I got for an occasion such as this. It is a Charlaine Harris book called "An Ice Cold Grave". Charlaine Harris is the author of the Sookie Stackhouse series (the True Blood books) and the book I'm reading is third in the Harper Connelly mystery series. Love her!

SCORE!

My winter break from school was fantastic! I got to spend a lot of much needed time with my fiancé and my family.

Christmas was great. I spent Christmas day at my aunt’s house where we opened presents, ate lots of yummy food, and played games like Apples to Apples!

New Year’s was fun too! I went with Phil and his parents to the Dog Track & Casino to celebrate and I even came out with more money than I went in with! For some reason I’m lucky that way! There we met up with two of my married couple friends that I knew from Huntington and used to live with when I first moved to Morgantown.

This past Saturday I got a text around 12:30pm from my roommate saying that she got her board scores in the mail and that she passed! That set me off immediately to find out if the mail had came for me too. It had not so I checked Facebook and many more of my classmates were getting their scores and were passing. I nervously waited by the window for the mailman. I waited for 4 hours and my dad said he was so excited that he was going to drive around to find him! Finally, my dad came back. I took my mail to my room and shut the door. I was by myself. A thousand thoughts running through my mind: I don’t want to have to take this exam over again. Can I really study for a couple more weeks and take it over? Can I sit in that room at that computer for another 6 hours? What if I’m the only one in my class to not pass? Tears were in my eyes as I ripped open the envelope. I nervously unfolded the piece of paper. There was a little certificate at the bottom: SCORE! I passed! I squealed, ran up to my parents while crying, then jumped up and down! Relief. We celebrated by going to Hibachi for some much needed sushi.

Yesterday I made the 3 hour trek back up to Morgantown and today was my first day of classes for the last time. There is a lot I have to still accomplish this semester but I am super happy I made it over that ginormous hurdle. Have a great week!