2013-10-30

Just finished my first PBL exam and boy, what a stressful exam! From not knowing what to study to lacking the motivation to actually study, it's been a crazy two weeks of just stressing. I should take my advice to stop complaining so much and JUST DO IT ALREADY. Instead of prolonging the inevitable, I should have just started studying from somewhere. Today I'm going to re-prioritize my life. All my previous goals have been getting into dschool but now that I'm here, I'm a little lost on what I should achieve now. I don't think I will be very happy simply "passing" my classes, so school is definitely on there. I'm putting exercise back on the table too and I'm going to make sure I take out 45 min - 1 hr each day for it. It'd be a shame to not have a bikini-ready body when it's always beach weather outside. Health is also on the list - making sure I get enough sleep & nutrition. I've been volunteering a lot at the local humane society (2-3x a week; a couple of hours each time). It's so wonderful to see the dogs & cats well taken care of. Recently, two of my favorite pups got adopted and I was so happy to see pictures of them in their new homes. My roommate and I still have Teco, our foster dog from another rescue organization. She's such a good, well-mannered, loving puppy, even though her coloring scares everyone on the streets. Hopefully we'll have her 'til Thanksgiving :) I completed my FIRST SET of dentures on Tuesday but forgot to take a picture. I will post more pictures once they get polished & checked off by the instructor. Also exciting news: R&I are going to London/Amsterdam/Paris from 12/24 to 1/4! Everything's finalized from plane/train tickets, except housing, which we're working on now. I've never been to anywhere besides North America & Asia, so I'm totally psyched to visit a new continent! If you have any traveling/sight seeing suggestions, please let me know! **************************************************************************************

************************************************************************************************ beautiful Lido beach on a random Saturday :) jealous? COME VISIT!

2013-10-19

This week I haven't done much and I purposely did not do much of anything. It looks about as bad as it sounds. I think all the studying and constant cramming has finally caught up with me which led to my week of not studying after I get home. Part of the problem is the new course that we started doesn't have much structure so I'm not motivated to learn...at all. Now I'm about 10 chapters behind and have to catch up by end of this month (before my midterm). I'm beginning to feel stressed and overwhelmed - why did I do this to myself?? On a good note, my roommate and I hosted game night at the apartment and it was a smashing success! Great potluck + fun games = lots of laughter. My week in lab was kind of exciting. We did a final impression off the edentulous cast and put the wax occlusal rims on the maxillary and mandibular trays. Now the next step is to choose shade and color of the teeth and adjust in patient's mouth. We're only working off of stone models, so no patients yet. ***************************************************************************************

*************************************************************************************** I also did my first promotion event today for PCAT. I researched as much as I could about the PharmD programs and how to apply - it's similar to dschool. I've forgotten how tiring it is to speak for about 3 hours straight. I noticed at the end of the presentation my voice was kind of distorted and I begin slurring words >< Oops. Overall, I did the best I could under the short notice I had to cover for this event. Yay for a little side income. It's not much but better than nothing. Lately, I've also been craving chinese food so much. I dream about it and have lost my appetite for any other type of food. I don't know how to describe it but I'm about to drive far for some decent food because I just miss it.

2013-10-13

********************************************************************************************************************** 1. making the final impression for edentulous "patient". ready to pour with stone! ********************************************************************************************************************** 2. found a great little farmer's market close to home. As you can tell, fall is definitely around the corner. I really wanted to buy a pumpkin but also didn't know what to do with one besides carve it and put it outside the door. However, that would attract attention on Halloween, so I'd have to open the door for trick & treaters. I'm not ready to grow up in that aspect yet. :-p ********************************************************************************************************************** 3. I made a fruit salad with all the discounted fruits I bought. So yummy. ********************************************************************************************************************** 4. JT visited Orlando this weekend! I went to Disney world with him & his coworkers. I had a surprisingly great time considering how overwhelmed I felt at the Disneyland in L.A. I might even go back again...the food & wine festival at the Epcot was very unique. I was pleasantly surprised at all the recreations of landmarks from different countries. I thought they tried really hard to make it as authentic-looking as possible. Plus, there was lots of alcohol at every food stand. My favorite has got to be the CHEESE food stand. The artisan cheese plate was absolutely delicious with the simple wine. I had forgotten how good cheese & wine tasted until this experience. Overall, though my Saturday was 20 hours long (commute, park, transportation), I had a wonderful time catching up with an old friend and enjoyed Disney world for the first time since I was a little kid. ********************************************************************************************************************** 5. Splash Mountain. Enough said. ********************************************************************************************************************** I shall now study for my Monday's quiz. Hmmm what a good weekend! This will probably be my most exciting weekend in October. My next great carefree weekend will be in November when my UMDNJ friend interviews.

2013-10-08 My week in pictures

**************************************************************************************************************** -Ringling Museum of Art on Smithsonian Free Museum Day It's absolutely gorgeous!! -Teco Taco -starting edentulous (NO TEETH) dentures! I mounted my mandibular and maxillary casts. Now await further instructions -Banana and blueberry pancakes yum