how i almost drowned at the dentist :/

I'm not going to name any names. Maybe I should, to protect readers from possibly going to the same dentist... If you are looking for a dentist, ask me which one not to choose, and I will let you know!

That being said, today Brian and I had an interesting experience.

Feeling spiffy with new insurance from my new job, Brian and I thought it was about time we made a trip to the dentist. We had been having some teeth sensitivity and we wanted to get it figured out before it got worse. Well, I called around to a bunch of different dentists trying to find the best deal. We pay a percentage, not a flat co-pay, so we still wanted one that was cheap so we wouldn't break the bank.

Sometimes you get what you pay for.

I found a really great deal. I'll admit it - it sounded almost too good. But, because they gave the good deal as a "BYU discount", I figured it was ok.

So, Brian and I show up for our 11:30 appointment at 11:15 (be proud, mom - you've always told me to go early to appointments). Now, I am not overly picky about how my dentist or doctor offices look, but this was something else! Brian and I politely tried to ignore the excessive cat and fish decorations, brown walls, heavy curtains from the 60's, carpet probably that old too, and... dental equipment that was probably older than both of us combined. Yikes. We were willing to let it slide and see how the dentist was (after all, decorations really don't matter that much).

I was brought back to a dark room full of filing boxes (the receptionist informed me that they were busy going through all their old patient files), sat on a really old yellow dental chair, and asked if I was pregnant. I said no and the dentist came in to do some x-rays. He was a really nice man. I don't have anything against old people, but he was really old. Maybe I can blame some of what happened later on his age. Poor guy.

So, he starts doing the x-rays and the machine keeps drifting. I don't even know how to explain it... Look at this picture, and maybe that will help.

Anyway, he was trying to take the x-ray but the joint wasn't tight enough so the little nozzle part that is supposed to be next to my jaw kept drifting down towards my chin. He eventually got a shot on both sides.

Now, maybe I've just been to some high-tech dentists, but as far as I know, almost everything is computerized nowadays. Not at this office. Our x-rays came out on tiny little films where you could barely see the teeth, let alone if there were any cavities! He said our teeth looked fine. We told them we had some sensitivity and he didn't care :/.

Now for the good part.

I walk into the next room where I am to have my cleaning and stuff. The dentist is showing Brian a model of a human skull and telling him some things about it. Well, the hygienist muttered under her breath on the way out the door that it is a real skull. Gross. Even better, I guess it used to be an ashtray! Haha.

Brian stayed to observe while I got my cleaning and "exam." I have never been so grateful for those stylish little bibs they give you in my life! I only wish I had been offered a face mask and eye shields as well. Well, the hygienist is nowhere to be found and the dentist starts with the cleaning. He has this supersonic water-pic/teeth cleaner thing he whips out so he can get under my permanent retainer. He decides to use that tool for the rest of the cleaning as well. Here's where it gets tricky.

Very nonchalantly, the dentist says, "Let me know when you're about to drown and I'll let you spit." As he starts the process, I can tell it's going to get messy. Suddenly I'm getting wet all over. The tool he is using is making a mist and drenching my face, the hose connected to his tool has a leak and is dumping water down my neck, and then let's not forget the small detail that he is pumping water into my mouth and he isn't using a suction device to get it back out! I can't possibly swallow with his hands and this horrible device in my mouth and so the water is just dumping out of my mouth on  both sides. Ahhhh! Brian is just chuckling behind me and the dentist just doesn't care that I'm getting a bath/shower along with my teeth cleaning.

Next he pulls out that whirling swirling toothbrush and dives in with that. I was just grateful that I hadn't drowned yet and figured this couldn't be as bad. Well, it wasn't as bad, but it was still plenty messy because every time he took the whirling toothbrush out of my mouth, he kept it running so it was whirling and swirling, throwing toothpaste and saliva all over everything in sight! Brian was kind enough to help me get some out of my eyebrows after we got home. I wasn't there for Brian's cleaning, but he said he had a similar experience with the whirling toothbrush.

Did I mention I hate going to the dentist?

We did not set up any return appointments. When we gave the receptionist (who was also the hygienist) our insurance card, she looked up incredulously and said, "You guys have insurance?! But, you could go anywhere with that!" Clearly we weren't the only ones who thought we were crazy for choosing this dentist.

Have you ever had a bad dentistry experience?

#10. Most embarrassing moment!

10. Describe your most embarrassing moment.

I am laughing right now just thinking about the one I want to share! Embarrassing things happen to me on the regular. For example, just the other day (night?) I was working a night shift and I really really had to, ahem, relieve my bladder. So, I finished up feeding one of the little babies and ran off to the loo. I guess in my haste I forgot to lock the door. So, there I was minding my own business and suddenly another nurse comes running into the bathroom (I guess she really had to go too). She was in such a rush that she was about 2 full steps inside the bathroom before she realized I was there. Whoops. She screamed (literally, screamed) and ran in the opposite direction while I just sat there and laughed. I kept laughing to help myself feel better but boy was I embarrassed. The worst part is that I didn't even see her for the rest of the night! I wanted to laugh about it with her so it wouldn't be awkward the next time we saw each other, but alas, I guess I might be dealing with that awkwardness on my next shift. Anyway, that story wasn't supposed to be that long because that's not the embarrassing moment I even wanted to talk about!

This one happened during my volunteer adventure in Guatemala. Everything is better in Guatemala after all!

Let me introduce you to the chicken bus. I wrote about them more here, but I will do a quick refresher. They are the public transportation of Guatemala. They will hold any amount of people willing to get on (I even saw a man hanging on the outside with his arms through the window to hang on once when we were going about 45 on a winding, bumpy jungle road! Anyway, you get on and then you are packed in there like sardines and then a man comes around gets your money. Oh, and they play very loud latin music for your enjoyment along the way. Oh, and they don't follow any traffic rules. Off-road? As fast as the bus can go? Not stopping for anything/anyone? Yep -Anything goes!

Ok, so it was my first week in Antigua Guatemala and I was loving it! I was there on a volunteer trip and I was ready to flex my volunteer muscles at an HIV clinic (which leads to another story...) up in the mountains of Guatemala. I was told how to get there and I would have to make a bus transfer at "the tree after the long fence before the market." Yikes. After going through the winding city, through the valley, over the hills, and into the mountains, I was lucky I got off at the right tree considering we were practically in a jungle.

And there was my bus! I was so glad it was waiting there so I wouldn't have to stand awkwardly by a tree in my scrubs looking like a lost tourist.

I jumped off the bus and got on the second bus with a little smirk on my face. I could totally handle this Guatemalan stuff! I greeted the driver and sat down without really looking around. As I sat there, however, I started to realize that all around me I could only hear children voices. I finally looked around and saw that there was a good reason for that - I was surrounded by Guatemalan kids! 

I was on a schoolbus. We were on our way to school. Bahahahahaha! I swallowed my pride and asked them if the hospital was on their way and they were so kind and dropped me off where I needed to go. Hahaha. I felt so dumb. The kids were nice though.

Here's the sugar on top. The next day I was waiting for my real bus and the schoolbus came up. The driver stuck his head out the window and offered me a ride again and I am happy to report that I took him up on his offer :)

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I have to brag a bit about the Mr.


Brian got at 90% on his chem final! It's the highest score he's heard of and it secures his A in one of the most difficult courses at BYU. He looked at me the other day and said, "Rach, I never realized before that I was smart." I always knew. He is going to do great in dental school!


For more of the 30 questions project, click the above tab or here!

introducing my husband, the drunk driver :)

Friday night we were coming back from a friend's wedding reception (congratulations, Rachel & Ryan!) and Brian was driving. We were just pulling onto 300 South from 900 East and suddenly there were flashing lights behind us.... dun dun dunnnnnnn.

Brian pulled over and the popo man came to the window with his flashlight looking very suspicious. He checked out the back seat and the front seat and appeared to be looking for something. What was that something? Alcohol!

"Do you know why I pulled you over?"

"No officer! I'm very confused - I was definitely going the speed limit!"

"Well, you have a taillight out, you were slow off of the light, and I believe you have a headlight out too. This is very typical of driving while intoxicated."

"Oh no, officer! I'm not drunk!"

Then I chimed in from the passenger seat... "Make him walk the line! Walk the line!" (Brian didn't appreciate that)

"I think I'll let you guys go.... But, why do you have a driver's license from Arizona, license plates from New Mexico, and you're driving in Utah?"

"Newlywed students."

"I see. Have a good night and get your lights fixed!"

Phew. I must say that I find it very amusing that my husband was pulled over for drunk driving. Only in Provo I guess. I think Brian would be the last person I'd ever expect to get a DWI.

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Other news...

I did my first night shift and boy was it weird. Brian was kind enough to make a cave for me in our bedroom by putting a few blankets over the window to make it completely dark. I tried to sleep the day before, but it is tricky. My body thinks it's time to go out and do things but my brain is telling it to go to sleep during perfectly beautiful daylight hours. Consequently, even though I gave myself time for a 4 hour nap prior to going in for my night shift, I woke up every hour. Hopefully I'll be able to get a hang of this whole sleeping during the day dealio. If anyone has tips, let me know! 


I am working a three-in-a-row night shift stretch this weekend. Seeing as it may kill me, this might be my last blog post.

Night shift humor

story time... and photos!

It was a fantastic week :)

I am really enjoying my new job. The other girls I am orienting with are just so dang fun and we are able to make the 8 hours of bookwork go by fairly fast and have a good time about it. We laugh and laugh and laugh. I am so grateful that it doesn't have to be all serious and dull. Of course, it is nice to be learning a lot about the babies too :)

It is weird being gone so much, but I am enjoying having something useful to do with my time and I definitely don't mind getting paid for it! Now, don't think this has stopped Brian and me from donating plasma... we went twice this week and racked up $150! I sure wish I had known about this place freshman year. It could've paid for all of my snowboarding adventures for sure. For now, it is going towards the gas I burn to get to the U.

Ok, time for a funny story. Or, at least I think it's funny. Luckily, so does Brian.

So... Monday was President's Day and Brian did not have school (yay!). However, he is a little behind in his dental shadowing hours (not so yay) and so needed to spend the day doing useful things like watching teeth get extracted. Well, one of my best friends (Megan!) has a few brother-in-laws who have a dental practice up in Salt Lake and she was so so nice to ask them if Brian could shadow for a day. They were willing and he set it all up. So far so good, right? 

Well, I had work that day and so I just dropped him off at the dental office on my way. Or, at least I dropped him off where we thought the dental office was. FAIL.

I call him up at lunch and find out that the dental office was not, in fact, on Foothill Drive (that was the office the are renovating and eventually going to move to). Nope, he ended up walking FOUR MILES to get to the real office! Luckily one of his boots for his broken feet was removed last week, but he still had one on. He is such a trooper though. Rather than complain about having to walk forever, he told me about what an adventure it was. He met a guy smoking pot(?) who asked him for a lighter and some other interesting people. He made it to the office about an hour late, but then had such a great day. He really loved shadowing Doctor Dave and learned a whole lot. He is so excited to be a Dentist :). Better him than me! I came in at the end of the day to watch a tooth being put in, and it just made me cringe to see them hammer it in.... It's weird how I can handle nursing stuff but not dental stuff very well! Brian is now thinking about going into oral maxillary surgery because his favorite part of dentistry is all the cutting open and fixing up. Ew.

Some photos from this week and last...

First day as a real nurse in the NICU!

See that ridiculously GIGANTIC binder? That is what we get to study/memorize. You can see how it compares to a relatively full 1-inch binder. Yikes!

Yes, it is heavy.

Badge! Oh how exciting to get a badge :)

This is the incredible homemade pizza we made with our new pizza stone! Delish!!

This is the day we celebrated Valentine's Day. You are probably wondering what we are holding. Well, it's panini bread (homemade!) that we dyed pink for the occasional - I know, I know - cheesy!

This picture just doesn't do it justice... But this is the INCREDIBLE homemade ice cream we made for valentines day. Quite possibly the fluffiest and most delicious ice cream I have ever had (and I've had a lot of ice cream over the course of my life...)!!

Oh! And Happy 8 months to us! Can't believe it - it's gone by so fast!

what do I do when i should be studying?

watch Kid History of course! Oh man, this is one of my favorites :)

spider sandwich?

Halloween came a few days late this year. Let me tell you a little story.

This afternoon Brian and I decided we were going to make delicious avocado, turkey, tomato, cheese, ranch paninis and eat them with tomato soup because it is fa-reeeezing out here. So delicious.

Imagine my horror when after making the delicious sandwiches, I saw one of these in between one of the cracks of my panini maker...

Do you know what that is? Well, I'll tell you. It's a spider egg sac. Yes. Likely full of baby spiders. In my panini maker. Maybe partially smashed onto Brian's panini. Happy belated Halloween!!

The good news: all the spiders were dead thanks to the grilling/spider killing power of this awesome appliance.

The bad news: I just couldn't enjoy my sandwich like I should have.

Hey, guess what - it's snowing here in Provo! While I don't relish the feet of snow we get until late March, I am excited for the first real snow storm! Yay!

I had a dream

Weirdest dream ever last night. I really need to lay off the late-night snacks. But alas, yesterday was our four-month anniversary (yay!), so we did our tradition of getting a milkshake! It was late because we had to wait for me to be back in town after my New Mexico trip and Brian had a test to take after his pre-dental class that doesn't get over until 6. So... milkshakes at 8:30! Yum!

Anyway, the only reason I'm telling you about the milkshake is because I think it must be the cause of my very strange dream. This is how it went...

Justin Bieber was Harry Potter

Voldemort was actually a woman

Harry Potter (aka Justin Bieber) and I were best friends

We were in some Latin American country in an antique store

Voldemort wanted a Picasso painting that my mom had.

She gave it to this little hispanic man and told him to go sell it for something good so Voldemort couldn't get it.

He came back with 6 chicken breasts and a container of mushrooms that he traded the painting for.

We were pretty disappointed that he didn't get something more for the valuable painting, but were happy to have some chicken anyway.

My mom was afraid her wallet was going to get stolen so she put it in an antique desk drawer at an antique furniture store.

I made her go get it out before the store sold the desk.

Harry (Justin) killed Voldemort with a shotgun because magic wasn't working this time.

Then I woke up.

Weird, or what?!!

Anyone know how to interpret dreams?

laugh out loud

Thanks for the encouraging comments on my last post... and for sharing your own nursing fiascos! Being a nurse is really a riot - I'm sure I'll have good stories for the rest of my life :)

I've recently become a fan of Pinterest.... it's a bit addicting, but it has such good stuff! 

These made me laugh out loud. Seriously hilarious!

Halloween treat?

the untold stories of memory foam (disturbing content)

So... Brian and I were perusing Bed, Bath, and Beyond's selection of memory foam mattress toppers when we came across some rather interesting reviews. I'm not posting any of this to harp on memory foam pads - we are still planning on getting one, we just thought the reviews for some of them were hilarious! Very descriptive to say the least!


Enjoy :)

"I purchased this mattress topper as a display model, thinking that any smell it would have had should have dissipated. But no, I could not spend more than one night on this thing without the obnoxious smell overtaking me! It was terrible! And what's worse, it has been two weeks since I returned it and I STILL can't get the smell out of my bed (and it was only on my bed for one day). Immediately after removing the mattress topper, I tried scrubbing my bed with a hot water and Tide solution, I've blown fans on my bed all day and even tried flipping the bed over but STILL, that obnoxious smell remains. I'm so upset with this purchase, I think BB&B owes me a new bed! I just can't believe they can sell a mattress topper that will impregnate your bed with such an awful smell -- it really is bad (it smells kind of like those red rubber balls you played dodge ball with in school). And the worst thing about it is that even after you return it, YOUR BED WILL STILL STINK! I will NEVER buy a Therapedic Mattress Topper EVER AGAIN!!! (and I'll probably have to burn my bed...)" 

"My back is killing me, the indentations don't go away! This memory foam remembers my shape all too well, it does not recover." 

"I have no idea why this product is permitted on the market much less why BB&B chose to sell it in their stores."

"My husband and I were excited to get some real rest with this topper, but I woke up the next day with stiff legs, a sore back and a pain in my neck. I decided to give this topper a week in our home before returning it. I can't. I'm taking it back tomorrow. I tossed and turned all night, and at one point woke up from a dream that I'd taken the topper off of the mattress! It's stiff, and it does not form to my body like it should. (I'm a petite person). I would NOT recommend this."

So there you have it. Needless to say, Brian and I will not be purchasing any of those mattresses :)

Kid History... am I the only one who thinks these are hilarious?

never do this.

So... this weekend Brian and I decided we wanted to go camping. Unfortunately, Friday night came and it was getting pretty dark before we ever even left the house. So, we decided that instead of setting up our tent, we were just going to sleep in Brian's geo. 

His geo.

Don't know what that is? Well, it's a very small car that has the engine of your average go-cart. Here is a picture of one in case you were wondering....

Now, Brian's geo does not have tires quite that large. In fact, he had a flat tire once and I honestly couldn't tell which tire was the donut and which ones were just normal. Hehe - I love that carrito!


Anyway, so we took his geo up into the Sundance mountain range, parked it and camped out in his car. I think that Brian described that night's experience perfectly. We were like rotisserie hotdogs being cooked on flames of pain. Let me explain... every way we turned it hurt in different ways. So, throughout the night we just slowly turned circles so that different areas of our bodies could hurt (we had to be fair!). Anyway, it wasn't a very restful night and when we woke up we were ready to go home after a short walk through the canyon. I think next time it will be worth the effort of putting up a tent :)


Other events from this weekend... transporting our new couches (new to us anyway) with a minivan, finally went to our new ward for the first time, pioneer day in the park (so fun until I got food poisoning again!), pizookie night with Rebecca & Chris, and a delicious Sunday crockpot dinner and homemade bread made by my wonderful husband! Love him!


Yep, it was a good weekend. Just don't ever try and sleep in the back of a geo metro.

Finally Finals

Finals week is almost here!! You know what THAT means... study study study, snack break, study, youtube break, study, snack break, study, bathroom break, study, anything I can think of to distract myself break, study, etc etc.... Oh the joys of finals. 

At least I only have 3 left!

And then.... SPRING TERM! Note that I did not say "summer break." Yes, it is sad but true... for nursing I have to keep taking classes this spring and serve our "at risk" populations here in Utah. I will be working in the local jail, diabetes clinics, reduced-price healthcare clinics, and other such exciting places instead of sleeping in and going to the pool. Oh well. At least I have summer term off starting in June - I can party then :)

Anyway....

To all you finals takers... HAVE FUN! BUENA SUERTE! TAKE LUCK!

they made another one!!

introducing...
kid history episode 4!!

Happy Green Day

I was at the mental health clinic this morning and we had a St. Patrick's Day party... the mentally disturbed people made up a song and I thought it was cute so I'm going to share it with you...

Sung to the tune of JINGLE BELLS...!

Looking for a rainbow... on a sunny shamrock day,
A shiny coin you'll find, if you go that way!

Leprechauns are near, dressed in festive green,
hiding pots of lucky gold, 'tis true they can't be seen, OH!

Leprechauns, leprechauns, Ireland all the way
Running here and jumping there throughout St. Patricks Day... Hey!

Leprechauns, leprechauns, hope you find their gold,
Catch a lucky leprechaun before you grow too old!


They're pretty creative, huh?!

...and Brian's hair

Brian wanted me to post this and say that this is how he is going to do his hair for the wedding. Ow ow.

what do you think of this hairstyle for the wedding day?

Now THAT'S a side ponytail!

hahaha :)

it's a little embarassing...

So, last week I was in the burn trauma unit at UofU Hospital.

15 minutes in... I passed out on the floor.  Hahahaha - it's such a stereotypical thing for a nursing student to do! Man, at least I didn't hit my head or I might've been transferred down stairs to the ER...

Needless to say, I was a little embarrassed... after all, I have seen much grosser things and I never passed out then! The nurses gave me some toast and jello and let me sit down for a while and then I got back to work :).

Intrestingly enough - one of my patients told me all about how he raises goats. Not just any kind of goats - fainting goats. Yep. You scare them and they faint. You can google it!

Kid History - Episode 2 - for those who wanted to see more!

Kid History - Episode 3

Bahahahaha! Possibly the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. Enjoy.