Mi Soledad

Well, it's almost the end of the semester, and I'm lonely. I miss Ben, and I can't do anything about it. He's so busy being good and responsible by studying for his tests that his professors decided to pile on him this week. I'm so proud of him, but I really miss spending time with him. I've had to go two nights this week without Ben and I can't stand it! To all of you married people out there: please appreciate the fact that you get to be with your significant other all night. They always say to enjoy the dating years but honestly, they're not so great. What part of being lonely and busy and tired and still not having time to see Ben is supposed to be enjoyable?

Some of my Favorite Girls!

So this weekend, Ben went to the WRC's yert for work, and my dad took Bear to Island Park with him so tonight I am officially boy-less. I miss my boys so much and having Ben be gone helps me see how absolutely crazy about him I am. It also gave me an opportunity to remember once again how much the girls in my life mean. They've all been a huge impact in my life and helped me become the person I am. I don't have enough pictures or time to mention them all but here are a few that are especially close to me:

Of course, there's the hound, Bagheera. She's really good at cuddling me and making me feel better even when I'm alone. She also keeps my boy happy when I can't be there. She also plays some pretty some pretty mean ball. Que haria sin la hija?

Katy, Brit and I always have the funnest girls nights! I miss Katy and wish she wasn't so far away and she could come play more often.

Of course, I LOVE BRIT!!! ...really, that's the very best way to put it, she's pretty much the best "girlfriend" ever!

My sister is one of my best friends, I miss her so much now that she's in Oregon. I want her to come home more, but she's pretty intent on becoming successful and succeeding through medical school for some reason... obviously I'm more important! :) She's so amazing, I really admire her strength and independence. I can't wait to see her this Thanksgiving! (she is coming home tonight but it's now 9:00PM and she's still on her way home from Moab with her boyfriend Chris and she'll be leaving pretty early tomorrow for a conference. I'm excited to see her tonight but I know it won't be a very long time.

Halloween!!!

WSU Dental Hygiene Class of 2010 ready for the Halloween Party 2009!!! We've got such an awesome class, I'm really glad I'm a part of it.

The odd couple. I am Ben and Ben's a hillbilly fisherman!

Look at that chest hair!!!

My pitiful attempt to strike a "ben pose".

Me, Abby and Staci at the Hygiene party (I'm a furcation with an amalgum filling so yes, I do in fact know that my skirt is falling down... don't you know diseased gingiva when you see it???

The Waiting Game

The New Century Cabin, I love this picture!

My Cute Parents

Boating on Island Park Reservoir

Four wheeling at Island Park.

There he is...

Well, I'm really good at being patient... I wasn't, I'll admit it. I wasn't being patient with life for the last few weeks and I don't know why, I don't know what got into me but I was getting really frustrated with having to wait and not being able to make things happen any faster. I'm okay though. Actually, no, I'm not OKAY, I'm AMAZING! I'm so happy, things in life honestly couldn't be better! I'm achieving some very big goals that I've had set for a long time now and I have the most amazing and supporting family and even better, I have the very best boyfriend ever. I really love him and I KNOW that he loves me. I don't know what it is about him but for the first time in my life I KNOW what I want and I KNOW that he wants the same. I am not afraid, I'm not trying to find excuses or run away and I think that is why I became so impatient, because it just feels so right. But I realized today and late last night that everything is perfect! EVERYTHING feels right because it IS so right and I was only getting stressed out because I didn't want to wait but not waiting isn't right. I'm supposed to wait and be patient and things will all work out perfectly. Since I've figured that out (I know, I'm silly because honestly, that's not that difficult of a concept) but since I realized that I've been completely at peace. I haven't stressed or worried and I'm HAPPY. I really am, I'm perfectly happy and content!!! I love my life!!!

Expect the Unexpected

Well, I've done the one thing I didn't think I'd ever be brave enough to do. I pierced my ear! Only one and it's up on the cartilage because I don't want to go through it just to be conventional. Brit did it with me and it wasn't as bad as I thought! (thanks Brit!!!) Not many people have noticed, probably because we got the tiniest little diamond and white gold stud available but it's still fun.

I did it for me, not for anyone else, but Ben was way excited when he saw it and he's been helping me take care of it so it doesn't get all infected. Thanks baby!

Other than that, I've just been really busy with the end of the semester getting perpetually nearer, assignment deadlines arriving, and clinic sessions running out. I know it'll all work out but it's getting to be a little stressful (man, how am I going to survive next semester with Boards and Graduation and all that fun???)

Fun on 21st Street

House sitting was a blast, I got to spend a lot of time with Ben and Britney and Ben's friend Chris McFarland (who happens to live just up the street from the house I was staying at. For one month it was almost like living in a dream, I was away from my parents, on my own, independent. It was NICE! I'm now looking for an affordable house that I can buy around graduation when I'll have enough of an income to be able to afford the payments. Wish me luck!

SCHOOL (boo!) and Island Park

Well, School has started again... I'm excited but at the same time really not in the mood to be going to school yet so it's been kind of hard to focus and get everything done early like I usually like to do. I've been getting by though, luckily my classes aren't too demanding this semester and clinic isn't as intimidating which is really nice.
Last weekend right after school on Friday I headed up to Island park with the family which was so much fun! My family left Wednesday night but I had to stay for school and then when I left on Friday I had to drive to 106th south in Salt Lake to get another propeller to replace the broken one in Island Park. With all the construction and then hitting rush-hour traffic on the way back it took 3 hours round trip and add that to the 4-4.5 hour drive to island park, we basically drove to Lake Powell that day!!! It was so long! Well worth it though.
I got to ski and airchair and Ben got to do the same plus surfing and wake boarding. The food, as usual, was amazing, and Chris (Hailey's boyfriend) was really a lot of fun the whole time. He was so positive and excited to get out and try everything even though Hailey wasn't really feeling well the whole time since she's still adjusting to not being in Africa.
Now I'm back from that nice weekend getaway and I'm sitting in clinic, waiting for my patient who's 30 minutes late... Today after clinic I get to move out basically for a month to house sit for one of my mom's patients who has two dogs: an australian shepherd-lab mix named Tooele, and a Collie (just like Lassie) named Hamish! I'm way excited!!!

EPIC!

I went on the Salmon River trip that was organized by the WRC to go run the rapids on the lower fork for a week. It is such a beautiful river and a really neat area despite the 10 hour drive to get there and the fact that it's in Idaho!

To start off this incredible adventure, we ran out of gas about 10 miles south of Boise because Daniel, our brave and fearless leader with a cast on one leg due to a big blown out tendon from climbing, decided not to stop in Burleigh for gas... We should have taken it as a sign.

So we get to the campsite at our launch point on the river and set everything up pretty smoothly. There were a lot of wasps but other than that everything went well, Ben, James, Cami, and I found pretty nice places to hook up four hammocks (other than the fact that Cami got strung up right underneath James so she had to deal with him right in her face all night!) The three shuttle runners take off so Cami and I bunker down in the two hammocks set out for Ben and I and we talked and listened to music for the four hours that we were waiting for the men to get back. Or friendly neighbors offered us beers which we politely declined and despite our best efforts we were both asleep by the time the boys returned. The shuttle took a little longer because they got smoothies, passed a nasty wreck with a rolled Subaru on the side of the road, oh and they HIT A DEER! They were okay and there were only a few dents on the car luckily and the deer actually got up after though I doubt it is still alive now. ...once again, maybe we should have taken a hint?

When we awoke, the old guy next door asked how we slept and then told us he tried to send some of their guys down to give us a goodnight kiss (not knowing Ben and James were back) so Ben really startled the man when he replied "good thing they didn't!"

The first day on the river was really mild and when we got to camp we set up the kitchen , hung the two hammocks we had room to hang, and then I pumped up the queen air mattress and started working on the storm shelter.

Just as we were finishing with the shelter, a microburst came and blew our air mattress down the river. We tried to hike down after it because we could see it blowing up river but then it'd get caught in an eddy and flow back down river.

The runaway air mattress and lack of available hammock space and rain flys forced us to sleep "double-double" in the two "two person" hammocks. When they say two person, they really mean two small people that really really like to cuddle way more than is humanly normal... so I'm sure that was pretty awkward for Cami and James who did I mention did not even know each other before this trip??? Hehe, it was pretty fun though and we all slept really warm that night until the rain started dripping into my hammock early in the morning which Ben quickly put an end to thank goodness!

The next day, the rapids were awesome! We went through China Garden and Snow Hole which are the two most impressive rapids of this particular trip. To top it all off... just before reaching Snow Hole, the first big rapid, we found the air mattress and it was still intact and inflated!!!

When we made it to the beach, we set up camp and prepared the rain flys instantly due to the ominous clouds above. Cami, Ben, James, and I set up two hammocks and the newly retrieved air mattress underneath a rainfly and a huge sealed nylon that we set up kind of like a very open tent. Once we were content with our "shelter" we started to play around.

Ben and James had let themselves get all scruffy and unshaven for ten days in preparation for the various theme nights... this look was for Hobo night and this is right before we shaved them...

The very complex shaving process...

And Finally the finished look: for steak night they went with the tough guy appearance complete with handle bar mustache and chops! They also wore bandannas/dew rags and dark t-shirts.

Cami and I had to join in the fun too... even though we didn't really have enough facial hair!

We all dressed up later for costume night on the river, it was so much fun! Cami dressed up as spiderman, James looked like a game show host from the 70's, Ben was a cow and I made myself a cow pie with brown clothing, brown make-up and grass/weeds to match!

NOW FOR THE EPIC PART:

After a steak dinner and fun with costumes, we went back to our little private campsite to watch the incoming storm. As I changed into my pajamas and brushed my teeth, it started to rain, obnoxious, but harmless so we didn't really pay much attention to it and got ready for a lightning show.

Before we could even watch the lightning, it all turned pretty ugly: the rain got heavier and the wind picked up so much that it literally tore the grommet from the corner of our sealed nylon tarp (that supposedly cannot be torn easily). Ben and James were trying to figure out a way to reattach it while Cami held the hammocks and I tried to gather all of our things into one spot under the tarp. I realized that my bedding was slowly being pushed toward the edge of the air mattress by the wind and in remembering how we lost the air mattress the day before, I jumped on the tarp spread eagle to hold it all down. The wind was so strong that every time Ben adjusted the sealed nylon, it would get under the tarp and lift me up so Ben was literally flying me like a kite while the rain and sand was being hurled at my back so fast that it stung so bad! At the same time Cami was trying to hold onto the hammocks and the other rainfly because we knew that would no longer be an option for sleeping in this particular storm and they were pulling on her with some pretty good force but somehow she kept herself grounded. Then of course, to make things better, the rain turned to hail. Not only was I freezing because at this point I was only wearing a soaking tank top and some equally wet basketball shorts but now there were painful darts of ice slamming into my back and the chill of the air freezing my insides but all I could do was lay spread eagle to save our things until Ben and James got the tarp under control by burying it under rocks and wet sand.

Finally we got that set up so I continued to gather our things and throw them under the tarp. Cami and I were both so cold that we were starting to shake uncontrollably and I realized that there really wasn't any quick and available source of heat out there on that river. Ben told us to get under the tarp and cuddle up in some dry clothes... only one problem, all of our dry clothes were sealed in dry bags and to open the bag would have soaked them all so we took off whatever was completely soaked and crawled under the tarp in our skivvies and somehow managed to find some dry sweaters under there to put on so we cuddled up together in the wet and sandy sleeping bags under the tight tarp. To give us some air and to help drain of the rain, Ben tried to put a pole up in the middle of the tarp which of course ripped a nice big hole right above Cami and I so the boys left to go try and set up another shelter for all of us to sleep in.

Just when Cami and I started to freeze to the point of uncontrollable shaking and we started to get seriously worried, the boys told us to come to the new shelter and bring all our bedding with us so we scrambled across the rocks to the overturned raft they had set up for us and once again cuddled up on our air mattress. Ben gave me a dryer sweater and asked me to find him some dry shorts and boxers for him to wear. I looked and found nothing... not even pants. Finally I saw it: the cow costume! hehe, so three of us slept in underwear and sweaters while Ben slept in his spotted fleecy costume complete with udders. Oh my!

This is Cami and I at our original shelter (the torn tarp) the morning after the crazy storm (also note the brown make-up still on my face and the fact that we're both wrapped up in blankets still because we hadn't yet opened the dry bags.

This is Ben and James... same place but looking

even more exhausted and amazed. That poor cow! Thank goodness they were both there to basically save us.

At the next beach, Ben worked hard to start making an amazing shelter until James, Cami and I realized what he was doing and jumped in to help and add our own ideas. It was so sweet! First he dug down two feet in the sand with a paddle and made a hole that was nice and level and right next to a big flat rock. Then he flipped a 14' raft and strapped the non rock end to a water filled cooler. Then we pulled up the other rafts to stabilize and block the wind as well as lining the other edges with dry bags to keep the storm out, then we laid the cursed sealed nylon on top to seal it all off.

This is the outside of our fortress for the night...

Like I said: this shelter was way sweet! We hung out there all evening listening to music and talking and joking around. It was so much fun and did I mention how nice it was to not have to worry about the storm??? Soo good!!!

James handed out flossers to everyone the next morning and of course me being the future hygienist that I am had to capture that moment!!! Hooray for good oral hygiene!!!

This is me riding on the gear boat with Ben as usual but this was the last day that was really unusually cold. I kept asking Ben if I could paddle to warm my muscles up at least and I would dip my feet in the water to help thaw them out because the air was so cold.

And there he is, paddling us home safely. He paddled the 1000+lbs. of gear boat and myself down about 60 miles of that river in about four days... pretty amazing if you ask me :) Instead of camping again in Riggins, ID on the way home like they usually do, we drove straight home that night and arrived back home around 3:00AM so we didn't even unload all the stuff until the next day. We were all so tired we just went our separate ways and went straight to bed!

What an amazing trip that was... EPIC!

Rocks n' Ducks

Last night was a lot more fun than hay haulin', I went rock climbing at WSU's rock wall on a double date with some of my really awesome friends. It was so much fun but once again, my arms are dead from the compilation of hay, skiing, and now climbing. After the wall, we had some hamburgers and virgin mojitos and then went canoing the WSU's duck pond. That was a blast because it was dark and the lights and fountains were on and there were baby ducklings everywhere!!! Ben caught a little baby that I saw floating right by the canoe and it was so cute! It pretty much fell asleep in my hands while I pet it for a while. Then we set it free even though we were a bit concerned because of how sluggish this particular duckling was acting. I also chased a rat out of a hole and watched him take off hopping across the lawn. Then, to top off this super fun night, we had rootbeer floats! All of my favorite things: ducks, rocks, and rootbeer floats!

Haulin' Hay

Even though working on a farm or weeding the yard and working around the house can be hard work, it's so worth it. I went and helped haul hay in Eden last night and worked my butt off rolling the bales in nice rows so the men could load them on the trailer easier as it drove by. It took a long time and three trailer loads but we cleared the lower field and got it all loaded in the barn. It was so rewarding to see the field empty and the barn fill up and even more enjoyable to eat the delicious pulled pork sandwiches waiting in the crockpot inside:) My back and legs are pretty sore now but all is well and I'm feeling really good at the dental office today. Dental assisting is not quite as rewarding (except the pay is a bit better) and it generally follows this pattern: set up room, seat patient, chart, suction, walk patient out, clean room, set up room again, seat next patient, chart, etc... The only real way you can see your work being accomplished is by watching the appointments turn black on the computer screen and seeing the time go by. Luckily, hygiene is not like that. You see a mouth come in covered in who know's what and then you send them home as clean as you could possibly get them in the time allowed. You can actually see the difference that your time and efforts have made and it's very rewarding.

Working Again....

Bear put on his "ice cream goggles" on the way to Island Park. It was the lid to a shake.


Well, I just got back from an AMAZING trip to Island Park with the family and a few other
couples. It was so much fun to go float the river and SKI!!!! I got some amazing runs in and I started to figure out once again how to cut harder
and it felt so incredible. I even got some sweet butter smooth glass runs in! I got to Sky Ski and surf again too which was a blast all while watching the baby Grebes and Antelope playing around in that incredibly beautiful area of Idaho.
(I know, I just called Idaho Beautiful... it still sounds so wrong to me:)

Waterskiing in the Reservoir

However, now I am no longer on vacation, nor am I home with free time like I
have been this summer... nope, I'm WORKING. Also really hard to believe, I know, since it's only like my 10th day of work this year! Oh we
ll, I'm still excited to actually be working so I can have some sort of income and not have to mooch of Brit the rest of my life!

Summer Update!

This is to document my first and only (so far) time in Denver, Colorado. It is also the time that I realized on my way to DC that my camera was almost dead because it hadn't charged right and of course... I didn't bring my charger!!! Thus why there aren't very many pictures of this DC trip. But it was still very memorable.

Well, July has been great and June was awesome! I went to Washington D.C. to present my research project on Secondlife from June 16-June 20th. It went so well! Our presentation didn't win but we did stir up some interest and excitement among students and educators from across the nation about our National Board Review Second Life project for next year! I also got a bunch of free dental swag and lotions and other random prizes from the ADHA conference. I'd definitely suggest going to the national convention whenever possible because it actually was pretty interesting.

I mean Esther Wilkins herself was there!!! (for those who don't know... she is the author of our very most important Dental Hygiene text book that many refer to jokingly as our "bible". The rest of my time in D.C. I spent at the Smithsonian wandering around all the different museums. I also made it over to my grandfather's grave in Arlington National Cemetary although it took me four hours of walking, phone calling, and searching it was definitely worth it.This is Kara, Pam and I being reflected in the Vietnam Memorial where my Grandpa's name is written.

I was also able to locate his name on the Vietnam Vetrans Memorial: Leroy P. Bohrer. It was a very neat experience for me to feel that much closer to the Grandpa I never got the opportunity to meet in person. I flew straight from D.C. to Portland to help my sister drive home for our family trip to Lake Powell. The drive home went very smoothly and rather quick despite the incredible tempest we had to power through for about an hour. As always, Powell was a blast. We got plenty of ski time in and I got a few great runs on the Air Chair as well.