Life by PJ

Hey Guys! Happy (Almost) Halloween. And for those of you who celebrated all weekend like I did, Happy Halloweekend. I haven't posted much honestly because I've just been tired. So very, very tired. I think I'm experiencing what they call burn-out? I'm not sure, but I'm hanging in there in any case and I'm almost done with this semester (yes, I know that's a slight exaggeration but that's all I'm holding onto at this point.) This weekend was a BLAST. I had two old college buddies come up on Friday and it was so so great to catch up with them and hear about their lives outside of school. One of my friends now works as a BHA in a psychiatric hospital and boy, I thought I had crazy patient stories. But nope. I mean, none of my patients have proposed to me and/or tried to escape through a window of the dental school. (Well...yet.) This is your captain speaking ;) Saturday Jeff & I had a party at our apartment and everyone had a great time...

Happy Thursday! It has been an extremely tumultuous week. I say this in regards to both what my week has consisted of, and the weather. It's funny how they always seem to line up together. (Or maybe that's just my imagination.) I'm trying to embrace the storm. You can either hide in it, or dance through it. Practicals, midterms, assisting, quizzes, oh my. This week has been crazy and honestly, I'm exhausted. But that's okay. Sometimes dental school can be exhausting. (Sometimes? Okay PJ.) I've probably accumulated somewhere around 6 hours in napping this week, so at least I'm making up my sleep debt. The weather has been storming. Pouring. Angry. I walked from the gym to the dental school (about a 4 min walk) and I was SOAKED. We're talking every step felt like a puddle, soaked. I was thankful I put on my old sneakers this morning before leaving the apartment. But at least last Saturday I got to go tailgate with some awesome people. And the weat...

Hey guys! I hope your Tuesday is going great. Mine was a long day, surprise surprise. I went to the school early this morning to get some x-rays done with a friend, but I couldn't because all of the x-ray machines were taken. So I ended up pouring up some casts and getting ready for our practical next Monday, then I went to class and finally I assisted in the clinics this afternoon. I was having a great conversation with the student I was assisting about how he got into dentistry. He said that at first he wanted to be an engineer, and then he became more interested in the health field, and finally he decided on dentistry. We talked about how much engineering there is in dentistry. Before coming to dental school, I never considered myself an engineer, but now that I've seen how much technical, mechanical detail there is to dentistry I can say that I have some knowledge in the subject. Knowing how to taper a wall by so many degrees, making sure cavity prep walls are parallel,...

Hey guys! So random - my blog background just decided to randomly break. I'm not sure why. And i'm not sure if it's happening on everyone's computer, but... sorry about that. I'm working on fixing it. I'm also working on scrapping the whole design of the blog and redoing it. I said I was going to do this over break, but apparently Blogspot hasn't updated their design layouts since the turn of the century, so... It's going to take some coding to make it what I want. And by coding I mean my husband. Thanks Jeffy :) Today was a great day. It was the longest day of my life - or it felt like it anyway. I'm so not used to the 8 am - 5 pm class schedule - I have to get back into the swing of things. But, classes aside, I assisted in the clinics and guess what I got to do? Give my first ever shot! Woo-hoo! Is that a weird thing to be celebrating? Yes. Am I going to celebrate anyway? Yes. Now that I'm a D2, all of these D3 and D4s keep springing thin...

Hello Viewers! I've been hearing it on the commercials and I've been plugging my ears and screaming LALALALA. But yes, fall is here. Today was the first day of my fall semester of D2 year. I'm at a weird place right now school wise. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel - really I can. But then when I realize that i'm not even half way through yet...it gets discouraging. "Dental school will go by so fast!" "All of a sudden you'll be graduating!" I'll believe it when I see it. But today was a great day. I assisted in the clinics and my D3 student was just doing a prophy, which I was fine with, it's not the most exciting thing but it's important. And then at the end of the appointment she asked me if I wanted to do the polishing and flossing! I will admit, at first I said no because I was nervous (I need to mentally prepare myself for things before I do them most times), but after some encouragement I decided to do ...

Hello Readers! Break has been great so far. Except, I kind of messed up my foot on Monday. It's a long story, it involves a bike, some toddlers, and a lawn mower. I don't think I twisted it, or broke it, but I think I sprained it. No, I didn't go to the doctor, because I'm a huge hypocrite. But it seems to be getting better, so... I'm sure it's fine. I went and stayed with my grandma for a few days last weekend. It's always great to see her and to stay with her. And who doesn't love being spoiled by their grandma? She doesn't have internet though, which was nice for a while, but then I just felt disconnected from the world after a couple days. I'm so terrible, but I have to have my internet. Blegh. Jeff is at work all day, so I'm here binge watching Married at First Sight. I'm not caught up yet, so don't ruin anything, but I'm LOVING the couples this season. I lost my faith in the experts a little bit last season with some of...

Hey guys! Happy Friday, yes, a very happy Friday indeed. As of yesterday at 11:30 a.m. I am done with my summer semester of D2 year! Hold the applause. Finals went pretty good, although I was getting a little burnt out by the 3rd final in 2 days, but that's not so bad. Jeff took me out to a Korean bbq restaurant to celebrate and it was DELICIOUS. We love this restaurant down the street from us that gives you raw meat and veggies and lets you cook them on a bbq that's built into your table. I know what you're thinking - I have to cook my own food? But trust me, it's so delicious and so worth it. Definitely a must-see if you ever run across a Korean bbq restaurant. Chef Jeff focusing on cooking the meat I'm a sucker for a good pot sticker My plans for today include cleaning up the apartment a bit, eating some lunch and doing my nails. *Sigh* what a busy day indeed... I don't have any plans for this 2 week break, so I'll probably be bloggin...

Cheers to the weekend, How's it going guys? It's a gloomy Saturday here. (Weather wise, that is, mood wise I feel pretty good.) Jeff is helping his friend move into his new house. I still can't believe I'm old enough to have friends who are BUYING and MOVING into new houses. What's that? Oh just the sound of my brain exploding. I guess I'm married so I can't say much, but still... Thursday and Friday night were a time to relax. I didn't get to catch the Women's All Around Final like I said I was going to because I ended up going out with friends. However, I did catch the last 5 minutes where Aly Raisman and Simone Biles were crying tears of joy - I expected it was because they had just won their medals - on a TV in a pizza shop at midnight, so yeah, you can say i'm pretty cultured. Go Blue I have something exciting in the works that I can't wait to announce to you guys. The time isn't right yet, but just know something cool is ...

Hey Guys! The wedding we went to on Saturday was so beautiful. The outdoor ceremony had a gorgeous blue sky with white fluffy clouds and it was overlooking a lake. I cried like a baby when they exchanged their vows they had written for each other. They were full of so much love for each other. I'm such a sucker... "What God has joined together, let no one separate." It's Thursday, which means I get to relax for a little bit. I had an exam and a practical on Monday morning and a final on the respiratory system yesterday. So last night was the first time I got to relax and what did I end up doing? Watching the Olympics of course! I'm super bummed I missed a lot of the female gymnastics, which is my favorite part, but I'm pretty sure there's the all-around competition tonight at 8 so I'm definitely going to check that out. Gymnastics has always been my favorite part of the summer Olympics (ice skating if we're talking winter.) I love the fl...

What's up guys! Today is Friday, which means that tomorrow is when Jeff's cousin gets married! I'm so excited. I love the couple that's getting married (plus I'm related to them) and it's going to be such a beautiful wedding. I love weddings. What's better than seeing two people in love profess their commitment to teach other to the world? (Plus there's usually cake. Except at my wedding we didn't have cake, we had cake balls. Same difference.) Our cake and cake balls  Today was my last assisting session needed to fulfill my assisting requirement for the semester. It was supposed to be a comp core, but we had a pulp exposure so now it needs a root canal. Which we kind of expected was going to happen anyway at the beginning, but we wanted to see if we could avoid a root canal first. The dental student handled it exceptionally well. Not everything goes the way you're expected it to go in the clinic, in fact, most things don't go anythi...

Hello Readers! Well, the summer semester is winding down. We've only got 2 weeks left, which boils down to 1 practical and 5 exams. Definitely the lightest finals week we've ever had, so I'm not complaining. I went out with Jeff and his co-workers last Friday night, and one of them said something that made me think about things. "You're the happiest person I know." I smiled. "Yeah, I agree, you're definitely the happiest person I know." Another one of Jeff's co-workers chimed in. Wow, the happiest person they know? Am I the happiest person they know? Am I happy? I've always felt happy; I do really enjoy my life; Jeff makes me super happy. But how often do we ask ourselves - am I happy? And how do we measure happiness? It's pretty abstract, but simple at the same time. Happiness isn't really made a priority in dental school. For most students, anyways. I always try to stay conscious about my happiness. But sometimes, I do...

Hey guys! Today is a milestone. My blog has gotten slightly over 20,000 views. What a great day. I remember when I started this blog. I wanted to have a place where I could come and share what I was thinking about to the world. I was obsessed with a few dental student blogs at the time, and I would constantly dream about the day that could be me. And here I am. Sentimental and mushy, I know, but I think it's good to take time to reflect on things every once in a while. It also makes dental school more bearable knowing that it was something that I use to want so badly, for so long. And writing this blog and having a regular audience is also something that I have wanted for so long. Now I have it, and I want to thank you guys. I do this for you, and without you, I wouldn't have such a special piece of me. Do you have a blog that you want to promote? Write in the comments below! A picture from my white coat ceremony 1 year ago. Until Next Time, PJ

TGIT Everybody! (Thank God It's Thursday!) We don't have classes on Friday for the rest of the semester, so Thursdays are my Fridays now! I'm definitely less productive now that I don't get up and do things on Fridays, but whatever, I could use the break I guess. So if you read my blog yesterday, you know that today was my first cleaning! (Not the first time I've had my teeth cleaned, but the first time I've cleaned a patient's teeth.) And it went great! I will say I was a little nervous, definitely not super frazzled, but a little on edge. There are just so many steps to remember; when do I take the blood pressure? When do I check in with faculty? When do I do the extraoral/intraoral exam? It can be really overwhelming. But it ended up going smoothly and my professor was so happy with how I was cleaning my patient's teeth that he said I "put a smile on his heart." Literally, one of the best things I've ever heard from a faculty membe...

Happy Wednesday! The D1s have started showing up around our school and I literally could not be more excited. I see them walking with their articulators to the pre-clinic and I just shudder thinking about when that was me last year. Ugh. Waxing. So glad those days are over. Oh wait, I'm waxing a molar on Monday. Well, that'll be Monday's problem. Anyway, I have my first perio patient tomorrow, meaning I will be cleaning someone's teeth for the first time. I'm excited, even more so than nervous. I figure if I can do a filling on someone I can clean their teeth... We'll find out tomorrow, won't we?! I guess it's true what they say about summer in dental school; it's pretty chill. Dental school, chill? Not two words I will probably ever say together in the same sentence. (Unless the sentence is "I need to chill out about how hard dental school is.") I guess the professors are taking pity on us since it's the beautiful summer and we'r...

Hey guys! To better keep up with my everyday life, follow me on Twitter. Watch as I try to limit my struggling to a mere 140 characters. Hope your Thursday is going well! https://twitter.com/LabCoatnPearls Until next time, PJ

I broke my promise to you guys.  I said I wouldn't leave you again and then I did. It's a combination of being busy, lazy in my sparse free time, not feeling like anyone's reading this (although you are), and feeling like I don't have important stuff to say.  But I'm really going to try guys, like really really try. And honestly, I can say that when you all leave me comments it really motivates me to get back to writing. And writing is something that I truly enjoy doing, so here I am, trying to keep writing once more. So, it finally happened.  I HAD MY FIRST PATIENT. It was basically a nightmare scenario.I didn't know about my patient until 5 mins before it was time for the appointment because of a scheduling error. It was a filling on a front tooth - something that everyone would see every time my patient talked. And my patient was unhappy with having to wait so long (for issues that I'm not going to get into because they're unimportant.) But th...

Oh My Lanta Everyone, I just decided to check if anyone still reads this blog on a whim and by golly, yes! A LOT of you still do! I'm sorry I abandoned you! I got married, I started dental school (I'm almost done with my D1 year!) Things have really, seriously changed. Dental school is about as hard as I was expecting. There are tons of exams, the hand-skills are mind-boggling and you basically feel stupid 24/7. But I'm trying to keep a good attitude about things, and I think I'm pretty much succeeding at it. I have break-downs every now and again, thinking that there's no way I'll ever be a real life dentist - but the best thing is to remember that I have to take everything one day at a time. One day at a time. It's basically my mantra. I'll start thinking about the exam I have tomorrow, the project sheet I have due after that, the exam the next day, the clinical practical the next, and then I stop myself. One day at a time. Did I accomplish what ...