Life by PJ

Remember me? I feel like I always start my blog posts out by apologizing for how long its been since I've last written, so in keeping with this tradition, I'm sorry it took so long to get this out here. Moving on. My life is crazy. Absolutely crazy. But, I wouldn't want to have it any other way. So what has happened since I've last checked in? Well, probably the biggest thing has been that I got engaged! When my boyfri, er, fiance... and I visited Canada last July, he popped the question! We've set a date, which is June 13th, 2015. Now I know what you're thinking, "Wow that's super fast!" And to respond to you a.) we've been dating for five years this November, b.) I've been wanting to marry him for around 4 years (what can I say? I know what I want!), and c.) we really wanted to get married before I started dental school. So as if planning a wedding doesn't add enough stress (fun stress, but still stress) to this semester, the...

Happy Sunday Funday! This week I was brought back to reality after spending a fantastic Fourth of July weekend up at a friend's cabin on Lake Huron. We did everything from watching fireworks, to swimming, to sunbathing and justifying floating as swimming. It was a fantastic weekend and I couldn't imagine being stuck at home instead. (Even though I didn't sleep very well. Me and tents do not mix, especially when I wake up to a 100 degree tent with no air circulation.) Here are some photos! It was so great being able to meet up with friends and catch up! The water seemed to go on forever! Jeff bought this dress for me at the farmer's market we went to that same morning! The sunsets were absolutely breathtaking. Anyway, after a weekend of bliss, I then went back to work at a dental clinic owned by the company I work for. After scanning and sorting through files, I learned how to make confirmation calls which was an interesting experience. Having th...

Happy Tuesday! Today has been a busy day. I got an extremely rude wake-up call from my alarm clock at 5:00 am. (the nerve) since I had to be at my work site by 6:30 a.m. and it's almost an hour away from my house. Exciting announcement alert! I got a job! In the dental field! (Crazy right, when does that opportunity ever present itself for us non-trained pre-dental hopefuls?) Right when school ended, I contacted every dental clinic in my community asking if they needed any volunteers. I felt pretty defeated when I didn't hear anything back from any of them for a long time. But then miraculously, one contacted me and said that their HR department wouldn't let me volunteer in the clinic (bummer), but they had a job opening for a dental clerk in their summer fluoridation clinic (yay!) I jumped on the opportunity, made a resume, contacted my references and applied the very next day. I then had an interview scheduled within the next week and prepared myself the best I could. ...

Yesterday I went and saw "The Wizard of Oz" musical with my mom, my grandma, and my boyfriend. My grandma has seasons passes at this adorable little theater that never fails to deliver. I've been going to this theater for 10 years now, which is something that's crazy to think about. The first play I saw was Evita and I was 11 years old so you can imagine how much went right over my head. Anyway, back to "The Wizard of Oz." Having first watched the movie when I was a kid, I missed a lot of aspects to the story. For starters, I didn't even know the scarecrow, tin man and lion were supposed to represent the three men helping Dorothy around the farm at the beginning of the movie. But more importantly, I missed out on a lot of themes and lessons taught throughout Dorothy's struggle to return back to Kansas. When Dorothy was belting out "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," I felt myself getting pretty emotional. I could understand her yearning for mor...

Hello all, and sorry for the extended absence!  After finals week rolls around, I'm usually so caught up in my summer plans that my blogging goes by the wayside, which is exactly what happened a couple months ago. But, I'm back! And ready to type. After my last final in April, I immediately went home and got busy working on my personal statement. (Some people say type-A, I just say well prepared.) And boy did that personal statement take me longer than I thought it would. I had written many drafts, beginning as early as last summer at SMDEP, but none of them resonated with me. But when it came down to crunch time, I became inspired as all writers do with an impending deadline, and drafted something that came directly from my heart (and my keyboard.) I'm so proud of it, it makes me giddy. I never expected to have one 4500 character document explain me so perfectly. But I'm not going to say it was all sunshine and rainbows - it was pretty difficult at points trying to...

This has been a crazy, busy week for me, but with the sun shining, the snow melting, and a positive attitude, I've been having an excellent week back from spring break! It's amazing what a little sunlight and a positive attitude will do for you. We're learning about Seasonal Affective Disorder in my Psychopathology class, and I can't help but think back to how miserable I felt back in January and February. Not seeing the sun for so long can start to have real physiological effects; not that I'm saying I had it clinically bad enough to be classified as having SAD, but still, you get my point. You can really start to miss it after a while... The AADSAS opens soon, and the date just keeps getting closer and closer. When I think about it, I start to get a lump in my throat. It just all seems so overwhelming. Funny enough though, when I express this concern about the upcoming application cycle to those around me, I seem to get the best advice in response. Here...

Spring break is coming up next week (thank the sweet God above), and such as what happens with any break, the temptation to lay around and do absolutely nothing is oh so strong. Who needs tropical paradise when I could just cuddle up with my blanket, my dog, and Bravo for a week straight? But as we all know, this isn't an option for us pre-professionals, and even if it was an option, the guilt that we have to deal with from not accomplishing anything is persuasive enough to get us off of Netflix and into our books. (Just me?) Holding ourselves accountable for our own success is something that has been instilled in us since day one of college, when our BIO 101 professor  refused to put the powerpoint slides up online. And as it very well should be. In the "real world" (don't you hate this phrase?), we'll only have ourselves to rely on when we're doing procedures and conducting our typical day-to-day affairs. The ability to persevere on despite the temptation to...