Saturday, June 28, 2008

Mud

Abe and his dad both ride their bikes to school everyday. Abe and I will often use this excuse as a time to ride together, usually just part way because they live nowhere near us. It seems like things are slowly getting back to normal from the flooding (for us who did not have to deal with the devastation of losing everything like so many families), except for some road closings and sandbags everywhere.

Yesterday we were excited one of our bike trails had reopened now that the waters have receded off of it. It has been difficult to get to the Sheffield home from our place with all of our main routes closed. I think Val has been riding about 25 miles a day with his detours. Anyway, as we were riding Abe's bike suddenly fell from under him, after which Val took a dive, and I, in confusion of what was happening, hit my brakes and realized the problem--the trail was covered in a slippery mud residue. Somehow I managed to stay up as my tires weaved and skid to a stop and I remembered to clip out of my pedals at the last moment.

Poor Val and Abe were covered in mud. Abe slid on his bum quite a ways which seemed to cushion his fall. Val bonked his head (again--he had a bad accident last fall and was in the hospital for a few days) and scratched up his leg and some gears. We walked our bikes through the rest of the mud and rode home without any further problems. I am glad it wasn't worse. We rode the remainder of the 9 mile ride having stinky mud flick on us in the wind but I think we were all okay after Val verified he was up to date on tetanus (the flood waters are severly contaminated).

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Success and chicken skins

Today was an amazing day! I finished my last Prosthodontic patient. It is hard to believe I have almost survived the terrors of super block! Okay, it hasn't been that terrible, I didn't mind it much, but there are definately horror stories that go around. This year has been an extra difficult year for super-blockers with ice storms and floods keeping patients away and even some lost and washed away lab work. I feel awful for those classmates. Somehow I managed to finish 1 week early!

And some random thoughts: I was making chicken tonight and removing the skin. I always remove the skin...thinking it is bad for you and fattening, etc. Today I realized, skin isn't fat...at least for humans there is often a layer of fat under the skin (is that why I have feared it?), but it isn't fat. Do I take it off because when it is fried that is the part that is the fatty fried part? I dunno. Regardless, the thought of eating skin is yucky, so I wont change my habits. I did realize that I tend to hold onto silly notions for years without thinking them through. What do you think about the skin?

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Tail End

Good news: I have delivered 3 of the 4 prosthetic devices I had left for my prosthodontic patients. The last will be delivered on Thursday. Unfortunately, I have an implant case I have a lot of lab work to do that just hasn't been going quite my way.

I feel so tired today...not really sleepy tired, but feet hurt exhausted tired. I have 4 appointments tomorrow instead of my usual 2-3. That probably wont help any. I have some lab work to finish as well as a presentation in the morning, 2 finals the end of this week, and 3 finals next week. Yawn. I also have a youth conference meeting on Thursday. I haven't felt up to studying (part of me wonders what to study on a few of these tests) and my personal statement is still driving me crazy.

But, things overall are going well. I anticipate finishing Super Block on time. Yay. Next week I only have 2 patients scheduled as well, which will hopefully help with my studying. I hope to get over to the hospital to observe if that remains true.

Weird to think that a week from tomorrow will be my last day as a junior dental student. I'll be Dr. Sheffield in just over 11 months.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Back to the Grind

Not to worry...I will be changing my template to a more eye friendly one soon. Sorry for the suffering in the meantime.

School starts up again tomorrow. Feels strange after a week off to go back, like I've never been in school or something. Luckily all of my patients plan on coming and finishing up their Pros work. I should finish two patients tomorrow with 2 crowns. Yay. While the roads running E/W across IC are mostly open, the N/S travel is still severly compromised. There is only one road open to reach the hospital, dental, medical school which means a LOT of traffic! Thankfully I live close enough to walk. If everyone shows up on time, things should go hopefully smoothly. I am dreading my finals (haven't really started studying). I am also needing to finish some of my research and definately get my OS application in by the end of the month if I can get my personal statement to a place I can stand. *Sigh* Maybe I should have done more school stuff this past week although I accomplished some good things here at home as well as for school.

Abe posted some awesome recipes we tried over the weekend. I am pretty excited about both of them. See his link on my bloglist, www.ironsheff.blogspot.com.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Re-useable lunch sacks








I found this pattern on Martha Stewart. I've been interested in finding more economical and eco-friendly ways to pack our daily lunches. I hate throwing away paper and plastic!

They were very easy except I found the corners a little hard to maneuver. Overall, I think they turned out so cute! I love the red one (funny, it looks almost just like one Martha has on her site--something I didn't realize...I must just have a good eye for lunch bag fashion!) for being a little different and bold; I like the flowery one for looking kind of earthy and almost like paper.

I found the canvas at wal-mart. I'm not sure where to find oilcloth like they have on martha's site but I like the idea of being able to wash these.

I can't wait to use them. Too bad they are so girly. I may have to make one of denim or something for Abe.

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/oilcloth-crafts-lunch-bags?xsc=stf_MSLO-ARTICLE

Thursday, June 19, 2008

temp-temp-temp-PLATE

New Template...about time. I almost went with the Jessica Alba XOXO but decided against it at the last minute.

I feel like this one fits me pretty well. Is it readable?

Gift cards can be lame

I don't understand gift cards some times. For our wedding we received many cards. We recently realized that some are very close to expiring or are already past the expiration date. We received a $50 visa gift card that "expired" in October. Since then they have taken a maintenance fee out for $2.50 per month. On top of that, we need to pay another $6.00 to reissue the card so we can start using it or have a $10 fee to get a check. I don't understand why they do this...they have their $50. Why can't we get ours? I can see MAYBE doing one or the other, but really, taking it away each month and then punishing you again by making you pay a reissuance fee? I promise it doesn't cost $6.00 to mail a card. Really, I am not so naive to not know why they do it...they want money! Unfair though, when the card was given to us in July and expired just a few months later.

Gift cards are hard for me because I feel like I have to save them for something special. In the end, I end up using it at the last minute to buy something lame, anyway.

Oh well.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

A streak of red

I would say I have a pretty open style when it comes to clothes. I love items that are a little outrageous or make a statement. I'm not always sure what statement I am sending but I get a big kick out of wearing something a bit out of the ordinary. In college my roommates and I would love to wear colored wigs (try that on BYU campus if you want to turn heads!), cowboy hats, plastic pants, big fur coats, etc. For awhile I rebelled against my femininity a bit and embraced my inner tomboy. I dyed the ends of my hair "grover blue" (sesame street), embraced my vans, and even sported a spiky leather wristband.

Since starting dental school I have mellowed out my style much more. I tried to adopt a professional style appropriate for school and my profession. Once they allowed us to wear scrubs I haven't done such a great job. I guess I am once again embracing my tomboy self with ponytails and "smurfy scrubs." I still try to uphold a professional appearance and now that I am married it seems less appropriate to wear plastic pants or a funny hat.

But...when I went home to Utah my sister had magnificent purple streaks in her hair despite being an employee of a very reputable company. So, with a little encouraging from my mom I had to follow suit and embrace my former wild, somewhat rebellious (come on, I don't really rebel any other way!) and go for it.

Here I am! The best part is it is "real Mongolian hair!" Only the best for the somewhat rebellious mormon girls of Utah.







I think I fit right in with my ultra-hip, edgy band hunk brother now.

And funny, I'm too scared to go blonde (something I've wanted to do for awhile) but going red didn't phase me at all.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

The floods came up...

So I guess the Iowa River finaly crested on Sunday at 6:30 am at just under 32 feet. The estimated crest was Tuesday at 34 feet so thank goodness for that. I have a feeling the water will stick around for quite some time still but it is nice to know the worst has probably past.

Due to the changes, it looks as though we may be back to school on Thursday. Come on, people, make up your minds! Just as I start to visualize in my mind what to do with this week and come up with a good plan including a deep clean of my apartment (part way there), finishing my OS applications (still feel very lost on my personal statement), and some heavy duty work on my reserach as well as some assignments, I am about to lose all of this precious time. *sigh* We'll see what the final word is. It would be great to see my patient who was scheduled for Thursday but she wont drive in winter weather, I promise she wont take the 110 mile detour for a 2 mie stretch on top of her normally hour drive.

I am glad things will be on their way to getting back to normal. I think normal will be a long while coming.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Right to Bear Arms

Let's forget about the flooding for awhile. I am feeling a little depressed that I am missing this whole week of school. What will I do with myself when we are basically on an island surrounded by water? And, how will we possibly make up a whole week's worth of classes and patient chair time? It will be interesting to see how things are managed.

Abe and I took a pretty spontaneous trip to Utah for Memorial Day weekend. It was so nice to be home. We decided to go shooting for one of our activities. Abe had never been before but I think he became a believer (see pictures below), esp after shooting my dad's uzi submachine gun.









I love the one of my mom holding the machine gun. It reminds me of that girl that was kidnapped, Hirsch? Hurst? I don't remember her name. I love her pink lacy shirt and her carefree way of carrying this fierce weapon. Anyway, this is one bad Mother.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

More info


Before picture (Sunday) Abe's parents' neighborhood

After (Friday)

Down hill from dental school (had to check it out on my way home) talking to my mom, "Wow this is unbelievable!"

Sandbagging

University housing...glad we didn't live here.

Do you think we can stand 4-5 more feet come next week?

Rained again tonight...not as bad as it has been but still, come on, more water?

Tornado warning this evening. We were at HY-Vee buying groceries and had to stay in the back for about 10 minutes until the tornado passed. It was seen in Coralville, the adjacent city, but luckily did not touch down anywhere.

Wow.

We had to go to the other side of town. Difficult to get to, almost all roads over and bridges are closed and flooded. I am amazed at how many businesses and familes are being affected. We drove over Burlington bridge. There was some water over it ("Turn around, don't drown" they keep saying) but it was more like a puddle and lots of cars were going through it. We drove over in Abe's little Honda Civic Del Sol just as a truck drove by the other lane. Oops. We got splashed so much we had to stop we could see nothing (and then a car behind us was kind enough to honk at us). Our back window was open and we got splashed. I hope we weren't contaminated.

Check out this news website for some amazing aerials of IC.
http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/19945989.html

Friday, June 13, 2008

Updates







Here are some pics of the flooding on Sunday before things got "bad." We are at the Coralville reservoir at the dam with the water just inches before going over the spillway. You can see a white sign on the side of the dam which is noting the water levels of the flood of 1993. We are suspected to be in much deeper (what a pun).

The University of Iowa has suspended all operations for the week of June 16-22. The College of Dentistry decided to follow suit. Very unusual. They asked to be kept open at first due to patient responsibilities and very rigid scheduling as far as graduation requirements, etc. In the end, to conserve needed power, the school will be closed. I have never been sad to have to stay home from school. Yesterday I was celebrating almost being done with my pros patients. I am going to be fine in the end with some rescheduling or just barely go over but many if not most of my classmates are going to be hurting. I am not sure what will have to happen to assist us in moving on to our senior year.

Crazy. I saw some of the water levels on the street by the dental school for myself. The main drag of the city is under water. It looks like a large lake with tree and signs.

I'll keep you posted if I continue to have power and internet. Thank goodness we do so far. We plan to ride our bikes to Abe's parents which will give us a good look at the flooding I am sure.

Coralville Flood 2008

This is one of the major streets close to the school and our house!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Thailand

Me teaching dive skills for my instructor test
Spirit houses
Thailand shore
Surface interval
Leopard sharks

Asia

My pool where we did all of our training
Cute Thai baby--she had a lot of adorable tinkly jewelry
50th Anniversary of the King...people were very patriotic
I lived at the evacuation site...phew
Can you imagine hitting one of these?

Between my first and second year of dental school I spent my summer in Phuket, Thailand becoming a SCUBA instructor and in Malaysia being a dive bum. Unfortunately, early on in my trip to Malaysia I ruined my camera when I got a poor seal on my underwater housing. I just recently recovered these pictures from my trip about 2 years later!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Flooding

So it has been raining like crazy! Iowa City is flooding and we are on the very verge of having the Coralville Reservoir spill over the top of the dam. People have been sandbagging all weekend, roads are closed, and the dam is a hot visitor's attraction. This is really all quite amazing to me, a girl from the Utah desert. The rain keeps coming...frequently, but also very heavily when it does. We sure could use some regular hot, sweltering Iowa summer days instead of the continued wetness we have had all year. Luckily, we are in no danger of flood damage but many houses and local businesses are already at risk if not under water. Very sad.

You Utahns, keep praying for rain...maybe we can divert it away!

Friday, June 6, 2008

Minneapolis Weekend

Tomorrow is the North Central Women's Lacrosse League All Star Game. I was awarded the leage All League Honorable Mention and was invited to play in the game in Minneapolis. Abe and I are going tomorrow for a quick weekend trip.

I felt very lucky to get a priceline name your price hotel for $45. It was for the Hyatt Regency in Downtown Minneapolis. Wow. The going rate is about $180. I am really hoping that the University will reimburse my gas for the trip. If so, it should be a pretty decent cost. Otherwise, we will have spent about $300 for this game. It better be fun, I hope I get some playing time, and I hope I am in shape! I haven't played since early April. EEK!

I've never really seen the twin cities so that should be nice.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Quilting




I like to sew. Unfortunately, I rarely do. This is a project I did sometime in my last semester at BYU. I finished up to this point rather quickly, but have felt somewhat lost since then. I feel I have done a nice job and don't want to ruin it by "figuring it out" on my own. I need to get the back ready to go and quilt it, finish the edges. It is queen sized and kind of overwhelming.

My Mom sent it to me a few weeks ago. I am excited to finish it up. I hope I will get the chance and a mentor who can help me out.

Can you tell I look a bit overwhelmed in the picture?

Also, I am a bit frustrated how yellow some of the squares look. I thought they were lime green.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Blog Blog Blog

I am a bit disappointed in the blogosphere.

One of the highlights of my day is seeing how friends and family are doing through their blogs. Posts have been lacking, esp. as of late.

*Not to say I am doing much better