Family, Friends and Fireworks!



I love food. (If this comes as a shock to anyone, you apparently do not know me at all).
I love music. I love hanging out with fun people and having a good time. I love that BBQ picnics were created JUST for this purpose! So, Matt and I decided to host our first 4th of July Party at our house this year.
In order to make this the best Independence day BBQ ever, I skimmed a few web site ideas on-line and looked at a couple pictures to decide how I should go about decorating and cooking and what-not.

I came across the cutest picture of an apple pie with stars instead of slits on top! Apple Pie? Sure! Can't be that hard to make right?
When I told my boss I was making my first apple pie he said, "Well this is the first time I'm happy I wasn't invited to someones BBQ." Har har har, funny guy eh?

The next idea I got from some Martha Stewert-type web site was: brownie, marshmallow and strawberry skewers. I thought, Ok! Let's do this!

Well I scrambled around to 4 or 5 different stores after work for 2 days, trying to find a star-shaped cookie cutter and other miscellaneous 4th of July decorations. I have one thought on this...What is wrong with Southern CA?! Places are covered in holloween costumes from September on, but try to find some USA B-day supplies? Nothing! I'm still peeved.

So, what did I do? I got down to the basics of practical thinking mixed with Arts n' Crafts. I made my own dang cookie cutter. Out of card board and a knife.

Living proof you don't NEED a cookie cutter.

You laugh, but it worked. And I'd like to see you try!
So, after one phone call to my mom, and a quick peak on the BettyCrocker web site, I put the thing in the oven and out came a beautiful dish! yumm

We had such a great time at the BBQ and everyone showed up with amazing side dishes and desserts!



While Matt grilled everyone's food, some people played horse shoes, some sat and relaxed and the rest of us got busy chatting and catching up.


There is nothing like the smell of BBQ food! So yummy!
If we could eat like this every day, I would have no complaints! Ok, well if we could eat like this and not gain an inch anyway...

 Other than the pie, the brownie and marshmallow and strawberry skewer thingies ended up looking ok too!
I made the brownies too sticky, but with the help of Christina, Mom and Grandma Betsy, we got them all put together. The problem with having such pretty food though, is that you don't want to mess it up!...I still have 2 left overs that I've just been looking at.
 Matt however, had no problem making the pretty food disappear.

The center pieces for the tables were just empty wine bottles, decorated with red, white and blue streamers with flags and flowers sticking out the top. Very easy and fun to make!



It's days like these that make you truly appreciate your freedom and remind us why we work so hard, punching the clock from day to day. It's feels so great to know that we earned this day off and that we still have men and women out there defending our freedom so we can continue to enjoy our holidays!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!

The night ended with a great firework show! Matt put up his usual ladder set-up and let sparks fly!

I still think sparklers are the best thing ever... no matter how old you get, they're still so much fun!

After most of the crowd left, we sat out front around the fire pit that was still burning and made s'mores with friends while we all recited most of the lines from "The Sandlot".
                                        Such a great end to such a perfect day!

Has it really been 10 years?!

I know, I know, we're very mature.

So, as most of you know, I turned 27 last week. I seriously cannot believe it's been 10 years since I was 17! Looking back, it all went by so fast. But back then, of course, time moved in slow motion.

My famous yellow and red room
complete with all kinds of pictures.

17 was one of my favorite years. Not necessarily because a lot of good things happened, but mainly because my entire life had it's turning point that year...

High school Besties! people thought we
 were sisters that year at camp. Love you Britt!

 I was almost done with high school, I was itching to get out on my own, my grandparents gave me my first car, I had pretty much decided who I wanted to be as a person, I got my first "real" job, I even painted my room to a different color then it had been for the past 20 yrs before that.




My life is SO different than I thought it would be. In a good way though! I mean, I didn't even know Matt when I was 17, yet as I'm writing this, my HUSBAND is currently doing pull ups in the garage. How could I ever know this life was just around the corner?!



I would have never imagined I'd be happily married for 5 1/2 years by now. Especially to a tall, blue eyed, soft hearted, funny guy. *wink wink!*
 How did I get so lucky?! God knew what he was doing even when I was ready to give up, forget all about guys, and marry my darn horse.

10-14-2006

My grandpa married us, along with Pastor Ron, from the church I grew up in. It was so special for me, having both of these wonderful men of God declare Matt and myself, "man and wife."
This is definitely one of the biggest highlights of my last 10 years.





 I would have never imagined my 2 amazingly funny puppies, (I am so thankful for my cute, stinky, furry babies, they brighten up my day!)

Poor babies, they got fixed.

....Or the fact that I have nothing in common with half the people I used to be friends with at this point in my life. Some of my best friends then, are people I never even talk to now. It's pretty weird actually, because when you're a teen, your friends are your life. Now, being an "adult" you're lucky if you can have time for good friends at your work place, or maybe have a few to hang out with on the weekend.


Speaking of friends... I have the most amazing group of friends right now!

When Dental people have a
Christmas Party, haha!

 I couldn't have asked for better people to walk into my life! My co-workers are more like family, and my other friends outside of work are just as special.





I love how we've finally found a group of friends
that we can just be real with, have fun with and enjoy life with. It's amazing what you finally learn is important in friendships; When you're "an adult" you know that you don't have to put up with people that use you, and you can save your energy for friends that really care about you. 


Everyone at Stagecoach for the weekend!

Here are 10 Random things that have been awesome in the last 10 years:
1) Got Married to an amazing guy! Had the funnest wedding I've ever been to. Went to Hawaii for our honeymoon and loved it!
2) Started the Adoption process last year! This whole process has been very exciting!
3) Stagecoach was created! And we have enjoyed it yearly, for the last 5 years. Yehaw!!
4) Bought my very own new car (with a TON of help from Matt) and it's almost paid off!
5) Finally took control of my dreams and got another horse after letting Cory go 5 yrs ago. Cash is awesome and he makes me smile every day.

My new man, Cash!

6) We've moved 3 times since we've been married and now are finally in a rental house owned by my in-laws. It has a yard! I have a (very pathetic) Garden! Goal accomplished.
7) Got my RDA license for work and passed the State board exam back when I was 22 yrs old. Still loving my job.
8) Graduated from babysitting. Worked at In-n-Out. Worked at a restaurant. Worked as a Nanny. Been a dental assistant since 2006!
9) All 3 of the Pirate's of the Caribbean movies came out.
10) Osama Bin Laden was found and killed. While we were at a Rascal Flatts concert. At Stagecoach. 55,000 people shouting together, "USA, USA!" Awesome, powerful moment!

10, PS.) I survived Homeschooling! And I didn't turn into a "socially awkward person" like the general public thought I would, haha... Thanks Mom and Dad! :)


And now I know what you're going to ask...
"Do you have any Words of Wisdom oh old-wise-Sarah?"
  Well... all I can say in my old, old age is this: Have fun. Enjoy your life because it's the only one you'll ever get. Work hard, earn your paychecks and earn your fun days off. You'll enjoy them more! Don't worry about getting rich because trust me, I've met a lot of rich people in my field of work and none of them are content. Let Jesus take the wheel. You can plan your life till you're blue in the face, but if it's not in God's plan, it ain't gonna happen baby! So get over it and move ahead toward His goal. Always remember, friends may come and go, but family is forever. If you want to do something, go for it. Thank a Soldier. Do something embarrassing in front of a large group of people, it's liberating! Be thankful for your life because there is always someone else out there who has it a lot worse than you do. Listen to music that makes you pound on the steering wheel. Be proud of your Country and take care of her. Take care of your body, exercises, eat well. Watch good movies and cuddle with your spouse or special "other". Laugh at yourself!! Take a stand, don't back down. And finally, don't let other people's opinions of you get in the way of anything. You are God's child and he made you just the way you are supposed to be!

   All in all, the last 10 years have been just what I needed. I can't wait to see what God has planned for my next 10 years!
                                          But for now, I sure love my life!

Not all fun and games.

     Well, for those of you wondering, yes, we're still alive! We survived the 6 grueling weeks of the Foster Care classes, which means 36 HOURS of information. Including homework that had to be done in between classes and on the weekends. Not to mention we both work full time and attempt to have somewhat of a social life in between.
We made some amazing friends in the class and through this process and are truly glad we stuck through it all. We had so much information thrown at us in those short 6 weeks, we're more prepared to be parents than most of the population around here. You think I'm kidding...I'm totally not!

We learned so much about how to deal with the issues that will come with these foster children. Remember, these children are in "the system" for a reason. Reasons that can include: physical abuse, emotional abuse, starvation, sexual abuse, neglect, torture, drug addictions, etc. I don't even know where to start to tell you what kind of horrible situations some of these babies and children come from. So I won't go there... the point is, we'll probably end up with a little person who has a large attitude.

The main thing we learned about in these classes is to love unconditionally. To listen, to pay attention to what the child is freaking out about, to understand, to be there as a shoulder to cry on but not to be overwhelming, controling, or too pushy. Every one of these kids have trust issues. They don't want to become too attached to anyone because they always end up getting hurt. Yes, if we end up with an infant we might not run into this issue, however, most of these babies never had the care that a typical baby would have. Some things as simple as even being held as newborns, or maybe they cried all night and no one ever came to feed them. Maybe they spent 3 days in the same diaper. Who knows! These kids have gone through the worst, and they deserve a family who will love them! The more I learn, the more fired up I get about adoption. It's so easy. Not as easy as taking a quick trip to Target in your little mini van, but all things considered, I honestly can't believe we still have so many thousands and thousands of orphans in America. At this point I'd like to go into a very long rant but...I'll save you from Sarah's soap box. Just this once.

I've had quite a few friends and family ask me where we're at in the whole process. Well, we're kinda stuck somewhere in the middle. We still need to complete our CPR class, get ourselves fingerprinted, have physicals done and have paper work filled out by our Doctors... send in our home visit application, which can take a while to process, and have our social worker come see our house and discuss what type of baby/child/siblings we are open for.

This all sounds simple but it all takes appointments and planning which is hard to do when you're at work 5 days a week. Most of these appointments are scheduled to happen in the next month and a half, however, we still need to do a little prep-work before the home visit. Apparently, we need to have everything ready when they do the home check, including car seats, cribs, beds, etc...the only problem is, we have planned to take any toddler, baby, or sibling set age 4 or under, any sex, any race. So, preparing our house for any of these might get pretty interesting. But Matt and I are together in this and we are ready for the challenge!

On a happier note, I get to register for baby stuff someday soon! We are both super excited to get to do this together. I just have no idea what the heck I'm supposed to plan for!
Most girls, when they get pregnant, know that at the end of 9 months, they will be having a baby. I, however, know that at the end of some months from now (and I have no idea when), we will get a call and poof! There will be a baby, or a toddler, or a few toddlers, or a toddler/baby, standing at my door and we'd better be ready! yikes.
All we can do for now is continue on the path that has been layed before us and get all the necessities taken care of, along with trusting God's plan for our lives as we continue to move forward into our unknown future.

Adopting Patience.

Matt and I went to the LA County Orientation on 11/4 for our next step (which was actually a step back) in the whole Adoption process. Since we’ve moved to Whittier, we had to start over. Different Counties, different systems. But I keep hearing this LA system is quicker and easier than Orange County. Which is good for us, but sad as well. There are over 2,500 kids in the Foster Care system in LA alone! It's hard to think about only helping one or two kids for now when there are SO many out there needing loving homes. But, you have to start small before you can grow big, right?

Anyway, one thing about starting over was, we got to hear the 3 hour Orientation speech…twice. Yay. But, at least this one was a little entertaining… people showed up almost an hour late (even though all the info says “show up 15 mins early or you won’t get a certificate of completion at the end of the class.”) then they proceeded to make a scene when the social worker teaching the class told them to leave.

I’m no expert on this situation, but if I was trying to adopt, I don’t think I’d start a fight with the social worker before things even got started, ya know? Hmm.

During this exciting Orientation, we found out that the 6 week “MAPP” class that we need to take, doesn’t start until Jan. 31^st, 2012 due to their holiday break. Of course! 3 more months of waiting, waiting and waiting...Waiting. I’m pretty sure Someone is teaching me something here because as anyone can tell you, I am NOT a patient person.

So, since I have 3 months to sit around and wait for the process to begin of receiving a child, you get to sit around reading about me waiting. Lucky you.

PS-MAPP Stands for “Permanency and Safety: Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting.”

Pretty much it’s just a really long name to justify the really long classes that we’ll be going to. Once we get started, it will be a 6 week course, with 3 hours on Tuesdays and 3 hours on Thursdays. It sounds like a lot but we’re still excited to start going through the whole process.

After the classes are completed and we have our Foster care license, we will be visited by a social worker numerous times to make sure we aren’t crazy. Oh wait, I mean to make sure our house is suitable for children and all the safety regulations are being met.

So there it is, your little update. I’d just like to thank the people that have been asking about our adoption process and praying for us! I don’t get to hear “how’s your fetus doing?” every other minute, so it’s nice to hear that people still remember that we are preparing for a little Mericle of our own! 

and the Due Date is...

Ha! You thought I'd just spill the beans, just like that?! Well, to be honest, I would. If I could. But in all seriousness...We don't know!

"How can they NOT know?" You ask.

Well this might shock you even more...We won't even know the sex, the skin color, or even the age of the kid until it's go time! And by go time, I mean go home time.

To put it simply, we're going to be adopting! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Matt and I have a very long road ahead of us. Classes about kids, classes about healing, classes about abuse, CPR classes, classes about classes...you name it, we will be going to a class about it, or because of it. This is quite an adventure for the both of us, and we thought we would share it with our friends and family.

At first, I thought I'd be sad that I'm not writing about the little "plus sign" or the way I left an EPT on the counter for Matt to see, or if I'm craving some random food, or the way I can't get out of bed because I have morning sickness...but, I'm not! I'm actually pretty darn glad I don't have headaches and nausea and unavoidable weight gain.

For myself, it's been a hard year and a half trying to get pregnant, I'm not going to lie. Some days I got angry, some days I became depressed, some days I just wanted to stick my tongue out at the next girl that told me she was pregnant, (no matter how happy I actually was for them). But, I have always felt called to adopt and now I understand why. I have always believed that the Lord would not give me a situation I could not handle, and now I understand why. I believe in this verse more than anything, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." (Proverbs 16:9 ) ..and now I understand why. Now, if I do end up getting pregnant while we are going through this adoption process, that is a whole other issue and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

The biggest question I get after I tell people our plan to adopt is, "What about fertility treatments?"
Ok, here's my soap box people. You asked for it. Or maybe you didn't but you're gonna get it!
I believe that if I am meant to have biological children, then God will give me those children. I don't see the point in spending tons of money and time on treatments that may or may not work, while an abused, neglected, lonely child is waiting for a mommy and daddy to love them. I refuse to be one of the many that turns my head and says, "I'll let someone else deal with those kids, they have too much baggage."  So there it is. The Bible tell us to take care of the orphans, and that is what we plan to do. So we are asking for prayer for the strength to take care of the children that He places in our home.


I have always loved Sandra Bullock,
but now I respect her as well.



Matt and I will be going through the LA County adoption services, starting in Nov. Long story short, we had started the Orientation in the OC system, but we'll be moving to Whittier in a few weeks so we were forced to change organizations.

We have decided that we are open to Foster/Adopting kids, anywhere from age infant to 4 or 5 yrs old. We are also open to a sibling group if needed. As some of you might not realize, the older a child gets in the system, the harder it is for them to be adopted. Everyone wants infants. Which is why we will not be joining that waiting list. Yes, it might make our lives harder getting an older child who is probably emotionally damaged already, but we're ok with that. I mean hey, no one's kids are perfect... biological or not!




I suppose some of you are wondering why we have chosen to tell everyone our decision, so far in advance... well here is a list of reasons.
1. We need support, and prayer. And by that I mean lots of prayer support.
2. We're excited! And we want to share the exciting baby news!
3. I'm sick of people asking me why we don't have a baby yet. I am too tempted to tell the next person that we just can't seem to figure it all out...(tehehe)
4. We want to encourage anyone else out there that might be going through what we went, (and are going) through.
5. We're excited!! Did I already say that?

Well thanks for reading, if you made it through this long thing... and in about a year or so, you will get to find out the kid's sex, skin color, weight, age...


                                        ...hey, and so will we!

Vacations = Food.

I am going to start off by letting you know, this blog has no real purpose. There is no hidden message and no profound thought at the end. There may not be any witty jokes, we'll see. But I figure, since we all love vacations, and we love food and the two are always tied together somehow, I'll let you know about this last week.

We spent 7 days at my Aunt's place in Arizona last week. She is always gracious enough to let Matt and I stay at her place during the Summer, (while she is still in AK), and enjoy her pool and beautiful "winter" home. One thing we love about this place is the large kitchen which we are definitely not used to, because we love to cook together on vacation. Weird, I know, but true! 

The very first thing we try to figure out when we get there is: What kind of food do we want to go shopping for?

So the list begins.

Eggs? check.

Milk? check.
Bacon? check.
Cheese? check.
           ...Matt is very into breakfast, can you tell?



Matt's Breakfast Tacos!

 Here is one Breakfast creation that Matt came up with. Here we have a homemade taco shell, scrambled eggs, garlic seasoned potatoes, jalapeno sausage, bacon, cheese, salsa and cilantro.


Yum! That is all I'm going to say about this one.

I am not, however, going to say how many calories I think are in these special tacos. That would ruin the whole point of being on "vacation" right?


Since this IS vacation, and I hate doing dishes, with a passion, we did occasionally eat out during the week. We also ordered Pizza, which is always amazing. There is a place called "Da Boyz Pizza" in Yuma, AZ that we love. If you're ever there, try it. and get some wings. According to Matt, they have the BEST WINGS EVERRRR!!!



Here we are enjoying our hardy meals



One night we visited a fun restaurant called Cracker Barrel.

It's good Southern style food with a feeling of the Pioneer days. We actually had to come back one more time for breakfast the morning before we  left Arizona. Matt had to try their breakfast. He ordered some kind of everything-sampler and I had some good 'ol home made style French Toast.

This place reminded me of the Little House on the Prairie series. (Did they even have French Toast back then?)

                                                                                                         

All in all, it was a very enjoyable place to eat at. We spent some time in their little General Country Store and even had to buy some Cracker Barrel Apple Butter and Pure Maple Syrup to take home. Yummm!

One night Matt made us some amazing steak for dinner while I grilled some veggies. Another night I just couldn't put down the book I was almost finished with, so he made a chicken dinner all by himself. I'm not sure exactly how long he was in the kitchen, but I got through quite a few chapters... and by quite a few I mean about 2 hours worth of reading. so...

 Let me just say, it was WELL worth the wait! When we finally sat down to eat, Matt presented this beautiful, colorful, stuffed chicken and vegetables! The chicken had cheese and green squash stuffed inside, with avocado, cilantro, bell peppers and grilled squash on the outside.

 Amazing. Delicious. Beautiful. Perfectly cooked. Can I just brag a little bit here? My husband is pretty cool. I love to cook but this guy makes food look better and taste better than I ever could!

So there it is my friends. I think I gained about 5 lbs. this week. In fact, I know I did. But hey, it's vacation right? 

                                   Tonight's special dinner menu:

                                            Salad ...and water.

                                                                                     

 I

My Father's Daughter.

The other day, some of my co-workers told me that I look like my dad. Which is weird because I've never really heard that before from anyone and it got me thinking about the resemblances (if any) between my dad and myself...I mean, we're both kinda skinny and almost the same height now, but that's all I can think of at the moment. Well, with Father's Day coming up, I figured I'd share a little bit about what it means to be my father's daughter other than the width of our stick legs.

The very first thing that comes to my head when I think about my dad is this verse:

 "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not part from it."    Proverbs 22:6

(This is pretty much what I believe to be the opposite of what my dad had in mind for me, although, as we all know...I'm a rebel!)

I don't know if I can be considered "old" yet, but I do know that no matter what I am doing, or where I happen to be, my dad's voice "training me" will randomly pop into my head and I don't think I'll be parting with it any time soon. Some words of wisdom just never leave you:

Dinner table, school desk, church pew, fence, you name it, I must always, "Sit up straight."

When someone says thank you, "It's not 'uh-hu', it's: you're welcome"

When my name is called, "It's not 'what?', it's: yes?"

When telling a story, "It's not 'me and him' it's: He and I."

                                                               oiy.

A few dad related fun-facts I've learned over the last 26 years would be:

-If you want a cute lab-mix puppy, tell your dad he needs a big "manly dog" around. It works.

-There are things my dad taught me, and things I taught myself because of my dad.

-Bike rides can make for great memories.

-His need for perfection became my obsession for imperfection. And now I can accept my every flaw and am the happiest me I could possibly be.

-Bring your dad to hockey practice, the horse stable or on vacation and there is a 98% chance you will be embarrassed at one point. But hey, he was there! And for that, I am thankful.

-The grass in your front yard can also be a part of your family. So next time around, give it a name.

-If you want your dad to like your guys friends, pick friends that are on the wrestling team.

-I tend to be too sarcastic when we are in serious situations. Sometimes I wonder how many times I actually got the car "pulled over" because of something I mumbled from the back seat.


-A piece of computer paper can be used as a child's punishment. Long story.



-No matter how many years you argue and fight with someone, one day it will finally stop. You just have to move out.

-Dads can also climb trees, so if you're 10 and you're upset about your 1st dog being put down and want to be alone, don't get stuck at the top branch, pick a small tunnel somewhere or something.

-Difficulties we had in the past are now pieces of dust I can shrug off my shoulders. What doesn't kill ya, makes ya stronger. (I'm SO buff!)

-I still don't like math. Dad tried. The greater than, less than (< >) blah blah blah...I just wanted to doodle alligators like the pictures in my math book!

-You can't make your friends or anyone else believe that you're adopted when you look like your dad's entire side of the family.

-If you want to ace your English essay, have your dad proof-read it. Just be prepared to re-write pretty much everything you just wrote in the last 5 hours.



I have to admit, there are some pretty useful characteristics I absorbed from my dad over the years...


-Like the way I love a good challenge, and I won't give up until I get what I want out of a situation.
-Or the desire to grow in wisdom and understanding.
-My mom says I am a romantic just like my dad is. I'm not really sure about that...He writes love poems to her, and I like Wuthering Heights, where everyone is dead, betrayed and tortured by love in the end. But ok Mom...
 -Or maybe the way I like to take notes in church during our Pastor's sermon.
-The way we both like little creative projects. Although, I tend to say, "forget this" if it gets boring, while he will do it until the job is perfected and finished.
 -I'm pretty sure I got my hard work ethic from him too.
-And the way I enjoy helping make others in our community happy. He's good at that.
-Without a doubt, the way I learned to go straight to my Bible and not a bottle of alcohol if I'm having a ruff day...Or a ruff year.
-And the way I am always thinking of how to be a better example of God's unselfish love, in the back of my mind. I saw that in my dad. (And yes, yes, in my mom too of course, but this is a fathers-day blog, so shush.)
 -We certainly have the way I am so hard on myself in common. We are our own worst critics.


I think I do have more differences than resemblances from my dad that I can think of...which will keep me thinking about how to improve what I've just written, for days, even after I finish, edit and post this blog.




                     And that definitely makes me, my father's daughter.

4 Wheels and Road Kill

So much can happen when you're on the road in the middle of the desert. And sometimes nothing can happen. Sometimes you can make something happen out of nothing! So really, road trips are great, right?

Like getting to see all the road kill, but sleeping through all the "live" animals along the road.

Nooo guys, I didn't take any pictures of the road kill. That's gross. And I couldn't take any pictures of the live animals because my sweet husband kept waking me up after we passed the animals. So thoughtful.




I've found that maturity can change your point of view about road trips. When I was little, I couldn't believe I'd be stuck in the car with the 3 people I spent all day trying to get away from...Now I kind of miss that. Well, maybe...maybe a little tiny bit. Anyway, now that Matt and I hit the road so often together, we love having the time to talk to each other or listen to music...and I've come to realize there are more things that can keep someone occupied than whether or not your little brother's elbow is on your side of the single arm rest or not. (Which, Mom, his was totally over the line!)



One thing I love about sitting in the car hour after hour is getting to listen to my ipod. I spend hours putting together a nice play-list and then get to spend hours listening to it! So it's perfect. Until Matt wants to put his play list on. Then he throws off my groove. So, we came up with an unofficial rule: Whoever is driving, picks the music. Ok fine, Matt's going to call me out on this one. It's more like, "if Sarah is driving, she picks the music. and if Matt is driving, she still picks the music.


Another thing I love is getting to yell at the retarded GPS machine...obviously I am right and the stupid thing doesn't know what it's talking about. "Make a legal U Turn, make a legal U Turn"...blah blah blah. Zip it Betty! (That is what we call her. Don't ask.)

I also love my Starbucks stops. Matt knows, this is going to happen whether he wants to or not.
"There's a Drive-Thru one! Pull over Babe!! pull over!!" ...Then we cut off 10 cars, and make it to the exit just in time.

Ah, Heaven in a cup!

Oh and my favorite thing about road trips, is realizing you have to pee when you're:
 A) stuck on the 91 fwy and you don't want to lose your "parking spot."
or
B) Just passed the last rest stop for 100,000,000 MILES!
or
C) Just got back on the road after a long stop and you MUST get going or you'll be completely off schedule!





Then there's always the joy of finally picking a place to eat, and they're "Out of everything" you could possible want to eat, at the moment! (Don't ever go to the KFC in the smallest hick town you find on the way to AZ. Apparently the whole freakin' town goes nighty-night at 9pm on Friday.)

One thing I must say is enjoyable now that we're older and wiser and more mature is, you won't hear me and Matt yelling at each other to "Stop looking out my window!" or "Stop touching my side of the car!"...at least, until Matt gets bored. Then we're in trouble. You'll probably hear something more like, "Why didn't you turn there!?" and "Turn HERE! uuugh!" and "Stop telling me how to drive!" and "Just pick a place to eat before we pass everything!!!"

...Like I said. Maturity.

So, who wants to hit the road?!

Tip Your Dental Assi$tant!

That's it!! I've had it!

Unless I want to be seen as a horrible human being, I'm supposed to give a "tip" to: the chick at the Starbucks window with red spiky hair that poured some coffee into a cup and took my money, the little oriental lady that paints my nails in 5 minutes, the sweet-and-slow-moving woman that does my hair, the guy that does a horrible job vacuuming out my car at the car-wash, the man that looks perfectly fine standing on a corner holding a card board sign, the sprightly young kid that rolls my bags up to the hotel room from the elevator, the waitress that delivers the food someone else cooked...I even saw a tip jar at the Chinese food place the other night! All they do is scoop some food into a white foam container thingie!

                                                      

                                          So, where's MY tip people?!

I'm going to tell you a few things I hear and see every single day at work, and you tell me if you think I deserve a stinkin' tip!

True Story #1: A new patient shows up first thing on a Monday morning, an 83 yr. old woman. She walks into the room and I say, "How are you doing today?"
(With a smile on my face, of course.)
And she responds, "I hate you."
Whoooa whooa whooa!! WHAT?! What did I ever do to you lady?!
So I say, "Oh, uh...ok?"
(With a smile, on my face. I think.)
then she re-fraises a little..."Well, I mean I hate being here."
Ok, well, glad we straightened THAT out.

True Story #2: Man comes in, big guy, tough guy, yet he's shaking in his boots, like most of them...
and oh, "By the way," he says as I get ready to take quite a few X-rays on him, "I'm a gagger."
Oh, that's great. Me too. Nice to meet you Gagger.
So I say, "Awe, no problem, I have the same issue, so I'll be nice to you!"
(with a smile on my face. of course.)
...20 minutes later, he's gagging, I'm gagging just watching him gagging, the spider in the corner is gagging...but the X-rays look great!  Here ya go Doc, have fun with THIS guy!

True Story #3: I'm having a pretty darn good day. The morning was going smoothly, we had nice patients, easy patients, and fun patients.
Our next patient is in the waiting room, so I walk out and said, "Good morning So-and-so! Come on in, we're all ready for you! How was your weekend?!"
This is what I get from the serious-looking man in a business suit, "Wow, you're WAY to happy right now."
Uh, ok...sure, I love being stuck in a small room with people like you all day, of course I'm happy.
So I say, "Well, we'll get this done quickly and easily then you'll be happy too."
(With a smile on my face. of course.)

True (favorite) Story #4: This is one of those patients you just wish wouldn't come back. She comes in for some small, quick, check-up visit and first thing she says to me in an upset, pouty tone, "Last time I was here, the hygienist cleaned my teeth too well!"
Me: "She cleaned your teeth too well?"
What? Seriously? Greeeat, here we go...
Her: "Yes she did! Now, I have a huge gap in my front teeth! humph!"
(by now, the receptionist that can hear everything, is turning blue from laughing so silently at my annoyed face. I turn to where the patient can't see me, put my "gun" fingers to my head, and pull the trigger. Now the receptionist is on the floor...)
Me: "Well, if she cleaned it off, then it was Tarter or Plaque, which, if left on, will give you a cavity or even worse, lead to serious gum disease or even a root canal. So the only reason she cleaned it was for your benefit and your oral health!"
(With a smile on my face. of course.)
Her: "Well, she did it on purpose then, so I'm not letting her clean my teeth ever again."
(I get out my happy/peppy voice for the third time...)
Me: "Ok, no problem! We're here to make you comfortable! I'll make a note of that in your chart."
(With a smile on my face. of course.)
Uugh, somebody shoot me!!!!

These are just a few of my day-to-day favorites. I've also been yelled at by a middle-aged Asian man for asking him to fill out the medical history form that everyone has to fill out, I've been bitten by an elderly man with dementia and dentures, spit up on by a gagging kid, hit on by creepy guys, pet on the arm by a lady who was on Nitrous gas while she told me she loved me over and over, hit in the head by the over-head-light more times than I can count, because the Dr. wasn't paying attention, hit in the face by someone's metal crown that went flying while we were removing it...
(ALL of this, with a dang smile on my face!)

                                             ...

I get the rooms cleaned, the dental instruments sterilized, the trays set up, patients sat on time (usually), get the freaked-out people calmed down and laughing by the time the Dentist comes into the room, take the X-rays, make the lab cases go out and get back on-time, pour the stone models, trim the stone models, make whitening trays, clean the equipment, etc...and make the coffee so we can all function...all with a SMILE on my face!




                                   You know what?? forget the tip!!
                      

 ...I should get an award for best freakin' actress of the year!
                                                                                   (and the raise that comes with it.)