Easter

So, I'm bored from studying and don't feel like getting up to shower yet, so I thought I would put up some pictures.  We went up to Ben's parents for Easter, which was pretty fun.  We hadn't been up there in a while and it was really nice to see everyone and be able to spend time with family again.  Anyway, here are some pictures of that day.  The pictures are limited because my camera was dying even though I rarely use it.  Don't worry..it's all charged up now!

The two girls in their way cool sunglasses.

Ben & I - doesn't he look so cute?  Like he actually likes me or something..

Layla in her bunny mask - she tried to eat it.

Sophia finding eggs in the egg hunt.  Don't worry, Ben & I found lots of candy too.

Layla went ahead and started the egg hunt early, found her own candy and managed to get a hole in the candy so she could taste it.  Impressed?  You should be.

Blessed

I'm feeling pretty blessed today.  

I have a Heavenly Father who knows just what I need, and when I need it.

I have a great family that I love.  

I have a cute husband who also loves me (surprisingly enough).

I have some really good friends. 

I'm getting a great education which will lead to a job that I love.

I currently have a job with good coworkers that helps pay the bills.

There has been some awesome weather in Utah the past few weeks.

I get to visit California during my break, which is only like 3 weeks away.

I have found some delicious, easy dinner recipes -
(which always makes life better).

I have found the motivation to go to the gym more consistently
(which makes me look & feel better).

I am actually getting homework done earlier than the night before it's due.

Basically, I'm feeling pretty dang good right now.
Let's hope that I can stay this way! =]]

The Past Few Weeks

The past few weeks have been buuuuuuuuuuuusyyyyyy!  Work = crazy (as always)  School = intense (as always)  Ben = annoying (as always...just kidding!!)  We've both been super busy lately, especially with school.  Tests, assignments, projects - it's like the semester from...well you know...

Anyways, here are a few things we've done the past few weeks to get you updated on our lives.

First off – my birthday a month ago was pretty sweet.  Of course I had school until 5 – my long day – so I didn’t get to do anything all day for it.  But afterwards (and after I showered since I was in the mouth all afternoon), we went to Rodezio’s Grill with Chad and Melanie.  Of course, I have no pictures from that night, except for the cookies that Melanie made me & the cake that my old roomies brought over for me.  And they were pretty good!!

At school, we started doing injections about a month ago (I think the day after my birthday, actually.)  The first day was pretty scary and nerve-wracking, but I'm getting used to it.  Since then, we've done 4 different injections, 2 times each, for a total of 8 injections as of today.  By the way, these are shots in the mouth (in case you didn't know).  Oh..AND we get to receive the injection as well.  So, Thursdays are pretty awesome (injection day).  Erin was a great first partner - as you can tell as I'm about to give her the shot below...

A few weeks ago, I went to the UDA (Utah Dental Association) Conference for some extra credit in class.  It was surprisingly interesting and I learned some cool stuff – mostly related to memory, which is pretty sweet.  Here I am with a few of the girls from school who were at the Conference.

Last weekend was pretty cool.  We were required to attend Give Kids a Smile, which is a public health thing where dentists, hygienists (us!), assistants, and volunteers come to help provide children with free dental care, including fillings, sealants, cleanings and x-rays.  Ben was one of the volunteers who came since he’s a part of the Pre-Dental Club at BYU, so it was fun to be able to do this with him, even though we were doing different things most of the day.  It was an incredibly long day, but it was fulfilling and ended up being a great day.  Here’s Ben & I after our long day of work!!

Well, that’s pretty much the update on our lives.  We just keep living as the time speeds by.  I’m halfway done with my Dental Hygiene program, which is awesome.  It’s gone by so fast!  I can’t wait until I can be out in the field and working.  It truly is something I enjoy and am passionate about.  Can’t wait for December 17 (Graduation day!!!)

PS – My sister, Kalita, had her baby today!  Karly Sophia!  Soon enough we’ll find out if this baby will look like an Ulrich or a Nascimento..haha.  Either way she’s a lucky girl with some awesome parents, siblings and family!!

Weekend

So, remember how I told you I would put some pictures up?  Well here it goes!  I know I still have lots to catch up on, but these pictures made me laugh, so I wanted to put them up.

You may or may not know what this is. If you read my last post, you probably do. Anyways, this IS my ceiling with smoothie on it. Yes, apparently I have enough time to take a picture of it, but not to clean it. Oh well.

Remember how I'm so awesome and I made cupcakes for Ben's class?  Yeah, these are them.  Lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  MINI lemon cupcakes!  Haha.  Aren't they cute?  And they were pretty good, if I say so myself.

On Saturday night, we went bowling with some friends (Christina, Spencer, Chris & Emily).  Yeah, we are legit and went to Miracle Bowl on State Street.  (For those of you who don't know, Miracle Bowl is pretty ghetto)  Anyways, it was really fun, despite the gross pizza-making lady (don't EVER eat that pizza).  And I totally beat Ben both games - I know, I'm awesome.  It's ok, because he's cute when he bowls...

So Great.

So, I've learned a lot lately.  First off - sometimes, I really struggle.  Like for instance, Friday morning as I was trying to get ready for an appointment I had, I decided to make a smoothie - you know - so I can drink and get ready at the same time.  Good idea, right?  Well, it wasn't a good idea to use a spoon to try to mix it up, even though I PROMISE I wasn't even close to the mixing blades.  I guess "not even close" is too close, since the spoon shot out of my hand, and the blueberry smoothie got all over everything - including the counter, the floor, the wall, the ceiling, my hair and my face.  It was a mess.  I had to shower again (with having to be somewhere looking nice in 40 minutes - yikes).  There is still some smoothie on the ceiling because I can't reach it and I haven't had much time to try to climb up on the counter and get it off.  Oh, and the walls are kind of stained purple/blue right now, because I only had time to wipe it off quickly.  Yeah, I'm pretty awesome.

Oh don't worry.  I had another incident yesterday as well.  I know - I rock.  So, being the awesome wife I am, I was making cupcakes for Ben's class at church.  And I went all out.  I found good homemade recipes for both the cake and frosting and even borrowed a pan and decorating tip to make good looking mini cupcakes (thanks Brittany!).  Yes, you can admit to yourself how awesome I am.  Pretty dang awesome.  Anyways, so it's like midnight and I'm getting these cupcakes into the oven finally.  And when you make mini cupcakes - it's like 4 batches instead of 1 of the regular size - so the recipe I made ended up making enough for 4 dozen minis.  I know - intense right?  Well, getting batch 3 into the oven was obviously a difficult task for me, since I apparently didn't get it fully onto the rack and it decided to tip backwards and get all over the oven door.  Yes, so great.  Luckily, Ben is pretty awesome too, and came to help clean it up.  Well, he actually did pretty much all of the cleaning.  He sent me back to the cake mix to start prepping the next batch of cupcakes.  (Daily Sweet?  I think yes!)  He also made sure to give me some kind words of wisdom on how to handle the next batch of cupcakes.  So great.

So, as you can tell, I sometimes struggle.  And sometimes, I struggle a lot.  Like this weekend.  Haha.  But don't worry, there were plenty of cupcakes for Ben's class and for another class I went to, so it worked out.  There's probably still some cake mix in the oven, and there's definitely some smoothie around, but it's ok.  I'll get around to it sometime.

Another thing I learned is that if I stop asking for things, people are more willing to do things for me.  Mostly Ben.  I don't have to ask him 50 times to take the trash out.  If I ask once, he'll get to it, and he doesn't get annoyed with me.  It's a win-win.  And, if I'm not asking him to do a million things a million times, he's a little more appreciative of what I do.  Sometimes I act like he owes me for everything I do to help in order to make things even, but that's ridiculous.  Plus, I'd rather him be appreciative of the things I do, then feel like he's overwhelmed with the list of tasks I expect him to do in order to even out everything I do.  Man, how crazy am I?  K wait - I'm awesome remember?  Remember the whole cupcake thing?  Yeah, I'm awesome, ok!?

P.S. - Ben has has lots of daily sweets the past couple days.  I just keep forgetting/run out of time to put them all up here.  They include things like watching a dorky chick flick with me (without me even asking), visiting me at work, helping clean up, and just being cute overall.  I'm pretty lucky.

P.S.S. - I WILL put up some pictures soon.  I have some of my cupcakes and a few other things, so I'll put them up soon, hopefully!!  =]]

Daily Sweets

So, I'm a little late, but it's ok.  I still have some of these from the past couple days.  I know - I'm doing pretty good huh?  Impressive!  Go me!  Anyways....

So, Monday night, I was going to bed and I was FREEZING!  I was curled up in a ball, trying to warm myself up under the covers, but it was taking way longer than usual.  Ben, seeing that I was super cold, went and got another blanket for me and put it on top of me.  He even laid it out all nice on the bed and tried to get me warmer by a big hug/cuddle.  It was cute, and it totally worked.  I warmed up real quick after that.  I have such a sweet hubby.

Yesterday, Ben had a pre-dental club meeting where President Samuelson was speaking and pizza was being served.  Ben's in the club presidency, so he's kind of a big deal.  Anyways, a couple days before he invited me to come, which was nice.  I had planned on bringing the poster he forgot and the few other things he asked me to, then sitting in the back doing homework during the meeting (and of course indulging in the pizza once it was over).  But Ben had already saved me a spot in the front row next to him.  I know it's dorky, but it always makes me feel good when Ben does little things like that.  He kept putting his arm around me during the speaker and let me have my hand on his knee (I'm like obsessed with some sort of contact/touching and Ben usually hates it).  Yeah, he was being cute and not acting like the typical stressed out student he is, which was awesome for me and I loved it!  (Needless to say I didn't get my homework done yesterday, but that's OK - not due till tomorrow!)

Daily Sweet

So yesterday Ben killed a spider for me.  Not because I can't, but because I was being a wuss yesterday.  And instead of just making me do it for myself, he came over and killed it.  Oh the joys of having a husband.  I no longer have the be the"manly" one kills bugs.  And I think I like it.  Thanks Ben!


PS - School starts today.  It's been an amazing break of about 4 weeks.  Hopefully that means I'm rejuvenated enough to get back into school focused and ready to do well.  We'll see.  I have a big test today - and I'm sitting here writing on my blog.  Focused?  Yikes...

PSS - So I still need to do a post for the best of 2011.  It's just annoying because 2 computers I used in 2011 crashed, so it's not as simple to get pictures from last year.  But I will.  Don't worry.  You can see all the fun stuff that happened last year - and see how boring Ben and I are when we're in the midst of school.  So fun.