april 2018//

April was a good month as far as keeping things balanced goes. It started with a great adventure with the Husband spending Easter in New Orleans where we got the best glimpse of Mardi Gras and exploring the big easy! I was able to make it home to my parents twice, volunteered, and got of studying done throughout the month. 

Things picked up towards the end of April and got a little crazier with grad school, but I'm happy with how this month turned out. 

desert oasis

After spending a day hiking through the desert in the hottest place on Earth, it was nice to stumble upon this hidden gem of a desert oasis in Palm Springs.

Pressure from the San Andreas Fault created underwater springs that support the palm trees in this area. It's kind of crazy to be wondering through the desert to suddenly happen upon a lush forest of palm trees.

the pharmacy museum

I love museums because I'll never turn down a chance to learn something new. While we were in New Orleans, I realized that it was home to The Pharmacy Museum and I knew that we had to go. 

Having spent so many hours of my life agonizing over learning and understanding the many pharmaceutical agents we use today, it was nice to see this side of medicine from a fun historical side. I assumed that this little one room museum would be a quick visit, but we ended up spending almost 4 hours here. We loved the tour-it's a must. And it was so interesting to learn about all the medications and techniques that have been used over the years. If you have a chance to visit this museum, DO. It's filled with medical history that ranges from the mundane to the truly bizarre. But the best part is that everyone can appreciate this museum, whether you're in the medical field or not. 

this week of dental school

Orange 🍊you glad that it's finally the weekend? And a 3 day weekend at that. Honestly, I don't know what I'm soooo excited about, seeing as my plans for this weekend involve catching up on lab-work at the dental school. Ha! 

After this crazy busy week of dental school, I'm just happy to have a little more dominion over my schedule. Here's a peak at this crazy week I've had. 

march 2018//

Oh March, what an incredible adventure you were. I got a little behind with sharing a full recap of you, but thankfully I finally had some time to sit down this past weekend and organize a few photos...ok a lot of photos. 

6 states. 7 flights. 30 miles hiked. And the list goes on....
March really was the busiest month!  

a day in the life of a dental student: pulling teeth

Sharing another day in the life as a dental student. This one is all about pulling teeth! It's exhausting and hard work, but incredibly rewarding and I love it.  

As a dental student, I have my own set of patients that I'm responsible for, but every 2-3 weeks I do a week-long rotation within one of the specialty dental clinics at the school...emergency, pediatrics, orthodontics, etc. Today's rotation is in the Oral and Maxillofacial Clinic (OMS), extracting teeth. Let's take a glimpse at my day, shall we? Don't worry though-no graphic photos. 

camping in Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park...it's where the cool kids go. It's just an hour away from Palm Springs, California. And it's the perfect quick detour on the route from LA to Vegas. Never have I been to a place with so many hipsters and professional photo shoots. It's the place to be. But the true cool kids do this park just right with camping here. At least we think so. 

We spent 8 nights on the West Coast, staying in some pretty nice hotels, but nothing beat camping under the stars in Joshua Tree.

sah-wah-roh

This pretty place was one of my favorite stops along our Great Southwest Road Trip, which is funny because it wasn’t originally on our itinerary, or even our radar until the day we went. We got lucky enough to stumble upon Saguaro (pronounced sah-wah-roh) National Park on St. Patty's Day, which turned out to be the perfect spot amongst the desert greens.

We were supposed to visit the Grand Canyon, but the weather had us changing our minds and our plans at the last minute. At first, it felt like this was going to be a downgrade that we would have to make the best of. Instead, it turned out to be a favorite spot that we visited. We both agreed that changing our plans was for the better and we got to spend the day falling in love with this hidden gem. 

a secret hike in Joshua Tree

We managed to visit 3 desert national parks across 2 different states during our Great Southwest Road Trip. Each one had a completely unique environment. But without a doubt, the award for best hike goes to Joshua Tree National Park. 

I plan most of our trips, but I put the Husband in charge of finding us some great hikes to do in Joshua Tree and he nailed it by finding an off-trail hike to Eagle's Cliff with a great reward at the end. 

sunset at cholla cactus garden

I'm a bit overdue to share more from our spring break trip to the Great Southwest. I thought I'd do things a little out of order by starting with our last stop in Joshua Tree National Park first. Because when it comes down to it, I'm a girl who would prefer a sunrise to a sunset any day of the week, but this one has me re-considering.

dental school lately: vol. 5

One of the (many) reasons that I chose dentistry as a career is the flexibility. What other medical career offers such great hours? Even as a student, I've managed to make time to travel and see the world and really enjoy life on my schedule.