Provo Triathlon

Well I did it! I finally accomplished my goal of participating in a triathlon! Triathlons have always seemed interesting to me, but around March I got excited about doing one. Luckily, my oldest brother Ben sent me out his road bike since he will be in Germany the next 3 years and will not have need for it. My parents packed it up for me and shipped it out to Provo. It has been a blast riding all around Provo which I classify as my attempt to train for the 13 mile portion of the biking. Let's just say June 20th came very quickly and if the registration fee was non-refundable then I probably would have gotten cold feet. The race was at Utah state park in Provo, connecting to Utah lake. We arrived at 5:45 to check in and get marked. They put your number on your shouulders and then your race on the left calf and your age on the right calf. They also issue you a anklet with a microchip in it that times your events and transitions. Then you have to go claim a transition spot where you change from swim to bike gear and then bike to running.

The swim was what I was most nervouse about because I had trainned when school was in because I had access to the lap pool, but when school ended so did my trainning. The water was pretty cold especially at 7 am so I had to invest in a full body wetsuit, the swim cap came free from one of the sponsors ( I know I look like a girl when wearing the swim cap but it did keep my ears warm). The swim was just 1/2 mile but lets just say it kicked my trash and I'm glad I didn't sink to the bottom.

After the swim I was like "well that was a good workout I think I should stop for the day" but I was far from being done. I jogged to the transition spot, peeled off my wetsuit and put on my biking shoes, hoppped on the donated bike and started the funnest part of the race.

After the bike was the run, usually 3 miles is not very hard but after biking my legs were feeling pretty heavy. I ended up pulling up my ranking the most during the running portion.

My total time for 1/2 Mile swim, 13 miles on the bike and just over 3 miles running, with transitions was 1 hour 40 minutes and 4 seconds. Aftter the race I was pretty beat and Amy was there to get me water and fruit as I walked around in a daze. Amy was definatly my most excited fan (well my only fan at that). The traithlon was a blast and I definatly look foward to doind more in the future.

Refinished Night Stand

-Before-

Old nightstand from DI

Not loving the handles...

With some washing to get the dirt and some cobwebs off (yes it had a few cobwebs, gross!), sanding, two coats of fresh paint, and some new modern stainless steel hardware, it looks brand new!

-After- I've never been the craftiest or handiest person in the world, but my Mom is! All growing up I remember her refinishing pieces of furniture, staining, painting, and much much more. On my sister-in-law Tracy's blog, she refinished this cedar chest that was a gorgeous night and day difference. It definitely inspired me and I made Truman go to DI with me that night to look at furniture ;). I found this piece, and it was only $15 dollars! My Mom was telling me how she used to drag my Dad to look at older pieces she wanted to refinish and my Dad would say, "What are you looking at??" My Mom would reply, "Possibilities...". haha. That's how I felt when I saw it --it was solid wood, in good shape, and I figured with my Mom's expertise, I could at least try. It was such a fun project and only took me a day to finish! I can't wait to do another one! Thanks Mom & Tara for all your tips and ideas!

We love finally having a night stand! We went from nothing to a mattress as a wedding present, bed frame as a Christmas present, and now a great night stand! I love the way it goes with our bed frame!

Lazy Sunday

Truman & I love Sunday naps!

Registered Dental Hygienist

I worked my first two official days as a paid dental hygienist! I am currently working for a few dental temping agencies, and I got my first call on Tuesday. I filled in for this office in Riverton, Utah for both days. I was so ridiculously scared and nervous going into it, but by the end of the first day I felt pretty good. Even though I've been practicing dental hygiene for the last 2 years in school, and was a dental assistant for 3 years, it is so different in each office and being out of school! The doctor didn't know it was my first day ever of working in a dental office as a dental hygienist, and I don't think he could tell either --which is what I was going for! I couldn't help but feel and think so many different things as I was working though... --but I'm not a real dental hygienist?? I wonder if they think I'm too young for this? I wonder if the patient is thinking what I'm thinking (that I have no idea what I'm doing) haha just kidding--

I was breaking down my room for my next patient when the doctor called me over. He then asked me if I could anesthetize his next patient. My heart kind of sunk for a second, and then I was like...wait a second, I know how to do local anesthesia, haha. I don't think I had shaken so bad since I first learned to do local anesthesia, but it worked great, and the patient didn't feel a thing --possibly due to the fact he was on laughing gas ;)

The second day I was there, I had a patient who hadn't had his teeth cleaned in 30 years! I was suprised to see that long of a time outside of my dental hygiene school. He even had insurance, but just didn't care to go! I got the quadrant of his mouth numb that I was going to work on and did periodontal debridement (not your typical "cleaning") just like back in school --so fun!

...and not to be all about the money, but hey, I've been waiting for this street for a while. I was stuck on the Spend Money St. for too long haha. I only worked a half day the first day, and then a full day the second day, but dental hygiene really knows how to pay. I tried to hold back a gleeful giggle and squeak when he handed me the paycheck and tried not to let my jaw drop. Then I took it before he could reconsider haha. Considering I've been sitting on my bum since graduation, it felt so good to actually Make Money.