The End of 2010...

I am a dental nerd.. after all. :) ..however.. first and foremost I am a sweets enthusiast :) 

Goodbye 2010... what a year it's been.. time sure does fly. This was the year I partly took off and worked as a tutor..a year I've traveled to new places... this was also the year I got into and started dental school... there were many successes.. and sadly.. almost as many failures. This was the year I learned so much about what I love to do, and who I really am. I miss cooking. I miss making things out of fondant. I miss everything that doesn't really have to do with school. I miss my family, I miss my friends. It's winter break, and I'm sitting in my home catching up on the news and stalking sites for deals. It's been raining a lot.. so I've been stuck indoors a lot.. oh well..that is definitely something I'm used to... 

How this year has changed me... this is another attempt at making my 2 passions unite.. what does this remind me of? The countless hours spent making that perfect temporary for a crown using integrity.. or worse.. bosworth trim (yikes!)

These were peppermint bark fangs I made b4 my last day of finals (don't wry.. those were my easiest finals...) ... one of my finals was for dental anatomy .. represented not at its finest on these molds.. haha horrible line angles... super-erupted canines... and missing laterals ( yay anomalies!) .. what could i expect from a mold.. :P I found the mold at a store closing sale on Fillmore.. sad to see another family own business gone on Fillmore.. :/ 

Last year.. I had 10 goals .. or pseudo resolutions... I think I attempted most of them, definitely accomplished 8 of them.. still trying to find the positives in life when life's not so peachy... and I can't seem to enjoy life for the face value.. whatever that meant haha oh well good start I guess. I am a believer of accomplishing goals.. I set a lot of them so that I feel somewhat accomplished when they're completed.. iono..

1. Figure out my career as soon as possible.

2. Enjoy life for its face value rather than trying to analyze every single aspect of it.

3. Smile more even when it's not the best time in my life.

4. Appreciate my body for what it is.

5. Find ways to relax without just sitting in your room all day.

6. Always be surrounded by people I love without dwelling on the past.

7. Be positive. <- maybe the most difficult one here 

8. Live LIFE without having to worry about anything or anyone pulling me down.

9. Finish things that I start, aka don't pick up a new hobby without finishing the last one! 

10. Learn to love where I am in life and have faith that everything will work out in the end. 2010 will be one of the most important years of my life. It will dictate what I do, where I go, and who I become. 2010 is scary. 

Here are my updated goals for 2011:

1. Stop being so lazy in school, pay attention in class, and study after school... don't cram 

2. Pass practicals. 

3. Get to second year... basically this is 1+2... as well haha.. actually if this is the only goal I accomplish out of this list, I would be more than thrilled.

4. Learn to deal with difficult people. 

5. Understand how to communicate what you want, effectively. 

6. Learn how to be happy in not-so-happy situations

7. Reduce the time on slickdeals... 

8. Spend more time with people you love

9. Hand out more compliments 

10. Eat healthier... that means.. reduce the # of ramen.. soup from can... frozen goodies.....aka respect your body!

Yep.. that's it.. for now.. I guess haha 2011 is important because it will be the year I find out if I can start treating patients or not. At the end of the year.. I'll be half way done with dental school... yikes!!! It will also probably be the year I start studying for the boards.. that I might take at the end of it.. whew. I don't want to think about the boards quite yet. I have bigger things to worry about.... like passing all of my practicals... what a long 11 weeks this will be... my body seriously can't relax enough for this... so.. why bother? I'm going to go away for a few days again... need to get my mind away from this area. 

Here's an ode to #9 of 2010's goal... 

9. Finish things that I start, aka don't pick up a new hobby without finishing the last one! 

So.. I've lived in the city for 6 months now. My apartment is bare.. in the decoration department. I am quite a colorful person, I love splashes of color everywhere ( except my wardrobe kinda looks like I"m going to a funeral.. everyday haha.. anyway.. ) yea.. my apt has white walls... and it really depresses me because the only thing I taped onto it .. was my schedule for ICS .. yay one day of class.....boo... well also a pretty cool wall clock I found in the clearance section of target.. the place I decorated the most? my hallway.. yea.. all 6 square feet of it hahaha oh well.. so anyway, I went shopping yesterday for decorations. I wanted to put up some vintage-ish art to keep with the age of the building and my location. I really love the vintage style.. with somewhat of a French romantic theme.. I couldn't find anything.. so.. I decided to make my own stuff. I bought frames.. scrapbook paper.. and scrapbook 3-d sticker-ish things.. ( paper cut outs of things ) and assembled it to my liking. I really love damask.. so I thought I'd continue that theme throughout the apt. It took me longer to coordintate paper and sticker.. than it was to put it all together... this project ended up costing me under 25 dollars ( I gave myself a 50 dollar budget to decorate my apt.. yea very little .. right?? I was thinking of going to a thrift store too!).. for 4 pieces of "Art"... I call them.. "My 4 favorite places I'd rather be"... although I wanted to find an SF scrapbook sticker set.. but didn't find it.. oh well maybe next time... I will stock up on these cool frames..for future projects. I think the tacks needed to hang these won't poke that big of a hole in the wall.. yay. I just want to find cool damask print paper and frame them... 

Cost run down:

4 8X8 frames - on sale from $19.99 -> $9.99 + 25% off... making it only $7.50!

4 Packs of stickers.. (buy 2 get one free.. 4th one. use a 50% off coupon .. making all 4 = $10)

Scrapbook paper - reg 99 cents... sale .. 69 cents X4 = around 2.80 ( not that great of a deal.. but I was desperate.. and there isn't a michaels anywhere close in SF...) 

~ $22 bucks including tax.. and I finished making these in around 30 minutes! 

Rome.. the paper in the back has gold glitter detailing and the sticker is an intricate paper cutout of the Coliseum 

Definitely would rather be lounging at the beach listening to the waves crash.. the sticker even has sand on it!.. can you find the seagull ?? :)

cheesy LA.. gold glitter on the back too!

My favorite one.. and place... this paper had velvet damask detailing on it.. wish I found more papers like this! 

Can't wait to put these up! ... Hopefully I will put them up soon.. and not just have them sit around...knowing me.. they'll sit around for months..

Anyway, Happy New Year!