I decided some time ago that I would make Sundays my day to update my blog. However, as you can see, I haven't been doing so. I have just been grossly uninspired to write... But just for the sake of keeping a goal, I'll tell you what I've been up to.

Thursday I skipped school and volunteered all day with Richmond's first annual Homless Connect. Basically people from all different service oriented fields gather in the Richmond Convention Center and provide free care to the local homeless. (medical/dental screenings, free hair cuts, free boots, etc...) The dental school had a very small representation that included me, Dr. Brooks and maybe a dozen others. I screened patients. I took patients one by one, heard their stories, took a look in their mouth and said "yep, you're right, you do need to see a dentist" and gave them information as to where they could go to receive free dental care. It was not what I anticipated. AT all. When I think of homeless people I imagine dirty piles of people, stoned out of their lucid minds, and completely unable to communicate at even the slightest intelligible level. At the very least I imagine a remarkably creepy and dirty dude. I personally met with probably 20 plus homeless individuals (and saw 131) and only 1 of them came close to this description. The rest of them were as the cliche' goes, simply hard on their luck (is that the saying?) It was a learning experience for me. In general, they were polite, and gracious, and making efforts to improve their lot. I felt compelled to reach out more.

Last night I went bowling with some new friends of mine. In 5 years (not counting Nintendo Wii) this is the second time I've been bowling. I think I bowled a 67 and a 98... It was refreshingly fun. I got to know a couple new people and really enjoyed myself. I know this sounds unremarkable...but if you are one who is unaware of how grossly unsocial I tend to be, this is headline news :) I think I'll do it again.

I'm going to an LDS gala December 5th. My roommate in a desperate attempt to get me to go, actually went and searched for a suitable dress for me so I couldn't bail last minute b/c I didn't have anything to wear. She went to Macy's picked out a few and sent me to go try them on. One of them turned out to be magically delicious and I immediately bought it.
She's a genius. When I have money I am going to pay her to be my personal shopper on a regular basis. I can't wait to post pictures of me in my new dress. Get ready to be dazzled!

Lastly, I gave a talk in church today. I love giving talks. It's a lil adrenaline rush and gives me the opportunity to search the scriptures more than I normally do. I spoke on testimonies and faith. Most importantly I got to wear my other new dress that I bought for the occasion :) Yay for new dresses.

The suspense is killing me

So, I am still waiting to hear back about getting into dental school. It's normal. Some people don't hear back till the spring time, one person I know didn't find out until the week before school started... (please let that not be me...)

So in the meantime my mind is going berserk with "what ifs".

When I'm sitting alone on a Sunday morning, and lurking all my friends' blogs, I think that I'd like to move back out to the West... Get my MBA and do some sort of something...or other... geez I don't know. I miss my peeps out West. (or is it that I'm feeling compelled to settle down? ahh!)

I'm just feeling so anxious for change. I've always been someone who is ready for the next best thing to come and enrich my life, and the fact that I have stuck out almost 5 years of college in Richmond is really something... I've been dealing with so much sameness lately that I'm going crazy. Literally.

Here are some things I'm thinking.

I crave culture and international exchange.
I want to perfect my spanish and start a new language- Arabic.
I enjoy my biology.
I love to read and write.

I need some ideas for back up plans.
I know that I could just reapply to D school if I don't get in, it's common. But I am pretty confident that I can't take another year of this...

Any suggestions for other career or academic options?

and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly

Do you ever feel like there are people that can read minds?... Don't laugh. I know I probably sound like some poor soul who has spent too much alone time in the histology lab or who has read too much Twilight, but I'm totally serious. I think it could happen, and what if!? I would just die if people knew some of the stuff I am pondering upon. I am sure I got caught thinking something naughty the other day.

Maybe there are just some people who have overly expressive faces and it's impossible not to know what they're thinking...maybe that's it.

Yeah.