Black Friday...the darkest day of the year

Okay so not the darkest, I tend to be a little dramatic. Thanksgiving week is my husband's favorite week of the year. Not because of turkey or family and not even because of football, but that is a close second. But because my husband LOVES to get good deals. All week long he spend a lot of time on the internet looking at Black Friday deals, researching the quality of the merchandise and where he can get a better price. It is a serious deal for him, and although it drives me crazy, I am grateful to have a husband who wants quality products at any price point.

Right before midnight on Thanksgiving we headed down to the closest outlet mall to try and get discount prices on already marked down merchandise. We only made it to one store, Carters, because I'm a wimp (okay, it's really because I'm 8 mos pregnant and it's difficult for me to get around). We did get some cute little baby clothes. My favorite is a onesie that Eric picked out. It is magenta and it says I love Daddy. It was the only thing he chose, but it was fun to see him get excited about it.

Eric managed to get about an hour of sleep before heading out again with a friend to try and get us a video camera. Not having lived here very long, we didn't seemed to realize how many people live around us and how many of them also want to get a deal. Eric said lines went down the block or farther, hours before the stores opened. So, he got us a video camera online. It was still a fabulous deal...if only we had known about it earlier, Eric could have gotten a little more sleep that night.

All in all, it was an adventure for both of us. I don't know if I'll ever be doing it again, but I don't regret going.

WICKED Birthday Party

I almost forgot to blog this. Carrie and I went to the musical Wicked at the Pantages theater here in LA (Hollywood area) for her Birthday. We put our names in for the lottery that they have and got lucky - front row tickets for only $25 each! We went to a nice little Italian restaurant nearby and checked out the stars on the sidewalks over there and the show was GREAT! Lots of fun. Luckily we got it in before everyone started striking.

The Sunny Side of Life

Carrie is happy to be pregnant - NOT! Don't let this photo deceive you. She IS happy though to only have 8 weeks left. Though I have a feeling they'll feel more like 8 months (to me at least). We're getting really excited for the 3rd member of our little family to arrive. In the mean time, Carrie is feeling the baby dance more and more each day and that along with her heartburn keeps her up late at night (good practice for the coming months I think). She is still hoping to get the NCLEX test done soon too before life gets REALLY hectic.

California weather is our new best friend. We had a picnic in the park today and it was like 90 degrees! Its mid-November! The picture is of me and my first try surfing a couple of weeks ago. Despite the nice weather, the water was FREEZING but there were some dolphins out there with us that day and it was a ton of fun. I know I should be standing on the surfboard but hey.­.­.­ when the water is 30 degrees it messes with your muscles (and it was my first time).­

Fantasy Sports aren't my fantasy

Back a couple of years ago, every time the TV was turned on by Eric, it was on ESPN watching Sportscenter. I know that I complained plenty about the amount of time he spent getting the wrap-up on the day's sporting events. It has been a couple of years now since I've seen Sportscenter and I have since learned that there are much worse things.
You'd think this would make me happy, but now Eric has to watch as many of the actual football, basketball or baseball games that he possibly can...thanks to fantasy sports. Now I'm sure that everyone knows what fantasy sports are, but essentially it is a team that you put together of players. So now he has "players" playing in every game that is played on TV.
And it only gets worse when he has "players" playing on different channels at the same time. Then he uses sopcasts off the internet, score updates on yahoo sports, and toggles between all the different games on TV.
The NFL football season has ruined my Sundays! This is my biggest annoyance. Multiple games, all day long and now he isn't just depressed that the Seahawks lose, but also the Redskins and the Buccaneers and many more teams, because it affects his points in Fantasy Football. And pro basketball and baseball aren't confined to two days a week, they happen all week long.
These are just professional sports teams. He still needs his fix of college football and basketball. Honestly, what is a girl to do?

Midterms from the hot place.

So I've taken many tests in my life that I thought were bad, but nothing could have prepared me for what USC had in store for me with our midterm exams. WOW. I've never felt so dumb after taking a test. Did I pass? Probably not. Gladly, its over and now I have 4 days of vacation and some time to straighten out my slice! Carrie is doing well, happy to be no longer "morning sick" and I'm starting to get packages unexpectedly in the mail from Children's Place and Gymboree. Sgt Pepper is trying to recruit me to the Air Force, and after paying 1 semesters worth of tuition I'm the one doing the recruiting. If USC could just put together a national championship football team I could justify spending the 100k/yr, but come on ... Stanford?? Really?!? I'm confident we'll show Notre Dame what football is really about.

Keep on keepin' on

One month of school is now out of the way and I'm almost getting the hang of things. We're starting to get into a routine and its nice to feel slightly more acclimated to big city life. We got our car back from the body shop a few days ago and it looks pretty good. Can't hardly tell its been wrecked. I'm getting through my tooth morphology class and as you can see, I've spent lots of time doing some carvings. Its actually the funnest part about school so far. We're getting to do a bunch of wax-ups too which is fun. I can say that school is much funner when its stuff you actually want to learn about.

Carrie and I have also gotten season passes to the home football games this year and its been fun. We saw WSU get whooped up on and then a huge upset by Stanford this last Saturday (a very sad event for all involved). The parachuting Navy Seals was cool at the beginning too. The only downside is the 4 hours straight of standing up in the student section (which can get a bit rowdy). It does take its toll on a 6 1/2 month pregnant woman. She's a good sport though.

The baby's been kicking quite a bit. Carrie threatens spankings at least daily (baby thinks the bladder is a punching bag sometimes). Carrie is no longer fitting into normal clothing and as you can tell by the picture, she's been doing her fair share of maternity clothes shopping. She doesn't believe that its possible to get any bigger until she watches Baby Story on TLC. I still think she's more beautiful than the day I met her (especially at a football game).

Life in the Big City

Well as you can see from the pictures, the LA traffic hasn't been so good to us. Our little car was recently the victim of an out-of-control blind motorcyclist on the freeway. We were fine thankfully but he was taken to the hospital (hopefully he's ok) and we delayed traffic for a good couple of hours. Sorry LA. But we're trying to avoid driving and trying to forget the event. Carrie finally got an appointment with an OBGYN here and we're set to find out what we're having Sept 11^th (hopefully not a sign of things to come). We had a little "White Coat" Ceremony last night at USC welcoming us into the dental profession. Don't I look professional?!?! School I also got my 2^nd week of orientation about done and am looking forward to moving on with things. I feel like I should be busier. Joe is telling me about how crazy stuff is for him at OHSU after only a couple days. Oh well. More Xbox for me. Haha.

School has Begun!

Well, we've been in So Cal for 2 whole weeks now and I already have one boring week of dental school orientation under my belt. I can pretty much fix you teeth as well as any dentist out there right now. Thats how good USC is. We've thankfully been forced into getting settled thanks to the Smith's arrival for a night while supporting they're man Terry Fator (now winner of America's Got Talent) and are liking it here for the most part (though we were forced to sleep on the air mattress and floor for a week or so before we broke down and bought a mattress at Costco). I also went to Grandma Maurine's funeral in Salt Lake a week or so ago. It was sad but a great memorial to a great lady. It was also nice to see family that only gets together one every 15 yrs or so (cousin Dan thought I was Kacey's husband). On another topic, Carrie is almost 5 mo pregnant now and we're excited to get her into a doctor soon to find out what we're having - a little Henry or a little Lillie. She's been bored here during the day while I'm gone but takes long naps to make up for it. We like our ward and people seem really nice here (which we've missed in our past couple of wards). There's not much to complain about except for crazy expensive school, and 30 yr old ovens - nothing serious.

I Love Vacation

So the Nighthawk chapter of my life is finally over (thankfully) and the Dental part is set to begin in just over a month. We just got back from a vacation to Island Park where Lyle and Mary just bought there new cabin. We went to Yellowstone and did some boating and rafting. It was a great time and really nice to get away from everything for a while. It was the longest (5 days) that I've been without TV or internet for about as long as I can remember. We're about to go camping at Priest Lake with Carrie's family, and then start packing for Cali. Should be a fun time. We've purged most of our furniture and appliances and only have a few boxes to take now. LA is a world away from the tranquility of Island Park but we're always up for new things.

Busy Weekend

Lets see... Julees wedding, and reception, and golf and morning-sick wife. Almost too much for one guy to handle right? Well it took a few days of recovery but I'm doing better now. Can't say the same for Carrie who's been throwing up every other day or so but that just means her hormones are out of wack in a good way right? It was a good time though, all the fam together in O-town. I decided I can't take much more of my job and am quitting on July 2nd before they can make me work another holiday (i think Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and day, New Years Eve and day, Easter and Memorial day were enough weren't they?). So we'll have a month or so to lounge, mooch, relax until school starts for me. We're excited to get to So Cal though. I'm ready to get going with school. Not sure where we'll live or how we'll survive but we're excited.

Job Woes and Interviews

12/9/2006

So I've been working now at a teleradiology for a whole 4 months now and its still a good job. I really can't complain too much. There's always going to be things here and there that I wish were different but its a good job and it pays the bills (which seem to be piling up these days). I did get a Christmas bonus this year too which is nice, maybe it will pay for a flight to Vegas for another interview if nothing else. So yeah, I have an interview now scheduled for my birthday next month, but they said I could call monday to see if there are any drop-outs next week and I may get fit in earlier (I'm crossing my fingers). This whole dental school application process is very stressful. I am really getting anxious to hear from the 2 places I've interviewed at (UW and Temple). I just heard last week that Joe got accepted to NYU which is very cool. I decided at the last minute not to apply there but I may if I dont get in this year somewhere. I'm happy for him though.

We had a ward EQ party deal last night which was fun. A little karaoke and some catch phrase. I think Carrie is getting mad at me for being anti-social all of the time, so I may have to make some friends for her sake. I haven't been to church in like 3 weeks because of work. It really sucks having to work every holiday and weekends sometimes. Hopefully I'll have more sundays off from now on though - I did talk to them about it. All in all life is good. Just this whole D-school crap is really stressing me out right now. If I can just get in somewhere it would be a huge relief. Ok enough for now.

Dental Application and Life in Spokane

November 14, 2006

So I am going to start keeping a journal here in my gmail account I think. It is easier and more secure than a blog. I already made the mistake of doing that when NRS, the company I've been working for for about 5 months now, found some things I'd written about them and asked me to delete it. I was just stating how happy I was to have landed the job too. Oh well. I do like my job except that it is very slow in the mornings like now, until about 2pm when we start doing normal cases. I do learn a lot of medical jargon which I think is very useful too.

So I'm deep into the 2006-2007 application cycle for Dental School now. I have only actually interviewed at 1 school out of the ten that I have applied to. Luckily for me that one is UW, which is my obvious first choice. I think it went pretty well too. Jay and Stephanie and Carrie drilled my as a panel the day before the interview and I think that helped a lot. I am happy with my chances and feel like I'd be a good fit there at the school. I like the small class size and the focus on rural care. Hopefully I'll get in. I'm interviewing at Temple University in 2 weeks as well. I have heard good things about the school from Benny, Carries cousin, who I hopefully will be staying with. I still need to call him to make sure. I'd like to go there too I think, except that its on the east coast. Clinics are supposed to be great. I'm just hoping to get in somewhere. Arizona rejected me and 7 other schools are leaving me in the dark on my status. I don't like that. Its stressing me out. Oh well. Temple and UW are my top 2 probably so that's the most important anyhow. As long as I get into one of those I'll be happy.

So Carrie and I have been contemplating having a kid soon. Carrie gets soo stressed out with school that I don't know how she would handle pregnancy and school next semester, but if it happens then it will work out I'm sure. Kids would be nice, although taking care of a newborn during my first semester of school might be difficult, but fun - maybe. Carrie will have one semester left come January and she claims she hates everything about nursing and wants to drop out. Stress. She doesn't handle it well. She'll be fine though. I love her. Shes a great wife and we're perfect for each other.

We've moved to the Valley recently and are enjoying it. We have a much nicer apartment and are loving the dishwasher/washer-dryer lifestyle for the first time since being married. Our ward is good though we don't have friends there except Noriko and John (which is kinda strange for obvious reasons). Its good though and we like it. Carrie has a calling in the YW but doesn't like the people she works with. Oh well.

Well I'll see if I can figure out how to post some pictures up here and then be done with it.

Xbox and Personal Statement

7/11/06

Ok, so whats new? Well, that picture is something thats pretty new. I have finally gotten my free xbox 360. Yep, those popup ads that you see all over the internet can really work. So I'm having fun just chillin, playin, hangin out (sometimes anyway). Actually thats not true, but I will be doing that soon hopefully. I'm training for Cingular still and haven't found a good job yet.

One big stressor for me finally got resolved to day though - my dental school application. I finally completed it and sent it in. cost me over $800 and a lot or hard work, but it will all be worth it (or so I keep telling myself). Here's a copy of my personal statement that I submitted with it:

Throughout my life I have been privileged to be surrounded by selfless people. Everyone from my parents or church leaders to my family dentist has helped me to realize the importance of service to others. Growing up in a small farming town, I realized the importance of hard work at a young age. I have strived in everything I do to perform to the best of my abilities and feel that these two qualities, hard work and service, have been among the best lessons I have learned in my life. As a young man planning for the future, I looked forward to applying these virtues in my career.

I spent the majority of my childhood growing up in the rural Columbia Basin of Washington. Having grown up in a small farming town, I have learned first hand the value of hard work and good morals. I enjoy the small-town lifestyle and look forward to serving the rural communities that often lacks quality dental care. I have seen dental problems caused by those who cannot afford insurance. I also have personal experience in this area, as my wife and I, being full time students, have lacked the money and insurance to get cavities fixed.

I cannot say exactly when I decided that dentistry would be the career for me, but I do remember some events that touched me so deeply that I never thought about dentists the same afterward. At the age of nineteen, I made the decision to a full time service mission for my church. Before heading down to Chile for my two year tenure, I had a get a full medical work up, including a trip to the dentist. I visited Dr. Sloan Jorgensen to get my teeth cleaned and cavities filled. Because he was so impressed in my willingness to serve in a country foreign to me, he did all the work for free. This was a great relief to me, as the journey on which I was about to embark was already costing me greatly.

I spent the next two years in Santiago, Chile. Most of my time was spent going door to door to meet and help people in some of the poorest parts of the country. On many occasions I saw mouths with few, if any teeth at all. I saw how the lack of oral care directly impacted their quality of life. I wanted so badly to help these people that I had grown to love.

Since returning, I have been privileged to continue my community service as a leader in the Boy Scouts of America organization, as a youth leader in the local branch of my church, and as a member of the Eastern Washington University Pre-Med/Pre-Dent Society. I enjoy very much working in the community and look forward to future community service opportunities.

During my final year of undergraduate studies at Eastern Washington University, I have been privileged to have to opportunity to conduct various dental-related research projects. I have been able to see the direct inhibitory effects of xylitol on Streptococcus mutans, when compared to other sugars and sugar substitutes. I was then able to apply this knowledge to another experiment designed to show the inhibitory effects of xylitol on S. mutans transfer from mother to child in Sprague-Dawley rats. These studies have made me very excited for the possibility of performing research not only during dental school but throughout my career.

Having shadowed dentists these last couple years, I have become very intrigued and excited about the artistic aspect of dentistry. I have learned a great deal about the field, and now have a much greater appreciation and anticipation for the artistic opportunities that lie ahead of me. Having realized the necessity of artistic skills, I have worked to add drawing and model making to my already developed guitar and piano playing skills to improve my manual dexterity.

There are many reasons why I have chosen dentistry: its combination of art and science, the challenging opportunities for life-long learning and mastery, and the ability to develop meaningful relationships with community members. But for me, the most worthwhile and satisfying factor that dentistry has to offer is its opportunity to provide service and make a difference in the community.

That is actually not the final one, but pretty close. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with it overall and think I have a pretty good application. I just hope I'm not too late in the year to be one of the first considered. I just hope I get in. Even just 2 acceptances would be perfect, some choice so I don't get stuck with a crappier school. Ah heck, who am I kiddin, if I get into any school I'll be happy.

Ok, so I also got a job interview and finally sold my ipod to a guy today. Payed my tithing yesterday after 3 mo. Go figure. Its nice to see the blessings so quickly. I should try this diligence thing more often. Well, I'd better go play some Fight Night 3. Later.

Start of Dental App

JULY 2, 2006
Eric

Ok, so I know that I'm supposed to keep a journal so I decided to start keeping this blog so that I can use some of my time online a little more usefully. Maybe Carrie (my wife) won't mind as much if I'm doing this online instead of fantasy baseball.

So whats happening for me in my life? Well, right now, I'm trying to keep my sanity while I'm looking for a job. There's not much available in my field (biology) and I can't move anywhere because Carrie of course still has a year left in nursing school, so . . . . I am stuck working telemarketing for now. I'll start up with Cingular on Monday (tomorrow) and then have the mornings to look for something else. We'll see what we can find.

Dental school stuff is starting to stress me out a bit. I need to get my application in ASAP and still have my personal statement and other things left to do with it. I am trying to get my letters of recommendation figured out as well which is a bit annoying.

Church is going well. I am a leader for the Teachers in th Young Mens and enjoy doing Scouting and other activities with them on Wednesday nights. Carrie is having fun in the primary teaching the crazy 5 yr old kids.

We recently got back from a post-Eric-finally-graduates-vacation to Vancouver where we visited the Portland area, went to Philip's wedding, and camped at Beacon Rock State Park for a few days. We had a lot of fun with the Jay and Stephanie there and also helping Joe and Monica move to Portland (he is getting his in-state residency status before applying to OHSU Dental School).

So I'll try to keep this blog updated at least once a week or so and maybe add a photo here and there

Vancouver Golf

DSCF0578
Originally uploaded by ericwin99

Well Its officially summer and this weekend rather than camping and golfing (like i should be doing), I'll be working long hours in the Teleradiology business saving lives. I haven't even had a chance to swing the clubs yet this year but I'm looking forward to getting out soon!