Not Much to Report

Emotionally, I feel better than yesterday. Yes, my fears are all still there, but I am handling them. I need to trust that things will work out. I have to trust in my husband, family, and God.

As a total and utter control freak, it's hard to admit that I cannot plan everything and manipulate every outcome of every situation, but if I don't change this aspect of my personality, my stress is going to lead me to an early grave.

On a more positive note (you know, more positive than talking about dying young haha), Joe has been taking night classes twice a week this semester and tonight is his last class! Yay! I absolutely hate coming home to an empty apartment and spending the entire night without him.

That said, I've greatly enjoyed this opportunity to watch Lifetime movies and trashy TV (tonight I discovered VH1's Couple's Therapy. O.M.G.)

Welp. Nothing else to report. My life lately is pretty much nothing but dieting and lounging around in PJs and watching trashy TV. I LOOVVEE the latter, gotta become more positive about the former.

Why I Self Medicate

I recently wrote a post about my scale needing an exorcism. I’m starting to think that I may need one too. (On that note, Linda has been nice lately, and I am officially 5 pounds down as of this morning).

I’m not sure if it is dieting, holiday stress, giving up alcohol, stress about moving cross-country, or stress about finances (probably all of the above) – but I feel (and have been acting) like I am going insane. Poor Joe.

Who am I kidding with this, “I’m not sure” business? I know that those are reasons why I feel so out of sorts.

To be honest, I think I’ve been medicating myself with food and alcohol for the past couple of years because I am absolutely petrified about dental school. While those things have momentarily numbed the pain, that behavior has just resulted in me being 50 pounds overweight and having one more thing to be unhappy about.

*Side note* Let’s be clear, I talk about medicating myself with alcohol, but I am not an alcoholic. I know the difference, Joe knows the difference. *End of side note*

Dental school petrifies me because:


I’m scared to be 3,000 miles from my family.

I’m scared that I won’t see much of my husband for 4 years.

I’m scared that I’ll have trouble finding a job.

I’m scared that even if I do find a job, I will neither like it nor get paid as much as my current job (which, let’s be honest, isn’t unicorns and rainbows).

I’m scared of what that means for our baby timeline and our standard of living for the next 4 years.

I’m scared that dental school is going to cost at least $400k.

I’m scared that 3 years ago, it cost $280k to graduate from the same school, so how confident can I feel in the projection of $400k if it’s risen so much, so quick?

I’m scared of what $400k in loans will look like with interest and on top of the loan debt from Joe’s undergraduate and post-baccalaureate program.

I’m scared of making friends (or, worse, not making friends) in Philly. I’m painfully socially awkward. The thought of meeting new people makes me nauseous even as I type.

I’m scared that instead of hating San Francisco for all the reasons I say I do, I really just hate living in a big city and I will hate Philadelphia too.

I’m scared to drive in the snow.

I’m scared that I won’t feel financially or emotionally secure enough to have a baby until dental school is over, and I really don’t want to wait that long.

I’m scared that if we do decide to have a baby before dental school is over, that I’ll essentially be a single mom because Joe will be too busy with school.

I’m scared that even after Joe graduates we’ll struggle financially since he quite likely will either have to do a GPR program (1-2 years) or do more school and specialize (2-3 years).

I’m scared that Joe and I are putting so much blood, sweat, and tears into this, and it could all be for naught since no one is promised a tomorrow.

I’m scared that the anxiety and unhappiness I’ve been blaming on all of the unknowns we are facing won’t go away once we get settled. And that I’ll know for sure that I am just an unhappy person.

I’m scared that I am a cruel wife for feeling all of these things, when Joe deserves nothing put positivity from me.

…

I really need to let go. I just don’t know how. I am hoping that running can eventually become my escape – but it currently it does nothing but make me sweaty and sore (that’s what she said.)

Bad Blogger

I've been a bad blogger and skipped the last couple days, but I am back :) What I haven't skipped is my diet. After 10 days, I'm down a total of 4.6 pounds - which is very exciting.

Joe has been such a great cheerleader and has crafted some excellent and very healthy dinners this week. Quinoa is probably the most common ingredient - so that's good. That grain is packed with a ton of protein and other healthy stuff. I am so lucky to have a such a supportive husband.

Yesterday I met my mom about halfway between our houses for some Christmas shopping. My brother Brian came with her, and it was the first time I've seen him since he's started college!

We had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. That's my go-to restaurant whenever I am on a diet.

"Wait, what? The Cheesecake Factory and diet in the same sentence?" You ask.

Yup. They have a skinny menu with really delicious options that are all low cal. I had a flatbread margarita pizza (o.m.g. to die for) and Mexican lettuce wraps. Combined it was just 580 calories!

I even noticed that they had Long Island Iced Teas (my drink of choice...mmmm....) for just 150 calories! It was super tempting, but I'm doing my best to avoid alcohol, plus I was driving.

I did have to confront one of the biggest temptations I've had so far. Brian's lunch came with a side mountain of mashed potatoes. Seriously. I've never seen such a huge serving of mashed potatoes in my life. He hates potatoes (what?! why couldn't I have gotten that taste aversion?), and so they were free for the taking. I could SEE how buttery and thick they were. But I am proud to report that I didn't even have one bite :)

Today I've been incredibly lazy. Just working on Christmas cards, laying in bed relaxing, and postponing my date with the treadmill. I will definitely work out, just not quite yet :)

I'm Getting a Summer Vacation!

It's official - I gave my notice at work. It's *clearly* a bit early (my last day will be June 14), but I wanted to give as much lead-time as I could. I'm just that considerate of an employee haha.

Joe and I decided that we don't want to rush getting to Philadelphia. School starts around August 20, so we'll probably have an August 1 move-in date at whatever apartment we choose. That gives us six weeks to slooowwwlllyy make our way across the country. We don't want to rush - we want to see the sights and spend some quality time with his family in Missouri.

I'm pumped that I'll have a summer vacation! Something I never thought I'd have again until I was a stay-at-home mom with kids. I guess that when kids are your job, though, summer vacation is the opposite of a vacation ;)

Hopefully, I'll be able to find a job quickly once we get settled in Philly. It's probably not the smartest financial choice to take 6 weeks off before I even start job hunting, but after three years of us both sacrificing and stressing so much, my very sanity requires that I take a step back and breathe before we get on another roller coaster.

13 Days Longer Than Expected

It's officially been two weeks since I wrote my first blog, and I've gotta say that I'm shocked impressed that I made it this far.

I'm the queen of getting excited about something, starting it, and then losing interest real quick. I hope my commitment to this blog is a sign of the commitment that I'll have to losing weight.

On that front, Linda (my scale), was much kinder this morning. She was consistent when I stepped on her a couple times and I am officially down 0.4 pounds since yesterday. Maybe she was embarrassed that I called her out. (More likely, because Joe re-calibrated her and moved her to a better place in the bathroom).

Tonight was the Christmas party for my department at work, a party I chose to skip because I don't trust myself around free booze and Italian food. Two of my favorite things in the whole world *sigh* and I just couldn't trust myself yet.

It's the start of this diet, so of course I am teetering on the edge of giving up. One slip and I might just say, "Eff it!" (and wash down that sentiment with wine and alfredo sauce).

Once I see some good progress (10 pounds?) - I can loosen the reigns (just a little). I feel like at that point, I'll enjoy the losing more than the eating and I won't go overboard.

We shall see.

I also don't intend to just talk about losing weight on my blog. It's just that my life is pretty darn dull at the moment. However, once we move to Philly, I have a feeling that things are going to get more exciting :)

Are There Scale Exorcists?

*not my feet*

I think my scale needs an exorcism. Yesterday, I was up 0.2 pounds. I was okay with it. I mean, it's 0.2 pounds. This is going to be a much more painful quest if I get pissed about 0.2 pounds.

This morning, I was up another 0.2 pounds - leaving me at an even 3 pounds lost since Friday. Once again - not gonna get pissed. Bodies fluctuate. It's cool.

(okay, I was a little pissed)

I decided to try one more time - just to be sure the scale was right... I was suddenly down 0.4 pounds.

Tried again, down a full pound. 

Tried again, same thing.

I waited a minute and was UP two pounds.

Tried once more and was back to the original number I saw the first time I weighed myself.

How the heck can a scale vary that much in a 2 minute period? I know the scale is a *itch, but does it have to toy with me?

Whatever. We'll see what she has to say tomorrow. Yes, my scale is a she. And I just named her Linda Blair.

And for those of you shaking your head saying that it isn't healthy to weigh yourself every day, I got to do it this way.

I've attempted diets MANY times, and the only times I've been even moderately successful is when I weighed myself frequently. I'm the type of person who, if I have a weekly weigh-in day, eats crap the three or four days following my weigh-in and then eats barely anything the couple of days before.

It's so much easier for me to fall off the wagon (and into a container of Ben and Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk) without the morning reminder of what I'm fighting for.

So, until this 50 pounds is lost, it looks like Linda and I have a standing date every morning. What fun. Hopefully she learns to like me a little more.

Today Was Supposed to be Day 1

Ah, Mondays - they usher in a new week and typically my latest diet plans.

So when I decided last week that I wanted to get serious about losing weight again, of course Monday, December 10 was the logical day to start.

But after Thursday night's "broken zipper incident", I decided I couldn't wait any longer.

Boy am I glad I didn't.

It may only be the difference of a few days, but in those few days I have lost 3.2 pounds, have completed four sessions of Week 1 of c25k, have done 400 crunches, made a few attempts at the plank (*ugh*), and have eaten within my calorie limit. Not to mention, I have some unpleasant before pictures saved on my iPhone for future sharing.

One thing I did start today was season 13 of The Biggest Loser (gotta get caught up before the January premiere).

God I love that show.

I may or may not have been fighting back big, ugly tears on the treadmill today while watching the first episode. Yes. I cry on the treadmill when I watch The Biggest Loser. This wasn't the first time, and I am sure it won't be the last.

Cookie Party

Day 3 of my diet went great! I ate within my calorie limit (despite attending a cookie party - more later) and exercised! I did c25k, some arm exercises, crunches and the plank *ugh*

I also had a nice surprise this morning when I was down another 1.2 pounds. That brings it to 3.4 since Friday morning! GOTTA love the first week!

Anyways, to prove that we have more going on than me trying to lose weight, I'll tell you about the cookie party that Joe and I went to. Our friend Stacey (who lives in our building) hosted the party and we got a little creative with our decorating :)

First Joe's dentist cookie:

We've been watching a lot of Arrested Development lately, so I decided to make a blue Tobias:

Notice his cut-offs

And a Lindsay to go with him:

I also made a Cartman:

And a few classic cookies:

Despite the cookies and yummy snacks readily available, I can proudly say that I didn't eat one thing at the party! Instead, I had some fruit before (gotta keep the blood sugar up so monster Katie doesn't attack) and brought a big Nalgene bottle of water to sip on throughout.

I guess it IS possible to have fun without unhealthy eating :) 

Now off to watch some Arrested Development!

Not TOO Lazy

Ahhh - gotta love a lazy Saturday. Though I wasn't completely lazy.

I did c25k again this afternoon. I plan to do it 5-6 times a week instead of the recommended 3 times. When I did it before, I just didn't feel like I was able to progress each week with only 3 days of running.

Joe was a supportive husband and went down to the apartment's "gym" with me (I'll show you a pic sometime - calling it a "gym" is generous). He power-walked and when I finished the c25k session he actually clapped. Very sweet. I also did crunches, the plank (ugh), and some arm exercises with weights.

Joe was an even more supportive husband before the "gym" when he took my before pictures. He probably spent a good 30 minutes snapping pics as I rocked out with my fat out. I really know how to keep my man attracted to me haha.

Hopefully as I progress, the picture sessions won't take as long.

Speaking of progression, I was down 2.2 pounds this morning! Woot woot! The speed at which weight drops the first week or so of any diet is always fun.

Aside from the exercise and careful eating, I pretty much just rotated between lying on the couch watching TV and lying on my bed reading. With such exciting hobbies as "lying around," it's no wonder I got fat haha.

Off to a Great Start

As determined last night (around the time I broke a zipper trying to zip my lard into some jeans), today was the first official day of my diet.

Of course, the first day of a diet can't begin without the dreaded weigh-in. I stepped on that scale and saw (by far) the largest number I've ever seen on a scale. So that was fun.

I also made an official weight loss goal of 50 pounds. I'm not going to share what I weigh now (or what I will weigh when I lose 50 pounds, since I assume you all can do math), but I'll eventually share. Maybe when I lose 10 pounds.

*Side note* Mom, if you are reading this, having a 50 pound weight loss goal is not unhealthy. In fact, I'll weigh what I did after I lost all that weight in my sophomore year of college. I know you thought that was too thin - but it wasn't. *End of side note*

I ate well today (despite the Alumni party - more later) and I also started C25K for the third time (I've never made it past week 4). I decided that as much as I hate running, I want to be a runner. You can do it anywhere, you don't need equipment, and it burns the fat off. Plus, I am STUBBORN and the thought that there is something I "can't do" makes me angry.

Anyways, quick re-cap of the Alumni party. Joe and I were pouring wine at the event (my family has a winery) because the alumni association wanted to feature wines with a connection to the school.

I really don't like pouring events, because I get mad if people don't like our wine (there really aren't many out there who don't - it's good stuff - but there's always one fool in every crowd).

Things didn't start great because that fool was the first person who came to our table, and he was quite rude.

What made it worse is that it was day one of my diet, so my blood sugar was dangerously low.

*Side note* When Katie is hungry - avoid Katie. Fool was lucky my low blood sugar also made me too tired to jump over the table and wring his neck. I HATE rude people *End of side note*

So, needless to say, I wasn't thrilled to be there. Plus, I am EXTREMELY awkward in social situations like these. It's super painful for me, and is actually the reason I said yes to the Alumni party in the first place. I need to conquer that fear. Tonight I did decent, I guess. I'm pretty good at faking it (that's what she said).

I'm really proud of myself for doing something out of my comfort zone, I am proud that I stuck to snacking on fruit and diet Pepsi at the party rather than the fattening appetizers and wine, and I am PUMPED that I actually won a prize in the raffle! I NEVER win ANYTHING!

It was a busy day - but a great start to my quest of losing 50 pounds!

Uh, Ya

Uh, ya. My diet will begin tomorrow.

I just tried to find something to wear to the Alumni party and the last 30 minutes were pure torture. Zippers wouldn't zip, pants actually ripped, and when I finally got something to fit it looked frumpy.

I am so over this. I feel awful about myself.

Treadmill? You and I have a date tomorrow.

And the Celebrating Continues...

My diet may be starting earlier than I planned. Last night Joe and I were still in celebration-mode, so we had some wine. Delicious, by the way :)

Around 3 a.m. I woke up and knew I was in trouble (I'll save you the gory details). I don't usually have problems with drinking alcohol (and when I do, the problems are very much deserved). Sometimes, though, I will randomly get really sick even when I drink a modest amount.

Unfortunately, this was one of those times. I had to miss work (REALLY not good when it's a particularly busy month, you already took a day off this week, and you are out of sick days so you waste a day of PTO). I took a 4 hour nap and felt okay, but definitely still not myself.

This wasn't a great day to feel sick since, if you recall, tonight was the night that my parents, grandma, brother Kevin, and his girlfriend Courtney were driving 2 1/2 hours to meet us for a celebration dinner (yes, I have an incredible family).

Luckily, I felt pretty good when they arrived. We went to a yummy Italian restaurant, and my grandma surprised us with a bottle of Dom Perignon (fancy!). I made it through dinner and a glass of the champagne (come on, had to), but now am lying on the couch and feel like I am going to die.

Don't get me wrong, the dinner was great: I loved seeing my family, I got teary-eyed when we toasted Joe's accomplishments, and my lasagna was one of the best I've ever had - I was just in pain most of the meal haha. Here are some fun pics of the dinner:

Anyways, the reason I say my diet is starting early is because I am sick of excuses and postponing what I want for dumb reasons. There is no need for me to postpone my diet because I have my alumni Christmas party tomorrow. There is no need for me to wait to start until Sunday because I want to drink on Saturday night. I am over this. I plan to lose 40 pounds, and I want to be 40 pounds thinner sooner rather than later. (Plus, I don't think I can even think about alcohol for a while without gagging).

So, assuming that my stomach is better tomorrow, I'm going to officially begin my quest (better word than diet haha). I'm nervous - but committed. This will happen.

I'll Start..... Eventually

Now that I can move on from the stress of dental school applications, it really should be the perfect time to start focusing on losing weight. After all, that is one of the main reasons I started writing this blog in the first place. I want it to help keep me accountable.

*Side note* I have a question for myself. "Self, how many times have you written or said the phrase 'focus on losing weight' in your life?' Can you even count that high?" *End of side note*

Like most women (heck - probably guys too), I'm in a perpetual state of "I'll start....."

You know:

"I'll start my diet on Monday"

"I'll start my diet after this vacation"

"I'll start my diet on the first of the month"

"I'll start my diet once *insert stressful event* is over"

And the lead-up to "the start" always culminates in a day of binge eating because I "have to have one last hurrah!!!" My last, last hurrah included Panera for breakfast, Chipotle for lunch (extra guac), and half a large pizza for dinner. There may or may not have been some alcoholic beverages thrown in there for good measure.

Pathetic.

So I am going to sound really pathetic when I say I don't plan to start my next diet until Monday, December 10.

Hear me out. Joe just got accepted to dental school and we are still in celebration-mode. My family is driving 2 hours to our town to have dinner tomorrow night - and I intend on celebrating. Being an Italian (excuse #346), I am not mentally in a place where I can celebrate without eating.

So why not start Friday? Well, Friday night we are attending the Alumni Christmas party for my college.

So why not start Saturday? Well, I get worn out during the week, and I want to drink on Saturday night.

So why not start Sunday? You know what. I will. I will start on Sunday (unless I drink too much on Saturday night and need a cheeseburger to cure a hangover the next morning).

Alrighty - I am saying here and now that (barring the need for a hangover burger), I will start my diet on Sunday. Crap. I just remembered that I am going to a Christmas cookie party on Sunday.

You know what, if I delay my diet because I have excuses to eat, it's never going to happen. I can make any occasion a reason to celebrate with food. Maybe it's a smart thing to start my diet on a day that I "shouldn't." So I'll stick to this Sunday thing and resist the cookies. I really don't even like cookies all that much (not like that has stopped me in the past).

So my next step will be to take my "before" pictures. I told Joe last night that he should get prepared to take some before pictures of me and his response was, "Again? How many rounds of these have I taken?"

Ouch.

But true.

I can't subject the poor guy to taking photos of my fat rolls any longer. This will be the last time.

You're hearing it here first!

The Story

Last night I was too busy celebrating to do a decent job of sharing the story of December 3, so here we go…

Sunday night, we fell asleep a bit easier than either of us expected. Whether that was the alcohol (yes), utter exhaustion from worrying (yes), or the acceptance that there was nothing left to do at that point (yes), we both were able to fall asleep around midnight. Joe tells me he was up multiple times, poor guy, so at least I was able to sleep a solid 6 ½ hours.

My hope was to sleep as late as possible so I could wake up to news, but once I woke up around 6:30, that was it. At that point, I didn’t care what the news was – I just wanted to know. It drove me crazy that even on December 3^rd the waiting game wasn’t over. I laid there willing myself to sleep until 7:30 when I heard the hall door and then our bedroom door open. Joe comes in and says, “Well, it’s official – I’m going to dental school!”

Seriously. One of the best sentences I have ever heard in my life.

It turns out he was accepted by a school in Florida. It’s a brand new program, so it was not the top of our list (they aren’t even fully accredited yet), but neither of us cared. I felt like a thousand pounds were lifted from my shoulders just knowing that he got in somewhere.

The acceptance was followed by a waitlist notification from another school in Florida. I was pissed (I am such a mama bear when it comes to my husband – people better not mess with him, and they better appreciate him as much as he deserves to be appreciated!). 

Then, at 9:30, he got a call from a school in Missouri. We were really excited for that call, because not only was it another acceptance, but Joe is from Missouri and almost his entire family is there. I imagined living close to his relatives, and how wonderful that would be (especially when baby Brier eventually comes two or three years down the road).

*Side note* Joe’s family is the most amazing group of people that a girl could marry into. It pains me that I don’t have a deeper relationship with them (thanks to geography), and I am hopeful that some day I’ll get to see them much more than once a year. *End of side note* 

After that, we were still hopeful for an acceptance from the University of Pennsylvania. Barring that, it looked like Missouri would be the place.

UPenn has been Joe’s first choice (and clear frontrunner – like, far and away miles ahead of any other school) ever since he interviewed there in October. He actually said to me at the time that if he got into UPenn and chose any other school that he would regret it for the rest of his life. Anything that my husband wanted so badly, I couldn’t help but PASSIONATELY want. 

*Another side note* Joe and I are similar in a lot of ways, but one way that we are VERY different is that he is very practical and I am very emotional. Joe has an unbelievable, unconditional love for his family, and if he were an emotional guy, he would have picked the Missouri school to be close to them. But he's not, and I admire that he can set aside his emotions and choose the place that he knows is the best fit for him. At the risk of sounding incredibly lame and over-dramatic, UPenn is Joe's glass slipper *End of side note*

Anyways - back to the story.

UPenn is old school, and they send letters rather than notify with e-mails or phone calls. Since it’s an East Coast school and we are West Coast, we weren’t sure that a letter would arrive on December 3^rd even if he were accepted, so we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the mailman. 

Around 2 p.m. Joe looks out the window and the mailman has arrived! We rush downstairs and see that he has only just started to divvy up the mail to each apartment, so we sit in the lobby waiting. My eyes are on him like a hawk, looking to see if there are large envelopes or packages. People on the pre-dental message boards were talking about a package (yes, I read pre-dental message boards. I've been doing it every day for over a year. Pathetic, I know), so I was eying all of the boxes trying to figure out which one it was.

Finally, after 30 loooonnnggg minutes, the mailman leaves. Joe and I take one look at each other and run to our box. There are several packages near our mailbox and we look at all of them. Nothing from Penn. We were both sad, since we assumed it was a package and not an envelope. Even if it was an envelope, my "eagle eyes" did not once see a large envelope in the mailman's hand.

Apparently I don't have eagle eyes.

Joe opens the mailbox and the first thing we see is a large envelope from Penn Dental School! Here's a picture of the happy boy:

We always discussed having a long conversation about which school to chose if the time came and we were lucky enough to have options, but the decision was made when that envelope arrived. That was the dream, and the dream became reality.

We made the necessary calls to parents, etc. and then celebrated by decorating our tree:

And going out for an amazing dinner:

 What an amazing day. And what a blessed life we lead.

Drumroll Please...

It's official. I can TRULY call myself a Dental School Wife :) 

(I guess it was a pretty presumptuous blog name until he was accepted somewhere haha).

Anyways, Joe got accepted to three schools today - and we'll be making the decision on which one over the next few days.

Pinch me, I must be dreaming :)

Day 2 of "Joe and Kate's WEEKEND OF FUN!"

I'm gonna keep this short, because my anxiety is at a record high level and I need to get back to my wine ;)

Today was day two of "Joe and Kate's Weekend of Fun!" - and it was just that. We started the day going to an Egyptian museum in San Jose. It was really interesting. I think my favorite thing about Egyptians is that they called beer "burp." Love it.

After that, we had lunch at In N Out. MMMMMMMMM. As a born and raised California girl, there's almost nothing better than an In N Out burger with grilled onions and fries (well done of course). 

Since it was POURING, we decided to follow In N Out with a movie. We saw Silver Linings Playbook. I really liked it. The acting was great. It was a little heavy and there were some awkward parts, so it wasn't Joe's favorite. Joe HATES awkward. But he kept laughing to himself imagining Jennifer Lawrence pulling out a bow and arrow (a la Katniss), so he didn't have an awful time.

Now we're home watching a Hallmark movie (I got lucky - two movie choices in one day!) and drinking wine. The movie is pretty lame, but the wine is helping us have entertaining commentary. Think of it as Mystery Science Theater: Hallmark Version.

In a few minutes we're going to make fondue and then we'll finish the night by decorating the tree.

All in all, Joe and Kate's Weekend of Fun was a good one. Prayers and positive thinking for tomorrow, please!


*UPDATE*

Forget the tree! It's an 80's/90's dance party in the Brier household!!!

Day 1 of "Joe and Kate's WEEKEND OF FUN!"

Last night, Joe and I decided that we'd try to spend this weekend busy so we could more easily keep our minds off of Monday.

I dubbed it our "Weekend of Fun" and instantly had a flashback to that episode of Friends where Janice found out Joey didn't like her, so she made him spend the entire day with her:

JANICE: Okay. All right. This is what we're gonna call it: 'Joey and Janice's DAY OF FUN!'

JOEY: Does it have to be a whole day?

JANICE: Yes, because that's how long it takes to love me.

JOEY: Yeah, I know, I sleep in the next room.


We started by going out to breakfast. Unfortunately, I started my "Weekend of Fun" with a few shots of vodka last night and woke up with a terrible headache. So after breakfast, I took a hot shower and I decided to take a nap. I ended up sleeping for THREE hours - but felt like a new woman when I woke up. A nap's a pretty decent way to get this weekend over with! I'll have to try it again tomorrow :)


After my nap, we headed out to do some Christmas shopping and to get our Christmas Tree. Joe spotted some ADORABLE (my word, not his) rain boots at Target and told me I should try them on. Being the frugal guy he is, if he ever encourages me to buy something, I don't hesitate at the opportunity :)

It's good I bought them, because it started pouring when we left Target.


After Target, we found a lot with signs announcing that their trees are "$19.99 and up." Since our budget for a tree was around that (money is tight) we stopped there first. We found the sale section full of Charlie Brown trees, but even those were $35.

Joe said he felt like the sign was false advertising and refused to give them business, so we went across the street to Lowe's and bought a 6 footer for $19.99. It's a pretty decent looking tree for the price and it smells incredible!


After tree shopping, we went to the Olive Garden (we had a gift card from my grandma). Remind me to not eat their breadsticks anymore. They just aren't worth it.

Of course, I thought that after my first bite, but didn't stop.

In fact, I ate two.

Oh, and my diet is officially on hold until Tuesday. Assuming all goes well on Monday. If not, I may have to drown my sorrows in cheese, chocolate, and wine for the next week (at least).


Upon arriving home, we realized our tree was covered in mud, so we gave it a shower (my idea).

Needless to say, it's sopping wet, so decorating will have to wait until tomorrow.


We are wrapping up the night drinking hot chocolate and watching Elf. All-in-all, a pretty solid first day of "Joe and Kate's WEEKEND OF FUN!"

Joe's Home!

Joe's home from his last pre-December interview. I planned to surprise him and pick him up at the train station so he wouldn't have to walk in the rain, but somehow I missed him and while I was waiting in the train parking lot, he was walking home.

He gets home and I am nowhere to be seen. He sees the window of our 8th floor apartment wide open and is sure that I tripped and fell out. So much for the pleasant surprise at the train station. Instead, my husband thought he came home to a squished wife. Poor guy.

We've decided (especially given today's news), that we are going to make the most out of this weekend and have a TON of fun (which equals spending too much money, eating too many calories, and drinking too much). So much for the diet I've been attempting for the last 2 days. That's okay. I can start my official "I need to lose 40+ pounds diet" AFTER December 3.

Early News = Bad Day

So yesterday I mentioned that December 3rd is the soonest that a school can send acceptances. Well, a school that Joe applied to had a glitch in their system, and all of the e-mails they intended to send on December 3rd were sent this morning instead.

This would be great news... if he got accepted.

He wasn't.

He was waitlisted.

I really didn't love the idea of going into this weekend wondering what would happen on December 3rd, but I was trying to be positive and be excited-anxious rather than petrified-anxious. This news makes that a lot harder.

Stupid technology.

*UPDATE*

So in my "woe is me" funk, I forgot to mention that about an hour after he got the waitlist e-mail, he received another interview invite from a school in Illinois. He hasn't gotten an interview invite in over a month, so the timing was pretty funny. I guess it's a sign to not give up hope.

Our Pre-Dent Journey - Chapter by Chapter

Today was Joe's last Dental School interview. This is a very exciting day, because hopefully it also marks the end of shelling out ungodly amounts of money to ship him off to interviews across the country one more chapter in this Dental School journey.

Dental School, so far, has had several chapters:

Chapter 1: Katie Freaks in the Pet Food Aisle (Fall 2008)

Katie finds out by phone call in the middle of the Wal Mart pet food aisle that her boyfriend wants to become a dentist. She proceeds to panic, since he explains that dental school is four years. She really panics when he says he doesn't have the right classes for dental school and will have to quit his job and go back to school for two years prior to applying. In that moment, the former commitment-phobe realizes that this Midwestern boy has stolen her heart and she's along for the ride no matter what. She panics some more.

Chapter 2: Does He Have What it Takes? (Spring 2009)
Before Joe quits his job, he decides to take an English class at the local Junior College to see if he has it in him to be a student again. Despite reading one of the most God-awful books ever written - he decides he does, and applies to San Francisco State's Post-Baccalaureate Health Sciences Program (try saying that 10 times fast).

Chapter 3: Student Loans Start Again (Summer 2009)
Joe starts his post-bac. He commutes the first couple months, until he decides the drive is too much and he needs to move to the city. His distance from Katie increases from 1 hour to 2 hours. Katie is sad. Joe's classes are hard. He takes things like Organic Chemistry (ew). At the same time, he volunteers at dental offices and is an officer of the pre-dental club at SFSU since he needs his application to dental school to be as impressive as possible.

Chapter 4: Babies Are Postponed Another Year (Spring 2010)
Around the time Joe proposes (YAY!), Joe also breaks the news to Katie that he will need to extend his Post-Bac program another year to boost his application. Since babies can't come until mid-Dental School (at least), her first thought is, "Oh, no! Our babies will be postponed another year!" Katie, and her biological clock, are very sad. This also means that Joe will be taking more advanced classes like Anatomy, where he dissects a human cadaver.

Chapter 5: The DAT - A.K.A. The Test From Hell (Spring 2012)
Joe studies night and day for the five hour Dental School admittance exam. It's full of science, math, and a thing called perceptual ability. This photo shows his study materials.

Chapter 6: Applications Round 1 (June 1, 2012)
After three years of Post-Bac classes, assisting Dentists chair-side, working in a dental lab making mouth guards, and helping a Dental School professor with her (hopefully someday published) research paper, Joe is finally ready to apply. Joe and Katie decide he should apply to 21 of the 61 US dental schools. Their bank account cries.

Chapter 7: Applications Round 2 (July 2012)
Because it's not enough to apply once, Dental Schools also require secondary applications. Some merely request a check, while others request a check and dozens of essay questions answered. Katie and Joe's bank account cries again. Joe's sick of essay questions.

Chapter 8: Interviews (August - November 2012)
Joe is offered interviews at 7 schools, is rejected from one, and receives the silent treatment from 13 (jerks). Joe kicks butt at his interviews, but Dental Schools are fickle, and you can never really tell where you stand.


This brings us to present day. Our next chapter is on December 3rd (just 4 days away!) That's the day when Dental Schools can finally offer acceptances to students.

Needless to say, I've been eagerly awaiting this day since that phone call in the Wal Mart pet food aisle.

Literally counting down the minutes:

And So I Begin...

When I was in school, I always struggled when it came to writing the first paragraph of an essay. Starting a blog, I've come to find, is a million times harder.

So, instead of trying to be clever and launching with some wildly entertaining entry, I'll just jump in and see what happens.

Here I go...

I originally decided to write a blog because I am anxious about what life as the spouse of a dental school student will be like. (Anxiety, as you will find, is a running theme with me.) Whenever I am afraid of something I hop on Google and do my research - even though this typically backfires and makes me MORE anxious (thank you WebMD).

Anywhoo - hoping to get an idea of what to expect, I decided to Google, "Dental School Wife Blog." I pressed the search button, took a deep breath, and waited for blog after blog to appear and give me some kind of realistic expectations for the next four years.

So what did I find? Nada.

"Ridiculous," you say. "Everyone and their mom has a blog nowadays - look again!" Well, I did, and apparently dental school wives don't.

I'm sure I'm not the first or last gal who wants to find a soul sister going through this same ordeal adventure, so I might as well start a blog that chronicles my journey.

Plus, when school starts I'm going to be very lonely - at least at the beginning. This is a certainty. So a blog will keep me busy. As far as hobbies go, it's as cheap as you can get. And cheapness frugality, is a quality appreciated by my husband.

I feel silly already talking about my "blogging hobby" in my first post. After all, as a kid I'd buy diary after diary and write one or two entries before getting bored with it and giving up (until the next fancy-looking diary caught my eye at Target). That said, I am a grown-up married lady - it's pretty pathetic if my attention span now isn't better than when I was eight.

I guess we'll see...