Starting Fresh

Forget everything you've ever read here..

I'm starting brand new, and fresh. Spring cleaning we'll call it (yeah yeah, in the dead of winter.)
I am so inspired by the blogs of others, and have decided to retire as strictly a blog-reader, and rekindle my blog-WRITING flame.

Without putting too much pressure on myself, I'll start with an update of what it's like to be 'one year older, and wiser too':
The first 9 days have been great! Apart from the sore joints, sudden onset of wrinkles and persistent desire to wear brooches, I think I'm gonna like 20 :)
It pretty much feels the same as 19 which is always a tiny bit dissappointing to me. Why do I think it should feel miraculously different? I'm unsure.

Do I look any different?

The other morning, I was stuck waiting for Spencer to finish a service project, and thouroughly enjoyed reading this wonderful blog.
What an awesome Mom, and brave little girl!

FHE Lesson

This week I've been asked to teach the YSA FHE lesson.

I really like teaching the lesson, so overall I was happy about this task, but a tiny part of me was a little hesitant for a silly reason: the last time I taight the FHE lesson, it went REALLY well - and I don't think it's that I taught super well, I think I was just inspired to focus on points that were really what we all needed to hear that night, and spoke to each of us spiritually. So after that, I was a little afraid that my next lesson would be a let down.

Well I have prepared for tonight (my talk to focus on is "As Many As I Love, I Rebuke, and Chasten" by Brother Christopherson from this past conference) and I feel pretty good about it. I am putting my faith in Heavenly Father and hoping that things go as well as last time!

I tend to use a lot of personal experience when I teach, which I think can be a good thing, but sometimes maybe too much. I hope I've got a good balance of using the talk, quotes, stories, AND personal experience.

Here is something interesting that I recieved the other day:

Nine (because I missed the tenth one) Guidelines for Successful Teaching:
1. Teach simple lessons
2. Focus on student needs
3. Be prepared
4. Teach by example
5. Use a "Less is more" philosophy (don't cram in information)
6. Encourage participation
7. Use personal examples
8. Pray for guidance
9. Use more than one teaching method to make points

"No, I'm not married."

I do not like being single.

Yesterday at work, not one, or two.. but THREE different, unrelated people asked me if I was married. First, a patient, then the computer guy, and then a company rep. Why? Why do people always feel the need to ask me such a thing?
Do I look married?
Does the gloves make it look like I am wearing a ring?
Do I give off a married aura?
Does my appearance scream "wife!" ?

I know people always think I'm older than I am ... (which for now is not a bad thing in my mind) but older and married are not the same.
I don't hate that the new "Do you want fries with that?" is "Are you married?" I just feel kinda like I'm being stabbed in the guts everytime someone asks me.

..... or maybe it's just everytime I have to relpy, "no."

Shelli McCullough, where are you?! Why has it been so long since we last chatted?! Why are our schedules never the same!? I have had enough of this.

Career Woman?

Don't worry! I haven't decided to become a business woman and forget about marriage and being a mom. It's just that I am officially finished school.
My last practicum at Doc Pollock's office ended last week, and since then I've just been lazy and bored. I always seem to think that having a "break" will be the best, but it takes me about 6 hours to realize that I NEED work or school. I can't just sit around all day and be happy, which has lead me to my latest strategy, which is to sleep in as late as I can and then spend the day watching daytime television (which with the recent end of Oprah, has been QUITE a feat.) I've been doing better lately, and at least been making lists of things to do. So it was bitter sweet, heavy on the sweet, when my potential new boss called me this evening.

I have been putting off telling the office that I am now "temporarily certified" until the results of my board exam are mailed out. I think the realization that this could potentially be my career for the rest of my life, has caused me to ease myself into commiting to an office.
The result of our conversation is that I start next Tuesday, and work Tuesday to Friday, 10 to 5 for as long as this arrangement works for both parties. I will be making slightly less money than I hoped for, and it's a really small office. Basically it's just a good starting place - I will get a doctor's signature on my resume, and it will be great experience straight out of school (most of the girls in my program are scrambling to find jobs.) I am excited, and disappointed at the same time. I feel like I should be happier than I am, but I have a feeling that once I'm in there holding the HVE and polishing the plaque from someone's teeth, I will be much happier :)

Apart from teeth, my life is rather mellow. I was just called to be the Secretary of the YW Presidency in my home ward which I am really excited about! I kinda feel like it's my first real grown up calling, which I know sounds silly. I am excited to be able to bring my organizational skills to the presidency, and sincerely hope that I'll be able to indluence the girls for good!


It feels strange to me not to be going back to school in the fall. But who knows, there is always the goal of getting into a hygiene program!

As far as my personal life goes, (wink wink) things are great. Patito and I have been together just over three months now, and it just gets better and better all the time. Who knows what the future could hold!

I apologize for the lack of excitement in my posts as of late.. hopefully with a new job and time passing, I will have more exciting stories to tell soon!

Caught.

Catch of the Day

Last Thursday I texted a good friend of mine with whom I have an "unwritten pact",
"I am going through RW withdrawls."
..to which this friend replied,
"I'm done school in 20 min, can you wait?"

We then proceeded to peruse all of the beautiful things in our favourite store, make our debut trip to the coolest Wal-Mart ever (shopping cart escalators... need I say more?) to grocery shop and buy Juno, and stop by the BEST new Frozen Yogurt place ever. Fun, right? Believe me, (I was there) and it was.

This was just the start of an awesome week of favourite movies, surf shops, late night walks down town, secret "quality time" windshield gifts, great music, and way too much driving around.
And then my stupid self had to think way too much about it and maybe sorta start to kinda think there might be maybe some feelings or something?
Dummy.
I do not like feeling unsure. I do not like being the one to initiate "talking" about feelings. I am always so torn between letting the anxious, cheeky flirting blindly continue, and finding out the cold hard 'true facts' about the situation.

Well, I guess now we'll just have to see how all of this plays out.
As anxious as I am about it (slash worried that the fun-ness will go away after "talking" happens) I have to admit that it's really great to be having a small situation; how boring is life when you're not being chased!?

PS. He's tall.

Secretly hoping to be caught,
Aubrey

Happy Birthday Noelle !

Today was little Noelle's 11th birthday.. not only do I love Noelle, and is 11 my favourite number,and did Cous and I get to help out with doing the girls hair and nails at the party, but we also got to spend the rest of the evening just talking to our favourite Mom.

There are a few things that (I hope she already knows! but regardless..) I would like to make this Mom aware of. I would like her to know how much I love and appreciate her. When I walk into her home I feel so much at HOME, almost more than at my own home. She is one of the most beautiful, caring, wonderful, strong, smart women I have ever known, and for her influence on my life, I will always be grateful. She is who I think to visit when I have a big problem; she is the one who I always have in mind as I write here, because she is the one who inspired me to start it; she is the only woman that I would ever even think of going to when I have questions about birth. I love that we are so alike ! I love how well we understand each other ! I am SO GRATEFUL that you were my Young Women's teacher. I STILL see every day how much you taught me and influenced the choices I made then, and have made from then on. You inspire me to choose the right, to make decisions that lead me to all the best things. I am so beyond grateful for the kindness and honesty with which you treat me. I am just so glad to know you.

Noelle,

I hope your birthday was all that you hoped it would be ! I hope you had fun with your friends, and made lots of good memories. I'm so glad that you wanted me to be there to have a small part in this special day with you, and I hope that you think of me as a good example !!! I hope that as you grow taller, YOU stay the same. You are a beautiful girl, with a wonderful knowledge surrounding you! Be good. We're all rooting for you !

Love,
Aubrey

Practicum - Day 1

Today was my first day of practicum ! I will admit, I was nervous, but not as nervous as I thought I would be when the day finally came ... it seems like 5 shorts months ago, the term "winter practicum" seemed totally irrelevant cause it was so far away, but it's really here !

I got there early, and the morning CDA was really helpful and nice! She seemed like she really wanted to TEACH, which I loved.
The day went by pretty smoothly; I spent the morning mostly helping clean the rooms after each patient and a little bit with the sanitizing of the instruments.
In the afternoon I sorta got thrown into chairside, which was GREAT. I was REALLY nervous, (I was hoping that no one around could see my heart beating out of my chest!) You leave school thinking you're set, because you've done all of these things before... but what you neglect to take into account, is that you've only ever worked on MANNEQUINS! In the real world, where people move, and have tongues, and real cheeks, and saliva, and make sounds... THINGS ARE MUCH DIFFERENT!
It was also interesting how many of the tasks that legally a CDA can do, that the dentist did himself (and all dentists do). This made oral evacuation more difficult because I was used to doing it alone as the operator, when in this case, I had to find my way in around the dentist's hands and tools already in the mouth. It was tough, and I definitely wasn't perfect, but my dentist is WONDERFUL, and the CDA's were great, so with help, I managed to pull it off ! By the end of the day I was doing the complete room change overs and all of the sterilization myself !

I feel a lot better than I did this morning. I can't WAIT to get more responsibility and to learn more ! I loved how willing the staff was to let me try things even though I wasn't as quick or as skilled as the CDA's in the office.

Overall, a wonderful success ! Today made me so much more excited to finish learning, and to make this MY profession. (Although I still think I belong in the hygienist's op.)

A huge thank you to my wonderful practicum office !

PS. I know this comment will be controversial, but I stand by what I've said before... that there is something just so handsome about dentists. No matter what they look like, something about how they work, and how they explain things... I just love them ! Hooray for dentists !!!

Hair Cut !

As promised... here are the pictures !
(Be Warned, it's pretty difficult for me to take a serious picture of myself!)
Before:



And After..

"The Successes and Failures of the Day"

Last night I watched a YSA broadcast by Brother Christofferson.... which was AMAZING. I will admit, sometimes, (I might even say MOST times) I am a little bored during YSA broadcasts, but this one not only had my attention, it had so many of those "WHOA!" moments! Brother Christofferson was talking about the importance of living for TODAY, even though making future plans is also important. I don't think I had heard anyone talk directly about this before, and at first I was kinda skeptical, but it was truly an amazing message.

One of my favourite parts was when he spoke about his Mom having cancer when she was young and going through something like 16 rounds of rigorous chemo, which was really hard for her. When she was really struggling, she said to her Mother, "I don't think I can do 16 more of these treatments!" to which her Mother replied, "Well can you go today?"
"Yes."
"Well that's all you need to do for now."

Such a simple story, but so powerful to me ! What an amazing message! GAH I just loved it, (and definetly haven't done it justice... here's a link to the video!
http://lds.org/study/prophets-speak-today/unto-all-the-world/elder-christofferson-addresses-young-adults?lang=eng)

So as he neared the end of his address, Brother Christofferson spoke about how even our smallest efforts to be more Christ-like are good, and that Heavenly Father appreciated EVERY good thing, no matter how small. We hear this all the time, but it really hit me last night... I think because I am the kind of person who is never REALLY content with life or myself; there is always something I am working on, or some way I am trying to become better and improve myself, and when things don't go perfectly I get discouraged, but this message really helped me to realize that EVERY time I succeed even in a little way (!!) I am a little bit closer to being like my Heavenly Father, and he is pleased with my efforts!
He went on to encourage us to, "when we lay down in our beds at night, look back on the successes and failures of the day"... so that is what I've decided to do.. maybe a little late to be an official New Years resolution, but I'm gonna call it that anyway.

(Sidenote: I've kinda rushed though this, cause it was just eating me up inside because I knew I should write it, so I apologize if I don't make much sense, but I need to get to sleep tonight... tomorrow is my first day of practicum! I'll let you know how it goes!)

January 11, 2010
Successes:
Got to school on time and safely (despite yucky weather).
Made an effort to have SINCERE morning and evening prayers.
Read my scriptures.
Worked on my church calling.
Started this resolution!

PS. I finally chopped all my hair off, (notice the impression picture from my last post... one of these days I'll get around to posting the before and after pictures, promise!)

So here's a kinda annoying thing...
when you fall asleep on the couch in the last afternoon (and here's a sidenote: why the heck does falling asleep on the couch always seem easier and more comfortable than falling asleep in your bed?) and then get up to go somewhere, and then you get there and realize that the thing you were s'pose to go to is cancelled and no one bothered to tell you. That's pretty annoying.

The first day back at school was great. We jumped right back into the swing of things, and I'm glad to be rid of the Pre-First-Day-of-School-Jitters. Unfortunately there were a few girls in the program who didn't return this semester for various reasons, one of whom was a great friend of mine, and it's just not the same without her.

Another unfortunate thing... there was a fiasco with my schedule while I was away for Christmas, and somehow I got put into the section that meets on Fridays (which is horribly ridiculous since it means another day I have to commute to Victoria for only three hours of clinic) but we had our first class as a section today, and I think it's gonna be good. Although I am no longer partnered with the girls I've gotten to really get to know, I'm glad that I will have the opportunity to get to know new people, and perhaps be a leader in our group.

Here is something I learned to do today:

Happy Christmas !

First of all ... Aidan Knight.. I think THIS SONG (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb8rsSARUX4) describes the last week of my Christmas adventure.

This year we went to Disneyland for Christmas, which was super fun. California had the most rain EVER in the 4 days we were there, which ended up being not such a bad thing because there were way shorter line-ups for rides ! It was really good to meet up with my Aunty Rachel and her family and spend time with them as well. I did; however, decide that my next trip to Disneyland will be with friends.. (preferrably friends who will join me in sleeping until 10). There were a few hours where my Dad and I got separated from the group, which turned out to be one of my favourite times: he and I rode a bunch of "big kid" rides together, including a few that I would probably never have ridden on if not for his persuasion haha. One in particular called "The Hollywood Hotel Tower of Terror" which is basically a real hotel made to look really ancient and abandoned, and then for the ride you are strapped into these giant "elevator" cars and brought up 12 stories and then dropped - the only thing I can really remember is being more CLENCHED than I ever thought a person could be. My Dad laughed so hard at me in our picture; you could hardly see me cause I was squeezed down into the seat clenching his arm so tight, hahaha.

Our next stop was Syracuse, Utah where my Aunty Rach lives. We arrived there on Christmas Eve, and were there a little longer than we had expected due to horrible weather. (Utah is crazy, one minute it's sunny and clear, and two hours later there's a foot of snow outside!) It was good to have a break from all the travelling and excitement, and just relax all together as a family. We all had a lot of fun together, and we made sure to watch "It's A Wonderful Life" on Christmas Eve (which to my HUGE enjoyment, has I think replaced "A Christmas Carol" as our Christmas Eve family movie tradition.) I really liked spending time with Bailey and Mik (my Aunty Rachel's oldest) watching funny movies and goofing around. It's fun to have a sibling and cousins who are getting to an age where they can appreciate "Grown up" stuff too. We even got to go "sledding" (which in their neighbourhood means that you sit on a round sled and get pulled behing my uncle Logan's old yellow truck hahaha. I have the BIGGEST bruise ever from getting a little too close to the curb...)

Finally we got home (to my parents house in Mission) on Saturday night, and went to church in their ward which, which I left early so that I could go to my friend's ward (in the same building) which was the best ever. It had been almost 6 months since I'd seen my best friend, so it was GREAT to get to see him !!
Then on Monday morning, Grams and I left my parents house, and in a turn of events, I ended up staying at Nolan's house in Abootsford for the next week.
It. Was. Awesome. I love Nolan so much and it was SOO good to get to spend some time just hanging out with him... which leads me to the next big thing....

Nolan.
We have kind of a funny story.. I met Kelsie Murray begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting at Christmas of 2007 while my family was preparing to move to Mission and she happened to be friends with a lot of the youth from Abbotsford and was super excited to fill me in on everyone and hook me up with tons of new friends. She had met Nolan and his brothers at EFY and was good friends with them and so she had us talking before we ever even met.
In the past 3ish years we've become really close, especially Nolan and I. Since moving away from home, we've both made trips to visit each other, and driven a couple of road trips together, and I always underestimate how much laughter there will be when the two of us meet up, hahaha. We call at least 3 or 4 times a week, and always end up talking way too long and staying up way too late. We are just the best of friends. But lately, as much as I am afraid and maybe even embarrassed to admit(?) I think perhaps I am starting to have feelings.
I should explain too... that the Murley boys have a reputation in the Abbotsford stake, of being super good looking, and cool and fun and basically just the best. Everyone knows and loves them, and so when I met them I already expected them to be awesome, and they were, but I got to know them, and loved them for the fun we had together rather than just for being good looking and cool. But now it's kinda .... I guess now that we ARE so close, I am kinda starting to notice how good looking Nolan is again.. does that makes any sense at all? I am afraid to do or say anything that would jeopardize our friendship (cause I really, truly don't know what I'd do without him; he's been the one I go to through a lot of things the past few years), but I'm also afraid of letting him pass me by. I think we'll just have to wait and see what happens, but I sure do like him.

Christmas was great, as it always is. I've come to the solid conclusion though, that there really is no beating Christmas at home, surrounded by family.

I've also come to an understanding of what Grams meant when she always said how good it is to come home. Being away for more than three weeks was tough, and my OWN BED couldn't have been more welcoming last night.

It's back to school tomorrow - this semester will be challenging, but I have a feeling it will go by quickly, and I plan to make the most of it. I can't wait to be registered, but I know I will miss school as well. And I've been seriously thinking about moving away once I finish. I think it's something that I need to do, and the most time passes, the more I realize that there is a lot more for me out there than what's available here (even though it will always be my home and I know I would miss it terribly!!)
We'll just have to see where life takes me I guess =)

So with that, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I hope everyone's holiday seasons were wonderful! And I can't wait to read about them !

Aubrey