I only blogged five times last year...yeesh. That is really sad. 2017 was overall a pretty standard year. There were hard times and good times, crazy busy times, and fun vacation times. I know I keep saying it, but I really do want to try to be better about this. My recipe blog is still on hiatus while I'm in grad school, so I apologize to anyone who's been missing my recipe antics. I did successfully make my first homemade pie crust for Thanksgiving. You can find the recipe I used here.
My first year of grad school has been an interesting adventure, and it still doesn't seem real in some ways. Next month I'll be going to Chicago for a week for what they refer to as a residency to basically practice the techniques I've been learning on my classmates. That thought makes the whole thing seem a lot more real, which freaks me out a bit. I really am not looking forward to going to Chicago in the dead of winter. It is going to be FREEZING. But oh well, it's happening whether I like it or not.
I was able to overcome some struggles in 2017 that I'm kind of proud of myself about. For example, my last post involved my progress in being able to handle being around taxidermy. I also worked through a lot of my negative feelings about my experiences trying to have kids. While I still have my bad days, I definitely feel like I've come a long way. As trivial as it may seem, I was also able to overcome my dislike of my naturally curly hair and embrace it. Screw straight perfection.
For whatever reason, last spring I also kept getting a nagging feeling that I should find a dentist. Up until that point, I hadn't been in about 5 years, as I got married and developed a pretty severe fear of dental needles thanks to a really bad filling experience around the time I graduated. Spoiler alert: I fainted. And hit my head on the corner of the wall behind me. (Fun fact, I still have a scar on the back of my head where I hit.)
Fast forward to not having gone in 5 years and knowing no one out here, I had to try to do some research. I didn't want to simply pick a random dentist who took our insurance-I wanted to attempt to find one who handles basket cases like me well. This proved to be somewhat difficult, as most of my search results brought up sedation dentistry, which in my mind only masks the problem. I don't want to have to be completely sedated for a filling or root canal. However, I know there are those people out there who do need it, and who even need it just to make it through a cleaning. No judgment here, we all have our struggles.
Anyway, after a bit of searching, I finally settled on one I felt good about and made an appointment. And guess what? I needed two fillings. 😫 So, scared out of my dang mind, I came back a week or so later for said fillings. As a kid, my dentist didn't offer nitrous for some reason, so I had no experience with it and the idea of having nitrous also scared me because I had heard it makes you feel lightheaded and sometimes nauseous. I HATE those feelings because I generally associate them with fainting. So all around, I felt like this was a lose lose situation. Cry from fear without nitrous vs. feel like I'm going to faint and want to cry for an hour-ish. But...you can probably guess where this story is going, since I started it in reference to things I've overcome in 2017. I did end up using the nitrous, but it really didn't seem to make me feel much different. I certainly didn't feel high or anything, like some people claimed I would. I was still scared, but was able to manage. As I first walked into the room, I saw the novocaine needle set out for me and truly wanted to sob. But damn, you guys...this dentist is a freaking saint. He knew I was freaked out, didn't judge me one bit, was patient with me, and for reals...I didn't feel the injections AT ALL. That has never happened to me before. He was that good. So, while I can't exactly say my fear is 100% gone, I do know I trust this dentist 100%, and that I can survive if or when I need another procedure. That in and of itself is a huge accomplishment for me.
I don't really have any things I want to overcome in 2018, as these things just tend to happen as life goes along. But there's my positive little story for the day, and I hope to be back here posting soon.
