Holly Jolly Holiday

On Monday, December 15th, at around 9:30 am, I officially finished my first semester of Dental School. Cue the angels singing, "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" Truly, this semester of school has been a season of tremendous growth as a student, as a person, and as a Christian, but as we all know, times of growth come hand-in-hand with times of trial--for we learn best those lessons we hear when we struggle.

One of the greatest struggles for me was to realize the simple fact that I was not at Abilene Christian University anymore. On a conscious level, I knew that already, but subconsciously I think that I expected my professors to be 100% invested in my life and my future as they were at ACU. While I had some professors who impressed me, some who taught me well, some who taught me poorly, and some who taught with love, none of these could give me back the feeling of security and overwhelming compassion that I felt at ACU. It was a difficult change for me. To go from teachers at college who were friends, confidants, leaders, and spiritual giants to the teachers at dental school who were (for the most part) simply teachers.

I do not regret going to dental school, and I do not regret going to ACU even though it supplied me, perhaps, with unrealistic expectations of how the world would treat me. I write this all to say--I am overwhelmingly grateful for the instruction I received at my alma mater, and I am also somehow grateful that I must now be "ACU" (or perhaps more accurately labeled "Jesus") to others.

Anyway, back to the last final. My last final was in biochemistry, and you will all be happy to know that the ridiculously long word that I wrote about in my previous post did NOT show up on the test. (Which was very good for me, since I cannot even remember the word now, much less what it means--ah, the post-test brain purge.) Unfortunately, I did "underestimate the beast." (A little phrase one of my ACU buddies used to say when he didn't allow himself enough time to study for a big test.) Because of the underestimation, I pulled my first, and hopefully last, almost-all-nighter.

For most of my life I have had a ritual for test-taking that involves studying until 12 pm (but no later) and then getting up at 5 am to study again the morning of the test. This system had always worked in the past, mostly because I really can't stay up past 12, so it was a good stopping point. For this final biochemistry test, though, I stayed up until 3 am, then woke up at 5:30 am to finish studying the day of the test. Hope I get some more concealer for Christmas because I had to use about half a bottle trying to cover the blackened raccoon-like circles under my eyes. We left fairly soon after my test to drive to Abilene for the holidays--guess who drove?

(Jeffrey.)

Oh, but before we left, Jeffrey and I needed to load up my desk to take home. I brought my desk from Abilene when we moved to San Antonio, but realized shortly after that I don't like studying at a desk--I like studying on the couch. So, the desk (like all good furniture) was going to be passed down the family line to my brother.

Problem #1: I am weak.

I don't work out much. If I do work out, it's on a treadmill, walking or jogging on an incline. I do not lift weights. In fact, I try not to lift anything--I mean, what's the point of being married if you're not going to use your hubby to lift things for you? (Kidding--he's good for other stuff, too. Our marriage isn't solely based on his lifting ability.) Needless to say, it was hard for me to lift the desk.

Problem #2: We live on the 3rd floor.

That means the desk had to go down two flights of stairs and be lifted into the truck bed. Not good.

Problem #3: I'm short.

5'4" to be exact. Why does this matter, you ask? Well, I'll tell you: When you combine problems 1, 2, and 3, you end up with Jeffrey holding the entire desk by himself (looking very much like the statue of Atlas holding the world) on the lower part of the stairs and me looking very frantic because I can't find a way to hold the desk so that I can lift it up without hurting my little fingers, then, when I finally figure out a way to hold it, I will be too short to hold it up high enough to clear the stair with the bottom of the desk.

Somehow, it got into the truck and to Abilene. And Jeffrey and I have decided that we can never move away from our current residence, as other things would have to be moved down the stairs if we were to leave.

Tonight is a Christmas dinner with friends, and tomorrow is Christmas with Jeffrey's family. And where there is family and friends, there will always be bloggable moments...more to come.