manic monday

It's one of those days when you feel like the day can't last any longer. It's only Monday, folks! I know the next three weeks will be packed with too many things to do and too little time to breathe.

I leave you with a snapshot of what's to come: my friend's baby Chloe, whose 100 days and family portraits I shot last week. More Chloe to come...

Uncle Sam, why you want all my monies?

Lately, being on loans and having miscellaneous unforeseen expenses going out (i.e. getting the lock on my car door fixed), I really have been pinching the pennies. Tonight, I finished filing my taxes and found that I owe Uncle Sam $600. Apparently, I have to pay for self-employment tax.

Although my taxes have dampened my mood and have conclusively cancelled my spring break trip (that still yet was unbooked, thankfully), I'm not worried. I figure God will take care of me, even if that means I'll be eating soba noodles for the rest of the trimester.

God always provides.

Some days...

Some days in the life of a dental student:

6:30 am - Wake up (lather, rinse, repeat; brew that coffee!)

7:30 am - Leave for school

8:00 am - Radiology rotation (Ohmygoodness. The cheeks on my patient were so thick! They kept moving my xrays! I had to retake so many!)

12:30 pm - End rotation & run to subway to grab lunch!

12:50 pm - Head back to class

1:00 pm - PBL case session

4:30 pm - Research at library

5:00 pm - Go home through downtown traffic

5:30 pm - Get home & take a nap

7:00 pm - Dinner

7:15 pm - Research some more for a paper

10:45 pm - Submit paper & start reading other papers (aka learning needs)

2:00 am - Sleep

Repeat.

Growing Ripe

My heart was broken this weekend.

No, I didn't break-up with my boyfriend or anything (fyi for all two of my readers!), but something happened that seriously left me disheartened and even shook my faith in my relationship. Honestly, something in me made me want to leave what we have and just quit.

Although I won't disclose details (hello, world wide web!), I will say this: I'm learning the importance of wrestling and even crawling through times of hardship. Although the sinful and selfish part of me wants to start running the other direction as fast as I can, the part of me that is attempting to be godly and trying to cling tightly to what righteousness may mean convicts me to stay. Even if there's an incorrigible mess, it's sanctification that's stopping me in my selfish tracks, ordering me to be patient, to work through the mess, and to perform damage control together.

Love does wash over a multitude of sins.

Beauty

I hope one day someone will see my sister's beautiful and imaginatively wonderful soul and cherish her for it.

Withdrawal

So recently, my camera stopped working and is in the process of repair. I've had serious withdrawals from not being able to shoot, which is the best distraction from my humdrum dental school studies on most days.

One of my most recent shots of my sister taken last December.

Richard Avedon: self-portrait

“I hate cameras. They interfere, they’re always in the way. I wish: if I could just work with my eyes alone. To get a satisfactory print, one that contains all that you intended, is very often more difficult and dangerous than the sitting itself. When I’m photographing, I immediately know when I’ve got the image I really want. But to get the image out of the camera and into the open, is another matter.”