DHYG Week #2: Reality Strikes & Prince Charming Saves the Day!

So week two was a little teary… Wednesday found me sitting in lecture, head tilted up to avoid having tears running down my face. I was upset because I had just learned two days prior that we could begin scheduling patients, but I had been unable to secure a single patient. My fear comes from this reality: when you arrive in clinic without a patient, regardless of whether you failed to schedule anybody or they just don’t show up, you’re sent out to campus to secure a patient and you might receive a grade of zero for the day. So on top of that, I was feeling overwhelmed by homework, errands, and work. AND on top of all of that, I was crying because I was missing making meals at home, having time to go to the laundromat and grocery store: because I hadn’t had two hours to do those things since I started back up at school.

What most people don’t understand about the DHYG program is that it basically consumes your life. It fills you with this anxiety that you’re submerged in for 30 hours each week as you attend clinic, labs, and lectures. Then you go home and try to work on homework, try to see your family, try to see your friends, and at the end of the day you’re wiped out. When I work and attend school, it means I’m up from 5am until midnight, so when I told my manager at work that I was cutting my measly 16 hours of availability each week down to 8, I was very thankful she understood. That’s a long day, and I’m someone who NEEDS 8 hours of sleep each night or I get irritable!

So, as I sat in class on Wednesday I was seriously brain storming on how to manage my time better so I could still do everything I wanted to. I came up with nothing, but my wonderful husband did. On Thursday, we happened to come home at the same time, and when we walked in the door, there was a box from Blue Apron waiting for me. Blue Apron is a company that sends you a few recipes each week, and included in the box are the ingredients to make them! I had said nothing to Jake about being sad about not having time to grocery shop and make meals, but he knew that I was having a hard time juggling everything and he came up with a solution! I had so much fun unboxing the food and looking at all the cute packaging, delighted with the recipes he had chosen! When it was time for dinner, we worked together on the meal prep and enjoyed a nice, relaxed evening. Then he told me about the box that was coming on Saturday and I got really excited! Fast forward to Saturday, a box from Hello Fresh (a company very similar to Blue Apron) arrived with more delicious recipes and cutely packaged ingredients! Sunday afternoon we made our second recipe from the Blue Apron and again, it brought us into the kitchen together! I love the help he gives me during meal prep now! Both meals (pork cacciatore and seared chicken with creamy eggplant) were delicious, combining flavors in a unique and fun way! Today I sat in lecture from 8am-noon, had a hands-on clinic class from noon-2pm and from 2-3pm we had a class meeting. Right after that I ran home to gather up the laundry and rush over to the laundromat to put the wash going. While the wash was going, I called a few patients and scheduled some appointments, and when I get home, Jake will have started another yummy dinner! I’m so thankful for how caring and thoughtful he is… this man takes such great care of me!

I hope this post doesn’t sound like “my life is so busy and challenging *sigh*”, because that’s not what I’m trying to communicate; after all, studying dental hygiene is my choice and if I wanted to do something else, I could! Really I just love talking about how wonderful, thoughtful, sweet, caring, and amazing my husband is!

Anyway, I will keep you posted on how school is going, any more emotional breaks downs I have about not being able to make it to the grocery store (haha!), and also how we’re liking Blue Apron and Hello Fresh!

I’m including some photos of the box we received from Hello Fresh, as I said both are online companies that enable you to select certain meals to be delivered however frequently, for however many people, however often you want them! We’re on a plan to get a box with three dinners each week, but there are lots of options! If anyone is interested in trying out one of these boxes, the link is posted below :)

https://share.hellofresh.com/x/tIVXu6 With this unique code, friends will receive $35 off their first box!

Thanks for reading!