a camping we will go

Turns out, I've made some incredible friends in the past two years.  Sometimes it takes a little breathing room away from the stress to realize it, but man I've met some great folks!  A few weekends ago JP and I went on a hiking camping adventure on Tumbledown Mountain with six friends, three of whom slogged through school with me and three of whom slogged through the slogging by their sides.  It was perfect timing, just a day or so after we had all officially passed our boards, and we all were just itching for some time in the great outdoors, relaxation, exercise and good company.

Our campsite overlooking this lovely lake.  Some of us braved the cold water and went swimming.  It was so cold, but so refreshing after the climb.  Have I told you lately how much I love swimming?

The men folk went fly fishing (successfully!), whilst the women folk horsed around and generally enjoyed the relief of being on real life vacation for the first time in two years.

A friendly Americorps worker camped near us and made sure no one built a bonfire.  We made due with a camp stove, even roasting smores over the tiny flames.

Oliver came with us, and had exhausted himself through and through by the time we reached the top.  He likes to run back and forth on the trail, and probably hiked about five times what we did.  Unfortunately his paws were so unaccustomed to the rough terrain that he tore up his pads and was limping by the next morning.  We took turns carrying him down the mountain when we got more level ground.  Poor little excited boy!  Don't worry though, he has since recovered completely and is probably just ready and waiting for the next adventure, painful memories erased. 

so much to know!

I was at Zumba class tonight when I heard a song that I thought sounded familiar.  Then I realized I had never actually heard the original version of the song, only the parody that a PA class at Emory posted on youtube.  I was laughing too hard to even dance to the song.  Oh the memories. SO, here it is in all its glory.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did back when I was a baby PA student desperately searching the interwebs for an idea of what school would actually be like.

many ends and a begining

Before the summer sun and ocean and bicycles all sweep me away, I wanted to tell you about graduation!  Hoy howdy.  The end of it all turned out to be a ridiculous whirlwind, and afterwards it was hard to really let the reality sink in!  So really, the story of graduation is a graded thing starting with the end of exams and classes, then the arrival of my family, then the hooding ceremony where we received our master's degree hoods (still not reeeaally sure what that all means), the celebrations, the death by board exam study week, and the end of the board exam itself.  I felt more relief walking out of that exam one week ago then I have in a long, long while.  It was like the whole experience was finally coming to an end.

The two girls pictured with me above were my rocks for the past two years.  They pulled me through, they broke down next to me (at separate times of course, really we kind of orchestrated our individual breakdowns brilliantly with no overlaps as you might expect three type A's to do), encouraged me, pushed me, believed in me, and dragged me at times to the very end.  Amazingly brilliant women who don't know how talented and incredible they are, and who will absolutely shine in their new careers with patients who will be so fortunate to be cared for by them.  I'd put my favorite people in their hands and rest soundly.

But I digress, and the story brings me to today.  At 8:12 I received an all shouty caps text message to WAKE UP, WAKE UP, BOARDS ARE POSTED, followed by two phone calls, at the end of which I finally popped my eyes open.  I scrambled to find my computer, and gripped JP's hand with everything in me while I waited for the national website to load as we all crashed it with our simultaneous logins.

I am so, so proud to let you know that I passed my boards, and am officially a Certified Physician Assistant.  I couldn't be more overwhelmed with excitement and disbelief and a million other emotions that are hard to define   There were many times in these past two years that I really didn't think I would make it, but I am here today and it feels absolutely amazing.

And I suppose this would be a great lead in to tell you that I will be starting my first position on July 7th in a small rural Family Medicine position just 20 minutes from Portland working primarily with Pediatrics and Geriatrics.  I am beyond excited, and a little bit terrified.  It's exactly what I was looking for, and with the competition out here it's almost unbelievable that I landed it.  I'm gonna try my hand at believing in myself, trusting that I am where I need to be, and knowing that I've got a lot of knowledge in this brain of mine.

In the words of my dad "my heart is so full it's leaking out my eyes".  

Thank you for all the love and support, cheers!