Done!

After what felt like an eternity and yet also somehow like a blink of an eye--I am done with Step 1 of by boards. I don't know when or how I will get my score and I don't really mind not knowing. It was a LONG day and it was a long road to get to the test, but now I have a week of freedom before the real work and the real exciting part of medical school begins. So, before all of those adventures appear on the blog, here's what I've been up to since my last post (in between studying of course). 

First, I celebrated my 27th birthday. I don't have any pictures which I'm bummed about but my friends threw me a surprise birthday dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Queen Anne. 

I got to catch up with some friends I hadn't seen for weeks because we had all been studying in our own way. I was able to snap this shot of the the city while we were there.

As per tradition, my girls got me wine and magazines since after all we are the "wine and magazine" study group :)

 

I had intended on spending some quality time in the sun but it happened to be raining on my birthday, so I did a little window shopping and then headed home for a nap. Little did I know I would wake up 4.5 hours later! I always tell myself that if I naturally sleep for that long I must have really needed the sleep, but needless to say I didn't get much done on my birthday! But I had lots of cards and presents in the mail that I got to open--thank you everyone for making the day great!

The Monday after my birthday we threw together a spontaneous engagement party for John and Bri. We all joined together at Barbara's house (the house I attended the house-warming-party for earlier this year) in the gorgeous afternoon sunshine. 

Before we could head outside to eat, Barbra and Sammi busted out some home made mojitos

It was a fabulous spontaneous BBQ/potluck with amazing salmon, salad and rice. It was by far a FEAST! 

We gathered around on the patio in the sun and celebrated an engagement that was a long-time coming. 

And, we almost forgot that there was any boards studying to be done especially when sat around the fire pit and made smore's :).

 

Then last week "my girls" and I took a break from the monotony of studying in the medical school and ventured over to DeeDee's parent's house in Shorline. Let me tell you--this home was a dream home! 

From the incredible water view

To the gorgeous open kitchen

To the back deck complete with built-in grill and outdoor heater for chilly summer nights

 

To the all natural salt-water hot tub, I never wanted to leave!

 

But we couldn't only study pharmacology flash cards in the hot tub for so long before we were fully "raisined" and had to head home.

Then the final week of studying came and I received a wonderful care package in the mail from Tom-- my "smart pills" for test day. Despite the fact that I'm"not allowed" to have these in the house, I was allowed to have them for test day :)

 

My final day of studying was a full 12 hours of reviewing the big concepts. Nearly 360 degrees of white-boards later, I was ready to call it a day.

 

Yesterday the day finally arrived for me to enjoy the amazing gift card that Ann got for me to Gene Juarez. I didn't take any pictures of the day, except this one-- of the start of my day with tea and good vibes.

 

 It was a GLORIOUS day--So incredibly relaxing and exactly what I had hoped it would be.

Now it's off to bed because I'm exhausted and I'm so excited that I'm off to Atlanta to see Tom tomorrow!!!