i have slightly neglected my blog once again, easily distracted to say the least.

so let me pick up where i left off...my birthday week.

monday - i started the week off by taking my boards, the PANCE (physician assistant national certification exam). a six hour exam of 360 questions covering basically anything medical from diagnoses to reading chest xrays to health prevention and maintenance. i finished the exam in less than 4 hours, only stopping once after i forced myself to take a break so that my eagerness to finish wouldn't interrupt my thought process. i survived. glad to have it finished in time for my birthday the next day. however i wouldn't find out if i passed until at least thursday and possibly not up until two weeks later.

tuesday - grandma and i celebrated my birthday with high tea at crescent bend. the day was a rather rainy, gloomy day, but we made it through the tulip gardens in between rain drops. the tea itself was fabulous and the crumpets and finger foods dainty. that night i went to dinner with a friend of mine as creed was in new mexico for work...or so we thought.  his meeting was canceled and he ended up "surprising" us...or nearly giving grandma and i heart attacks and a phone call to 911...late that night.

thursday - we met with our photographer, jessi, for reese's 6 month photos.  i cannot wait to see them!  they were taken at the university of tennessee botanical gardens.  unfortunately we had had storms come through earlier in the week and wipe out a lot of the flowers, but i'm sure the pictures are fabulous regardless.  reese could sit in a rainstorm and be cute (if i do say so myself)! i was a bit worried about the shoot as the last time we attempted it, reese wanted nothing to do with jessi or taking photos. this time was a whole new ball game and she did great!

and then, i got the email. i passed my boards! hip hip hooray! what a relief! and oh what fabulous news!

friday - creed and i went out to dinner to celebrate while grandma babysat. we had a fabulous dinner at the chophouse.

saturday - i headed to tampa for a quick 24-hour girls-night-out at the jimmy buffett concert with jocelyn, stephanie (my old roommate from tallahassee) and kelley (also an old roommate and my best friend from college)! when kelley called to tell me jimmy buffett was coming to tampa there was no question as to whether or not we would be going. the question was what would be the reason to celebrate and where would we celebrate before the concert.  those questions were quickly answered as my birthday and passing the boards were good enough for me!  the evening was a blast and just what i needed to end the week of celebration!
 (photos are coming in individual posts)