Sugar Momma

So, I've been telling Heather that I would like to post some stuff on the blog, so she's been holding off, but I wanted to brag on her a little bit, and then report on some of the recent happenings for us. First, my wife, after four years of undergrad and two years of a masters program, finally finished with school on May 3rd. She graduated with the 11 other kids in her program, and looked mighty fine doing it, as I think the pictures show. Anyway, it was really nice because her mom got to come out and spend some time with Heather on Friday and then we all went to the graduation ceremony in Harrisonburg on Saturday (the 3rd). Heather's whole family would've come to the graduation, but her little sister, Jennie, also just happened to be graduating that same day, at the same time, from Utah State. I'll tell the rest of the story in pictures.

So we went to my parents house for a brunch on the morning of Heather's graduation. This was a really good fruit salad we had.
Here's the lady folk walking to the first part of the ceremony, where Heather got her hood. She was pretty excited about being hooded for her masters degree, until she found out that all the undergrads were wearing hoods too. She said that she thought it was lame, especially because those kids didn't really earn a hood. I guess I can see where she's coming from.
Pre-hooding. Note excessive hotness.
Post hooding. I was not the one that called for the booty shot. It's really just so she could have a picture of her hood. I wonder if we'll ever see that thing again...
The second, and definitely more coveted item of the day was the long coat. This is, apparently, an important distinction from the short coat. Basically, long coat is supposed to mean fully trained and wearing one before being fully trained is cause for problems. Interestingly enough, my dad's never heard of this distinction before... Anyway, this is Heather's entire class, crazy small, huh?

Here's Heather with the fake certificate, I liked this picture, so I thought I'd add it.
After all of the festivities, we went to Luray, VA to dine at The Mimslyn Inn. They have an awesome dining room, and their chefs are really, really good. This food is good.
Here's what Heather ate, crab cakes. She wanted a picture, but this one doesn't do justice to the beautiful presentation.
Here's the outside of the Mimslyn. It's a pretty sweet building.

Okay, lastly, and I don't have a picture of this, Heather took her physician assistant national certification examination, or PANCE, last tuesday. She got her results on thursday, and I'm happy to report, she passed, well above the necessary mark. So, she's really a PA!! All we need now is the licensure papers and then she'll truly be my sugar momma. Thanks baby!!

Grey hair does not automatically equal unlimited virtue.

I have been spending many hours at the library studying for the boards. I like to study by the magazines, so I have something to look at when I start to fall asleep. I have learned that this is a hot spot for retirees to come read magazines and newspapers. Today I saw two very surprising things from the senior citizens. First, I saw this little old grandma lady thumbing through the latest issue of Bon Appetit. A couple minutes later I heard a sound that caught my attention. I looked up and saw her RIPPING a page out of the magazine. I was shocked and horrified. She was sitting 10 feet from a copy machine and yet she ripped the recipe out! She did it slowly and tried to hide it as she folded it up and put in her pocket. Then, later as I was going to put my magazine away I saw this 75ish looking guy with a cane reading Cosmo. I don't normally read Cosmo, but I know the articles they advertise on the cover make me blush. "25 ways to make your man..." I can't and don't want to imagine why he wants to read that magazine. Shocking! I just sort of assume that everyone with grey hair is a sweet, innocent. HA.

Finish Line

Well, I did it. I finished my last class at JMU. I took my last test on Monday and I did my last presentation today. I just got back to Richmond and I sat down and thought, "so....that's it." I feel like I should celebrate or something, but instead I decided to blog. I can't believe how fast the last two years have gone by. It feels like just yesterday I was living in Provo, but at the same time it is almost like I can't remember not being at JMU and knowing the people I know. I am realizing that on Saturday I will say goodbye to classmates, that I may never see again. I can't believe it is over. I have been a student for the last 18 years. Now when I fill out a survey to try to win $1000 at Walmart, I have to find something other than 'student' to identify myself. Not only that, but I am in a strange limbo where I still have to study for and take the boards, so maybe I am not really done. Maybe I'll feel more like celebrating at graduation or maybe the time for celebration doesn't come until after the boards are passed and I am employed. Maybe the celebration comes when I get my first paycheck. But no matter when the celebration comes, you can pretty much count on a blog about it. Thanks for reading my ramblings.

Artery Clogging Food

Richard requested sausage, gravy and biscuits for brinner a couple nights ago. I acquiesced and I actually enjoyed it.

We have a book called "Intuitive Eating" that claims that your body will naturally crave what is healthy. Well, Richard was craving this and I can say with out a doubt the amount of grease and butter in this brinner was not healthy. It did taste pretty good, but I think this book might be a crock.

DC with Anthony and Stephani

Last weekend we got to go up to DC to hang out with our good friends that are moving far away. The only pictures we have are of us on some random street just before we had to go. We weren't very good at remembering to pull our camera out. We totally forgot to use it to take pictures of the Edgells cute new baby that we got to see on the way home.

STRESS!! and how things seem to work out.

For the last two weeks, I was feeling extremely stressed. I was worried about finding a job, writing my final paper and passing my boards. Then to add to the stress my professor sent me an email to tell me that I hadn't passed a test required for graduation. Needless to say, I wasn't very pleasant to be around (Rich can attest to that.)

Today I feel like a ton of bricks has been lifted.

1. I talked to my teacher and we went over my test. It turns out she had done the scoring wrong and I definitely passed my test. I kind of wanted to kick her in the head for the stress she had caused me, but I also wanted to kiss her because she gave me the good news about passing.

2. Even though I did well in stats in college; I couldn't figure out if my data was significant for my paper. That made it impossible to finish the paper. Well, I found a professor from our old ward in Harrisonburg that could help me with stats. He just plugged the info in and the numbers came out...I love computers and people who know how to use them. So now I can move forward with my paper (If I would just quit wasting time blogging).

3. Yesterday I had a informal interview/job shadow with a doctor in family practice office. The office is 10 min from our house (on glenside ave, for those familar with Richmond.) At the end of the day he said, "I really feel that you would be a good fit for our office." and "when could you start" and "we would start you off seeing 15 patients a day and you would have your own nurse." WAHOOO!! However, he said he wants me to work with two other doctors in the practice before anything is final and they would have me sort of work at two different offices until everything is settled. Nothing is set in stone, but this job is looking very promising. I really enjoyed working with this doctor even for just one afternoon.

4. With some of that stress relieved I can focus on studying for the boards.


AHH! I feel so much more relaxed with some of these unknowns starting to fall into place.

Rednecks

Today I had a patient with a broken hand. To give you a picture of the guy...he had a mustache. As you have seen from the pictures of Rich on our page a mustache can make anyone look like a redneck. The whole time he was having his cast put on he talked about how everything would be fine so long as he could still shoot his gun (but it wasn't just a gun, it was "guuuyen" with a thick Virginia accent). Then he proceeded to tell us that his wife rode into their wedding ceremony on a four-wheeler (after this story my hillbilly suspicions about this guy were definitely confirmed.) The nurse told him that his cast might cause some uncomfortable rubbing on is fingers and she recommended putting moleskin covering on the edges to protect it. He said, "Naww, I'll just use duct tape..heh heh...duct tape is a rednecks best friend." Self proclaimed even.