NBDE is DONE

Hooray!  I took the boards!  Honestly, the whole experience was sort of anti-climatic.  I really think that the worst part is the preparations leading up to the test.  You go through all these mind games with yourself that are just so exhausting.  You feel the need to study every minute of every day, even though you know it isn't possible.  You can't relax even when you are taking a study break (to eat lunch, for example), because you feel like you should be studying.  You freak out because you feel like you are forgetting information that you already studied.  You hear other people talk about their studying and you worry because you are using different study methods.  It is awful.  The test itself wasn't exactly a walk in the park, because I have trouble sitting still for 8 1/2 hours; but overall, taking the test itself wasn't so bad.  I just wish that I knew the results.  I have to wait 4 weeks for them to come in the mail!  I've celebrated taking the test and I hope those celebrations weren't premature.  If I didn't pass (which I feel confident is NOT the scenario), I have to do it all over again.  Except I don't know for 4 weeks.  Yuck.

I celebrated finishing the test by going out to dinner with a few friends who also took their boards that day. We ended up at Buca di Beppo, a family style Italian restaurant.  I thought it was good and I tried eggplant parmesan for the first time.  (However, I still like a local Italian place better...Cucina Tagliani is so yummy. When you come visit, I will definitely take you there.)  The next day, I picked up a surprise from my family.  They sent me a fruit bouquet.  It was the most delicious, ripe, fresh fruit ever.  And it looked super cute.  Then I went shopping with my friend Thao at the outlet mall, while they were having some HUGE sales.  I splurged a bit and bought some fun new clothes.

The highlight of the weekend though was definitely the fourth of July barbeque at my friend Mindi's house.  She invited a bunch of classmates over and we had a potluck dinner.  I can not believe how talented my classmates are at cooking!  We had some of the most amazing food.  My favorite had to have been the key lime pie made by Christian and his wife Nicki.  They made the whole thing from scratch and it looked (and tasted) like it came from a professional bakery!  The rest of the food was equally tasty; we had chicken, brats, macaroni salad, coleslaw, green salad, and some peach concoction.  It was so tasty.  Luckily, once the sun went down, it was really nice outside, and so we sat out in her backyard and watched the neighbors shoot off fireworks.  It was just so fun to see my classmates relaxed and be able to spend time with them outside of the stress of school.  We're a fun (albeit nerdy) bunch.  Here are some of my favorite photos from last night.

The highlight of the weekend though was definitely the fourth of July barbeque at my friend Mindi's house.  She invited a bunch of classmates over and we had a potluck dinner.  I can not believe how talented my classmates are at cooking!  We had some of the most amazing food.  My favorite had to have been the key lime pie made by Christian and his wife Nicki.  They made the whole thing from scratch and it looked (and tasted) like it came from a professional bakery!  The rest of the food was equally tasty; we had chicken, brats, macaroni salad, coleslaw, green salad, and some peach concoction.  It was so tasty.  Luckily, once the sun went down, it was really nice outside, and so we sat out in her backyard and watched the neighbors shoot off fireworks.  It was just so fun to see my classmates relaxed and be able to spend time with them outside of the stress of school.  We're a fun (albeit nerdy) bunch.  Here are some of my favorite photos from last night.

I have one more day of freedom before my research starts on Wednesday.  Unfortunately, the funding for my specific project is still in the works.  It seems that for the first few weeks, I'll just be helping finish up some odds and ends in the lab.  I'll just be happy to have something to do and make some money!