In the words of Lil' Jon.....Yeeeeaaaahhhh!!!!

Good news! I found out I passed the CPJE!! I am so excited and relieved, it is like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Last night after I got off work, I was walking to the mailbox and I just had a feeling that the results were going to be there, and they were!! John sent me the beautiful flowers above. Frank immediately jumped on to the kitchen table to check them out, they are super fragrant. Hopefully he won't eat them when I'm not looking!

Thank you everyone who was thinking good thoughts for me before, during, and after taking the exam. It really means a lot to me to have so much support!

Juno

I just saw the movie Juno this evening. Loved it. Loved. It. A must see. Great dialogue. Ellen Page does an amazing job as Juno, she's super funny. Plus the guy sitting behind me spilled popcorn all over the head and back of the guy sitting in the seat next to me. Never thought that kind of stuff actually happened in real life. Hilarious. Luckily the guy that got popcorn all over himself thought it was funny too.

Songs I just downloaded: Lake Michigan by Rogue Wave, Don't Stop the Music by Rihanna (diggin' on the Michael Jackson sample, still rockin' the King of Pop), and Ride a White Swan by T. Rex (gotta love 1970's glam rock).

Love is a Mix Tape

I finally got the CJPE out of the way (I should find out the results in about 30 days), and I've been diggin' on some non-pharmacy related reading this past week. I just finished "Love is a Mix Tape" by Rob Sheffield, it was a great read. It definitely made me miss the days of the mix tape. My favorite mix tape of all time is one called "I'm not going to eat and you are", it is a mix that Paula made me back in early high school I recall. The title of the mix was birthed by myself over a weekend when my parents were out of town. They had left my sister and I some money for food, and I suggested that we split the cash down the middle and fend for ourselves. It was a time in my life where any spare change I had lying around was spent on music or music related schtuff (magazines, concert tickets, etc.). My plan was to take my half of the food money and put it towards some sort of R.E.M. paraphrenalia. "I'm not going to eat and you are" was my response to my sister when she asked me what I was going to do that weekend without food money. Other favorite mix tape authors include Casey (Run to the Hills by Iron Maiden, Sausage Gut by Jurassic 5) and Melanie (Kodachrome by Paul Simon). I really need to track those mix tapes down so I can recreate them as playlists on iTunes.

Next on my non-essential reading list: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, I've heard this bad boy is a real page turner. I'll keep you posted.

Study break!

Don't worry, I haven't been scrappin' instead of studying. I am taking a little study break to post this photo though. This is a picture of a page I made after our friend Rik's birthday party this summer. Rik is an artist (glass blower, sculptor), and quite a bit of his work involves rockets. He had a sci-fi themed birthday bash in August, and we all wore sci-fi inspired costumes. It was a blast. John was Dr. Spock and I was Princess Leia. John and I are really going to miss Rik and Shelley when we move to California! We will definitely come back to visit them though!! John has spent the last 10 Thanksgiving holidays with them, so we can't really break that tradition:)

It's all about the layout.......

For me, it is all about the layout. I don't feel like I can be productive until I create a space where I think I can be productive. I think it spawns from my type-A-ishness. I have been trying to study for the California law exam for over a month now, with no success. I blame it all on my poor layout. This past weekend I finally switched things up and moved to the kitchen table, spread things out, busted out the highlighter, and got busy. It could also be that I work better under pressure, and seeing that I have to take the exam in exactly two weeks, I really need to get my sh!t together, so to speak. Interestingly enough, studying actually hasn't been as torturous as I thought it was going to be. Maybe because I haven't cracked any sort of professional text since taking the boards back in May of 2005. Little did I know I would eventually be moving to the only state that is notorious for their difficult law exam. Gotta love California!!

On a more positive note, I think John and I have found a house to rent! It is a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath house in Canyon Country, CA. We'll find out in the next few days if we got the place, and I will definitely post some photos as soon as I actually move and get settled. So what I'm saying is you might have to wait a few months. Don't get your panties all bunched up about it, aight?

It has been awhile.....

Since my last post I traveled down to Los Angeles to visit John for his birthday. Wow, we stayed in some super nice hotels. John had an idea that we would stay at a different hotel every night so we could experience a few different areas of Los Angeles. We stayed at The Mondrian in West Hollywood, The Ritz-Carlton in Pasadena, and Casa Del Mar and Shutters in Santa Monica. I liked them all for different reasons, but my overall favorite was Shutters. We had an amazing view of the beach, and the room just seemed like we were staying in our own little beach house. It was a great weekend, and I'm even more excited to move down there now!! I really miss John and would like to get down there as soon as I tie everything up here in Seattle. I will be taking a week off of work in January to study for the California exam, and hopefully hear the results by mid-February. Ideally, I would like to be down in California by the end of February. I think once I'm down in California, I will make more of an effort to keep this blog up to date! For right now, I have so much to do as far as preparing for the exam, quitting my job, packing up the house, and moving myself (and Frank!) to Los Angeles.

Fun, new gadgets!!

I am sooooo excited! I have been wanting a new camera for over a year, ever since I started taking scrapbooking a little more seriously. I finally took the plunge this weekend and bought a Canon Rebel xTi. I can't wait to use it to document the move down to LA, and all the LA adventures. I'm hoping it will take my scrappin' to a whole new level as well:) I subscribe to a couple scrapbooking magazines, and it seems quite a few of the contributors use a digital Canon Rebel. I should be getting it in the next week or so, hopefully in time for my trip down to Los Angeles to visit John.

Gadget #2 is my new Garmin Nuvi 200. It is an early Christmas present from my parents. I wanted it for trying to figure my way around LA with as little effort as possible. The last thing I need is to get lost in LA, that might scar me for life. I think my parents were onboard with the idea as well. John and I used it on our way up to Sedro Woolley over Thanksgiving, and it did a great job until we hit a seriously wooded area.

Wow, I can't believe I'm moving to California!!

When John told me he had been offered a really great job in Los Angeles, I was speechless, to say the least. I was quiet for like 2 minutes. Totally and completely floored. What was I supposed to say? I couldn't even begin to imagine leaving Seattle, not to mention my family and friends. And LA? I never pictured myself living in Los Angeles. San Francisco, sure, but LA, no thank you. What do I think of when I think LA? Ummm, let's see.....Dr. 90210, fake boobs, face lifts, traffic, smog....why would this down to earth girl from Seattle want to throw herself in to that? I am soooooo not LA. I'm obsessed with scrapbooking, and I drive a Subaru wagon.......doesn't really scream "LA" to me. So why would I want to move down there? Love, that is why......sounds totally cheesy, but true. After a few days, and a load of tears, I came around to the idea. I can't imagine my life without John. I have lived in Washington my entire life, and I have always wanted to live somewhere else. I know quite a few people that have taken a chance and moved out of their comfort zone......from hundreds of miles to thousands of miles away from home. It will be an adventure that John and I can experience together. It has been over two months since John broke the news to me, and I have *seriously* come around. I'm actually super excited about moving at this point. Nice weather, close to the beach, lots of outdoor activity possibilities, new job opportunities, the list goes on. And all of LA can't be obsessed with celebrity, fame, and fake boobs, right? I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I decided to start this blog as a way to keep in touch with my family and friends back in Washington and other parts of the world. I'll be posting pictures, and writing about my day to day experiences. John has already moved down to LA and started his new job about three weeks ago. So far, he loves it, which is awesome!! I am so proud of him. I will be moving down to Los Angeles as soon as I become licensed to practice in California. Hopefully by the end of February!!