Prelims Done and the Northeast to Go!

I wanted to say a very sincere word of thanks to everyone who sent notes of encouragement and who have been praying for me and my classmates as we took our prelim exams over the last couple of days.

FINISHED WITH PRELIMS!

Both tests are now both behind me! I have no idea how well I did, but until I know otherwise, I will hope of the best. We should get our results back in another month or so. Ugh! At least it’s a month of waiting and not one of studying. I feel like I’ve barely been out of the house over the past 4 weeks – just lots of late night study sessions going on into the wee hours of the morning.

After I got out of the exam tonight, I mostly felt numb. I expected to feel elated at having them finished, but I mostly just felt spent and, unexpectedly, a little down. Not because I thought I did badly, but I think it was just a bit of exhaustion catching up with me combined with the thought of staring at the uncertainty of not knowing how I did for the next month.

After the test tonight, I stopped by to pick up the key to my new place in Fairfax (I’ll move in about a week from now) and then went out with a bunch of my classmates to celebrate getting these behind us.

ONLY FIVE MORE TO GO!

I still have a week off until school starts, so I thought I’d put it to good use. Last year, I made it to my seventh continent with my trip to Antarctica. This year, I figured I might as well go ahead and finish off the fifty states! After my trip to Alaska with Aunt Ruth earlier this summer, there are only five states left I haven’t been to yet (New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New Hampshire). I decided to set out on a little road trip starting tomorrow afternoon. I won’t know how I did on my prelims for awhile, so I’m not sure if this trip is a celebration of victory or mediocrity? Either way, I plan on having some fun!

(I’ve actually been in New Jersey and New Hampshire before, but don’t remember much of either of them, so I don’t count them yet. I have to have a significant experience or memory for me to count a state – I won’t count it if I’ve simply driven through.)

I have no idea exactly where I’m going yet or how long I’ll be gone, but that’s part of the adventure! What’s an extra-special blessing is that this was a trip I was planning on making this past March and I canceled it so I could donate bone marrow instead. It’s neat to see the Lord still giving me a chance to take this journey this year.

I ought to be back home in about a week. School starts on the 28th, so definitely some time before then.

Thank you again to all of you for your kind words and loving prayers.