Look who's a Pharmer now!

A little less than four years ago we left our comfort zone and made the trek to the Pacific Northwest. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into or where our lives would be at the end of the four years but I can't imagine a place I'd have rather ended up. While the friendships we've made might not actually last a lifetime, I hope they do.

In fact, I'm going to pretend I'll see all of you again at least 12 times a year, for the rest of our lives. Our children will all grow up knowing each other and they'll all be the best of friends ... even if you live states away.

Anyway, Ben finished his last rotation at the end of May but his official Graduation was this past weekend. As I sat there in the audience listening to the speakers I found myself tearing up over and over. He's put in a lot of hard work over the past few years and I'm so proud of all he's accomplished. And, apparently, I'm very emotional about it.
 

This is the end of a huge chapter of our marriage and our lives. I'm sad to see it end but I'm excited to see what life has in store for us next.

Ben did not go through graduation week feeling unloved or uncelebrated. We had family coming out our ears. ... But in a good way. E is still having a hard time adjusting to life without an audience (watch for the next blog post for more about that).

While I'm sure Ben loved spending hours memorizing drug names and interactions, he also really enjoyed his classmates. I still recall how kind they all were when E was born. They all chipped in and got us a couple of gift certificates to help with the endless list of needed baby supplies. On top of that, Ben got a delicious Trophy Cupcake. ... I was a little jealous.

This next picture was taken to help us remember all the things that stood between Ben and his graduation.

1. His wife ... Because sometimes I was just bored and needed attention

2. His son being born the day before a huge Therapeutics exam

3. His son being so dang cute and awesome that studying is the last thing anyone would want to do

4. Sometimes Seattle is gorgeous and the last thing anyone would want to do is spend the day inside with their nose buried in textbooks.

5. [not pictured] Pretty much every single Therapeutics exam

I hope you know how proud of you everyone is, Ben. Thanks for all the nights where you went to bed at 11p just to wake up at 2a to study for a test. And all the times you spent studying when it would have been more fun to go out and play, even if I didn't seem very grateful for that at the time.

In fact, the only thing I'm really going to miss about studying is your procrastination--nothing made our apartment get cleaned like a test coming up.

 You're the best!