It's My Birthday! :)

Today I am a whopping 23 years old!  As excited as I am for my birthday, I am even more excited that last night I had my chemistry final, which means I am officially finished working full time and going to school!!

A quick little back story on my situation in case you don't know: I went to the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and graduated last May.  After I graduated I realized (much to my dismay) that my plan to be a biological anthropologist and continue studying cognition in primates did not line up with my even stronger desire to raise a family. Or rather, raise a family somewhere other than Africa.  I realized I needed to find a career that involved something I was passionate about but also was conducive to raising a family.  A career in dietetics fit the bill perfectly!  The only snag was that I had concentrated in Biology, not Chemistry. So this past year I have been taking two labs and two classes each semester in the evenings while working full-time to get up to speed and ready to apply for masters or degree completion programs in dietetics!

This past year has been really hard.  I work 9 hour days, and then have up to 5 hours of school some nights.  I rarely sleep, never stop moving, and my hair is usually in some sort of afro.  I am lucky if I remember to put make-up on both eyes in the morning.  It has not been pretty, and I have spent many nights crying that I can't do it anymore, but I did it. My birthday present to myself is a rest for my brain, body and soul.  I took Friday off so I'm driving out to celebrate with Dom, and then stay in town to watch him graduate with both of our families! My excitement is through the roof, and I am so proud of him!

Next week is my last week of work before I tackle Organic Chemistry.  I will be going from 17 hour days to 2 hour days! I can hear my bed calling my name right now.  I am also so excited to be able to put the time and energy into this blog that it deserves!  These past two weeks especially, I have gotten behind in posting and commenting on all your wonderful adventures!  I still adore reading the blogs of everyone I follow, and even if I haven't commented I'm still keeping up, so prepare yourselves for lots of bloggy love when I get back on Sunday!  My most relaxing part of the day is when I get into bed and scroll through your lives.

I have spent the past year doing what I have to do, and now I'm spending the summer getting healthy, happy and doing what I love. :)  If you have gotten this far in this post... I am obsessed with you.  It was supposed to be a quick yay it's my birthday post, but my brain is fried and there is no one here to tell me to stop rambling.  So, I will leave you with a picture from last weekend when Dom and I went on a wine tour in the Finger Lakes!

 Have a fantastic weekend!  See ya Monday with the mother of all weekend recaps! ;)