March Happy List

Celebrating Pi Day (3.14) twice (once with Will's classmates and then the next night with friends from church to help us eat the leftovers of 7 delicious homemade pies)

Watching Frozen with friends while trying out Ben & Jerry's New Core flavors.  Salted Carmel Core and That's my Jam Core were our favorites.

Typing this blog post on my new Macbook Air.  I haven't bought a laptop since junior year of college!  (I'm hoping that having a keyboard will inspire more blog posts)

Enjoying the arrival of spring with a lovely morning walk to watch the Ithaca Falls thaw.

Reading Mom's daily slice of life blog posts this month.

Devouring delicious french toast, strawberries and whipped cream ( our best Kneader's replacement) with friends to celebrate Will's 27th birthday.

Anticipating our trip to NYC next weekend with Blake & Stefi.

Hoping you are all enjoying March!  Leave me a comment and tell me what makes you happy!

New Goal: figure out how to since my photos from my phone to my computer so I can post pictures on the blog.

Februrary

I love that the days a getting longer!  Getting out of work while it is still light makes a world of difference.  I'm looking forward to spring, while bracing myself for at least 6 more weeks of winter - per  Punxsutawney Phil.

We got a whole new load of snow dumped yesterday.  With local schools cancelled and few states of emergency declared in local nearby towns I only had 12 patients show up for appts.  Twenty is a normal day for me, so I had a nice chance to get caught up on all the small things at work.

I've been escaping the cold weather and keeping up with my new exercise goals by swimming three times a week at the local YMCA.  They keep the pool around 83 degrees and it feels lovely when it's in the single digits outside.  The thing I love about swimming is I can't think about anything else while I'm doing it.  No running through my to-do list in my head, or reviewing patient cases, or worrying about the future.  I'm much to focus on when I get to breathe again to think about anything else.  I find this opportunity to devote my focus to one single thing incredible freeing in our day of multitasking.  What tasks allow you guys to focus on just one thing?

Passey Family United Kingdom Adventure

Will and I have recently returned from a trip to London, Edinburgh and York.  This was Will's first time out of the country.

Here's a list of our favorite moments from each day of the trip:

The Butterbeer at the Harry Potter studio tour was... interesting. 

An amazing office

I don't know why I look so happy to be put in my place.

The amazing 1:24 scale model of the castle.

Will:

The Globe Stage

• Samurai armor at the Brittish Museum
• Dumbledore's office and our pre-dinner stop at a sit down Haagen-dazs 
• The defenses at The Tower of London and standing on the floor of the Shakespeare's Globe theater: 360 View Here
• Westminster Abbey Tour 
• Spitafields Open Air Market and his new leather bag purchased there 
• Watching the countryside and coast on our train to Edinburgh
• Hiking Arthur's seat 
• The York Cocoa Cafe - chocolate orange hot chocolate 

The panoramic view from our flat in Edinburgh 

Might as well get a picture by this guy.

Sara:

• Tasty Indian food for dinner,  complete with leftovers for tomorrow!  
• 1/24 scale complete model of Hogwarts 
• Walking across Millennial Bridge and chocolate cheesecake from Harrods 
• Boat tour on the Thames 
• The Tigers at the Zoo and trying sticky toffee pudding (delicious!) 
• Arriving at our lovely flat and touring the Edinburgh castle: A 360 view of our flat Here
• Lunch of delicious cheese and bread from the local cheesemonger 
• Finding a Robert Thompson mouse on the carved wooden screen at the York Minster.

Edinburgh Castle: Everything you think a medieval castle is.

2014

As per usual, I've let time get away from me between blog post and then it feels completely overwhelming like I have to catch you guys up on everything that The Passeys have done since September when I last posted.  But let's be real and remember for a moment that my blog readers are friends and family who already know the important details of what's happened in our lives between Sept and now.

 So, I'll start fresh with this brand new year that we've been given.  Does anyone else feel almost giddy with the possibility that awaits us each New Year? New goals, new opportunities, new new new! I've always loved fresh starts be it New Years or the start to a new semester or new school year.

We've been blessed with a lovely fresh snow fall today to remind me of the new blank slate we've been given.  Will and I spent the day inside with friends, playing games and snuggling with our favorite almost 2 year old! I love having friends who share their children with us! We ventured into the cold for a quick shovel of the driveway and sledding in the backyard and it was glorious!

Who know what 2014 holds for our family, but I know that I want more moments to treasure! More evenings with friends, more FaceTime with family, more caring for patients.  These moments fill my heart with joy.  Looking forward to sharing these moments with you!

Happy List

I'm stealing this idea from my sister in law Stefi.  She regularly posts lists of things that make her or Blake happy.  I was feeling overwhelmed every time I thought about posting to the blog, so here you go, what follows is a simple list of things that make me happy right now!  

• Getting my license to practice medicine as a PA in New York State
• 2 mini pumpkins purchased at the farmers market 
• Trivia night at the grad student bar on campus with Will's classmates 
• Passing my boards
• Finally painting the legs for my DIY standing desk (they are drying downstairs in the basement, but I promise to post pictures when it's finally put together) 
• Starting my job as a PA at the gynecology office 
• Learning to play dominion with Ann last weekend 
• Getting to sign my name as Sara C Passey, RPA-C (Registered Physician Assistant - Certified) 
• Having time to read! (Just finished Nora Ephron's "I feel bad about my neck")
• Having a kitchen and being able to cook & bake
• Eating delicious Boston Cream Pie Cake that Ann made to help Andrew celebrate his birthday
• Catching up on NPR podcasts (Planet Money, Ask Me Another, This American Life) 
• Listening to thunderstorms from my warm and cozy bed 
• Knowing that Mom is coming to visit in October and Dad in November!  

Leave me a comment of what makes you happy right now!

Graduation

 Will came with me and acted as paparazzi, so this is one of the few pictures with him in at graduation, luckily it turned out great!  Thanks Blake for snapping it!  

 Figuring out how to put on the hood was a bit of a challenge.  One classmate took the name hood a little too literally and had the whole thing draped over his head.  Luckily our wise faculty stepped in to make sure we all looked up to snuff.  I put in a lot of hard work for this fancy piece of graduation attire, so I made sure Will photographed it in it's full glory!  

 Here's the rest of the support team!  Couldn't have done it without Mom & Dad!  

Blake & Stefi were awesome and added another stop to their vacation in the West to see me graduate!  

My surprise graduation present!  When I arrived in Ithaca I found a beautiful cedar lined chest that Will had been stealthily working on for the past 3 months.  I guess there are some benefits to living apart - makes surprising a spouse much easier!  I was speechless and even now I enjoy just sitting in our bedroom gazing at this beauty!  

See the cedar lining?  If you come visit us in Ithaca you can smell it!  

Reunited at last

With Blake and Stefi coming out for graduation, we grabbed the chance to get some nice family photos and had a lovely night on Sauvie Island before graduation the next day.  We're so happy with the way they turned out.

I could not have made it through PA school with out the support of family.  Thanks everyone!

We decided that graduation with a class of only 36 is the way to go.  Graduation was personal and short - completely done in an hour and a half!  Next post to follow will contain pictures from graduation.