Thursday, August 23, 2012

Brittany Johnson, MS, PA-C



I did it!! I passed the boards. I am officially a PA-C and I couldn't be more excited. Well I guess I can't say I did it at all. We did it: Ellie, Leon, my Mom, Jaxon, and Kelsie. I could not have finished school with out the support of these wonderful people. I am so grateful for all that they have done and I seriously can't thank them enough.

My mom especially. I found out that I was pregnant after committing to PA school and I was shocked and scared to say the least. My mom told me that I needed to go to school, that it would be hard but she would support and help me in every way that she could and that I would be so glad that I did. Some people are full of empty promises, but not my beautiful mama. She came up to Mesa and out to Boston more times than I can count to help me with Ellie during school. Jaxon missed a lot of school and made the drive with her to the valley and they hardly complained (well you can't say Jaxy didn't complain). And poor Kelsie spent so much of her senior year with out my Mom because Mama was busy helping me. I remember her telling me one time, "It's ok Britt, I realize you need Mom more than I do right now." She is such a selfless and wonderful sister. Thank you, thank you. It is finally over and I will be forever grateful.

Then there is Leon and Ellie. Ellie's whole life has been PA school. She was born in my second quarter. I gave birth on a Tuesday and went back to school on Thursday. I obviously never studied at school or stayed at school longer than classes required, but I wasn't able to be at home as much as I would have liked. We still figured out how to breast feed for 9 months (I look back and am still amazed I was able to do that) and we played and cuddled every second we got, but her mommy always was a student too and had to study as well as mother. Thank goodness for Daddy. Daddy stayed home with Ellie the first year full time. He fed her, read to her, changed diapers, put her down for naps, and was her full time care giver. The second year Leon and I shared parental responsibilities and like I have mentioned before, he gave up precious study time to step up and be Daddy in his first year of law school. I cannot tell you all how lucky I am for having Leon as a Husband and Ellie as a daughter! Thank you for being so supportive and helping me accomplish my dream.

My first interview is next Wednesday, wish me luck!! I can't wait to start making big girl money and being a productive member of society!!

Montreal



Last Saturday I took the National Certification Exam for PA school and the only place I could get in to take it was South Portland, Maine.  I know, random right? But we thought, "hey why not grab some Lobster and head up to Canada while we are up there". Lobster was eaten. The test was taken. And Canada welcomed the Johnson clan with open arms.

We got to Montreal Saturday night and fell in love right away.  The city was alive and hopping and the first language there is french, so naturally we felt like we were in a foreign country. We got to walk around the city and ate at a yummy little vietnamese place. Leon loved practicing his rusty french. I love traveling with him, he always makes adventures no matter where we are. Plus, he loves to learn as much as I do, so we are perfect traveling buddies. Ellie, on the other hand, just likes to make trouble and was especially hard this trip. She must be entering the dreaded terrible twos, Ah. Or she could just be a normal kid who isn't interested in sitting down at restaurants or sight seeing architecture or going to museums. Either way its safe to say that her traveling profile might be on hold until she is a little older.

One thing that Ellie loves to do is ride the subway. We ride the subway often here in Boston, but she loved getting her own seat and especially after riding rides at Disneyland this summer she felt like she was on a ride.




This might be one of those times Ellie just wanted to run and play, but Daddy didn't want her getting lost in the subway so she is giving us her angry eyes.
We decided to get breakfast the next morning at the outdoor market. Ellie loved all the fresh fruit, especially the baby strawberries. She might have gotten them all over her outfit, but messy is always more fun, right?


After the market, we headed to Old Montreal and the much anticipated Notre Dame Basilica. This is where Celine Dion was married and where little Rene Charles was christened. If you know anything about me, you know that I la la love Celine and was so excited to see where she was married. I secretly hoped that she would be vacationing there as well and we could run into each other. I know we would be best friends.



Then we headed down to the waterfront to let little Ellsie run around for a bit.



Finally, after lots of screaming and fit throwing, wanting her bean then not wanting her bean, Elle K.O.ed. Leon and I decided to do some sight seeing. We found a little crepe place and enjoyed some heavenly crepes. The carmel sauce they used was to die for. 



We headed down to a park to enjoy the scenery and a little alone time with each other. It was wonderful to get to cuddle my hubby on the grass while Ellie slept. I love being held in his warm arms, hearing all of his brilliant ideas, and laughing at all his stories .
But not too soon, the moment was over and our little princess arouse from her slumber. She couldn't wait to kiss all over Daddy. She loves to be thrown in the air and chased around, which is exactly what she got.






Of course we had to go to the Christmas store to see if we could find a little ornament for our travel tree. This was a dangerous venture with such a wild one on our hands. But she was enchanted with all things Christmas and especially the Nutcracker outside. She just wanted to hold his hand, so cute.





We stopped at a little French Bistro for dinner, where leon got the best French Onion soup. Ellie was so good and loved sitting in a big girl (booster) seat.


The next day we decided we needed to do some Ellie friendly sight seeing, so we headed up the mountain. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed some breathtaking views, hiking, and of course jumping off rocks. Did I mention the horses? Our camera died before we got to take pictures of these beauties, but Ellie loved them. And they loved Jet. They kept coming over and putting their noses on my belly it was way too funny.



Ellie is so funny she is way into playing pretend and she decided to look for flowers. She found a little flower and said "this is the baby flower" to herself and went on to talk to the flower saying, "baby flower why you sad? You miss a mommy flower? oh its ok don't cry baby flower." Then she found a bigger flower and with all the excitement she could muster she squealed, "Oh baby flower, here is a mommy flower. Look she misses you. She loves you so much baby flower." Haha, she cracks me up!


Jumping to Daddy!

30 weeks pregnant!!

The beautiful Montreal


She loves to climb.



We enjoyed some famous bagels for breakfast and headed on home. It was much needed time with the family and I'm so glad we were able to pull it off. 
We love and miss you all,
Love, Us

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Education

Education is eternal, it is something that I value above many other things in life. Education and academic achievement have always been something that I have defined myself by and that I have respected others for. I will never apologize for my views on this topic, although they may offend some. I have always felt that one can be stripped of a title, fired from a job, spend all their money, and even, heaven forbid, lose family and loved ones, but one's education and knowledge is something that can never be taken away.  It is something that will not only always keep you in a position for success but benefit those around you. In fact, it is my belief, that this is one of the few things that we obtain in this life that we will be able to keep with us in the next life. Hard work and dedication are always the answer and nothing in life that is of great value comes without these two things.


Well, I have put in a lot of hard work and have been more than dedicated over the past two years to medicine. I have tirelessly done my best to balance family life and school life. I have cried countless tears and lost ridiculous amounts of sleep, as I have tried to do "it all". And I can safely say that I have officially done it. I have finished six years of collegiate education and have been bestowed a Master's Degree in Physician Assistant Studies.

The past two years have been some of the hardest of my life. Motherhood has changed everything about me. I went from type A student to an obsessed with my beautiful family mother. I have had to deal with so much guilt for finishing school and having to leave my sweet Ellie Bean at home. In fact, to deal with this guilt, Ellie has gone with me to many a lectures and has been exposed to more medical education than most adults. Her entire life has been PA school, a mommy running around like a crazy woman is all she knows. I am so proud that I can tell her that I finished. I can not say how many times I just wanted to quit and give up because being a mom and a student was just too hard. But for her sake, I am so happy that I can tell her to never give up on her dreams and that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. 


And lets be honest here, Mr. Johnson has made all of this possible. My sweet, sweet husband is the father that all wives dream of. He spent my first year of school at home being Mr. Mom with Ellie and the second year balancing his first year in law school and taking more than his share of the parenting responsibilities. He would literally take Ellie with him to meetings with professors, law school functions, and study groups. I mean this little peanut is practically a student at Harvard Law School herself. He has been so supportive and has given up so much to get me through school. I can't thank him enough. 

And not to mention my other family members. My ridiculously wonderful mother, who has made the six hour drive to Arizona and the six hour flight to Boston more times that should be humanly possible to help me accomplish this. She has been the definition of selfless the past two years and all of the help and support she has given me as I have struggled with finding balance. She has loved my sweet Ellie and treated her like her own. I can never repay her for what she has and I know will continue to do for me. I can only hope to be half the mother she is.


So as far as the ceremony went, you better believe I had little ms Ellie walk with me. She even wore her own cap. When the announcer read my name, Ellie and I walked hand in hand to receive my diploma. The president of the school even got down on his knees to hand it to her. After he handed her my diploma I held her up for the crowd as they went wild for the little one. I mostly wanted them to know that she was the one they should be proud of and she deserved their cheers too. It was well received to say the least. She was a hit haha. 

I was so grateful to have my parents, Kelsie, Jaxon, Kyle, Julie, and Granny there to celebrate the big day with me. 

Now that we are done with that, Leon and I will be resting and relaxing in his little paradise of a hometown...haha. Actually, I wish I was in the position to do either of those things, but I take the boards on Aug 18 and I have got to study my brains out everyday until then. Then I can take time to relax. In fact, we already have a little trip planned to Montreal, Canada to celebrate. I can't wait!

And something else I can't wait for...is the much anticipated move of my sister and her family to the Boston area. My brother in law will be finishing up his LLM at BU in the fall and Holli will be spending ever waking second with me. I can't wait to live next to my best friend. Dinner will never be the same in the Johnson home again! LOL.

We love and miss you all! Love, US