It’s been a while – 7 months, to be exact. I attempted to keep things light and punny with the title. After all, this IS a fashion blog. I really do not know where to begin, though. When I last blogged in January, I was about to start my final semester of pharmacy school. Shortly after that, it’s like my life got on the freeway and decided to FLOOR IT. I mean just full speed – no breaks, do not stop, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Life just happened, you know? Some of it was good, and some of it was not-so-good. I thought about just jumping back into my little corner of the interweb with a normal fashion post, but that felt weird to me. So before I get all “Here is what I’m wearing, and here is where you can buy it” on y’all, let’s catch up.
Usually I am more of a “bad news first” kinda person but, for the sake of keeping things in chronological order, this story isn’t gonna go that way. So the exciting news is that I moved! Still in good ol’ south Louisiana, but a different city. My new home is a work-in-progress, but I do plan on sharing a little of it on the blog once it is finished because my parents are redesigning the whole thing on their own and it is so beautiful (side note, they are awesome at that stuff – like serious Chip & Joanna vibes over here y’all). However, anyone that has ever moved/remodeled I’m sure will agree that it is HARD, exhausting, and problems sort of pop up on you seemingly out of nowhere. Needless to say, we started running in to some unforeseen challenges with the house recently. I won’t even get into the specifics with that, but just keep us in your prayers that everything works out so that my parents can start enjoying their new home that they are working so hard on. I would appreciate that so, so very much.
Okay, more exciting news – I graduated! I received my Doctor of Pharmacy degree in May. Annnddd… unfortunately my friends, that is where the exciting news ends. Even though school had ended, the studying was not over yet. Before you can practice as a pharmacist, you need to pass 2 exams – the MPJE (a law test for pharmacy) and the NAPLEX (North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination). After the excitement of graduation, I was supposed to buckle down and prepare for my exams. However, as it often does, life threw a curveball at me. My sweet grandmaw started getting very sick and very weak – fast. Within a few days of being in the hospital, although it seemed like years at the time, she went home to be with the Lord. Her absence in my life is getting harder and harder each day. For the past few years, I helped my mom take care of my grandmaw. She came to live with us after my grandfather’s passing, and I did not realize the huge presence she had in my home until now. It is hard to explain, but our house feels very empty now without her. I find comfort, though, in knowing she is reunited with her husband and daughters, dancing on streets of gold, praising God!
My licensing exams were already paid for and scheduled before my grandmaw passed. So two days after my grandmaw’s funeral, I took the MPJE. I went into it hoping for the best, but I did not receive a passing score. Yes, it sucked, but it is a very difficult exam and many people do not pass on the first try. I would just have to wait 30 days to retake the exam. I couldn’t focus on the failure at that time too much anyway, because I immediately needed to start studying for the next test. I took the NAPLEX about a month later, and…. I did not pass. Whoah. That is hard for me to even put out there, and anyone who knows me personally knows exactly why. School has always sort of been my “thing.” I realize how unbelievably nerdy that sounds, but it is true. I have always passed – with flying colors. So the fact that I failed the NAPLEX was/is a difficult pill for me to swallow… pharmacy pun totally not intended but I’ll go with it. After you fail the NAPLEX, you must wait 91 days before you are eligible to retake the test. That means, for 91 days, you are stuck in this weird not-a-student-not-yet-a-pharmacist limbo. Which is where I am now. I could go on and on about all of my emotions regarding this test, but for the sake of me and those actually reading this novel, I will just leave it at that. That is where I am now. Waiting. Studying. Still studying…
Since I cannot stand to leave things on such a depressing note, I’ll tell y’all that I have retaken the MPJE and PASSED! One down, one to go. I know this is all a part of God’s bigger plan for my life, and for some reason He did not want me practicing as a pharmacist just quite yet. At least that is what my momma keeps repeating to me. I’ll be honest I am not at such a positive mindset about the whole situation yet, but I am getting there.
Hopefully that explains why this blog has been such a ghost town lately. But I fully intend on coming back and sharing lots of cute outfits! I mean, fall is coming up – aka the best season for fashion – and I got a new puffer vest, so its kind of mandatory that I blog, right? Talk to you guys soon!
Blessings, Candace