Monday, June 4, 2012

Stick a Fork in Me...

I'M DONE!

It feels so so good to say that.  Exam day went fairly well.  I had some test day jitters, which is to be expected, but felt relatively calm.  Having a fun outfit to put on really helped!

I feel most confident when wearing dresses!  (disregard the dirty mirror - housekeeping was LOW on my priority list last week)

 The exam started at 9 am, after a very drawn out check-in and instruction reading process.  Thank goodness I don't struggle with test anxiety - the whole process is just a hot bed for anxiety!  The morning session felt very hard.  The CFA threw a lot of curve balls at us, and on one problem set, my calculations were not resulting in one of the possible answers.  That is an AWFUL feeling.  I kept track of the ones I was unsure of, though, and I think there is a chance I got around a 70 in the morning.  Maybe.

My lunch break didn't quite go as planned...  The restaurant took the nicoise salad off of their menu (how dare they!!).  So I went with the next best option (mussels and fries - yum!) and tried not to let it shake me.  Yes, I have my rituals, but I wasn't going to let a change in menus shake me.

Luckily the afternoon session went much better.  I felt pretty confident about most of my answers and think I may have scored close to an 80.  So hopefully when they average the 2, I will pass.  I talked to others who took the exam and they agreed that the morning was brutal and the afternoon went better...  So now I just hope I did a little better than they did in the am.

I felt really good when I walked out of the test center.  Not as good as last year when I was completely confident I had passed - but I left knowing I had done my best and work as hard as I could have (my study hours came to the total of 368.5!!).

I got to my aunt & uncle's and was greeted with chips, salsa, guac, and wine!  When my parents and brother arrived, we had a champagne toast.  I definitely felt VERY loved!  Then it was off the the restaurant for some yummy mexican food!  I had such a fun night - I got to sit by my nephews, who provided endless entertainment.  I watched in wonder as my 4 year old nephew consumed about 3 times as many chips as I did and then proclaimed, "It's a good day for chips!"  Yes, Matthew, I think that is the case everyday.  ;)

Here are a couple of iPhone photos that I snapped!


Andrew and Matthew practicing their balancing skills with the place mats!

It was Andrew's birthday on Friday so he got to wear a sombrero and we sang to him!

All in all, it was a really fun night.  I laughed a lot, had a ton of fun, and barely thought about the CFA.

I had a pretty fitful night of sleep on Saturday night as I kept thinking about exam questions and how I answered them, but hopefully I can put the over-analysis behind me.  It does no good for me to think about it - what's done is done.  I can't go back and change anything so I just have to accept that it was enough.

Pass or fail - I am ready for a break!!  And I intend to FULLY enjoy my summer!  I've got so much to look forward to between weekends at the cabin, workouts with my run club, my sister Abby's visit home, and Amber's wedding in July!

How was your weekend?

26 comments:

Charis Faith said...

Now it's the waiting, and knowing all you can do is just let go and know you did the very best you could have possibly done.

Looks like such a fun birthday celebration!!! We had a birthday dinner for our Niece on Friday night and she wore the sombrero :)

So glad you have such wonderful things to look forward to!!!

Kelly (She Wears a Red Sox Cap) said...

I'm glad the afternoon went better than the morning, at least that ends things on a good note! :)

I had a good but busy weekend. I had a work party on Friday and then my cousins graduation on Saturday and some friends over on Sunday. In between that I managed to get a ton of work done because I'm in the final two week push right now!

abbi said...

You certainly deserve to enjoy your summer after all the hard work you put into the CFA. I would imagine walking out of there after being finished was a huge relief!

Gracie said...

Since everyone felt like the morning was hard, and your results are graded based on others', I think that's a good sign!
Feels great to be done I'm sure and now you have the whole summer open in front of you!

Melissa said...

YAY YOU'RE DONE!! I'm actually so happy for you, it feels like I'm done school all over again ha! Looks like you had a great night with family afterwards which always helps.

I always stress about how I did with exams, but you have quite some time to wait so try and just NOT think of it. At this point, it's out of your hands, so you might as well enjoy your time off! I seriously can't believe you put nearly 400 studying hours in. There is NO WAY you didn't pass.

Abby said...

Congratulations!! I am SO happy for you!! How dare they stop serving your Salad Nicoise?! (I know that feeling...I am extremely ritualistic when it comes to ordering at restaraunts)

However, I am sure the mussels and fries gave you the same brain power and luck for the exam!

I know you did well, but I don't envy you having to wait until July for your results. You are amazing!

That night with the family sounds like so much fun. So glad you have that! Times like that make me really wish I lived closer to home. I feel so out of the loop from everyone! I love Matthew's comment about the chips! Too cute!

missris said...

Yay you're done! You worked so hard and I think you should be really really proud of yourself!!

Marlys said...

It was great to celebrate with you and we could feel the tension relieved that the test was behind you! I with you didn't have to wait so long to get the results, but you will just have to concentrate on enjoying yourself now! I have strong vibes that you did pass! It was so much fun to celebrate your test completion & Andrew's 7th birthday and reconnect with my sister & husband and nephew again!

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

I was thinking of ya on Saturday and so glad to see you were able to unwind with loved ones after the exam. You deserve lots of chips, margaritas and your fill of anything else yummy, because you worked so hard to get to where you are!!!

Unknown said...

So proud of you for all of your hard work and dedication to a very high goal. It was so fun to celebrate with you that evening. It was so much fun visiting with Marlys and Paul!!!! And seeing Andrew in that sombrero, what a hoot!

Leigh said...

Congratulations on being all done your exam! Must feel so good. Your nephews are so cute. Haha, I love the balancing of the place mats on their head. Whatever it takes to keep them entertained right?!

Carolina John said...

Congratulations on finally getting through the big CFA day! xx

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

Wow - that is a lot of time spent studying!! I am sure it will all pay off :-) Congratulations to you!

Amber said...

So proud of you! I really think you did well. You worked so hard for this. But all you can do now is let it go and put it behind you, it's too late to change anything so no point in fretting for 2 months right? Right! :) I'm SO glad you had a great night on Saturday with your family and a relaxing day yesterday!

See you in 4.5 weeks!!!!!!!

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

yaaaaaaaaaaaaay it's done!!!!!!!!

Stephany said...

YAY! I'm just so happy that you're done. I know how stressful & exhausting studying was for you so you deserve a nice, long break! And you have SO MANY FUN THINGS coming up to get excited about (& help take your mind off thinking about the test!)

And your little celebration afterwards looked so fun! Your nephews are adorable. :)

Caroline said...

You're done!! That must feel amazing, I can only imagine.
Good luck with the work re-org this week and enjoy your free time!!

Nora said...

Love that you were able to celebrate with your family after the exam was over! Definitely well -deserved. Was thinking of you all day. xoxo!

J said...

I know you did great Lisa! Sounds a little tough but you handled it so well and I know you will pass! My weekend was quite busy - bday party and housewarming party plus tons of house work. Don't worry, my bathroom looks worse than yours and I am not studying for any important exams!

crystal said...

Congrats!!! How exciting, I can sense the relief even through blog type!! Enjoy the feeling of sweet relaxation :)

San said...

I am so, so happy for you that you're finally free to enjoy the summer! You've been such a hard worker and really deserve the time off (and with all the work you put in, you MUST pass... there is no way around it!).

I am glad your family was able to celebrate you and start off your free time right! :)

Amber @ A Little Pink in the Cornfields said...

I'm so proud of you! You are so dedicated and I just love that about you!

Raquelita said...

I'm so glad that you have the exam behind you and will be keeping my fingers crossed for you that you get good news of a pass soon! In the meantime, I hope you have been getting better nights of sleep and are starting to enjoy the summer!

Becky said...

It's a good day for chips - LOVE it! This goes without saying, but I'm so so SO proud of you!

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

I am so proud and glad and excited and thrilled and HAPPY for you that you are DONE! Hurray! The fact that you feel good about it is even better.

I love the place mats on heads photo! Kids are silly. We used to wear hoodies over our heads with the hood all scrunched in so only our noses showed. We thought it was the funniest thing ever.

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

Congrats!! Oh to be done. Enjoy some time off from thinking about that damn CFA. :)