I found out today that I passed the state EMT test. We took the test last week, but I didn't mention it here because I was afraid I'd jinx myself, especially after being all, "Paula and I are so awesome and totally the smartest ones in class." But turns out? We are awesome. And official EMTs!

Since January, I've spent every Tuesday and Thursday evening in class. Tonight will be the first evening without it, and I kinda miss it already. Is that lame? But at least I'll have time now for other stuff. I haven't read any books since class started. Except my EMT textbook, which I read cover to cover. All 952 pages. Even the sidebars. Because I am a nerd. And because our instructor challenged us to read it all. And so not only was I going to read it all, but I was going to be the FIRST person to read it all. Because I get great satisfaction from beating people in completely meaningless competitions that they don't even know they're in.

Last evening Rob and I were catching up on the Grey's Anatomy episodes we've missed, and we were watching the one where the dude got attacked by a bear. He steps out of the car clutching his abdomen, and as Cristina is helping him get to the gurney, he moves his hands and his intestines spill out. And I leaned over to Rob and said, "An evisceration. I know how to care for that." Which, I gotta admit, it feels pretty damn cool to be able to say.

I'm finally getting around to posting photos of our kitchen renovation. Not the photos you most want to see, I'm sure, but we haven't even begun to go through photos from our trip yet. Soon, I promise.

The kitchen project was really more of a refresh than a full renovation. Our goal was to improve the look of the room with minimal effort - specifically, without replacing the cabinets or countertop. This is not because we particularly like them, but because we didn't want to put that much money or effort into this project. We love this house, but it's not where we're going to live forever and we're not convinced dumping tons of money into it would be a worthwhile investment.

This project should have been done long ago (do you see that wallpaper?!), but I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. I really wanted white cabinets, but we didn't want to replace the cabinets and I was unsure how painting white over dark wood would turn out. It was William's herpes-free kitchen that finally inspired me and convinced me that painting cabinets could be done well. I emailed him for help, and he walked me through how he and Lauren had done everything. Thank you, William! You are totally my Bob Vila.

Before

After

Once I had decided on the white cabinets, we chose a wall color that would work okay with the counters, which are flecked with various shades of green. The "after" photo above is most true to the wall color - the one below makes it look a little more kelly green than it actually is.

Rob helped me iron the walls and install the knobs and pulls, but pretty much everything else I did by myself during my week of spring break. All that's left is to replace the floor and we're totally hiring someone to do that.

(I'm sure you'll all notice that Bridget is on the counter in two of the photos. Further proof that I'm a pathetic pushover parent. I'd also like to point out the Yoshi calendar on the side of our fridge. Best calendar EVER.)

Before

After