My past few weeks have been filled with wonderful events that only now am I finally free to write about. Perhaps the first and most important is that Melody and I are engaged! It happened a few weeks ago at the New England Aquarium, one of the first places we visited as a couple. It came as a surprise to her when I popped the big question mainly because she didn’t think I had the time. In fact, I was surprised myself that I was able to put it all together amidst preparing my NYAS talk, writing for Kaplan, TA’ing pharmacology, working on manuscripts, and writing my thesis. I actually found the whole process of diamond shopping quite intriguing, though doing it in NYC meant that I had to sneak down to the city several times to have everything properly done. Fortunately for me, Melody said yes and all the preparation was certainly worthwhile. The second important event is the final completion of my PhD career. After working in near-isolation for several weeks writing my thesis and preparing the seminar, I successfully defended my PhD dissertation last Friday afternoon. It was an exciting weekend with friends and family visiting from out of town. Friday evening concluded with a big feast followed by pool at the old hangout. On Saturday, I celebrated my graduation with my lab over more delicious seafood, and with my parents over a fancy dinner. Finally, we departed Boston Sunday morning to drive down to North Carolina, where Melody will be spending some time working on a clinical research project. In the meantime, I’m just going to kick back at her one-bedroom apartment and enjoy life as a free man … that is, until I return to the wards in July.