Congratulations Kara! I agree whole heartedly with your LL. This exam makes you think at the application level, but good study and testing habits get you there and pay off.
I just passed my exam. I think a combination of the podcast, taking all the quizzes/practice exams, and reading the suggested additional reading material really helped. One word of advice, read the questions very carefully and actually think about what they are asking, don't assume you know what's being asked because you'll miss vital clues.
Training for Project Management Professional (PMP)®, PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)®, and Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®