Goin' to Chi - ca - go!

That was the subject from the email my mom sent me last night with my flight itinerary!

My older brother, Ben, is a PA for the Navy and got stationed in Chicago last August. He lives a little north of the city with his fiancé.  Kiefer got to visit Ben over Christmas but I couldn't make it because of work. Ben wasn't able to come to our graduation last weekend so as part of our graduation present, my mom is sending us to go see him for a few days!! I haven't seen him since last May when he graduated PA school.

We will be there next weekend and will be spending four days with him. So far, our only plan is to go the DC United vs. Chicago Fire soccer game. I'm a big soccer fan and as soon as Ben knew we were coming, he booked the tickets! 

So, anyone have any recommendations for things I must see or restaurants I must go to?!! 

Obviously, I'm super pumped to see Ben and get to hang out with him and his fiancé  I've only met her a few times since Ben was in school and we were in school too! I also have the next few weeks off before I start my real world job and didn't have any fun trips planned during this time. Now I do!!!

One last note of exciting news, today is Peter's sister and her husband's 3rd wedding anniversary!!! They are an awesome couple and I was so glad to be a part of their day 3 years ago. Now I'm living with them for the summer because they are the sweetest and are helping me get on my feet post-graduation! 

Peter, his sister and I!

This year they get to celebrate with their adorable puppy Zoey. I've already taken a million pictures of her so expect more to show up on this blog :)

Zoey showing off her Virginia Tech I got her :)

"What makes you happy is seeing someone smile because you put it there"

Have you heard of Soulpancake? The channel on Youtube that has created some pretty amazing videos - Kid President, for example. Well I saw this new video going around Facebook and finally watched it.

Bring your tissues. And listen carefully. Zach has an amazing message!!

In 2 weeks Kiefer and I are hoping to go to Chicago to see our older brother, Ben. I'm going to make sure to give him an extra tight hug!!!

I am a College Graduate!!!!

Just as quickly as it came, it went! Graduation weekend was filled with family, friends, good food, nervousness, excitement and lots of pictures! 

Friday
As I was getting ready Friday morning, I had butterflies in my stomach! I'm not sure why I was nervous but I guess it was finally feeling real. Our commencement ceremony started at noon but Julie, Kelly, Peter and I got on campus around 10:30. We were all participating in the "Honor's March" which just meant we all had a GPA of 3.4 and above and got to wear a white sash. I think there was about 300 of us and we walked together to the stadium behind bag pipe players! Our ceremony was held in our football stadium because we had a lot of graduates and it was the only place we'd all fit. It was really cool to be on the field!

Seats waiting to be filled...

Just 5,000 graduates!

Our commencement speaker was our university president because he is retiring. His speech started off with a joke but then he went on about the goals he had and how he accomplished them. It was in the high 70s and sunny during the ceremony so we all got hot pretty quickly - some people were running to the sidelines to get water.

on the field!

After it was over, Peter, Jack and I met up with our families in front of our old freshmen dorm to take some pictures! My dad came into town on Thursday but my mom was coming down Friday night. Peter's sisters and parents were there too - his older sister went to Tech too and I was actually wearing her graduation gown!

Peter and I!

Peter's and his sisters!

Peter's sister Sarah - I'm wearing her gown!

Us with Peter's mom!

Friday night, Julie's parents hosted a dessert party for us graduates! Julie's boyfriend, Joe, his mom made a pinata cake for the occasion! She blog overs at Deb Runs so if you'd like to know how she did it, you can read about it here!! It was a very tasty and moist! She also hide Julie's graduation gift, a Loft gift card, in it :) 

Source 

Saturday
My Business ceremony wasn't until 2pm so first I helped Peter finish decorating his cap! He double majored in International Studies and German!

Then my mom and I went out to lunch and it was nice to spend time with her since she couldn't be there on Friday! Remember how I said that Kiefer's graduation started 30 minutes after mine? Well he decided that he didn't mind not walking at his, picked up his diploma early and everyone just came to mine. Sweetest brother ever. 

My ceremony went well. We had about 500 graduates I think but it went by pretty quickly. When I walked across the stage, all I heard was Kiefer yelling "THAT'S MY TWIN SISTER!" Seriously, sweetest brother ever!!!

After the ceremony, we took some more pictures. The weather was a little rainy and we were able to get some in before it poured.

I think my mom was really proud of her twins! :P

My mom had to leave shortly after the ceremony so for dinner, Kiefer, my dad, Peter and I went to a local greek restaurant. It was really nice to spend time with all of them! Since my dad lives in Georgia, it's always good to see him when we can!

Sunday
My dad flew out that afternoon and I spent the rest of the day packing up my room. I'm leaving the big things in my apartment since I have it until July and no where to really put them. It was really sad packing things up because I felt like everything had a memory!
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I feel like it still hasn't fully hit me that I don't have any homework or studying to do. That I'll be working every day of the year except for holidays from now on. That I'll have to start paying back student loans. But I am very proud of my accomplishment and that I can successfully move on from this chapter of my life. I really couldn't have done it without my family, Julie, Kelly, Peter and my other friends!

I hope you all had a great weekend and have a happy Monday! Thanks for reading if you made it this far :)

It's Here...

Graduation weekend is here! In a few short hours, I will be sitting with 5000 other students celebrating our successes over the last four years! I'm already feeling very emotional haha so I'm just going to keep this post short and sweet because I don't really know how to put these last four years into words. 

I'm excited to celebrate this chapter of my life and start on the next one! Most importantly, with my family and friends by my side :)

Have a great weekend! I'll be back on Monday with a full recap and too many pictures :)

Graduation Related Updates

Since I am still not doing anything uber fabulous, I thought I would talk about some of graduation stuff because it's the only major thing I've got going on at the moment! Not that I am complaining, after this semester, a week off to do nothing was welcomed with opened arms. It just doesn't leave a lot of good blogging material :P

Remember how I have a twin here? Well of course our individual graduations ended up being a half hour apart. My Business ceremony is at 2pm and his History ceremony is at 2:30pm. I'm pretty bummed because I wanted to see him graduate - we came here together and I'm proud we both made it out!

Our "unofficial" graduation picture :P

Luckily I got some good news yesterday! I got an email saying that they will be streaming my graduation live!!!! So my mom's plan is to start at my graduation, then go to Kiefer's but have her laptop with her so she can watch both of ours! This also means that my older brother Ben, who isn't able to make it from Chicago, can watch it too!! I am really sad he can't come because I haven't seen him in a really long time and he's pretty much the best big brother in the universe. Look at this facebook status he made yesterday:

At his PA School graduation last May!

Also Peter's graduation is at 1:30pm so I'm sad I will have to miss that too! I really wish Tech had asked for my opinion when they decided on graduation times....

Lastly, I finished my cap!! I was trying to think of something creative and it finally came to me Monday night. I just used some construction paper and hot glued it down. Like I said, Tech is a big football school and I looove witty corny jokes :)

Happy Wednesday! I know I will have plenty of blogging material after this weekend!

Lazy Weekend But Exciting News!

This weekend consisted of a lot of time with my couch. As I mentioned, I am now done with school and just waiting on graduation. My roommates however have final tests so that significantly limits my adventures. 

A few things that happened that didn't involve me watching TV or reading...

Friday...Peter and I went on campus for dinner. I still had $20 left on my meal plan so I decided to be a nice girlfriend and treat Peter! We got London Broil, green beans and mash potatoes. Have I mentioned that my school has the 2nd best campus food nationwide? We went and ate by one of our favorite buildings until it started raining. Peter was a gentleman and ran to get the car for me so I wouldn't get soaked! It seems like there has been more May showers than April showers this year!

Saturday...Kelly and I woke up and went straight to Carol Lee Donuts to get breakfast. They have the best donuts in town! I got a chocolate iced, blueberry, and raspberry filled donuts - they were too delicious and I ate them all that day! For dinner, we went downtown to eat with our friend Suzanne! It had been a little while since we had seen her and it was great to catch up!

Sunday...I made progress on my cap! I haven't glued anything down yet and I may go to Michael's again today just to see if I can find anything else for it. But when I have it finished, I will be sure to post a picture. Just to give you a hint...Tech is a big football school and I really enjoy witty jokes! :) Also, since I am at school I didn't get to hang out with my mom on Mother's Day but she will be here on Saturday for graduation! 

Now I have saved the best news for last!! I will be staying with Peter's sister and her husband this summer and on Saturday they become dog parents!!!!! They have been married for 3 years and just moved into a big townhouse with a backyard so they were ready for a dog! They had been looking for the past few months and ended up getting a 10 month, shepherd mix named Zoey from Petsmart's Lost Dog and Cat foundation!! 

I can't wait to meet her, run with her and play with her. I was so excited for them that I went out and bought her a Virginia Tech collar! {Peter's sister went here and Ryan came down to visit his friends every weekend so he pretty much went here too!} I had them sending me pictures of her all day. I am a firm believer that a house is just better with a pet!! :)

I hope everyone had a great weekend and happy Monday!

My Mom is Crazy...

...crazy supportive!
She is my number one cheerleader and I am blessed to have that unwavering support! She came to all my soccer games, track meets, cross country races, half marathons, 5Ks that she could! {With all that running around she probably did as much as me!} She was only ever a phone call away while I was here at school and gave me many virtual hugs!

First Half Marathon!

Second Half Marathon!

...crazy dependable!
As a single mom, she couldn't always be there for every little thing going on in my brothers and I's lives, but when she said she was gunna be there, she was there!

...crazy funny!
She always has me laughing with the stories she tells me. Whether it's a blonde moment she had that day or the crazy thing the dogs did that day!

Forcing me to take a picture at 7am!

...crazy beautiful!
I think she looks 20 years younger! She's only 5'1 and weighs less than I do!

I think that was taken 20 years ago? She clearly doesn't age! :)

...crazy awesome!
She has helped shaped me into who I am today, been a role model for me, and makes me proud to be her daughter!

I wish I could spend today with her but I will see her on Saturday for graduation! 

Happy Mother's Day to everyone's moms! :)

Ending on a High Note!

As of Wednesday afternoon, I finished my business degree here at Tech. All that is left is getting my diploma next Saturday!

Obviously I am incredibly sad to leave this place, but I am very thankful that is so hard to say goodbye. I'm glad I'm not ready to bounce out of here like I was during my high school graduation. I am also thankful that when I come back to visit, I will be reminded of positive/awesome/funny memories pretty much at every corner. That fence chain outside of the library...that was where Peter's friend came running of out the library, tripped right over it and made the funniest "ahhhhh" scream!

Here are some things that I have been up to lately that have me ending on a high note...

- Last Friday, Kelly, Julie and I decided to take some graduation pictures. There are so many beautiful places on campus and with 5,000 students graduating, you can imagine how busy they get on the day of graduation. I have seen people taking graduation pictures since the beginning on April. We decided to take some at the Hahn Gardens, the pretty gardens we have on campus, and then one by our football stadium! 

Bowing to the greatest stadium :P

- I think I've mentioned before that I have had the same job all four years here at school. I worked in the Communication Dept. as an office assistant. The lady's office that I worked in, Wendy, became like a second mom to me throughout the years and the other faculty were all super awesome. Yesterday, they took me out to a goodbye lunch. But before that, the dean of the Dept. gave me an award! It is called the Edwin J. Ewing Service Award and I am only the second person to receive it outside of the Communication Dept! I was very surprised and really honored. Lunch was full of laughter and it was really nice to be leaving there with a big smile on my face. I'm going to miss working for them so much but they will be one of the places I visit when I come back!

Now that I am done, I've just been hanging out, reading, enjoying the sunshine when it's here. Peter and I want to go hiking this weekend if it doesn't rain! I've got a little cold right now but I'm hoping it is just allergies and will go away soon! I'm also going to try and decorate my cap sometime soon so here's hoping something some creativity strikes me! Any ideas on what's the method for decoration??

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!! :)

In the home stretch..

Sorry for the little blogging break I took! I have been in the home stretch of my undergraduate career this past week and with three group projects and presentations, I was feeling a little swamped. 

I have one last presentation tomorrow at 9am and then I. am. done. Like you can probably guess by now, I have to hold back the tears every day. Who decided four years was enough for college?!

I promise I will a full recap of the fun things I have been up to - when I wasn't hating group projects and meeting an hour before class to practice our presentation for the first time. 

Source

If you follow me on Instagram {you don't? find me here!} then you already know what I did last Friday!

Finally, to help brighten up your Tuesday, here are some pictures of kittens that were living in front of Peter's apartment last week. Cutest. kittens. ever!!! Within the first half hour of discovering them, I took 150 pictures. Normal right?!

I Can't Believe...

I can't believe...it is May 1st. This year just keeps flying by!

I can't believe...I will be putting on my cap and gown in 17 days, walk across a stage, accept my diploma and officially be a Tech alumni. Here's hoping I figure out a way to not cry the entire time, might not make for the best pictures.

I can't believe...our commencement speaker this year is...our president. It's not that I don't like him but last year we had Michelle Obama..If I had it my way, Ellen Degeneres would be up there making us laugh and getting us inspired for the next chapter of our lives. Have you ever seen her speech at Tulane?!

I can't believe...I only have 2 days of work left at my school job. My boss is like a second mom to me. On Monday when I left and we realized there was only a few days left she pulled me into a big hug! I wish I could bring her to my post graduation job!!

I can't believe...how true this quote is. Peter and I are trying to fit in all the things we love to do at Tech in these next few weeks and it just reminds how great it has been being here with him. I have countless special memories with him around each corner of the campus and I am so thankful for that.

Last but not least, I can't believe...my friend Kayla is getting married in 24 days!!! I have enjoyed talking about the details of her wedding with her and I know she is going to have the most special day because her and her guy couldn't be more perfect for each other! Congrats Kayla!!

Happy Wednesday!!