Weekending: Commencement

This weekend was so much fun. It's always fun to be celebrated and honored, but the people in my life truly went above and beyond to make this weekend special for me. I don't think I really processed that it is an accomplishment to earn your Masters (or any degree) and every time someone said 'Congratulations' it caught me a little off guard because I just felt like I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. Either way, it was fun to be celebrated and I had a really awesome weekend. 

 The graduates had to get to the arena early to prepare for the ceremony so while I was bored I took some pictures of my regalia. Another tassel to add to my collection! 

At one point they told us to all take out our phones and take a graduation selfie. This was mine! :)  

I had a graduation party that night at my apartment and a bunch of my friends came over. One of the things I miss most about college is having a ton of people around all of the time, it was a fabulous night. 

On Sunday morning we had a graduation brunch at my mom's house. She made so much delicious food, had the cutest decorations, and we got to enjoy the beautiful weather on the deck. It was a perfect morning and continued celebration. My brother and his girlfriend came, plus my other brother was home from college with his girlfriend, so it was a full house. That rarely happens anymore so it was great to all be together. 

By the end of the weekend I had quite the collection of flowers. I may teach horticulture, but I'm not the best at keeping flowers alive. I spread them out around my apartment so here's to hoping they last at least a few days. 

I'm feeling recharged and ready for this week, let's hope it's another good one. I think there's only 6 weeks left of school...but who's counting. :P 

Linking up with Meghan! 

Weekending: 16 pages down!

I don't know about you guys but by friday afternoon I am so beat that I barely have the energy to do anything. Thankfully my fiance was on the same page this week so we had a good dinner at home and spent the evening on the couch. I was browsing wedding sites and he was looking at houses online, it was just the night I needed.

Saturday morning we got up and went to the gym. I wanted to go to ZUMBA and it was a blast. That's seriously my favorite workout, I wish I was able to go more often or that they offered it more nights a week.

I spent all day Saturday working on a literature review for my Masters. I got about 2/3 done which was awesome. My best friend came over and we did some bible study which was refreshing. I've been ready my bible daily but I don't always go as deep into it so she had some good questions that we worked through.

Saturday night we went out to dinner at a delicious restaurant and brewing company then went out with some of C's friends for one of their birthdays. It was me and 3 guys, which happens often with that groups, and I don't really mind. We were all close in college and they are both in our wedding. The boys drank and celebrated while I watched and laughed at how entertaining they were. Even though we didn't get home until almost 3am it was a lot of fun.

Sunday we went to church then did the normal Sunday things, cleaning, laundry, and grocery shopping. Sunday evening my community group from church went to a skating party/concert hosted by Brandon Heath. He was selling his new cd and also performed some songs. It was a lot of fun and a great night out with friends.

We have a short week this week and it's my birthday week! Yay! 

Linking up! 

Halfway there!

One of the things that I am most proud of this fall is how much work I have completed on my Masters degree.

I've always known that I would earn my masters, as a teacher it's practically a requirement. I looked into several online programs and chose Western Governors University because it made the most sense to me. I could work at my own pace, do as many classes as I wanted in a term, and it was a very reasonable price.

I started in July and I am already over 50% of the way towards my masters. I've decided to take December off to enjoy Christmas and all of the fun surrounding it but I'm so motivated to get right back on track in January.

My degree is in Curriculum and Instruction and it's totally opened my eyes about what I am doing in the classroom. I truly feel like I'm thinking more about what I'm doing and how it is impacting my students. I want to always be doing things that will help them to be their best so it's great to be working towards a degree that I can apple in my classroom every day.

My goal is to be finished before June 30th so that I don't have to do another term (and pay another term's tuition). It is a lofty goal and it will take me really focusing but I keep reminding myself that once I'm done, I'm done forever...and that is pretty awesome.

I keep telling myself it will be pretty crazy to have so much free time next year, what will I do after this summer when I don't have grad school or a wedding to plan? I guess I'll need a new hobby!

If anyone out there is looking for a Masters degree, or even an undergraduate degree, I can't recommend WGU enough.

*I'm not paid or given anything to write this, I just wanted to share my experience and how happy I am with my program 

what i'm hoping for in 2014.

As much as I feel like New Year's Resolutions are cliche, I still love the idea of making them every year and working hard to achieve them.

*Be intentional with my quiet time and journaling every day. I have read my Bible more this year than the other 23 years of my life combined and I love the changes that I see. My relationship with the Lord is growing every day and I want to stay on this track. There is so much to read and so much more to learn about Jesus and this year I want to continue that relationship with him and really dive into the bible.

*Make my health a priority. I have a gym membership, I need to use it. I know how to eat healthy, I need to actually eat that way. I have gone a couple months with eating lots of junk and not working out and now I need to get back in shape because I have a lot o big things coming up this year. I am a maid of honor in a wedding this summer and I want to be in perfect shape for that event. Not to mention the bachelorette party in Vegas for that wedding in April. If a weekend surrounded by 8 girls who are in perfect shape in shorts and bikini isn't motivation, I don't know what is.

*Further my education. Even though I just graduated with my Bachelor's last year, I am planning on starting my masters this year. Depending on my summer plans, I might start in June to get a few solid months complete before I get back to school. I know that it's going to be a lot of work but the feeling of accomplishment (and raise) makes it worth it. Plus, I would rather do it now before I have kids and other distractions.

*Go on a trip with my boyfriend. We have been together for over 4 years but since we were in college and then broke after college, we still haven't gone on a real vacation together. I think that is something we definitely need to accomplish this year.

That's what I will stick with for now. There are so many other, smaller, goals that I could add but then this list would go on forever.

Happy 2014!