Busy. Busy. Busy.

I have been so busy living my life that I haven’t had time to write about it on here! It has been a complete whirlwind for the last 2 weeks and I think that I finally have time to catch my breath!!

First off was a quick trip away with just my hubby and I to Laughlin, Nevada. It was the first time that I had ever been there and my husband hadn’t been there for almost 15 years, so neither of us were really sure what to expect. It definitely was NO Vegas…but there was some gambling & drinking, so we had a great time. AND it was really, really relaxing. Which was something that we both desperately needed. It was nice to get away by ourselves for a couple of days….just to enjoy each other, take our time doing things and feel no rushing or responsibilities for a couple of days. (And we walked away with all of our money, not losing one dollar to the casinos! Score!!)

The day that we got back from Laughlin, we had 3 hours to pick up our dog from the boarders, go grocery shopping, do laundry & get our house ready for house guests! A college friend of ours from up in Washington State came down with her family to go to her grandparent’s 60th anniversary party. Since we hadn’t seen each other in almost 3 years it was so nice to get to spend some time with each other…and the trip was made even better because our kiddos really got along and had fun with each other! (We even managed to squeeze in a fun four-generation family photo shoot with her family, her parents, aunts & uncles and grandparents! I LOVE being able to capture special moments like that!)

Finally…the trip that we had been planning for a couple of months came. The big trip to Disneyland! We had just 5 days between our house guests leaving and us leaving to go on our trip. So needless to say, I have been...

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!

I DID IT!

So...I finally graduated! My hubby, Caleb and I drove up to Flagstaff on Friday to stay the night before my graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 8th. On the way up we had a couple of incidents of a little boy with carsickness. 'Cause as Chris and I like to joke about...it's not a Schell trip away from home without something going wrong. And this time it just smelled wrong. (And just so you know...it still does, even after airing the car out for the past few days and washing everything in sight!) The trip definitely had it's ups (graduation) and downs (vomiting and crying) but all in all it was a good trip and we definitely have some memories!

So here is our first stop just outside of Camp Verde:

Yep...that's hubby cleaning up our first vomiting experience of the day!

But he still had a smile on his face!

We then stopped just outside of Flagstaff and had to do a little cleanup again. Let's just say that the next time that Caleb tells us that his tummy hurts...you better bet that we will be listening and believe him!!!

On Saturday was the actual graduation ceremony, but first Caleb needed to see the old train on display in downtown and he and I had daddy take our photo together.

Next was graduation...here are a few shots taken after it! I am so glad that my two favorite men could be there to celebrate with me!


I am so glad to finally be done, but most of all I am thankful for all my friends and family that supported me in going back and finishing! Thank you!

College Graduate - FINALLY!!!

Tonight is my final class before I graduate from Northern Arizona University on Saturday. I am so excited and I really need the break that not going to school will give me...

My college story...

Off and on, since I graduated from high school back in 1996, I have been going to college. First I went to a local community college back in Vancouver, WA right after high school. My parents had just divorced before I graduated and I couldn’t afford to go away to college like all of my friends did. So, I stayed home and went to the local college. I went straight through for 2 years and got my associates degree. But something happened along the way...I began dating my husband. We had went to the same high school, but he was waayyy cooler and a year older than me so we had never talked in school. Then we started working in the same grocery store and had a couple of classes together and we just clicked.

After graduating with my associates, I went to Washington State University with my hubby (he was my boyfriend at that time). We moved in together and well, life took over. We were married in 2000 and I slowly transitioned from part-time to full-time at my job, while tranisitioning from full-time student to part-time. We bought a house and eventually college just slowly became an afterthought. Life got in the way. We had bills to pay and college just didn’t seem to matter anymore. So what did I do? Well, I did the stupid thing...I dropped out of college with just 24 credits left to complete. 24 credits...that’s just 8 classes.

Flash forward to 2008...I now have a 1 year old son, I work full-time, my husband works full-time and I realize that I really want to go back and finish my college career. I REALLY, REALLY want to finish what I started. I love learning and looking back, I can’t believe that I ever quit. So, I talk to an advisor at a local college (Northern Arizona University) and I started back in the fall of 2008. It was hard...very hard. There are some days that I don’t even know how I was able to find the hours in the day to make it all work. Many of my credits didn’t transfer from Washington to Arizona, so I needed more than the 24 credits that I had left when I dropped out.

Over the last two years I have taken at least 9 credits each semester, even the summer semesters, but I DID IT! I am now even graduating with a 4.0 and I am so proud of myself. It has been a long road, but worth each and every weekend and late night spent doing homework and every missed night from home. I will have a diploma that no one can take away from me...something that proves that hard work does pay off. It is also a way that I can show others that they can do it too...it takes sacrifices, but those sacrifices are just temporary. They are just short term and the payoff is so huge. If you are on the fence, just go for it! I guarantee you it’s worth it!

TGIF

I am so glad that it is Friday...this has been a heck of a long week! The first 3 days were spent in Las Vegas celebrating my 10th anniversary with some friends. Let’s just say that this trip was one for the record books! Then back to work I went trying to catch up because I managed to miss some of my busiest days of the entire month...it will probably take me a couple of weeks to catch up on missing just 3 days! I also missed the first day of my last class before graduating from college. Probably not the best way to start class, but for the record I thought that we had a break between classes...that’s what I get for assuming anything!!!

Speaking of school, some AWESOME news came in the mail yesterday...I received a notice from NAU that I would be graduating with honors in May. That’s right kids...I will be graduating with the top of my class with Summa Cum Laude next to my name! What a great feeling that is. These last two years have been hard on me and my family with many late nights of homework, nights in class away from my family, but this makes it all worth it! I have worked so hard for this and have wanted that diploma since I first started college back in 1996, it’s hard to believe that the day is now so very close!

So onto the weekend! Where would I like to be this weekend? In a perfect world I would spend the weekend here, cuddled underneath the covers hiding from everything:

But in my world the reality of the weekend will be spent at soccer, a play with my husband, grocery shopping, doing laundry and working on homework. But, I love my crazy hectic life and wouldn't give it up for anything. Happy Friday!!