Our Journey to Carson

It's Official...Mommy is a College Graduate!!

The papers and projects have all been handed in, the grades were received, but yesterday was the official end of my Bachelor's program...the day the degree was actually conferred. Yes, I had to wear a goofy hat (and those who know me KNOW I don't wear hats!), but walking across that stage and finally hearing my name (along with the "Magna Cum Laude" I had earned) was awesome and surreal.

Wait a second...I'm getting ahead of myself.

The graduation was at the main campus of the University (I had attended a satellite campus) and we had to travel over three hours to get there. An arrival time of 8:30 a.m. would have required us to leave by 5 a.m....and we were NOT interested in that! So, we decided to go up Friday evening and spend the night in a local hotel. My parents and my sister, Debbie, were so supportive of my education and insisted on going along. So, we made a weekend of it!

We met at Debbie's house on Friday afternoon and this is how we traveled to the hotel...
...in my parents' new RV! Meggie and Debbie had gone to my parents' house earlier in the day and decorated it for me with balloons and this sign:
Grandma (aka my Mom) was excited to see Baby Sophia...Sophia was a bit sleepy and underwhelmed.
Carson couldn't believe THIS was how we were going to get to the hotel. He immediately decided he was going to sleep on the loveseat...no way, Little Man, you're going to be in a seatbelt!
Meggie was so proud of herself that she and Debbie were able to surprise me with the decorations. She kept telling me the week before she had "something up her sleeve."
Isn't this a great pic of me and my parents?!
Carson finally got in his seatbelt in the booth...and was excited to get on the road!
Debbie, Sophia, and Brandon enjoying some snuggle time before Sophia had to get in her carseat.
The three hour drive actually took us about five-and-a-half hours in the RV...but it was fine! The point was to spend the weekend together, not to rush to the hotel. It was so fun riding in that huge thing...minus the unfortunate bout of car sickness that hit me pretty hard about halfway there, of course.

Daddy had a softball game Friday night (they made it to the finals!), so he drove out separately Saturday morning. He dropped me off at the University at 8:30 and then came back to get the kids. Meggie took this pic of me as we were heading out to the car. I like to call it "the last time my hair looked good on Saturday."
I was so shocked that I found them so quickly as we entered the auditorium. They were all yelling my name and Meggie got my picture...that's me waving in the middle of the picture.
The pictures Meggie took that zoomed up close were way too blurry and dark to be worth posting. This picture gives you an idea of the size of the graduating class. I was in the very last row on the left, third person from the outer aisle. (Actually, if you click on the picture to enlarge it, I'm the last person in the last row on the left...Meggie cut off the last two people.) Needless to say, this ceremony took a L-O-N-G time...
...thankfully, Carson fell asleep for most of it!
When Carson woke up, he was super grumpy!! Meggie looks a bit worried he'll act up, doesn't she?!
After the ceremony, we went outside for a few pictures. The weather was gorgeous and we found a shade tree that was a perfect photo spot.
I dragged my co-worker/friend/partner-in-crime, Gina, into this program with me...we just had to get pics together at the end!
The gold cord around my neck signified that I graduated with high honors (Magna Cum Laude). The purple and white cord we both are wearing signified our membership in Sigma Theta Tau, the International Honor Society of Nursing. Our instructors told us to purchase the Sigma Theta Tau cord and to wear it to graduation. We were the only two nursing graduates with that cord...and, boy, did we create a stir with it!! Crowds of nursing graduates would talk about it (we could see them mouthing the words "purple cord" to each other), then they would send a brave representative to ask us what it was for. Hysterical! We were asked about that cord every couple of minutes! We felt so special!!

The Wonder Twins...elated to finally be FINISHED!!!!
My proud husband, glad to finally have his wife back!
Enjoy having me back while you can, my dear...you just KNOW I'll be working on my Master's degree before too long...