Where to now?

On Sunday (also Mother's Day), I graduated with my M.Ed. in Community Counseling from The College of William and Mary's School of Education. When I look back on the past two years of my life in this program and how much we went through as a cohort, I am so grateful for all of the friends and family who supported me and were rooting for me, even sometimes without me knowing.

The weekend was a crazy one.

Friday night, Kim and I went to see the band Horse Feathers in concert in D.C. and they were amazing. (We also got Chipotle with Mike beforehand. I'm going to say I'm a huge fan of the brown rice.) That same night, we drove back to Fredericksburg because Kim had to graduate at 9am in the morning! 

Saturday, I would not wake up a second earlier than I had to, even for mimosas Kim was having. So, yeah, super tired. One cappuccino and a trek to campus later, I was Kim's official photographer during her graduation ceremony. After an hour of ceremony and 2 hours of reading EVERY name of EVERY graduate, and after running into plenty of people from Rapp, Kim and I met up with the rest of our present family (mom, stepdad, grandma) for lunch. I then drove back to Williamsburg to meet up with Mike and Kelly who were down for WM's graduation. Alex, Kylie, and Cohen also made a surprise visit and we feasted on cupcakes and champagne.

Sunday! Graduation Day! Breakfast at Aromas (same place Kel and I ate the morning of our undergraduate graduation) was quiche and fruit that I ate in like .5 seconds because I was late for the walk across campus. Please, breakfast is the most important meal of the day and everyone knows the walk doesn't actually begin until like 15 min. after line-up.

Mike & I after he and Kelly and Alex found me on the walk across campus.

After waiting like half an hour in the same place in Crim Dell back-up (everyone pauses to take picture on the Crim dell and we were going to be late), we made an executive decision as a group to be rebels and bypass the Crim Dell. Best decision ever: because we actually made it in time for the big ceremony! Even with Gates and Lehrer speaking, I still think Taylor Reveley stole the show. He always does. After the small ceremony in the School of Education courtyard, I finally received my diploma, and got to see friends and family. After an amazing lunch/dinner with my mom and Kim and saying goodbye to everyone, I couldn't believe the day was over.

I came home to this present from Wulia in the mail which made me feel incredibly grateful to have such wonderful friends who cheer me on in whatever I'm doing.

Now it's been a day and a half since graduation and the panic of "Where to now?" is starting to set in. Well I really want a job. And I really want this job not to be in Williamsburg. It would be extra cool if this job was in the Washington DC Metro area. Because I'm such a pro at the metro system now, it'd be a shame to waste that skill. I'll keep you posted on the details of my upcoming life changes. Until then....