Dear Future Self: WE did it!

Dear Future Self,

I want you to remember today. This moment. This last night. You have been working so hard to get this degree finished, and you are here. You have made it. You just have one presentation left, and you have your Master's degree...GO YOU!

Future Self, I want you to remember what this feels like. The excitement, the anticipation, the I-CAN'T-BELIEVE-I-MADE-IT feeling. It has been a hard couple years. There has been less sleep, more stress, lots of reading and writing, too much snacking (which in turn lead to gaining the grad school 15...yeah don't be fooled...it is not limited to college freshmen...UNFORTUNATELY!), and not enough exercising. But, it is worth it! You made it. You got through working full time, starting to date your now-husband, got married, had a mini-moon (our short honeymoon because of being in the middle of the semester), and many fun events having to be turned down because I had homework to do. No more turning down working out, or going out with friends, or watching a moving with the hubs. I get to be a normal adult! Well, let's be honest. Normal will never be a word that accurately describes me, but I can at least attempt to be normal:)

I can't believe I made it and I now need to do a round of thanks...picture it like at the grammy's or another award show, except I am sitting at home, in PJ's and the audience I currently have is my dog watching to see if I drop a morsel of a snack to him. But I really am grateful for all the support my friends and family have given me during this time. SO here it goes:

First.....KGK...well, you rock! You met me just a couple weeks before I started this graduate school journey and you have been with me through it all. You have only known me to be a grad student. I am excited to show you who I am without homework and other school stuff to do. I can't wait to have more time for us.  I am glad I can now pull my own weight when it comes to normal life stuff like cleaning and errands.  During this whole process, you would walk the dog, do errands or chores, or just sit there and tell me I could do it when I needed to hear it most. You are the most supportive person I have ever met, and I am so grateful for you. :)

And to my friends...thank you for not giving up on me with all my "I can't hang out" or cutting fun short because I had to do more homework. Thanks for still being my friend even though I was so busy and I didn't give you a lot of my time. Well now, I have more time! Let's celebrate! :) Beer? wings? let's make it happen.

And to my family, y'all have been awesome. Listening to my rants and raves, and ups and downs about my various classes, scheduling issues, and whatever else it was at the time. You listened. I talked. and talked. But you still listened. You had no idea what I was talking about, but you still listened. So thank you for that! :)

So future self, as life gets busy with other things, because we know it will, just remember this moment just before the finish. Remember how it feels to have 2+ years of late evenings, lots of papers and group projects, and all that hard work paying off. And remember that you didn't do it without the support of your family and friends. They made it happen as much as you did sitting doing those assignments....

So basically....

CONGRATS Y'ALL. We made it!

:)

I'm off to do my last presentation of grad school...here goes nothing EVERYTHING! :)

~AMK

Dear Future Self: Spring & New Beginnings

Dear Future Self,

This spring has been a crazy whirlwind for me. I am finishing up my last couple weeks of graduate school, working with a new system at work that is actually working quite well (woot woot!), a new little nephew on the way, and am loving having more free time now that the bulk of my capstone work is wrapping up. I haven't had free time like this in a while. It is NICE:)

A couple weekends ago, I helped host my SIL's baby shower. We made the felt letters, and they turned out so cute! (I will post a follow-up to that...it was quite a fun craft!)  It was great to see family and hang out with the mom-to-be!  Gotta love all those little baby clothes and gifts and showering the new little family with some much needed goodies.

In my last few weeks of school, I am really enjoying extra time spent with family and friends. I love having plans to do things on the weekends that do not involve getting up at 6am to do homework, but instead sleeping in a little, actually cleaning our home, and doing fun things with friends. I am very much treasuring this spring weather and time spent doing "fun" things.

Also, KGK went to a baseball game recently and thoroughly enjoyed soaking up the warmer temps while enjoying a hot dog, people watching (at least that's one of my favorite parts of going to the games!), an ice cold beer, and not having to wear a bunch of layers to tolerate being outside. I am loving spring!

Happy Spring!

~AMK