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