GRADUATION!

It happened! It's over and it was just as wonderful as I could have imagined.... although I was exhausted when it was over. On Thursday before graduation Bryce took me to Flemming's. We had the best steak ever, the restaurant gave me chocolate covered strawberries as a gift, and to top it off we sat right next to Yao Ming, Dikembe Mutombo, and Carl Landry from the Houston Rockets. They are so tall! Yao couldn't even fit his legs under the table. Anyway, I tried to get a picture but it didn't turn out. Bummer!

The day of graduation, the commencement was at 9 and the college ceremonies were almost immediately afterward at 11:15. There were over 7,000 graduates from the U this year, but probably only about 2 or 3,000 at the commencement exercises. We had to walk down the tunnel and out into the stadium. Below is a picture of us walking down the tunnel. Look at all the graduates!

Mario R. Capecchi, 2007 Nobel Laureate in physiology, spole at the commencement. He is very smart and had some nice things to say. He said one thing that I just had to write down. He said, "After you have worked hard, you can always work harder." I liked that statement and completely agree.

After the commencement I met up with some friends before we went to our college ceremony. Man! I will miss these guys everyday, and wish them all the luck in the world!

We had a nice ceremony, a little long and a tad boring... so I truly do appreciate all those who came! The best part of the ceremony was when I walked onto the floor and they handed me the fake diploma! YAY, what an amazing feeling! Afterward, I was able to see everyone who came to see me. Thank you, thank you to my parents, grandparents, sister Bobbi, Uncle Jerry, Bryce, Ashley, and Ryan for taking the time to come and support me. You rock! When the day was over and we got food in our starving stomachs and I took a long nap, I was exhausted! But the festivities didn't end there... Thanks to my fam, Erica, Ryan, Britt, Jessica, Bryce, Chris, Sus, Greg, Ashley, Ashley, Ashley (yes, there are 3) for helping me celebrate the big day! I am so lucky to have such amazing friends. Here are some pictures from the rest of the day. Including of course, the dress! I am so glad this day has come and gone, thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way.

And the winner is...

I found it! I found the dress for graduation... It took a little longer than expected, too close for comfort actually. I bought a few dresses that didn't work and they will be returned shortly, but 3 days shy of graduation I have made a decision. And of course, it's polka dots! I have to tell you, it was hard to make a decision. I mean, I will be looking at this dress in pictures for the rest of my life! So without further ado... the winner is...

Let me tell you the reasons why this dress is perfect -
a) It's cap sleeved so I don't have to feel weird about wearing spaghetti straps nor do I have to search for the perfect sweater to go over.
b) It's a wrap with a great tie - as Stacy and Clinton say, it's best to accentuate the smallest part of your body, which on most of us is our waist.
c) I love polka dots.
d) It was on sale!
e) It comes with a slip that is not attached, therefore I can use it for other things in which I may need a slip.

Next, I needed shoes for the ensemble. The dress is Navy (although it may look black in the photo), and the graduation gown is black - therefore I could not wear blue shoes. So I decided my options were red or green.

While searching for shoes Ashley (Pike) said to me, "Amber on Friday you will be walking into a new chapter of your life!" To which I said, "And I want to walk into that chapter in the perfect shoes!" We laughed, but I was serious so here are the shoes I will be wearing...

So I am thinking red accessories and the outfit is complete. Man! If I knew I would be able to do this much shopping just looking for a graduation dress, I would graduate everyday!

Reflection...

It's the last few weeks of the last semester of my college career (as long as I don't decide to go to graduate school, for now we'll just say last). This semester has been, by far, the most time consuming to the point where a lot of other things were pushed out of my life... like shopping! As I finish my final everything I can't help but think back on all the time that I have spent as a student. I started my education at SUU where I finished my first 2 years as a biology student. When I made the choice to move to Salt Lake it wasn't long until I was offered a great job that in tandem slowed down my education. I have always been grateful for my job and the opportunities that it has given me. They have paid for my education, offered me travel opportunities, taught me professional etiquette, opened up worlds of experience and expertise. Oftentimes I found myself working 50 - 60 hours a week and since I began it seemed that I allowed my job to come before school and although I never stopped going to school I took classes at night or during a lunch hour when it would fit in my schedule. This last semester I couldn't take my classes at night, as they weren't offered, and I had to do a morning internship. After some pursuasion I was allowed to work part time (30 hours a week) so I could take classes during the day and do an internship in the morning. For the first couple months of the semester I was still working 40+ hours a week as people settled into the new schedule. However, as things started falling into their places, school for the first time became my first priority. That was very exciting! Now, that I look back, I loved every second of it. Even the moments when I wanted to pull my hair out cause I didn't have enough time to finish something or when I wanted to cry when my hard drive crashed. I have learned from so many people and have loved them for taking time to teach me. Now it is time to take in the goodness and sit back and relax. At least for a weekend!

Yay for graduation! Yay for taking time to relax and reflect! And a special YAYAYAYAY for the search for the PERFECT graduation dress!