Graduweekend

About two weeks ago, my dad pointed out to me that my highest degree was a high school diploma. Cool, thanks, Dad. Yet despite my five years at UVA, doing a combined Bachelors/Masters Education program, was unfortunately true at that point. But no more. Because last week, I finally graduated for real, with  with a Masters of Teaching and Bachelors of English. (I was double-fisting diplomas, y'all.) Yay!

It was a crazy weekend, with family fresh from Kenya, hearing Stephen Colbert speak at Valediction, a party the night before with a whole lot of family and friends who came from out of town, chocolate chip pancakes and mimosas in the morning, trying to figure out how to attach that doggone hood (and a lot of safety pins), a diploma ceremony in the basketball arena where I got to walk across a stage and try and figure out how to pick up two diplomas while shaking two people's hands, and it was all overshadowed by the impeding threat of thunderstorms. (I was prepared to walk down the Lawn in the rain...and then walk right off. Because, let's be real, Starbucks would have seriously trumped sitting in the rain listening to speeches by people I don't even know. And I'd done that part already.) There was even a picnic at a vineyard despite the dreariness, and I only got separated/lost from people I knew once. 

And with that, I am officially a University of Virginia alumna.

Oh Hey There

Quote Love: "How idle it is to call certain things God-sends! As if there was anything else in the world." -Augustus William

I know. I know. 
It's been months and months, really a whole semester, since we last hung out together here. I am so sorry.

But now the semester is over, and, actually, grad school is over too and I'm graduating (for real this time) in a week and a half and then starting out on a whole new phase of life and all that kind of crazy stuff, and I will be back here on the blog for all of that! 

More details to come on all of that, of course, but for now, it's just good to be back. I've missed y'all.

P.S. I was debating whether or not to say something like "If you've missed me these past many many months, show me some love in the comments!"...but I didn't know if that'd be tacky. So, how 'bout you just do you.

[Pics from my Instagram feed. And one from Abby's Instagram feed. Because I visited her in Texas, and it was awesome.]