We Graduate!

Besides enjoying the sun, the month of June was also about Commencement ceremonies in this house.  Russell and I both finished requirements for our bachelor's degrees in March and we both got to "walk" in June.

Russell graduated from the University of Phoenix on June 4th with a BS in Business Administration.

There were a TON of graduates, but the UoP officiators really knew what they were doing (although they started like 40 min late).  They were very efficient and very fast and the whole ceremony only lasted about 2 hours once it started even though there were over 1,000 graduates.  Russell's parents and I were in attendance.

I graduated (with honors! - just like to throw that in to bug Russell) from California State University, San Bernardino on June 19th with a BA in Human Development

There were less graduates, but it was soooo long because the University president, Dr. Karnig likes to talk to each of the graduates for a second as he shakes their hand.  Here he is shaking my hand and he asked me what I was going to do with a degree in Human Development.  I told him that for now I would be at home taking care of 3 little ones and he said, very sincerely, "Well, that is a great thing to be able to do."  President Karnig used to be at all the volleyball games and he even had the volleyball team to his house once for a dinner.  Such a great man and I was happy he was the one to shake my hand.

It was also really great to be in the beautiful arena where I spent some of the best days of my life playing volleyball.  I love that place and as I sat and listened to speeches I got to look around at all the volleyball banners for conference and regional championships that I was a part of earning and just reflect on memories and think about what a  great college experience I was able to have.

My parents, Russell, and my brother Steven were all in attendance at my ceremony.

 Thanks to our families for supporting us and thanks to our kids for putting up with Dad's busy nights doing homework on the computer and Mom's dropping them off with babysitters multiple times each week from November to March.  Thanks to our families for helping watch the kids while I finished school this Winter (especially Jessica and Mitch!)  We couldn't have done it without help and we are so excited to be finished!