-- The End of an Era --

Well, it was a total of 22 years coming, if you include kindergarten (1 yr), grade school (12 yrs), undergrad (4 yrs), Masters (2 yrs), but my three years of PhD training finished off with my convocation last week.

To be honest, when all my family said that they were making the trip to share my graduation day with me I kind of didn't understand what all the hype was about.  Sure it is an achievement and its been something I've been working toward, but in my view, I just wasn't prepared to have all eyes on me.  Especially considering the awesome attire that I got to wear... a red and green gown with a big floppy black hat... yeah, awesome :s   

But in the end, the graduation day was perfect.



My grandparents came...

 My sister and aunt came,





My parents and parents-in-law came and we all had a great day!

I got to sit in the front row at the ceremony (um yeah, I'm short 5'2" but seriously, those guys beside me were TALL)... 

My family cheered me on as I walked across the stage...



My mom even did a crazy loud whistle which prompted me to trip a little on my long robe as I was making my way up the stairs...



Lucas got me some pretty flowers (there is a great story to go along with this which apparently included him doing a quick Google search for a florist about 15 minutes before the start of the ceremony)...

We took some great pictures with everyone outside in the gorgeous weather...

We had an amazing meal at Wildcraft Grill in a private dining room...





And we finished the evening off with dessert (Cold Stone IceCream in my favorite flavors) and a backyard bonfine.



Such an perfect, amazing day!!  Thanks to all my family for making the trip to join Lucas and I on such a memorable day!