I Believe In Auburn, AND LOVE IT!!

So yesterday was one of my proudest days!! I can't thank everyone enough for the support they have shown me for my graduation! On Sunday afternoon I was pinned by the faculty, and "officially" graduated from the nursing program, which was super emotional, especially since it was Mother's Day, and my mother was sobbing because she had always wanted to be a nurse but had never gotten the opportunity to go to college and instead had my little brother and I. Plus, I was also the first girl on either side of my family to go to college!! In my little speech, I got to credit her for my success since she had stayed at home with me until I was school-aged, and then has been my biggest supporter throughout the huge stress that is nursing school. She cried and cried and later gave me a hug and whispered "Every mother always wants to see her children do better than she did, and today you have done what I could never do, what no woman in our family has ever been able to do." I also got a card from my dad, who is very quiet, and who I spent my whole school career working my butt off in the hopes of getting more than a simple, "Good" from, and the card was so long and actually said the words "I'm very proud of you." I instantly burst into tears. It was the affirmation and praise I'd been dreaming of my whole life.

Then, the next morning (WAY too early, I might add) BE and I got up to head back to Auburn from our hotel so that we could get a good parking spot, and so my parents, grandparents, and godparents could all find good seats since we graduated in the football stadium. This, I thought, was going to be an awesome idea. However, it wasn't and whoever decided to make graduation right in the middle of the day in an open stadium in Alabama should be fired. It hit 90 degrees very early on, and it was terrible for those of us in our heavy black gowns. And of course, the school of nursing was second to last, so we were there the whole time. People were passing out left and right, and EMT's were coming around distributing water and telling people to leave after they got their diploma and walked across the stage! Luckily my family had brought umbrellas and lots of Gatorade. But man was it hot! It was so good though to see them cheering and so happy!! Plus, BE got to be there and I am BEYOND THANKFUL for that!! Especially since more training looms here soon. But it was important to me that he was there to share in my success that he encouraged me through and God made sure he was, and that's a great thing :)

I Have Arrived

So, tomorrow I get to have the ceremony I have been waiting on for four long years - my pinning ceremony from nursing school. I am so excited I can barely stand it. Then, by Monday afternoon, I will officially be the first woman on either side of my family to graduate college. WOW. What a huge weight to carry on my shoulders, and what a huge reputation to uphold. My mom is ecstatic - she says I never could have given her a better Mother's Day present than seeing her daughter be the one to achieve that. But I told her that it's in large part due to her - she stayed home with me until I hit school, and constantly worked with me every day so that I was far past my developmental level for the grade I was in. She was my first encourager. By the time I hit 6th grade I was reading at an "above 12th grade level" and they had to bring in books for me from the high school so I could complete my number of reading hours I had to meet for my middle school class. She's the one who sat with me at the bar in our house for two hours every single day after school helping me with my homework. My parents really struggled financially to send me to Auburn, because they said that after graduating high school with a 4.2 GPA and a 32 ACT score, I deserved to go wherever I wanted to go. I felt that succeeding in college was simply a way to show them "I appreciate that you have sacrificed for me to be here, and I'm proving to you that it hasn't gone unnoticed." So now here I am, on the eve of one of the happiest days of my life (other than the days my little brother was born, the day I adopted my dog, and the day I got married), all ready to go with a brand new dress and pair of shoes (thanks, BE!!). I think it will give me a whole new perspective on life not being in college anymore. Granted, I still have my boards to take for my licensure, but it's going to feel so weird (in a good way) to just be a wife for a while. I wish that this day wasn't shadowed over by the fact that BE is off again soon. But it will be ok, I'll survive, and it'll be over before I know it. IFS is a partially self-paced thing, and dependent on weather, so the number of weeks he's there is dependent on quite a few factors, so I told him to not tell me when he will be back home ahead of time so that I don't get my hopes set on a date that he may get there and just not be able to meet. Plus, then it gets to be a surprise, and I love surprises :)

Hope everyone has been having a great weekend, and a special Happy Mother's Day shout-out to my mommy wives out there!!!! Hopefully one day soon I will join your ranks :)


Verse of the day: Proverbs 16:3 "Ask the Lord to bless your plans, and you will be successful in carrying them out."

A Word of Appreciation

HAPPY MILSPOUSE DAY to all the other amazing military spouses out there :) People really don't realize how hard our job is. Saying "see you later" every few months, learning to relive your life when they leave and then relearn it again when they come home, constantly changing role expectations, for some the battle of juggling kids alone, the tearful nights spent with their shirts and cologne, the counting down of months and days and weeks. We really do have a tough job, but then again, we are TOUGH PEOPLE!! Military members, and especially spouses, often don't get the recognition out in the civilian world like I wish they would, but at least between all of us, we know the sacrifices that are made and the effort put into our relaitonships/marriages, and we know that it's worth it for the love that we have found in our significant others!! Plus, better yet, we have each other to lean on and learn from and I personally have found it to be the best group I could ever have been a part of. I love you ladies and am blessed to know you, and I wish you all the happiest of days today.

BE has finally cranked up the new grill for steaks tonight, and I am going to enjoy a nice dinner just the two of us (and Buster Brown, of course) before I have to face him being off to more training here very soon. But it's going to be a great weekend and nothing is going to get me down!! I also graduate on Monday morning from Auburn, and will officially be a BSN graduate!!! I am so excited. I will be the first girl on either side of my family to finish college so it's a pretty big deal :)