Graduation

Well it finally happened. August 9, 2012 came and went within a single breath. And now, I'm free. My little blondies surprised me with beautiful flowers and balloons.

   

Ryan was just as excited as I was, and even happier that he could finally have his Wifey back!

  

The lady in charge took my senior photos...this is the one I chose to go down in the history books at CHD :)

  

 My dear Michael came back to watch me graduate...said something about how I got to watch him get all embarrassed at his, so he wanted to share in my anxiety about the moment ;)

  

And my sweet Stephanie, and OMG how I love Amber, snuck an instructor outside to snap a photo of the 3 of us....then they ran downstairs, printed it off and put it in a beautiful frame for me to keep. Love those girls! Will miss them terribly! 

 

Rachel, my basics instructor, all but refused to let me graduate :( 

 

Nick says he'll miss me oodles

  

Kasie needed one last photo op  

 Me and Mama Ferida. Love her. Forever. 

 

Most students have all the instructors walk them around the school, one final time, as they graduate. It ends up being a train of people walking around and it gets a little crazy. Some students choose one or two instructors. I didn't want to play favorites, and I certainly didn't want to have a train walking behind me....so about 20 minutes before my walk, I surprised my little girls and asked them if they wanted to walk their mama around the school, one last time. I fought back tears, while they hopped up and down and cheered with excitement. Best cheerleaders ever. 

 

 So here is video #1. Kinda boring. The graduation walk - you walk around the main salon with your instructors, people clap, etc, etc. I didn't want the regular graduation march, so I went for "Time of Your Life" by Green Day. An old favorite, and it spoke to me of my time at school. The long portion of the video where I am missing, was when I was on the other side of the salon. :) Ryan didn't want to miss anything!  

 

Video #2 is of the wonderful tassel turning - I really don't think anybody ever remembers which way it's supposed to go, but we get the point ;) And video #3 - my instructor Christy spoke - I asked her to, because she knows me and, more importantly, understands me better than any other instructor in that place. We missed the first sentence of her speech, but she had some wonderful things to say, and I know they came straight from her heart. The last part of the video is my speech. This is something I contemplated for months. I H.A.T.E public speaking. Puts a pit in my stomach just thinking about it. I almost didn't do it, but...

  Now that that's over...hug line!!! 

 

Mama Ferida 

 

Stephanie 

 

 And this guy...could NOT have gotten past day 2 without him :)