HE'S DONE!!!

After 4, long, hard years in the Architecture program, Brian graduated today with his Master's degree!

There were a lot of sleepless nights, and times when neither of us thought it would ever end, but here we are.

The other side.

Brian right after getting his diploma (case).

I'll admit, I got a little emotional when he walked off the stage and I gave him a hug.

But it was only because I am so proud of him and all the hard work he's done to get here.

I'll also admit, I screamed the very loudest when his name was called. 

Brian (and other students) will vouch that they could hear me above anyone else.

"Master" Brian & Melissa

Brian & his parents

Derek, Brian & Curtis

Brian & grandparents

 Good job Brian! I'm so proud and I know you'll be great!

I love you!

Brad's Graduation

Today, my little brother Brad, graduated from high school. It makes me feel so old because I was doing that 8 years ago! But I was so proud of him.

Brian was able to snap this picture of him from way up high in the stands at the E Center:

All of us with the graduate:

Parents and Graduate:

Brad and the sisters: (Though we were missing Nat, who I know wanted to be there)

Me and my bud:

After the ceremony we all went out to Asian Star for dinner. Oh, Honey Walnut Shrimp, how I love you! It was a really fun day spent with the family.

I love you Brad and I'm so proud of you!

We're done!! (Not really...)

Today, my husband, Brian Glad, graduated with his BS in Architecture, from the University of Utah.

I am so proud of him. It's taken a lot of hard work, and A LOT of time, and EVEN MORE sleep-deprivation, but he did it! He said he didn't feel like today was a big deal, because he doesn't feel like he's accomplished that much, and he has to keep going, but I thought today was a pretty big day. One step down, only 2 or 3 more to go. :)

Brian's parents and littlest brother were able to come see him graduate. I don't know if his mom got emotional, but I know that when I saw him walk out and the music was going, I got a little choked up. I'll admit it.

I love you babe! We did it! Now on to Grad school!!

(P.S. I gave Brian a haircut last night so he would look good for graduation and I think I did a pretty good job. At least better than the first time.)

What I did to celebrate

So now that I'm officially done with school, I'll post about what I did to celebrate.

Brian came to pick me up after I finished my last final. We drove up to Park City and went shopping all afternoon. I got 5 shirts, one pair of jeans & new shoes. We went out to lunch up there & it was great to just relax & enjoy myself.

This is one of my new outfits.

After shopping we came home & I went visiting teaching. My friend Mikelle is my partner, & somehow we got talking about the Twilight Series. She said she had the first three, & she let me borrow them. So I got started right away. :) Brian took me out to dinner at Red Robin which was great.

My friend Heather sent me these beautiful flowers because I finished my degree. I loved them! They made me feel so special. I love getting flowers.

I took the day off on Friday to pamper myself. I went to the spa in my area & got a mani/pedi & then got my hair done. I decided to go dark because I've never done dark before. I've done blond, I've done red/pink/purple, I've done blond highlights, and I've done really short as well. So kept it long & went dark brown. This isn't the best picture of it, but I'll get more.

This picture was taken before we headed to my aunt's wedding. If you notice, I've got a book hidden behind me. Yes, it is the first Twilight book. I finished it later that afternoon.

To my wonderful husband who's helped me survive school & finally reach this point. I love you Brian! I never would've made it through this if Brian hadn't been helping out around the house & getting the things done that I couldn't while working & doing school. Now it's back to the regular schedule. Brian's starting school again in a couple weeks, and I'm not sure how much of him I'll see. But he has to apply to grad schools this fall, so we'll soon know if we're staying or going anywhere next year.

SCHOOL'S OUT!!!

It's official! I'm done! Forever!!

(Brian took the camera to work so I don't have pictures of what I did to celebrate, but I'll post them soon. Also, I was just looking for a clip of this song when I found this. I think it's hilarious because it's Alice Cooper & the Muppets. Enjoy!)

(Also, this is my 100th post! Go me!)

Birthday & Graduation

Well, for my birthday my boss always gives me a paid day off. So I got to spend the whole day with Brian, because he had just finished his semester the day before. So we actually spent the day clearing out his desk. It was like he was moving in to our apartment finally. He had so much stuff that it filled the entire living room. Granted, it's not a huge living room, but still. That's a lot of stuff!!

Then he took me to the mall and I got a Mani/pedi which was nice. Then we went out to dinner, and went over to his parents house for cake and ice cream. It was a pretty good day.

May 2nd I graduated! Well, almost. It was the ceremony anyway.

It was really nice to have so many family members there to support me.

Me & Brian

Me & My Parents

Me & My sister Natalie. She & Adam came all the way from St. George.

Me & My Grandpa & Grandma Walker

Brian & I with his parents

Brian & I with his Grandpa & Grandma Merrell

The Ceremony was about two hours long, but it went by pretty quickly, especially considering that they had over 1,000 names to get through. (College of Humanities, pretty much where they group all the misfit majors that don't fit into another category.) That was probably the shortest part compared to speakers and things. I was in the very front, so I was probably the 10th person called. I waved to my family before they called my name, but then I was focusing so hard on not falling down that I didn't even hear them scream for me. My mom assured me that they did though. She also admitted to crying during the ceremony. That's my mom! I would be more concerned if she didn't cry.

It was an awesome feeling to walk across there. I know I still have 3 months left, but still. I was so happy to have reached this point. There were a couple of my professors there that congratulated me afterwards as well, which I thought was pretty cool.

After the ceremony, my grandpa took some of us out to lunch at Chuck-a-Rama. I ate so many scones with honey butter. It was so yummy!

I went home and took a nap because the only downside of the whole weekend was that I got sick. I started not feeling well on my birthday and it just got worse as the weekend progressed. But I kept popping DayQuil and that helped a little.

That night we went out to dinner with my family to Red Robin. Then we went & watched the Jazz game I think. I can't remember.

Saturday was my brother Brad's Eagle Court of Honor. I'll post more about that later.

Sunday we had my monthly family dinner at my parent's house, which was extra fun this time because all the kids were there because Nat & Adam had come up from St. George for all the festivities. I love getting together with everyone like that.

I got gifts from family for graduating this year, and it was very generous of everyone. Thank you! But the one gift from my parents was really cool. My dad dropped out of college when he was younger because he had a good job and they were just married. He came to regret that later on, but he worked hard and he graduated when he was 43. Because of his experience he feels that it is EXTREMELY important to graduate from college. So my parents wanted to show this by the gift they are willing to give when their children graduate. We didn't know what this meant because I am the first. This is what my parents gave me:

We are so proud of you upon your graduation from the University of Utah.

Choose one of the following for your graduation gift:

A trip to Disneyland! (Round trip tickets for 2, tickets to the park and accommodations).

A laptop computer.

$800 work wardrobe shopping spree.

I was totally shocked. That was so amazing. It took me a long time to decide because all those things are so great. I finally decided to get a new laptop. I've been wanting one of my own because as soon as the summer's over Brian will take his computer back to school and I won't have one, at the time when I'll finally have time to write & do my scrapbooking. And we talked about getting me one, but I know I'll never spend that money on myself when we have loans to be paid off and things like that. So this will be good. I'm way excited.

It's definitely worth it to graduate, and not even because of the gifts. It's just a good feeling knowing that I've accomplished this and I can be proud of myself that I made it through, even with all the trials.

What Makes Me Happy Today

1) My G &G Walker were going to be on a trip out of the country this next week, leaving on Friday, which is the day I'm graduating. (And they would also miss my cousin & fiance going through the temple for the first time.) I just received a message from my Grandpa that they are not leaving and are going to come see my graduate! It's hard for me to explain why this means so much, but I guess it's because I'm the oldest grandchild, and the first to graduate, and I just really wanted them to be there.

2) I graduate on Friday! Granted, I still have to do school over the summer, and when I'm done with that I'll be even happier, but just the fact that this time period is even here is exciting.

3) Tomorrow is my birthday! 24! Man, that number used to sound so old. Like when my cousins (Mike, Kevin, Adam, Matt) were all 24 I thought they were way old. (Love you guys!) But now I still feel really young. But Brian likes to remind me that I'm older than him, by 19 days.

4) I don't have to go to work tomorrow or Friday. Don't get me wrong, I like my job, most days. I just hate when it's slow. Of course that's usually the only time I have to blog... but owell.

Everyone have a great couple days and I'll try to post pictures of the graduation sometime this weekend.

Wow, 2 posts in one day, It's a miracle!

Well, it's official. I picked up my cap & gown just now, so I am all set to walk in the graduation ceremony on May 2nd. I can't believe I've finally reached that point. Now, it can seem a little anticlimactic because I won't be totally done with school until August, but still. It's exciting to think that I will be DONE. I'm so happy.

I was also thinking: I will be the first child in my family to graduate. I will also be the first grandchild on the Walker side to graduate. That's pretty cool to think about. (Besides the fact that I love being the first. It's an oldest thing.) When I was up in Logan I was thinking about not walking, because it's a huge procession, and not very specialized to yourself, but now, once I factor in these things, I am really excited to walk. And it's just a nice way to celebrate my hard work that I've done to get here. I'm so happy.

The only thing dragging me down at this point: I have had the hiccups on & off all day and I CANNOT get rid of them. And I have a presentation in my class this evening. HELP!

Countdowns...

28 days until my birthday

47 days until Brian's birthday

29 days until graduation ceremony

14 days of spring semester left

6 papers left

3 tests left

4 months until I'm done with school completely!