Two Graduations

Last Friday was a crazy day. As I mentioned before, both my sister and husband were scheduled to graduate from their respective universities on the same day, and it was really important to everyone (ahem, certain family members) that I pick sides and choose just one of them to attend. But I refused; neither one was more important than the other, and it was important to me that I be there for both.

Because I hate myself and love sitting through multiple, multi-hour graduation ceremonies Because I love my sister and I love my husband, I bought a plane ticket to get from Dallas to College Station between the two ceremonies. It's normally about a four-hour drive, and the ceremonies were spaced six hours apart, but without being able to account for Friday rush-hour, college town traffic (both coming and going), or the timeliness of either ceremony, I figured the 32-minute flight was the better option. And dagnabbit, I made it to both.

Rachel's graduation was first, and since I knew I was going to have to leave the ceremony as soon as her name was called to get to the airport, we made sure to take pictures the night before. I love that she painted her mortarboard hot pink. It definitely made her easy to spot in the crowd.

So proud of her!

I got to watch her walk and receive her diploma, and then my dad and I were super awkward as we tried to edge out of the bleachers and escape the basketball arena in front of everyone's flashing cameras. I felt bad because we literally had the worst seats ever for a quick and inconspicious departure, and I hope we didn't mess up anyone else's experience.

(Apparently it's been a really long time since I've flown anywhere, because this trip was my first experience with those full-body scanner thingies. I don't know that I see what the big deal is. Also, it's been long enough since I've flown that my Dramamine had expired. Risk it? Risk it.)

My sister- and brother-in-law picked me up from the airport and we made it to Matt's ceremony with 10 minutes to spare, though the processional was so enormous that it could have spared us a few minutes if necessary. All of the Ph.D. candidates walked near the beginning of the ceremony, and Matt had a huge smile on his face as his advisor placed the hood around his shoulders.

Dr. Hubby!

We also left his graduation early, a much easier feat in A&M's giant basketball arena. The ceremony was more than three hours long (1000+ engineering undergrads), and I hadn't eaten anything all day besides a peanut butter sandwich and some Pop Tarts I picked up at the airport. Sustenance was necessary. (As was, apparently, a nap, since I kind of fell asleep in our living room while Matt's family and I were waiting for Matt to get home.)

Once he arrived, we celebrated with hot apple pie and vanilla ice cream. His family is having a bigger, official party for him in a couple of weeks. And we might have a third party too, for his grad school friends, because we like parties. :)

I'm really glad I was able to be there for both graduations, but the downside was that I didn't exactly get to spend any time with either Matt's or my own extended family since I was running around so much. I wish I'd gotten to spend more quality time with everyone.