Graduation

Graduation is a time of reflection, of moving on and of celebrating your accomplishments!  My little, well, younger, but much taller, brother graduated from high school yesterday.  Sadly, I wasn’t able to attend, but I have seen pictures (Thanks to facebook and his girlfriend who posts pictures at rapid speed…totally love it!) I’ve also gotten the recap and mood of the day from my mom and the graduate!  Mom’s recount was sappy, sweet and completely endearing.  Mike’s recount was along the lines of “I was so ready to be done. It was good. Speeches weren’t so good.  LC is changing.  Traditions are being lost. It’s a good time to be graduating.”  After an hour long and extremely insightful conversation with my brother, I have fully realized that he is a young man.  I love the way he thinks so thoroughly, the way he feels honestly, his strong confidence that is becoming more silent with each passing day, and the passion and dedication he has for life. 

As St. Francis de Sales once said and my dad quoted…

“There is Nothing so Strong as Gentleness, and there is Nothing so Gentle as real strength.”

This quote sums up my brother perfectly.  I am proud to be his sister.  Greatness awaits him and I am excited to see in what form he embraces it!  Make us proud little brother.  I love you!

P.S. Yes, I am an emotional sap right now.

Here are some photos that I am sharing from facebook…

Mike, his lovely girlfriend and a friend

National Honors Society! Carrying on the tradition!

 My family with Mike and Meg.

 The graduates with their mothers and grandmother.

The love birds!

Congrats you two!

Much love.

D.A.R.E

J-man graduated from D.A.R.E.: Drug Abuse Resistance Education today!  He was a cutie in his white DARE t-shirt singing with his classmates. I personally think that 4th grade is a little young for children to learn about drugs and alcohol, but from the 4 essays that were read and the questions being asked, kids are exposed to much more than I was at the age of 9 or 10.  I never went through a DARE program, but I can remember my friends in other schools talking about it and I really think it was around the 6th grade...middle school age. 

We gave our parental consent because the local school district provides DARE to all 4th graders and we believe that DARE can be extremely beneficial to students.  This could potentially be the only time that J-man would be exposed to the DARE program in a school setting, so we took advantage of it. 

The police officers that taught the program were great!  I met them today and could not have hoped for a sweeter, funnier, yet stern group of men.  They were perfect for 4th graders with their balance of humor and seriousness.  The students seemed to really enjoy them and were hands down the most well behaved that I have ever seen them...and I've been to a lot of presentations this year.   The students' behavior alone speaks volumes about the D.A.R.E. instructors. 

I am very proud of J-man!  He is doing great in school and great at home!  We are spending a lot of time together baking, crafting, throwing the baseball, watching movies and hanging out.  I love him to pieces!!

What are your thoughts on the DARE program and children learning about drugs and alcohol in the 4th grade?

Much love.

M.A. Economics

After 15 months of running regressions, stressing over exams, working through grueling derivations, being a complete maniac around my husband, I am proud to say that I graduated on Saturday, from ODU with my Masters in Economics!

 That's me handing my name off to the announcer! 

This is the smile Ryan's been waiting for...

Hearing your name announced is one of the greatest feelings of accomplishment and then hearing a loud, but very short and polite cheer following is even sweeter!  Thank you to my wonderful husband, parents, siblings and stepson, for supporting me through this journey!  I love them and I love school!  Total nerd alert here!

Me and my loving and proud parents!  I am the first in my family to receive a Masters degree!  My dad being the man that he is said congratulations and "you look damn good doing it!"  Love him!  Love them!

"The Kids" according to Mama!

My Sexy Husband!  Thank the Lord he supported me, stepped in to make dinners, and believed in my goal!  I love you babe!

J-man and me!

My little sister!

Luckily for me, the class of 2011 was an awesome bunch!  We understood each other's freak-out moments, complained to one another, challenged ideas and thoughts, threw jabs at each other, and had a blast through the entire process...even while cramming for exams! 

That's us standing up!  The M.A. Econ peeps are the 6 on the right!

The day was surreal.  Graduations symbolize the end of coursework and the being of applying your knowledge, the end of one routine and the beginning of another, the end of certainty and start of the unknown.  As we walked across campus for the last time as a group, we smiled and laughed, but deep down, we all knew this could be the last time we ever see one another...and that is truly sad.  We were a great bunch of students and with our parting of ways, the Econ cubicles are going to be much quieter and the department will shrink by over a 1/4 in size.  We were a core part of that program.  I will miss my classmates and professors, but I am excited about having time for my family and moving on in the world. 

I tried to get my cool 'winged' sleeves in the picture, but when you aren't the one taking the photos, you have little control. I am truly grateful to Ryan and my parents for coming and taking such great photos!   

The only thing that stands between me and the top of my ladder is the ladder.  Step by step, I will make my climb to my goal and it will be glorious!  I'm ready for the ride of my life!

Much love.

MIA

Super quick post:

My life has been consumed with my thesis project, a research project, prepping & proctoring exams, and study my brains out for Urban Economics and Econometrics III.  As of tonight at 10pm, I will have completed my final Masters course in Economics!  

I promise to post about my GRADUATION!!  Eekk!  That word brings a smile to my face!

Until then, I leave you with a quote from a wise and wonderful man:

"Nourish Youth and It Will Blossom"  ~ JSG

Much love.

Proud Parent Moments

We are very proud of our little award winner!  J-man received Honor Roll and Perfect Attendance for the first quarter of 4th grade!  There was a little assembly and Ryan and I were both able to watch him walk across stage!  It was very nice for all three of us!

 He was excited!

 Geesh, he's a cutie!

 Daddy was up front and center taking photos, so I took advantage of the photo opportunity to capture that proud father-son moment!

His elementary school does Citizen of the Month Awards.  Each month has a specific quality attached to it and each class selects two students who emanate this characteristic.  Respect was the quality for November and J-man was selected from his class! 

Thanks to his Aunt Kara, we now know that respect is one of the seven Army values! 

J-man loves the military and talks about joining all the time, so  this was the coolest news he found out all day!  I wish I could have recorded his reaction.  It was one of those big grin, wide-eyed faces with a long drawn out COOOOOL that gets a little high at the end! :)

That's out little Respectful Christmas Tree!

He wouldn't stand next to the poster for a picture...sniffles.

Oh and now my car is completely Proud Parented Out with decals thanks to our little award winner!!  The quality of respect is a strong quality that I strive to emanate myself, show towards other and instill in those around me.  Being respectful in life is one of the greatest qualities.  It brings out the best in you and others, and is the core to many other wonderful qualities.  To truly love, you must respect one another.  To truly be generous and giving, you must respect the cause and the person. 

"Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing."

~Johann Wolfgang

Much love.

Our Growing 4th Grader

J-man came home with his school picture today! And it's a keeper!!

Sorry for the picture of a picture

Picture day as always such a big day for me because I didn't have to wear a uniform for once, but as I look at this picture I think two things.  (1) He is such a handsome little boy! (2) Where's the St. "Fill in the Blank" School logo?!?!  His father and I decided to put him in blue to bring out his eyes and we liked the grey background because it was neutral, but would make him standout. 

The best part about seeing the picture today was the presentation.  It went something like this:

J-man: Hey Sarah!  Guess what I have?!?! (with a huge grin on his face and hands behind his back)

Me: (thinking to myself...Oh my, what could it be? but fake it and say) I don't know, what could it be?!?!

J-man: (whips the pictures out from behind his back and says) I got my pictures!  Don't I look good?!?!

Me:  Hahaha!  Yes, you do!  You're so handsome!

J-man: I know!

Oh boy, Oh boy...We are in for some interesting years ahead. 

To celebrate some great pictures and daddy/hubby being home finally, we ordered Chinese!  Yum!

much love.

Grading...

Sincere apologies for not blogging this past week.  Midterms had ended last week, but grading had just begun.  One hundred and eight papers later, I am finally done and it feels glorious!  It was my first dose of grading and an eye-opening experience.  We each have our own level of performance and knowledge, but it is not until grading others work that you can directly compare how well information has been relayed.  While there were papers that weren't up to par due to lack of effort, there were also papers that were not up to par based purely on an inability to fully grasp the concepts and no lack of effort.  I truly believe that all the grades are fair, I commented on all papers that had points deducted, and overall, the papers were pretty solid. 

J-man's "Fang'd Pumpkin"

On a side note, when and if I ever create a test of my own, I am going to make the first question easy as can pie.  Being a test-taker myself, having an easy first question instantly relaxes me.  Maybe it is all mental, but it works for me.  Does it work for you?

Are you a teacher?  Do you have experience with grading papers? If so, any and all advice is appreciated! 

Much love.