Mother's Day and other things

First of all, a belated Happy Mother's Day to all moms everywhere! We are here because of them and life certainly wouldn't be the same without them! I am ESPECIALLY thankful for my mom, who has been my rock, my guide, and most of all, my friend. 

An older picture of my mom and I

But this day isn't about just any mom who has a child. Please keep in your thoughts the women who have lost children, women who can't be with their children, and women who desperately want children and can't have them.

Happy Mother's Day to the men who step up and take on the role of mothers AND fathers.  Last, but not least, Happy Mother's Day to all the Pet Moms! Because if you have a pet, you know they are just like your children!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day.   I went to church with my brother, mom, and Abigail and then we had breakfast together.  Emmett was at the house getting things together because we were all gathering at his parents' house for a crawfish boil.  For those of you who don't like crawfish or who haven't had them before....YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE MISSING!

It was a long day but well appreciated.  Now begins the 364 days of Father's Day.  :)

On to other things....my Baccalaureate Mass and Graduation ceremony are this weekend!  I really wasn't nervous or even excited until today.  I am getting (good) jitters and am anxious for the day to get here.  It is something I've always wanted to accomplish, but given the roads I've taken, I never thought I would get here.  This is just a milestone in my journey, however.  I know this is just an associate's degree but I am the first one in my family to officially graduate college.  This step gives me the courage to keep going and follow through with the second half of my educational journey.

One more thing I wanted to to do was link my Pinterest & Instagram accounts to my blog.  I don't know how well this will work, but I am an avid Pinner and Instagrammer and wish to share my pins and pictures.  :)


These are my Pinterest and my Instagram pages!

I know I haven't been as diligent about posting, but I'll try to be better at it.  I can't wait to share pictures from this coming weekend!


Alane

A feeling of accomplishment!

When I graduated high school and began college, I never expected to get any sort of recognition for my grades.  I did well in high school, but a LOT went on in my first year of college, and being young and immature, I didn't really put forth the effort into my education that I should have.  I skipped class, didn't study, didn't really care, and my grades proved it.  Because of my actions, my GPA dropped very low.  When Abigail started Kindergarten, I promised myself that I would go back to school.  I figured now would be better than later for me because the longer I put school off, the less of a chance I would have of going back. 

I started off taking two classes at a time.  I didn't want to overwhelm myself and bite off more than I could chew.  After a year of two classes, I decided to take on three.  When I felt as though I could handle three, I opted to take four this year.  THIS was a challenge.  One of the classes was an eight week class, so it wasn't as stressful.  After a lot of contemplating, I decided to go ahead and attempt my first twelve hour semester (which was this one) since dropping out of college the first time.  During my first week of school, all that kept going through my head was, "What did I get myself into?"  As each week passed, I felt myself worrying more and more how I was going to manage.  At Abigail's dance class one week, one of the parents was talking about how while she was going to school, she worked, took care of her TWO daughters, and did extracurricular activities for BOTH of them.  I asked her how she did everything without managing to have a nervous breakdown and she told me something that I'll never forget...YOU JUST DO IT.  That really hit home for me.  I realized then I wasn't just going to school to provide a better future for my family, but that I was going to school to better MYSELF.  What a revelation! 

Hard work really does pay off.  I spent the past fifteen weeks stressed, dotting every I, crossing every T, losing many hours of sleep staying up late and waking up extra early,  and worrying about getting good grades.

For the first time EVER since I've been in college, I've earned semester honors!  I made straight A's and am going to be listed as being on the President's List!  I'm in tears as I'm writing this because I've worked so hard and THIS IS MY PROOF.  I never dreamed that I would accomplish something like this!  When I started college again in 2010, I told my mom that I didn't know how I was going to manage ANYTHING and she told me not to stress and that everything was going to fall into place.  It's so nice to have evidence that I worked my ass off in school!

To anyone who ever said they COULDN'T DO SOMETHING--YES YOU CAN!  If you assume that you can't, you WON'T!