Graduation Day!

Well, here we are!  After a four year journey, we have arrived at this day.  Mommy's graduation.  The kids will hopefully just see this day as the start of having their mommy back on a more regular schedule.  There are still other hurdles to cross before we know what else this will mean to our family, but for now, having more time with my family is where I will focus.  Monday night was my last final exam, and the rest of the week has still been pretty busy so I guess being finished still hasn't sunk in.  It has been 14 years since my high school graduation and 10 years since my undergraduate graduation so it is safe to say I am in a different place than I was back then.  At my high school graduation, I was just ready to begin the track to adulthood and freedom to spread my wings in my new found independence as I lived away from home for the first time in my life.  At my college graduation, I was ready to marry my sweetheart and begin our new life together shortly thereafter.  I thought at that time I was prepared for the real world.  Man, did I have a lot to learn?  Do I feel that way now?  Are we ever really "prepared" for the real world?  Just when we think  we are, something happens to turn it all upside down.  Unexpected bills, loss, world issues, children happen, and we are finding ourselves figuring things out all over again.  Life is a journey, and everyday is just a stepping stone.  We can't stand still and just let life pass us by.  This four years may be over, but life still awaits.  The journey still continues.  Can't wait to see what the next four or forty years will bring us!