GRADUATION!!!!!!!!!!! (And one of the BEST weekends of my life)

WARNING: This one may be a bit of a long one!

So even though I don't finish class until August, I walked in the Terry College of Business's Graduation Convocation at The University of Georgia last Friday, May 9, 2014 in Athens, Georgia.  It was by far one of the happiest days of my life and overall one of the greatest weekends in my 29+ years of living!!!

To put things in perspective of how EXCITED I was last Friday, I woke up before my alarm clock went off.  Which was scheduled for 730 AM.  I could hardly contain myself.  While I didn't immediately get out of bed, I was still overjoyed with the fact that after almost 2 years of blood, sweat and tears (well maybe not the blood part... unless you consider paper cuts), I was finally going to walk across the stage and accept my diploma holder from The University of Georgia.  I was up so early (poor Will - I woke him up with my excitement) because I wanted to make my family take pictures at the Arch before my ceremony.  UGA tradition to walk under the Arch and into the next phase of your life.  While technically you are supposed to wait until after you receive your diploma, I knew I wouldn't be back in Athens for awhile so I wanted to make sure I was able to partake in such an honored tradition.

Under the Arch on a gorgeous Spring day in Athens, GA

Will and Me Under the Arch - He was a VERY proud boyfriend that day

The two of us with my parents

After fulfilling my long awaited (and much-wanted) Arch tradition, I got to attend the ceremony and finally hear my name called as I walked across the stage.  It was very surreal as some days, it felt like that day in particular would never come, that school would never end and there was no light at the end of the tunnel.  Graduation day took a the equivalent of a 10 lb sledgehammer to that notion - that light grew huge and I knew the end of grad school was near!  Hopes of having a social life again and the ability to do whatever I want on a weekend without taking school books now became a reality.  The end was in sight but still not giving up on these last few classes.

Proud and happy couple!

Super proud parents!

My family!

It's been a long journey since I began my MBA program and that road will close at the end of the summer.  Assuming I do not have finals for my last quarter, I will be done with class on August 28, 2014.  I have had multiple breakdowns and Will and my parents have been there every step of the way and have gotten me through them.  Without the love, support, encouragement and care from my family (I consider Will part of my family now) and friends, I wouldn't have been able to stay as positive and motivated as I've been.  Grad school is hard on a full-time employee, especially in an accelerated program like mine.  While I knew a lot about myself, I never truly tested my own limits until I started grad school.  Waking up at 5/530 AM to go to the gym then work a full day then go to class in the evenings and sometimes stay late to talk to my group or professor wouldn't put me home until 930 PM on a given day, sometimes later - only to repeat the same pattern the next day.  I grew as a person and the past few years have taught me a lot about myself.  Despite being told this throughout my life, I really can do anything I put my mind to.  I always knew I'd finish my MBA over the past few years, that I wouldn't let anything stop me, but there were days when I had serious doubts about the hell I was going to get everything done.  You make the necessary changes and you make a lot of sacrifices.  I am very fortunate that I have a boyfriend whom I love dearly and family and friends that have understood these past few years that when I said I had to study, they knew I meant business, that I wanted to be there to join in whatever fun festivities were going on, but that I had to study and do schoolwork.  So for any of you reading this, thank you for understanding.  I'm sure I will have something even mushier come August/September - be on the lookout!

Now let's fast-forward to the rest of my fabulous weekend!  So after my graduation ceremony, I hosted a dinner.  Well I kind of hosted a dinner.  I put it all together but Will's mama hosted it at the clubhouse to which they belong and did a lot of the legwork in getting everything set up.  But this dinner was more than just a celebratory dinner for my graduation - this was the dinner where Will and my's parents would meet.  My mom met Will's mama and stepdaddy in March when she flew out to help me move but that was the extent of family meetings.  This was  BIG night for the two of us and ya know what?!  All the parents got along swimmingly!  Each of them relayed to us how much they enjoyed the company of the other's and we could not have asked for a better dinner!  We catered in Heirloom BBQ (the JAM - I'd never eaten it and after multiple "YOU HAVE TO's", this is what we chose), had everything set up in a very casual setting, and before we knew it, it was time to leave.  A HUGE thanks to Will's mama for all of her help with the dinner - I could not have done it so seamlessly without her.  And again, Will and I could not have asked for a better Meeting of the Parents.  I am truly blessed to have not only Will in my life, but his parents as well - they are wonderful people and I look forward to having many more gatherings with them!

Will and Me

The Original McElroy's

Will, his Daddy and Me (his stepmom couldn't make it unfortunately

Will and Me with his Mama and Stepdaddy

The Whole Clan

So dinner was a great success which meant going back to the hotel with my parents to enjoy the rest of the weekend!  After all, it was only Friday night.  After getting back, Will and I put on some more comfortable clothes and decided to have a few drinks in the hotel lobby which led to a conversation about our future together.  I am not going to go into the details as that is something between us, but I will say that it was a very positive conversation, we are growing closer and more serious and we look forward to our future together.  I will let you now use your imaginations....

Saturday morning, mom wanted to go to brunch at Gladys Knight's Chicken & Waffles for her Mother's Day Brunch.  Mama wanted some soul food and soul food she got!  I'd never been there but to follow the tradition of the name, I ordered some fried chicken, some veggies and a blueberry waffle!  While the waffle wasn't my fave, I enjoyed everything else immensely as did everyone else (to the best of my knowledge).  Needless to say, I felt like I needed a wheelbarrow to roll me out of there!

Of course I got a family photo!

 After brunch, my parents took Will and me to the Georgia Aquarium as none of us had ever been.  Brian and Colleen unfortunately couldn't join us the rest of the day as they had prior plans.  Even though we didn't get to see the Dolphin Show, going to the Aquarium (which just so happens to be the largest in North America) was SO entertaining!  I didn't appreciate the Tennessee Aquarium as a kid but REALLY enjoyed this trip to the Georgia Aquarium.  There were a lot of very neat exhibits and I would go back in a heartbeat!

Just hangin' out with the fishies!

3 of my faves!

After the Georgia Aquarium, my mom and I freshened up (I had to recurl my hair - duh), Will and Daddy cleaned up and we headed to the hotel's Manager's Hour and enjoyed a few libations before going to dinner at the Sun Dial.  Will nor I had ever been to the Sun Dial and were SO very fortunate my parents wanted us to join them.  Aside from delicious food and wine, it was one of the best dinners of my life.  The views were spectacular - watching a Southern thunderstorm roll in 723 feet above the city (73 stories) and pass through on top of the Atlanta Skyline is an experience in and of itself.  The company was fantastic!  And our server made the experience all the better (thank you, Billy, you were by far one of the best servers I have ever had in all of my dining adventures).  It was a perfect date night!  Most kids wouldn't want to double with their parents but they are one of the couples I will always double with.  The love and respect my parents share for each other is admirable and I am in awe of their marriage.  It was a spectacular meal and I would not have wanted to share it with anyone else than the 3 people I love the most!

Our cloudy view before the storm rolled in

My oh-so-handsome date and me!

A fave of me and the boy -
SUCH a great backdrop!

After dinner, we got back to the hotel and while Mama and Daddy went to bed, Will and I opted to go back to the lobby with a few adult beverages and entertain ourselves by watching the Forest Park High School Prom...  It was very entertaining to say the least.  In doing so, we met 2 gentleman with whom we hope to remain friends - Tom from Denmark and Carl from Germany.  They were in Atlanta on business and after talking for HOURS, they invited us to Europe, we invited them to Alabama and the men exchanged contact information!  All in all, it was a great day, great evening.  On Sunday, Will and I went to one of our favorite restaurants, a little hidden gem called The Crawfish Shack (if you like crawfish, GO!  Hands down, BEST crawfish I've ever eaten - and they have other delicious menu items as well).

Take me to your leader!

As the title of this post indicates, this really was one of the best weekends in my 29+ years of living.  I could not have asked for a better graduation celebration or a meeting of the parents. I look forward to many more family functions together!  I hope y'all have enjoyed this ridiculously long post but there was absolutely no way to keep it short and sweet.  SO much happened that I wanted to share and I didn't want to limit myself.  Hope y'all are well and we'll see if I make it back here before I finally finish classes!!!

xoxo,

Britt!