Graduation!

I'm really happy that I got to go to James' high school graduation! I was so scared that morning that I wouldn't feel well enough to go, but I was feeling better by then and got to watch James and a long list of other friends graduate. It was exciting to see so many people I know walk across the stage. I'm so proud of them all!

I was surprised how small this group was compared to mine last year. This was the first class of students that didn't have the option to go to the new school or stay here, so that definitely shrunk the size of the group. Last year and years before the seating went much farther back. I was happy that we got close seats so I could see people and make faces at James whenever he looked up at his family and me. Mostly huge smiles because I was extremely excited. 

My mom was watching the live stream of the graduation at home and got this picture of James getting his diploma from the principal. Yay James! 

I was taking a video when the caps were supposed to be thrown but NO ONE THREW THEIR CAPS!!! What the heck guys, I was waiting for it! How did that not happen? I saw one, ONE, hat go flying super high into the air. You all have four years to practice getting that right for the next one. Or two if you're joining me at Calhoun. It's okay, that's plenty of time. 

Look how cute! After graduation and picture taking, we all went to some restaurant that I didn't know existed and got a huge order of chicken wings to share. 

It was lots of fun and I'm really glad I got to be there to see my boyfriend and so many of my friends from drama, tech, art class, etc. graduate from high school. I hope you all have a wonderful summer before starting your next chapter in life! I hope whatever path you choose to take after high school leads you towards success and happiness and wonderful new adventures. 

The Weirdest Feeling...

There are tons of things on the internet that talk about how it feels to graduate high school and how it feels to start college, but it wasn't until this Tuesday that I realized that there's one feeling I've never read about or even expected to experience. Maybe it's because most people are friends with people in their graduating class. I am not one of those people. I have a few close friends in my grade, but for the most part, I'm surrounded by people in grades below me. My sister is a junior this year, my boyfriend is a senior, and all of my boyfriend's friends (who I hang out with a lot) are juniors and seniors. Not to mention a bunch of my friends from drama who are now sophomores, juniors, and seniors! My point is, the first week of high school has been really weird for this high school graduate! 

I woke up Tuesday morning and looked at Twitter, where I saw tons of tweets about it being the first day of school. My brain finally woke up and I had the sudden realization that it was almost 8, meaning I missed my sister leaving and tons of my friends were now back in school. I didn't know whether to feel awesome or just plain weirded out about this situation. There I was, laying in bed on the first day of high school. The first day in 14 years that I wasn't starting school the same time as everyone else. The first day in 3 years that I wasn't sitting in the cafeteria talking to my friends before class. The first day in 12 years that I didn't have to get up at 6 in the morning to go to a place that I dreaded 90% of the time. It was great, it was a relief, but it was also very, very strange. 

Michaela and I planned on doing a photo shoot that day, so I went to pick her up and fill my tank. On the way back home from the gas station, we passed the school. The parkinglots were packed and we both said that it felt a lot like we were skipping school. So I wasn't completely alone in this weird feeling. 

It's now the 3rd day of school, and it STILL feels weird! Maybe I'll get used to it. I hope I'll get used to it. Is this what stay-at-home moms feel like when school starts back? Without the driving the kid to and from school of course. 

On another note, the photoshoot that Michaela and I did was so much fun. We made a wall of Christmas lights and all these different set ups.

My favorite. You can see our light wall behind me.

For this one we had the white sheet closed in a door, draped over the top of the mirror, and pinned to the back of the mirror. The mirror was leaning up against two stools, and we draped icicle lights on the top of it. You can see the light wall a little bit better in this one. I absolutely love how all of these pictures came out. That was probably my favorite photo shoot of all time. Michaela is so talented!