Spring 2017 - Virginia Here We Come!

Life continued in our house. I was working, had been working for the past two years at a tutoring center, while homeschooling my youngest son E. My daughter was still teaching but she'd decided she wanted to go back to school and receive her masters in pastoral counseling. It was a grueling schedule for her, but I'm proud to say she finished and received her degree. It was a huge accomplishment, one that we wanted to commemorate by attending her graduation ceremony at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.

I'd never been to Virginia. My son hadn't been on an airplane since he was two years old, so he didn't remember it. This made the trip an exciting new experience for both of us. We flew into Raleigh, North Carolina and drove the two hours to Lynchburg. As we went through the beautiful countryside I realized how much I missed seeing mountains. I love Florida, don't get me wrong, but it's as flat as a pancake. There's beaches, trees, parks, waterways, canals, but no mountains. Heck, there aren't even hills in most of the state. Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains are absolutely stunning! The air was clean and crisp, the roads easy with very little traffic so the scenery could be better appreciated. How we loved both North Carolina's and Virginia's landscape!

Pictures don't do it justice. It's gorgeous!

Another thing I loved about Virginia was the people, the Southern hospitality, and oh yes, the food! We went to several restaurants and enjoyed some of the classics, like sausage gravy and biscuits:

But if I had to pick a favorite eatery, it was {RA} Bistro. The chipotle burger was crazy delicious! I seriously recommend it if you're ever in the area.

I was especially thrilled to visit Monticello, the home of President Thomas Jefferson. It was a dream come true to cross that off my bucket list.

Unfortunately it was raining that day and we weren't able to appreciate the grounds, though we were able to see the vegetable garden.

Of course, I can't forget the main reason we went to Virginia: graduation day! It was made especially memorable by the guest speaker - none other than President Donald Trump! Whether you like him or not (and I realize that's a touchy subject for many), it is still thrilling to have the current President of the United States speaking at your graduation. It was a very lovely speech, focused on the students and not on himself which I greatly appreciated.

I am one proud mama!

If I had to point to a highlight of that year, this trip would be it. I loved every minute of it, even the rain and the low temperatures (because 49 degrees is freezing for this Floridian). Of course 2017 would be memorable for more reasons than this. There's plenty more to come, so stay tuned!

Graduation Day

You may have noticed me mention my daughter's graduation in one or two or ten posts (hey, I was excited).  I have some pictures I want to share of this very special, very happy occasion.

Here she is, as we were walking to the arena where graduation was taking place, putting on her gown.

With her brothers. (I still can't believe that little booger is almost as tall as his sister.  He's only 12 for crying out loud!)

This is my favorite picture - mother and daughter.

Before graduating...

And after!  There she is, my little girl, the college graduate, with a degree in Creative Writing and a minor in Religious Studies.  Thank You Lord for such a special and precious gift!

Thursday Thoughts

~ Molly and I have been taking longer walks in the mornings.  Since she was spayed last month I had to start her on short walks so she wouldn't tire herself out or hurt herself.  We went from 10 minutes to 15, then to 20, and the last couple of mornings we've walked for 30 minutes.  She enjoys her walks so much, and it's great exercise for me as well.  Plus, I have to take advantage of the beautiful weather we've been having.  The mornings are sunny and warm but not humid, and there's a breeze so it's comfortable for walking.

~ If the weather continues the way it's been, this summer will be unbearable!  We basically skipped winter this year, with only one or two "cold" days (in the 50s).  Winter felt more like spring, and spring has already disappeared, quickly turning into summer.  We haven't had much rain either, just a few sporadic days of showers, so the heat is becoming more intense.  In the afternoons it gets into the mid 80s and we're only in April.  I don't know how we'll survive July and August.

~ My daughter went back to Central Florida on Tuesday.  She came down for the weekend, and we mailed her graduation announcements.  It still seems incredible that 4 years have passed and my daughter will be graduating from college.  She has her last classes this week, and finals next week.  Graduation is May 3.

~ I don't know why colleges schedule graduations for weekdays.  My daughter's graduation is on a Thursday morning.  That means E and I will have to leave here Wednesday afternoon, because A lives 4 hours away.  It also means he'll be missing 2 days of school, Thursday and Friday, because there's no way I'm driving up Wednesday and leaving Thursday.  I know this won't go over well with his school, but I don't care about that.

~ Here in Florida, excused absences are: a) a death in the family, or b) sickness.  I think that's horrible.  The schools will only excuse absences for illness or tragedy.  What about happy occasions?  What if Mom is having a new baby?  Or a special relative is visiting from out of town?  Or maybe your older sibling will be graduating from the university?  I think these are valid reasons for a child missing school.  Children should be allowed to celebrate the good moments in life and not worry about what their teachers will say.

~ My daughter A and I went shopping on Saturday for a dress for graduation.  She wanted to dress up nice but didn't want to wear heels because the graduation is about 3 hours long and that can get tiring.  I dreaded having to go dress shopping with her because she's so picky.  We've gone dress shopping before and it's hasn't been much fun.  God obviously had compassion on me because He found us a dress at the very first store we entered at the mall!  We went into Sears only because it was the first store we passed, not because I expected there to be anything she liked.  Actually there were several really pretty summer dresses that would be totally appropriate to wear with flats, and the first one she tried on was a winner!  The dress was on sale too, $35.99.  She got a tank top to wear underneath (since the dress is low cut) and a pair of black patent flats at Payless, and so she got her entire graduation outfit for just over $75.  After looking at some other outfits and shoes I felt like we did really good!

~ The past couple of weeks have been so busy.  This is the first day I'm taking it easy in quite some time.  I deserve a day off.  Of course I'll still have stuff to do, like making my son's favorite meal (beef empanadas), but I'm gonna relax a little today too.

~ I've been watching Poirot on Netflix, since I've finished watching all the episodes of Sherlock Holmes.  I love those kinds of mysteries, the whodunnit's.  I'm so glad we have Netflix too, because network television has nothing that appeals to me.  I'm not into the competitions, I don't like reality TV (well, except for the Duggars), and even the channels I used to enjoy don't entertain anymore.  I used to watch HGTV all the time for the decorating shows, but now it seems all they ever show is House Hunters or Property Virgins or My First Place - shows on buying homes, not decorating them.  There are still a few good shows on Food Network but too many are repeats.  If it weren't because my son loves watching his cartoons I'd get rid of satellite TV altogether and just keep Netflix.

And those are my thoughts for this Thursday.  Have a blessed rest of your week.