College degree: Check.

Last Friday I graduated. It felt good. Before graduation week, I was super iffy about attending Convocation and Commencement, mostly because it sounded incredibly boring. Well, it was. Incredibly boring, that is. And I could've done without all the standing and walking because of my seven month preg-ality, but having family there to support me was worth all the drawn-out, boring graduation talks and horrid graduation apparel. Totally worth it.

 I was really proud of myself that day. And I was proud of Matt and I. I really felt like we were officially grown-ups that were responsible and prepared for the future. I felt proud that I could make my parents and grandparents proud. That’s something that is really important to the inner-me. I thrive on being accepted and understood by those around me, especially family-- one of my many “blue” traits (sometimes a blessing, other times a curse:) But it meant a great deal to know they were proud of something I had achieved. And I was glad that something I had done could bring them joy.

When I walked in to the graduation ceremony, I looked up in the stands and saw my Matty just waving at me like a little cutie. I got emotional thinking back over these past two semesters specifically and all that he did to help me get to this point. He made my lunch almost everyday for school. He helped me get out of bed and get me showered and ready for the day (especially during that first trimester when I didn’t even have strength to brush my own hair. He did it all.). He was patient with my crabby days, which came fairly regularly. He gave me pep-talk after pep-talk about how I needed to take things “one day at a time”, and how “everything would work out”. Some of the most meaningful moments were those when he’d give me a Priesthood blessing to help me handle it all, or feel better, or sleep well, etc. I honestly felt like he should have been up there with me to walk across the stage and accept my diploma.