I've Been Busy, but I'm BACK!

My life has been a whirlwind of activity lately and I feel like I'm just starting to catch my breath. I hate taking blogging breaks, but sometimes it has to be done.

In the last few weeks, I have:

1. Wrapped up my finance course. (Which meant a huge paper and presentation. Uck. Got an A-, though. Pretty good for a subject that is not my friend!)

2. Interviewed for a new position at my company (This meant a ton of prep as I hadn't interviewed for a job in over six years--eek!) 

3. Landed the new position!! (Which meant wrapping up my union secretarial duties.)

4. Started the new position, which is always rewarding, but mentally and emotionally exhausting in the first few weeks or so. (I am now an Associate Manager in the Benefits department of my company. Loving it!)

5. Celebrated my first wedding anniversary!!

6. Celebrated my brother and sister-in-law graduating from their masters program! 

7. Celebrated Mother's Day with my family over a fabulous brunch.

Phew. That was just within the last three weeks. 

With that said, I wanted to share some photos of my brother and sister-in-law's graduation and celebratory dinner the following weekend. 

Hats Off to the Grads

This is my brother, Adam, and his wife Angie. They both graduated from Central Michigan University with a Master of Arts in Education. 

Way to go, guys!!

They are both local educators (Angie in an elementary school, Adam in a middle school). My brother posted this picture, post-graduation, of his report card that came in the mail. Both he and his wife graduated with perfect scores across the board. AWESOME!!!

This accomplishment is particularly astounding as they did this with full-time jobs, THREE children (ALL under the age of FIVE, oy...), lots of extracurricular activities, and lots of friends and families having constant events that Adam and Angie always found time to make it to. 

 Here's a shot of all the grads!

And here's Angie (in front) and Adam (near the podium) at different stages of accepting their degrees.

The following weekend, our families went out to a celebratory dinner at Claddagh's. We sat in the "Library Room", which I absolutely love as it's cozy and also the place where Thomas and I had our wedding rehearsal dinner.

The food at Claddagh's is always dee-lish!

Group shot! (Husband taking the photo) :) Sorry, Grandma, we caught you in mid-bite. Oopsie. :)

After dinner, we noshed on cake from my favorite cake place in town--Bake N' Cakes!

The cake!

Upon leaving the graduation dinner, we wanted to get a shot of the grads with their family and their big, fun balloons.....

It's really difficult to get a picture with everyone looking at the camera when you have three little ones....

Really, really difficult. :)

Congrats, guys! This summer, when you wrap up your final grades and close the door to your classrooms, you can actually have a lazy, fun-filled summer!

Cheers,
Samara