Mortarboards and Tassels

An entire decade has passed since I wore a black gown & tossed my hat into the air with the other college graduates.

Ten.Whole.Years.  

Wow 

It seems like only a few years ago that I stood in the hallway waiting to hear the processional music start so we could walk into an auditorium filled with our friends and families.

These ten years have been some of the most amazing in my life.  I got married, had a daughter, made friends.. figured out WHO I was.

Many people assume because I don't work that I never went to college.  Why would someone who worked so hard to earn a degree not use it?   I just smile and ignore them because I do use it.  Every day.

That piece of paper reminds me that anything is possible with hard work and determination.  That even a girl who got pregnant at 16 only to be a divorced, single mom of two boys before the age of 20 can go to college.

Not everyone has the family support I had.  My diploma is also a reminder of just how lucky I am to have the people in my life who love me. I may have been the one who went to the classes, wrote the papers and walked across the stage, but that degree is just as much theirs as mine. I never could have done it without them.

Today's prompt is a favorite picture

Mother's Day

Sunday was a pretty low-key celebration.   We went to lunch with my family, spent half the day in our jammies and did a bunch of nothing.  It was LOVELY.  

I made this cake to take to lunch.  After looking at dozens of pictures on Pinterest and watching YouTube videos of ruffle tutorials, I was still skeptical if I could pull off the cake.  People?  It took less than 10 minutes to completely ice.  It was probably THE.EASIEST decorating job ever. 

my chocolate cake with cherry filling and vanilla butter cream . the topper is a quote from a book that I received on my very first mother's day and makes me cry just thinking about the sweet message. 

This was my 16th year to celebrate Mother's Day.. this is the kid who made me a member of the Mommy Club.  I couldn't be prouder of the young man he's turning into, but where have the years ago?

Do you know how difficult it is to take a selfie with a kid who's a foot taller than you?  

Blog Every Day:: Happy Things

Things I love....

1 Water:: the lake, ocean, pool.. whichever, wherever. The water soothes me and helps me feel at peace in a way nothing else can. 

2 coffee:: is there anything better than that first taste of morning coffee? 

3 a good Bloody Mary:: I used to mock people who drank these.  Now?  I love a well made Mary

4  Miss Olive::  She needed us almost as much as we needed her. 

5 Books::  I've been a reader for as long as I can remember.  Even as a toddler, I would carry my Dr. Seuss to my grandfather's lap asking him to just read it, "one more time."  As a moody teenager, I found solace in the words of others.  I knew I wasn't alone in this world and that even the dark days, that it would get better. Books have been my passport into a world I never would've been able to travel or experience otherwise.  They are a time machine into the past, a way to live life before my time. 

6 Music-- If I'm sad, it cheers me up.  If I'm mad, it calms me down.  Music reminds me of childhood memories or the happy moments I want to cherish forever.  

Mostly? It's these people

7 I married a man that makes me laugh, appreciates my sarcasm and loves me like no one else

8  This kid made me a mom at an age when  wasn't much past playing house and dress up.  We grew up together, in a way. The rest of my life has been shaped for the better because of him

9 My mini-me in every way, this kid can drive me crazy and make me so proud I could cry.  

10 My baby and only girl, Cheeks completes our little family.  I never knew I wanted a daughter until they placed in her in my arms.  Now, I'm not sure where I would be without her.