Whew, this weekend was pretty crazy, y'all!

I am so excited to finally chat with y'all about this weekend and let y'all in on all the details of what I am doing next.

Being Really Confused By My Graduation Gown

I literally thought that my gown was a manufacturer error, y'all. Apparently Master's gowns have these interesting flaps on the arms that go past the arm holes. It's some real haute couture fashion. I had no idea that these things did that, and it was awkward AF to ask a question about it only to be told that it's just what the gowns look like. It was so cool to be decked out in my robe, hood, etc.

Graduation 2017: Brought To You By Bobby Pins

If you know the story of my college graduation, you know the story of my cap. My cap literally fell off my head while I was trying to shake the hand of the dean of my department. This is on video. It's hella embarrassing. This year I embarked to find all the bobby pins and shove them in my cap so this wouldn't happen. In total, I added four bobby pins into my hair, and it worked like a charm. This was all the more important because this time my cap wouldn't even give me the illusion that it was going to stay on my head. I found some community bobby pins, and I went to work.

A little later on I heard someone say that someone had taken all the bobby pins and only left two. I wonder who that person could have been? If only they had seen the horror I'd seen in 2015.

Hurry Up & Wait

One of my least favorite parts about graduation is the hurry up and wait of it all. You have to be in the room at a certain time, but once you are there all you really do is wait. Luckily I had a classmate who was also graduating this summer so I just chatted with her during the time while I waited for us to line up.

On Being Super Close

This graduation I was super close to the stage. I was in the front row, in fact. This year my college (the College of Liberal Arts & Communications) was at the front of the second section of seats. Since I was getting a Master's degree, I sat before all the people with Bachelor's degrees. Therefore, I ended up sitting on the very front row. I was that close during my high school graduation because I was in the top five of my class, but when there are only 55 people graduating, everything feels close. This was a new level of close though since I was graduating with like 1,000 people.

This is my dad. He is one of the best people I know and the photographer behind all of the blog pictures that I create in house.

Shout Out To My Supportive Family

There were SO many times during this process that I was sure I wasn't going to make it to see graduation day. This process was very stressful. Without my family constantly cheering me on and getting me to the finish line, I don't think I would have made it past my first semester. Finishing this degree was awesome, but it was made more awesome because of my amazing family cheering me on every step of the way.

I want to thank all the people in my life who made this possible, especially my family.

This is my girl gang. It consists of my niece, sister, and my mother.

What's Next For The Happy Arkansan

Well, I am going to be focusing on writing for the time being. I have literally been going to school since I was three years old so taking a break from it for a while seems great. I gave myself a year. During that year I will focus on deciding if getting my Ph.D. is right for me. I personally couldn't imagine jumping right back into school after the year I have had though.

I decided that during that time, I would take some time, and build up my blog and freelance career. Again, I am so lucky to have a supportive family that helps to support me during this time while I build up my blog. I am so excited about the things I have planned to take this blog to the next level this year. I will wake up every day with grace in my heart ready to tackle the next adventure so that I can grow this blog to bigger and better things.

Another shot with my sister!

Thanks For Allowing Me To Have Fun Doing What I Do!

Without the support of my readers over these last few years, I wouldn't feel comfortable taking this huge leap of faith. Thank you for supporting my blog, continuing to come back for more encouragement, and for making me excited about the future. I can't wait to grow this blog with you over the next year. Let's see where we can go!