The End of Grad School

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Hello my lovelies! Once again, I thank you for your patience with my significant absence from the blog world.  One of the things I learned in my early twenties was that I have to know my stopping point.  As many people will say from time to time, "I finally hit a wall!"  Let me tell you, working full time while attending grad school full time was certainly a recipe for repetitive wall hitting.  On top of it all I had it in my head that I wanted to finish with all A's so this obviously increased pressure to do well in my courses.  Despite all the restless nights, stress, and challenges of school, I finished my program in late July (with all A's!).  It still hasn't sunk in yet!  Part of what helped me power through the last few months was simply the thought of how many wonderful things I could do once I finished school.  I even started a Pinterest board focused on things I wanted to do after grad school.

It's funny how you miss the simple things when you are overloaded and consumed with school.  Here are a few things I added to my "happy list" of things to do...

Baking

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Though I have no problem whipping up a yummy dinner for my hubby, I have never been much of a baker.  I've made cookies here and there but nothing fancy or really challenging.  Baking seems to be one of those things that isn't quite as intuitive for me so I would love to take a baking class and learn some great tips.  Though the more I think about it I could probably learn just as many amazing tips by spending more time with my Mom while she is baking. :)

Reading

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As I child I LOVED to read.  I would spend many days lost in the pages of Nancy Drew and Anne of Green Gables.  As my studies and activities increased my reading went by the wayside.  It was silly but I felt that I spent so much time on school work I didn't want to read in my spare time.  It doesn't make sense, I know... but it's just how I felt.  I started to fall back in love with reading when I picked up the Twilight Saga (yes, please laugh at my nerdiness) and since then I've been finding so many books I've wanted to read.  While I did read books here and there throughout grad school, I am so happy to know that I can now devote more time to reading books for leisure and not for class.  I have SO many on my list!!!

Exercise

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Once again, this is another thing that shouldn't have gone by the wayside during grad school.  But to be honest I'm not a morning person (I'd like to change that) and when I would get home from work I had to start my homework right away.  I'm looking forward to becoming a healthier version of myself.

More Dates!

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

One of the hardest things about grad school was definitely a lack of time for each other.  My hubby and I both acknowledged that there were many times we just wanted some quality "us" time and we just couldn't fit it into our schedule.  There were many nights where it felt like we didn't see each other as he would spend all night in the one room while I would be studying in the other.  With this in mind I'm excited to try different local restaurants and attractions in our area and am looking forward to quality time with my darling husband.  

Well the list isn't very long but it's a great way to get started on enjoying my free time.  I'm looking forward to writing new posts about building or buying a home (ooh!) and all the wonderful happy times in our future.

~Christi