and this......
and this.......
I FINALLY GRADUATED FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA!!! My goodness it feels great to finally be able to say that! It feels so surreal to be able to say that I am an alumni. But, I am!! I graduated and I am now a certified teacher. It's so crazy! I couldn't be any happier about it (even though there are NO jobs!) I would like to just say that this has been the toughest 5 years of my life! I know college is hard, but this was intense. The last two years have been the worst, which those were also the major classes. I wouldn't have made it without my best friends Melanie, Whitney, and Bridgett. Melanie is the one who is always ahead and keeps you in the know of what's due. Whitney is the one that has the answers to everything. And then there's Bridgett. Oh, Bridgett! Bridgett and I go together like peanut butter and jelly. She and I are the WORST procrastinators ever! I'm not lying to you when I say we have had assignments due at midnight and we start working on them at 11 with only one hour left to turn in a 5 page paper! It was really dumb, and looking back on it....I wouldn't change a thing! You see, Bridgett and I are what you call....for a lighter term "BS'ers." I am very good at coming up with things that sound great on the fly and through many nights and assignments with me, I trained my best friend. I don't know what I'm going to do without these friends. If I could choose the perfect job we would all be at the same school teaching 2nd grade. It would be the best thing ever!
The day before graduation, Melanie, Whitney and I took pictures on campus. Bridgett was busy and couldn't come but I did manage to get one of her during the ceremony. Here are some graduation pictures for your viewing pleasure.
Can't you tell I'm so excited?!
Bridgett and Me
Melanie, Me, and Whitney in front of the one and only Bryant-Denny Stadium. Home of the 13 National Championships!
The "Bear" and Me. Too bad Nick Saban's isn't up yet. But don't you worry, I will have my picture with his as soon as it gets here!
Kissing the Bear goodbye! Alabama loves the "Bear."
In front of the building that took up way too much of our time and money!
Inside that same building
I hate that this one was so blurry :(
In front of the President's Mansion
After graduation, Justin's parents surprised us with a trip to the beach! We went were we always go, Panama City Beach, Florida. It's our favorite beach destination besides going on a cruise! We stayed at the Shores of Panama condos and they were SO nice! I had to finish some school things that Tuesday, so Justin's mom and dad went on to the beach and Justin waited on me to finish what I had to finish, then he came and picked me up and we headed to Florida!
When we finally got there Justin's parents had already went to eat dinner. Justin and I went in, got dressed and headed to dinner. Side note: dinner is the most important thing when going on vacation with my family (mine and Justin's side.) Planning dinner is just as important as planning the trip! Anyway, we talked about where we wanted to go eat and we decided to go to Pier Park and eat at The Back Porch! It's our new favorite restaurant! It just opened up two years ago and we were very excited to be going back! I ordered the fish and chips basket which came with mahi mahi and amberjack and two sides. Justin had the amberjack platter and his came with two or three sides. They were SO good! There's just something about eating fresh seafood at the beach!
After dinner, we walked through Pier Park and walked on down to the Candymaker Candy Store!! Yumm!! We looked through all of that yummy candy and decided to buy some peanut butter fudge! It was so good, well, what I got to try of it! Justin had the entire thing eaten but I'll tell you more about that later. We came back to the condo, got ready for bed and Justin ate most of the fudge right then.
The next morning we woke up to this.....
and this.....
It was such a beautiful day! We woke up and grabbed some breakfast and walked down to the beach to lay out. This is where Justin and I disagree. He doesn't like to spend as much time at the beach as I do, so he got bored and wanted to go in. But, I laid there on the towel on the sand and just enjoyed soaking up the sun! It was so nice. After laying out, we went inside and got showers to get ready to go to lunch. For lunch we went to Red Robin. We don't have a Red Robin where we're from so we like to eat it there when we have the chance. I had the Whiskey River BBQ Burger and Justin had the Burnin' Love Burger. They were SO good!
After lunch, we went to the pier at Pier Park. We walked around and watched the fisherman catch some fish and stare at some pretty cool marine life! There were TONS and I mean TONS of sting rays! It was pretty creepy. They were up to the shore where the waves were crashing into the sand. It was ridiculous. There were also TONS of dolphins! I guess these poor animals are trying to get away from the oil spill.
After the pier, we went to the store and bought some lottery tickets and scratch off tickets! lol We just love to buy them and think for a moment, "what if?" Hey...people can dream right?! Anyway, Justin went inside and bought a whole bunch of scratch off tickets and I, of course, got to scratch them off because that's the funnest part! We only won $2 that day and then the day we left we won $1 so not much luck! We didn't win the lottery either. But, Justin says "we'll get it next time!" So optimistic lol
After this, we came back and took showers and got ready to go to dinner. We went to Pineapple Willy's which is our favorite! Justin and I ordered the ribs because, well that's what you're supposed to get at Pineapple Willy's! Justin's dad ordered a steak and his mom ordered a grouper plate. Our food was super yummy! We also sat on the pier to eat and watched a beautiful sunset. After dinner, we walked back to the condo because it's right next door and we went down to the beach for a while. This is where I talked to Justin and told him all about my fear of natural disasters, i.e. hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes. He learned something new about me because I had never told him about it before. The topic came up because everytime the water went back I was scared it was going to be a tsunami! Hey, it's my biggest fear! He then went on to tell me how crazy I was and then we went back to the condo to go to bed while he finished off the rest of the fudge. I had ONE bite, and I bought it!
The next morning we got up and had breakfast and then came back to find something fun to do that day. We decided we wanted to go on a boat ride and we went on the Sea Screamer! It's a big, fast, yellow boat and it's amazing! It's a two hour ride and they take you all around the different islands and show you a bunch of dolphins. We had a great time, even though we got pretty burnt!
After the boat ride, we came back in and got showers. Of course, we had to have a family meeting about where to go to dinner because, as I've told you already, dinner is a big deal at the beach. So, we all thought about it and decided to go back to The Back Porch. It also helped that we had two coupons for free appetizers lol We got there and Justin and I ordered the seafood nachos. I wasn't too keen on ordering these just because, well the two don't sound appetizing together! But, I was so glad that we did! This was a HUGE plate of nachos. I'm not lying when I say it could have fed four people for a MEAL! Good thing it was big though because Justin and I were eating that thing in copious amounts!! Justin's poor dad really wanted them too but his mom ordered them onion rings. But, the onion rings were HUGE and good! They came in a picnic basket if that gives you a perspective of how many there were!
After dinner we walked around Pier Park. We went over to Kilwin's which is a candy store. They have the best and biggest variety but they are so much more expensive than the Candymaker. So, we left Kilwin's, stopped by the As Seen on TV Store, then we walked down to the Candymaker! I made Justin buy us more peanut butter fudge, he also bought some vanilla fudge too. It was so good! I bought a HUGE peanut butter chocolate cup and it was delicious as well as a turtle! After that, we came back to the condo because it was time to pack it up :( We only had a short little stay because we had a furry little girl waiting at the vet for us to pick her up!
The next morning we woke up and went to Dunkin' Donuts. Again, some of you may be thinking, "What's the big deal?" Well, I've never had Dunkin' Donuts before. So, we went and they were SO good! I ordered three doughnuts lol I got a maple glazed, original glazed, and a chocolate cake glazed. They were all wonderful! I can't wait to find another one nearby so I can try them again! We then made our way on back home to pick up Trixi loo! She was very happy to see us!! But, we were even happier to see her, but don't tell her that! She's spoiled enough as it is!
Now, we're in the process of packing and moving. I can't believe I have accumulated so much STUFF over four years! It's ridiculous! I have only packed teaching things and I already have 5 boxes of just teaching stuff! And you wouldn't believe all the stuff I threw away!! This is stuff I actually NEED! Tomorrow I'm tackling clothes and shoes and then it's going to be personal items and bathroom stuff, then the kitchen! We have to get out of here next Friday so we're going to be busy!!
Also, I need everyone to say a little prayer for me when you pray. As you know, I graduated and I am now an Elementary School teacher!! Well, pro-ration is a jerk and I need a job! I have talked to a principal at home that is hiring a position and she emailed me tonight to let me know that she wants to meet with me! So, pray that it works out and I will get that job!! Sorry for the extremely long post, but I like to remember what is going on in my life!! I will leave you with the rest of the beach pictures! Peace out girl scout! =)
On the pier.
Justin and me on the pier
Sting rays!! Ahh!!
Justin at Pineapple Willy's
The pretty sunset at Pineapple Willy's
Justin and me at Pineapple Willy's. Poor guy
can never keep his eyes open!
Unless he makes this silly face! Bless his heart!
He's going to have to practice pictures before our
save the date, engagement, and wedding pictures!
The Treasure Ship! One of our favorite restaurants
burnt to a crisp! =(
Justin and me on the Sea Screamer
Goofy looking bird
Shell Island
Dolphins!!
Crabs that we caught on our boat!
