He did it!!!!

I can't tell you how proud I am to be writing this post...Benjamin graduated with his Masters in mechanical engineering from Johns Hopkins University this past week!  He has worked so hard the past almost three years to achieve this goal while working full time and still being a fantastic husband and I could not be more proud of him!  I wish I could share his GPA with you but then he'd be mad so let's just say it was a really good one :)

Last Wednesday, his parents, sister, and I drove up to JHU campus to watch him walk across the stage.  What was supposed to be a nice, outdoor event turned into a standing-room only thing.  The ceremony was supposed to be in Hopkins stadium, where we would sit on the bleachers and watch everyone walk across the stage, rain or shine.  Then it started raining with the threat of storms so as we were leaving to go to the campus, Ben texted saying that it was moved indoors to the recreational center and it would be standing room only.  I quickly changed from my sandals to some comfy wedges, thinking that if we were standing in the back, I'd at least have a better chance of seeing him over all the chairs if I was a few inches taller.  Turns out he meant that everybody was standing and the only seats were for the professors and the Phd students.  So when we arrived, we stood near the back and couldn't hear a thing or see a thing.  We tried to pull up the live stream of the graduation and weren't able to.  At least we had positioned ourselves near the food that would be available after the ceremony.  After waiting for about an hour and fifteen minutes, his group was coming up in the program so we decided to push our way to the front.  We were determined to see him walk across the stage!  I ever so politely squeezed my way to the front so I could at least get some pictures while his family found gaps to look through to watch him walk.  Once he was done, we returned back to our spot to wait for him and for the food.  Only people started mobbing the food once it was over, not even letting the workers get the temporary fences out of the way!  I was able to grab two meatballs and that was it.  Needless to say, we hit up a Burger King on our way home for dinner.  While it wasn't quite the ceremony we were hoping for, we did get to see Ben walk the stage, receive his diploma, and celebrate!

 

I took this picture from verrrrry far away, so please excuse the blurriness.  It was hard to hold the camera still.

 

The graduates had to wait above the rec. center gym, on the track.

 

Waiting his turn!  By now we had made our way to the front to see him.

 

So proud of my man!!!

Happy birthday Riley!

Today we celebrated our furbaby's 4th birthday!!!  We got Riley a month after we were married and we can't believe she's four!  She brings us so much joy and makes us smile every day!  To celebrate, Riley enjoyed a nice long nap on the couch while we were at work.  Then she posed in a birthday hat for me (while trying to take it off at the same time), and did a fantastic "leave it" with her birthday cookie so I could snap some pictures!  Her human grandparents got her some delicious birthday cookies and bully sticks, which she enjoyed chewing on this evening.  Happy birthday Riles!!!

 

Waiting for her birthday breakfast!

 

She did not like the birthday hat at all.

 

But she was so adorable!

 

Ben helped me torture her.

 

Wanting her cookie so so badly!

 

"Where's the rest of them mom?"

Spring Break, Part 2

Here is my follow up post about my spring break in Texas!!!  I left off after we had seen Beauty and the Beast musical.  The next day was a relaxing day.  We spent it doing laundry and packing for our trip back to Maryland the next day.  Even though Kayla and I had to leave, Hannah and Karissa came with us!  They came to Maryland to visit for Easter so we had fun experiencing flying with a baby!  Karissa was great and Hannah was a pro at getting them through the airport and onto the plane!  It was sad when we touched down in MD but we had a great week together!

 

Who needs toys when you have a box to play with?

 

Karissa's 9 month pictures!

 

The pictures get harder to take when she can escape!

 

She just found out she's going to be a big sister :)

 

Rocking the jean skirt like a pro.

 

Where Hannah and Andrew work!

 

See ya later Texas!