Hooded and Educated

The time has finally arrived.... I have officially received my Master's of Science in Applied Criminology!!!!!! This day and weekend was by far the happiest moment in my life so far. I could not have made it this far and where I am today without my Lord and Savior, my supportive family, and my amazing friends and graduate school program. To all of the people who dealt with my complaining, my bitching and whining over all the reading and 20 page papers I had, who saw me cry and stress to the max, who accompanied me to the library until 2 am, and who motivated me to get through the hard work.... a huge THANK YOU!!!! 

Just passed my internship defense!

One of my best friends I met at NAU... received his MBA!

Pre-graduation celebration with the brother

3 generations <3

After graduation I was finally able to breathe... although it still has not hit me yet! I have been able to spend time with my close friends and relax... This means lots of pool time and soaking up the sun, reading for fun, and beautiful runs outside......

...AND FINALLY VISITING THE GRAND CANYON

Spending the day with no plans, 80 degree weather, and with two of my great friends was such a blessing! Who knew just gazing at rocks and a huge hole in the ground could be so relaxing? I was also lucky enough to have my amazing family and grandparents here for Mother's Day.

Happy Train

I have been hit by the happy train. The past few weeks I have been filled with positivity, high hopes, support, love, sincerity, laughter, faith, old friends, new friends, generosity, and success. The list goes on. Quite the change from my last few blogs... It's amazing what time, prayer, and surrounding yourself with good people can do. I can only give thanks to the big man upstairs for the joy that has filled my heart and the peace that has eased my mind lately.

I ran my second Pat Tillman run (4.2 miles) on April 13, 2012 with my mom and dear friends Deana and Julie. I even got to run into an old friend, Dane. What an INCREDIBLE race! Last year it was packed... the ASU Sundevil Stadium was filled with sweaty and passionate people from all backgrounds. This year the race was sold out... 30,000 people ran!!! Talk about feeling like something bigger than yourself. Not only did I get a great work out in and beat my time last year by a few minutes... I was supporting a great cause and taking part in an awesome event.

Me and my inspiration and best friend... my mom!

 My best friend Deana and I

Julie and I post-run with Baxter 

2 in 1- huge Pat Tillman jersey and ridiculous lines for the port-o-pottys

Trying to be sneaky and throw up the Lumberjacks... boo ASU ;)

Because my internship defense has been scheduled and my classes are finished... I have much more time to enjoy the little things in life and in Flagstaff that I will miss oh so dearly when I leave. I feel like at any minute I can cry tears of happiness that I will be leaving so soon with a Master's Degree in my hands. 

I have been soaking up as much outdoorsy activities as I can... 

The beautiful long runs

Sedona creek days

Macy's European Coffee House

I plan on spending the rest of my time here until moving doing many things:

• FINALLY visiting the Grand Canyon (no I have never been... don't ask me how)
• Running Walnut Canyon and Buffalo Park (two great running trails)
• Spending Cinco de Mayo in the heart of downtown Flagstaff with my close friends
• Preparing for my internship defense and peeing my pants of excitement
• Crying because I'm happy
• Packing...
• Crying because I'm sad
• Saying goodbye to my Chi Omega sisters that have been on this journey with me the past four years 
• Crying because I'm scared for adult life
• Graduating and celebrating with my wonderful family and friends
• Smiling because I'm proud I followed my dreams :)  

The hidden treasures as of late? 

Hearing from old friends and being able to touch other people's hearts

My support system

Being able to read non-school related books

80 degree weather