Random Photo Entry 5

The unofficial theme of this entry is "DONE!" And no, I didn't make this all jumbo-sized on purpose.


Above: This is a really old screenshot of the first time my virtual restaurant (Restaurant City) reached the top rating (50.0). This is how backlogged I've been!

Above: More backlog... From July 4th -- a zucchini bread that I baked.

Above: This was the stack of papers I tossed in the recycle bin this morning. Now that I have (presumptiously) finished with my exams in grad school, I am no longer afraid to let go of this stuff. Of course, I kept some stuff for future reference, but besides this stack almost hurting my back to carry, I am happy to get some extra space back!

Above: This is a necklace that "The Ukrainian" brought back to me from Hawaii. I think it's very pretty!!

Above: One night recently, I whipped up a small pot of pumpkin oatmeal with just a tiny bit of Splenda but otherwise no sweetners. It tasted great cold!

Above: Finally, the best for last. I went to go pick up my diploma this week and was slightly in awe that there was actually one for me. Still can't believe it! Hopefully I'll have another one of these in two years!

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I am attempting to spend this three-day weekend thinking as little as possible after those nine hours of testing over these past two days. I will worry about my next steps next week, but for now, I am excited to not feel guilty every free moment I have that I am not studying. I must say it is a really weird feeling, and I hope that although I still have class, dissertation, and field hours to worry about, I can start functioning like a normal person again soon. Life never seems to slow down these days, me having to divide my time on limited energy between everything. But... I (presumptuously) won't have to study for another test for the rest of my time in grad school.

Also, during this week, I ran two honestly wonderful 6.2 milers, though the hip protested (a little bit) later, I am hoping that I can spend more time running again!

Last night, "The Ukrainian" and I spent the evening at the mall where we had a nice, healthy dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and then played at Dave and Buster's. It was something we do periodically but was extra fun since I slowly getting more relaxed as the realization of "complete"ness settled in. I won 500 tickets spinning a wheel (I never win those big prizes!... he also got lucky because he kept finding money on the floor all night!).