Step One Complete

I've reached the light!

I thought this moment would never come, but it came and it went. After all the work, studying, classes, having to deal with Sac State's horrible administration system... it's over. The light at the end of the tunnel finally came.

My best friend, Dan, my parents, and I all went to Power Balance Pavilion (dude, whatever. It'll always be Arco arena). Once we parked, I went to the graduate area and met up with some friends while Dan and my parents went to get a seat. All the psych graduates were hanging out and gleeing over the fact that, holy crap, we're finally done! We stayed around for a while, talking, jittering, taking pictures, and congratulating everyone we knew because hey, we're done. We went outside, took more pictures with Justine's family, went back inside, and started to line up to enter the ceremony.

Justine and me.

It was a very exciting moment. It didn't really hit us until we started to walk in. The ceremony was pretty boring, but it was all worth it. We then started to walk, and that's when it really hit us! Hey! We're walking, we're graduates, we have walked over step one (for some of us) on the path to our careers.

The goal for the ceremony while we were walking was to not trip. We didn't. Success!

A lot of hugs, smiles, some jumping (on my part), and more congratulations. We switched our tassel and went back outside, where we all found our families and took more pictures.

Leah, Justine, me, Jamie.

Parents and me. 

Dan and me.

What happens when you don't pay attention. 

After the ceremony, my dad had to go to work, so Dan, my mom, and I went to Red Robin to get food and celebrate with some fruity drinks. I was still all giddy from graduation and the fact that holy crap I'm done!!! A lot of fun times started to go on.


So, after Red Robin, Dan and I slept a bit because we were both tired. After our nap, we met up with Asa and Frank at Sam Horne's Tavern in Folsom for some more celebrating. And let me tell you, we (mostly I) celebrated. The whole night was pretty fun. We made some plans for the morning after, which, when you're celebrating, doesn't dawn on you that it will most likely hurt. Whatev. I'm a champ. I think.

Yeah, the morning hurt, but it was still fun. I met up with Frank and Asa and we went up to Tahoe to meet up with some of Asa's family. After getting sick (I never get car sick but hello, hangover!), which was a blessing in disguise, and eating some yummy food with Asa's family, we went to the lake and hung out, talked, and enjoyed good company.

Quote of the trip, "I don't always drink, but when I do, I make sure my liver knows its job." You're a champ, Old Blackie. You're a champ.

We came back home, I took a nap, and got the mountain bike ready to ride with Frank, Asa, and Cab. 19.5 miles of torture. It was an easy, easy ride, but my liver thought otherwise. It was pretty painful. In those few miles, I actually drank my whole CamelBak. "Drink, Kasea. Drink drink drink."
"Ugh, no mas."

Came home, chilled, watched movies, had fun, passed out, slept like crap. I did a road ride in the morning in which I felt as strong as a baby deer. I'm pretty sure I didn't "recover" from celebrating until noon on Sunday.

Went to see my horse and then had dinner, in which the question, "What's next?" popped up. I said I had a second interview for the Doctoral program in Sacramento. I know that I've mentioned that I was going to move to the Bay Area, but that program lost its APA accreditation, so that's out. There's one in Pleasant Hill that I like. So, I get asked, "What if you make it into the Sacramento one?" Well, then I made it in. Moving would be awesome. So many what ifs. New life, new people, new friends, new cycling. I know a few people there and a bunch of my cycling friends go there often. The riding is amazing. Sacramento is home, though, and I already have a bunch of cycling friends, family, and I'm the area's "registration girl." Choices. If I don't make it into the Sacramento program though, I have made another plan that doesn't involve me moving, but... I know. It's easy being a single 25-year-old girl with no commitments. I can just up and leave if I wanted to. The temptation is there.

After dinner, in which I scored a $50 gift card to Folsom Bike from my friends, I went out with Brandon to celebrate both of our graduations. I didn't get to go to his graduation party because I was dealing with some issues with my horse, but we still celebrated. A psych graduate and a nursing graduate in Midtown. It was fun. We even watched a Drag show that was going on in Faces and it was pretty amusing. I'm happy I got to spend time with him and we're planning on doing a huge celebration before he moves to Texas.

What a fun weekend. The picture on the left pretty much sums it up. Let's see what the future brings. I'm out of one tunnel... I guess the next logical step is to walk into a darker and longer one. I'm excited!