Graduaciones :) !!

Its lovely outside.. I like warm, rainy afternoons. Sitting at my desk, facing the windows of my room, I can hear the water fall through the leaves of the trees, the mild wind dance around, and the birds chirping..

After two days of relaxing at home with no pressing matters to tend to, everything around me is easier to enjoy. Even the fact that I don’t dare go out in the rain –which means I will have to pay a $7 dollar late fee at the library—doesn’t bother me. I’ll just have to make up for the expense elsewhere (yes, even when relaxed I am my stingy self).

The last two weeks were absolutely hectic. The end of the semester for me was only a few hours away from my flight to Dallas, which only caused me to take that first plane with a tired mind and body –I hadn’t slept for the last three nights, and I had just presented my research project during a 6-hour presentation marathon at HDS.

Going back to my alma matter –and most importantly—to my good friends Fernando and Janie was more than worth it, though. It was a good way to decompress and “reward” myself for the hard work. Graduation week was a good incentive, I have to admit.

The first day in Dallas I spent at Janie’s, for the most part relaxing, catching up with her and her husband, playing with the doggies and watching TV. I’m so glad she was able to pick me up from the airport… we got to talk and vent and joke around. Much needed girl time. That afternoon we went out to a restaurant on Greenville and had a good time with Fernando and his sister. It felt like old times… it was just us, being stupid and making fun of each other and annoying the poor waiter to death. The burgers were absolutely amazing, by the way. Or maybe I was just really hungry but wow.. big and juicy and grilled to perfection! Mine had bacon and BBQ sauce.. mmm.. Im getting hungry again…

After dinner Janie and I saw a TV show while working on her home improvement project. Im so jealous of her! I want a house of my own to work on too :) ! It was a lot of fun, though the wall paper refused to come off and we ended up giving up on it and sleeping on the couch! Hehe..

The next morning Fer’s girlfriend Stephanie and I headed over to SMU.. Good Lord, I hadn’t been there in so long! It was good to be there again. Commencement was looong and boring, except for the craziness of figuring out where Fer was at any given time and finding his family in that huge sports center. We went out to eat after that but were not able to finish it because of timing.. Fer had another ceremony and we ran out of the restaurant, take-home platters in hand, and headed back to SMU for the specific Engineering School Diploma Ceremony. I think I enjoyed that second ceremony a lot more. It took place in the large theater by Umphrey Lee, but it felt much cozier than the sports center. I went downstairs to look for Fer and got a lot of it on video. I gave those to him once we got back to his house (it was GREAT to talk to his mom and her husband… he has theological inclinations and the three of us just talked the evening away!) and I hope he saved them because I had to erase many of them in order to take video of Misael’s graduation, which was the next day. I made sure to make a copy for his grandma before we left for one of Stephanie’s friends’ graduation dinner.

So the next day, early in the morning, Janie and I drove to the wrong airport. I didn’t even realize where we were heading until I saw the actual building. Poor Janie had to turn around and drive to Love Field.. we didn’t hurry too much and I still made it to my flight on time! I always get these airport adventures… good thing we left the house early :)

I got to El Paso right on time, and Misael and Abi picked me up… They were a bit late because my parents had not been able to find their passports on time to pick me up. Dad and Mom did catch up with us at my aunt Sandra’s house… It was a stressful hour or so, though, because we were afraid Mom and Dad were not going to make it to Misael’s baccalaureate, which was to take place that afternoon. But Mom found the passports and Sarai and her family joined them, and we all took showers at my aunt’s place, got all dressed up, and drove back to LPI for a fun, beautiful ceremony. I think I may have embarrassed my poor little brother, getting every single movement of his on video.. but I couldn’t help myself. They had a wonderful candle ceremony, and Misael, being part of the Lay Ministry group, was one of the ceremony participants. He was loud and clear and he looked so handsome :) ! After the service we took pics with Misael, and he and Abi took pics with their high school friends.. it was a lot of fun.

I also got to see some of my old high school friends and teachers, got a wedding invitation, and was even offered a teaching position! Though right now it is not possible for me to teach at LPI, being offered a position there was a personal achievement for me. I was very happy.

After the ceremony and the pictures we headed over to Olive Garden.. the first was full to the rim, so we drove to a second one and got in within the minute. We were our loud, talkative selves, and we cheered Misael, and we had a hearty semi-Italian meal, and all were merry :)!

The next day Misael went to my aunt’s place after taking Abi to school, and we watched a little TV while waiting for her to be done with school. Around 11 or so we went to LPI to pick her and Sharon (his girlfriend) up, and we went to the mall for some shopping and then headed to the movies. It was a fun, warm day, and I just loved being able to spend time with my siblings.

The following day was Misael’s commencement, so everybody was at my aunt’s house early that day getting ready. We went to the mall that morning, did some shopping, and had lunch with my aunt Betty and her kids. We headed over to the theatre where they held the ceremony (I think this time we were actually early to it) and found good seats, to the side of where Misael was going to sit. The ceremony was very nice, they had a good speaker, and Misael took the walk :) Afterwards the usual picture taking ensued, and then we were off for dinner.

Misael and Abi stayed with me the next day and we bummed around in my aunt’s house watching TV and eating a lot… the usual vacation time activities. Hehe… that night my grandparents, my uncle Dario and his family, and my aunt Mari and her family came to my aunt Sandra's house to visit my siblings and me. They congratulated Misael and me, and we had dinner together and watched movies and talked about wedding stuff with my cousin Rocio, who just recently got married through the civil court to Walker. They will be getting married this July. My grandparents lead a prayer for them and the life they are about to start together.... So much to celebrate!

And then the airport craziness happened the following day, which extended my traveling time back to Boston for another day. But here I am.. blogging away.. happy that I have little else to do :)! Pictures and video clips to follow.