Josh's Law School Graduation

Wow, I can't believe little Joshua has finished Law School. It doesn't seem possible. It seems like just the other day he was just a little kid. I tried to find the picture I keep telling him about, but I couldn't find it. Darn.

Anyhow, I took the day off so I could sleep in a little and get some rest. I ended waking up at 6:30 because it was 2.5 hours after my normal time of waking up and I couldn't sleep anymore. I did a few things on the computer, then proceeded to head to the store to finish getting the fruit for the ginormous fruit salad I was taking to the party after the graduation. C had picked up most of the fruit on Wednesday, but I still needed the watermelons. Yes, melonS. There were going to be about 30 adults at this party so the salad needed to be big and refreshing. My trip to the store took far longer than planned and I got home around 11 a.m. which was not good because we needed to leave by 2 p.m. for Tempe and I still hadn't cut up any of the fruit nor showered! I was none too happy, to say the least. I proceeded to cut up all the cantaloupes, watermelons, strawberries, blackberries, kiwis, pineapples, and saved the bananas for when we got to the party. I was worried about what to do with the salad goodies because it was 105* that day and it would have to sit in our truck for about 3 hours while we were traveling and at the graduation. We ended up filling an ice chest with a ton of ice and I put all the fruit in ziploc bags down in the fruit. By the time we got to the party at Lisa's, it was ice cold and so refreshing, but absolutely no spoilage! What a great salad it turned out to be (even if there was a potty word uttered over it and consequently tears and prayers but that's a whole other story)!

The graduation was really nice. It was held at the Gammage Auditorium in Tempe and we could see everything. I took my fancy pants camera with me, along with my big ol' telephoto lens, but have since decided that I need to invest in some image stabilizer lenses for it. Plus, I need to take my own photography advice to heart. When shooting in the dark and not having a tripod, don't try to focus on the subject - especially if they are far away. The picture will just come out dark and you'll miss the shot - or the subject will move and it will be blurry. I practiced and practiced before the whole shebang started to make sure I'd get a good picture. But, when the time arrived to capture this once in a lifetime moment, I failed miserably. Just find the subject in the viewfinder and push the dadgum button down quick. You'll be glad you did.

So...without further adieu, here are some EDITED pictures that hopefully are a little better than what they looked like 1o minutes ago:


It's too bad the last picture didn't turn out. Josh is smiling looking at his diploma holder. What a great achievement!

We headed to Lisa's for the big BBQ party. We finished getting things ready and waited for everyone to arrive. The food was great and the party was a lot of fun. It was nice to see family and play with this extremely cute baby that was there. The day ALMOST made me want to go back to school for my Masters, but then I thought about it a little more and decided there just was no way right now.

It was sad to say goodbye to Josh and Mere...they've been a fun crew to hang out with the last few years and it will be weird not having them here anymore (they're moving back to California on Sunday). Josh - love ya....will miss all your kidding around with me...oh, and I'm proud of you. Now, go pass that little bar exam and make some money.