Graduation Ceremony

The main event of the holiday travel extravaganza was for the graduation ceremony at St Andrews.  Here is me being honest for a moment... my time in St Andrews was great.  I met incredible people, I saw a lot of the world, and I have pictures and memories to last a lifetime.  My actual class experience was not so much fun and left much to be desired.  But, I still went back for graduation because even if the outcome wasn't what I had hoped for, I put in the time and the work and needed to see it through to the end.  I am so very thankful that I had the support of my family and having them there made it all worth it.  Plus, the ceremony is pretty cool.

In the Quad with the family

I don't know if I would have made it through the whole year without this girl... My friend Jenny

  

Principal and Vice-Chancellor Ms. Louise Richardson 

The choir singing to the graduates

Very formal

As I am walking out to present my hood to be sworn in

Being tapped with the cloth from John Knox

This kid can make me smile no matter what is going on... Christiaan is just too much fun

Mom and I after the ceremony

Mom came to Houston

My Mom was finally able to make it to Houston to hang out and see my place.  We had a great visit, got a lot of things done around my place, explored some new areas of town and even went to Louisiana to see Merle Haggard.  Overall, a very successful trip.

Mom helped me get my living room all set up

She hung my rack and shot glass wall box

Clint made his way onto the wall and the spare room is ready for guests

My rocking chair from when I was a babe was re-painted and has a perfect home in the spare room

I lugged the items up the stairs to my place, she put them together while I was at work... and I have a dancing fox to make me smile (really it is my Mom's, she left it here)

Bathroom has color

And a little bit of Texas.. this thing makes me laugh.  Every time.

My room still needs some work, but is so much better with book shelves and pictures on the wall

Went to Old Town Spring to buy paint and found a great bar with outdoor seating and live music

Stopped for brunch on our way to Louisiana

This is why Texas is great, puffy taco, potatoes, beans, and bacon enchiladas with an egg... O.M.Gosh

Mother-Daughter selfie before Merle

The Oakie himself

It was a great show and I love my new Hagg hat

Mom got a nice Hagg pin and even won a little money at the casino before the show

Christmas

This Christmas the family decided we needed to mix it up a bit and wear some bright and fun Christmas sweaters.  This group is awesome!

Mom's tree all decorated and pretty

I love my Grandparents... I dare you to not smile when you look at this

Martha and Giulio went the more classic route with their sweaters

Mom and Roland in Christmas sweaters from Ireland

Uncle Bret and Aunt Susie are pretty adorable... I don't know about the t-shirts in December, but I am always cold

Jenni and Kevin got into the spirit

Uncle Barry and Aunt Sue bring bright and classy and tons-o-fun to the party

All the grandkids... we are a good looking group

I was only home for a few days for Christmas, but even got to see the siblings during my trip

My nephew would kiss the dog and then get his face licked in return.. he thought it was hysterical 

All the half sisters full of whole love

This just makes my heart swell with love

This niece of mine is so much like her Momma it cracks us up... maybe not my sister, but the rest of us think it is a riot

Unfortunately my brother and my other nephew were too engrossed in their video games during the night to get a photo taken... next trip I will get them.

Graduation Trip Extravaganza

After being in Houston for about a month and a half, I was back in the air and traveling with my family back to the UK for my graduation ceremony.  We decided to make a nice holiday out of it, and so eight of us (yup, 8... Grandparents, Mom, Roland, Uncle Bret, Stacey and Kelley and me) took off and spent almost three weeks traveling Scotland and Ireland.  A week in the Scottish Highlands, a week working our way all around Ireland with the world's greatest tour guide, Eamon, and then back to St Andrews for some fun party nights and a graduation ceremony full of traditions and colorful robes.  I wish I could show you all that we saw, or talk about every place we went, but there is just too much.  Here is a collection of some of the highlights.  I cannot encourage anyone that wants to travel to get out there and go.  Outside airfare, there are so many options for saving money and having a great time, and the sights and memories are worth so much more.

Changing planes in London

Family portrait in Glencoe

How cute is this mother/daughter duo?

Mom, Roland, and the world's largest bottle of Scotch

Our hotel in the Highlands

Moving across to the other island, we have Ireland:

Trinity College Library

Guinness Factory

Exactly

When you get a free pint at the rooftop bar and you are in a large group

 

Mother/Daughter... matching tops, neither really drank any, but too cute not to photograph

Panoramic of Dublin 

Kilkenny castle

 

How cute is the family?

How our day started at the Cliffs of Moher

By the time we left the fog had rolled back out

Even on a grey day in winter, they were still beautiful

 

A view of County Sligo, where Grandpa's family is from

 

Sibling cheese

 

Grandma at Blarney Castle

The view from where you hang off to kiss the Blarney stone

So happy that Mom was able to climb up and kiss the Blarney Stone... her knee surgery has been a huge blessing

View from the top of the Blarney Castle

Borrowed from Stacey... but here is our Ireland guide Eamon... this man was incredible!

 Back to Scotland to round out the trip

Grandpa on the green outside the Royal and Ancient Golf Club

Uncle Bret at the Royal and Ancient

Grandpa, Mom, Me and Bret on THE bridge

St Andrews' town cat has his own statue

Grandparents and William Wallace outside the Edinburgh Castle

Our last night in Edinburgh before coming back to the States was spent at the Christmas market