Jennifer's Graduation.

Today my sister Jennifer graduated from college.  My wife, roommate, and myself drove to Minneapolis to celebrate with her on the day of her achievement.  

It threatened to rain so they presented the students with their diplomas first, stating that it was the most important part of the ceremony and thus the highest priority.  

Here Jennifer walks to be presented with a Pin and letter.  The individual diplomas are given by the faculty as they walk back to their seats. 

Jennifer graduated with a degree in Russian and Anthropology.  It's a tough time to be looking for a job, Jennifer will see one of the most competitive job markets we have ever seen.  I know that she has what it takes to be successful though, and with a mixture of good grades, job experience, and an excellent leadership track record, she'll be able to bring a lot to whatever company she ends up working for.

 

I met Jennifer's boyfriend Dexter, who has suffered through several bad jokes based on Showtime's Dexter series, as well as childish sibling rivalries.  He is a great sport, and has been a really wonderful presence these past couple days.  Furthermore, he seems to make Jennifer very happy.  Congratulations to both of you on this memorable day!

I look forward to relaxing the next couple of days in Minneapolis and spending time with my sister and other seldom seen family.

Anniversary

Lauren and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary last night. Lauren tells me we're a very unusual couple. So in the spirit of being unusual, we went out for desert and watched the new Shrek movie in high-def 3d.

We then went to Lowe's and bought two little fruit trees that we planted. We'll be able to look back and see how much they grow over our upcoming years together. We also opted not to get gifts, but instead set aside money in a new savings account to put towards a trip for the two of us.

Graduation

This weekend Lauren and I went to our friend Melissa's Graduation.

Afterwards we went to a BBQ to celebrate Melissa's achievement.  The whole event made me look back at my graduation, and the uncertainty and chaos it brought with it.  It was a time of transition, of new untold challenges and opportunities.  I hope Melissa's graduation presents new challenges and opportunities in her new chapter of life as well.

Congratulations!

Cage The Elephant

Last night I went out to see Cage the Elephant play at a bar in Johnson City. They were amazing. I had seen a very small portion of their show at Bonnarroo last year, but missed most of it to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs!

The sound recording on my Droid is absolutely terrible, so be warned! The lead singer spent the majority of the last song in the audience, here he walked out on the audience and jumps in.

The bar was great, the music was great, definitely a wonderful experience. I definitely recommend checking out Cage the Elephant if they're playing near you.

Disk Golf

Lauren and I headed to Floyd this weekend to take my mom out for Mother's Day and to catch up with some friends.  We ate at Micky G's, which is ran by the chef that ran the Pine Tavern back when I worked there in college, as well as at 202 Market where my friend works.

I caught up with two good friends and a group of guys one of them works with to play disk golf. 

At one point, a disk was stuck in the top of a tree, and my more monkey like friend scaled the tree and brought it out.  

There was quite a bit of wild life out on the course.  Here a duck family waddles past us.

A nice quick trip.  I'm planning to meet my friends halfway between Roanoke and Lebanon next weekend for another set of disk golf games.