What a fun weekend!

Last weekend was graduation weekend for me. The conclusion to a long, hard five years of grad school. It was amazing. Graduation was Saturday, and my whole family, including a lot of my in-laws, came. Dad was in from Fargo, Mom came from Metropolis, Bob's grandparents were in from Springfield. It was awesome.

Graduation itself was pretty cool. The doctoral candidates sat in the front row, and were the first to receive our degrees. We each individually walked on stage and our advisor put our doctoral hood on us.

After the graduation ceremony I met up with my friends and family outside for pictures. I couldn't find Bob because he got lost in the crowd, but he turned up eventually! This is my advisor, my labmate Geeta and of course me:

And this is Charu, Geeta, Me and Rashmi. They've been amazing friends.

Sunday was my graduation party. Bob did most of the work (with help from his mom, grandma and aunt). We had an open house after church with a tasty pasta lunch, of which I managed to find time to take 2 bites! My mom made my graduation cake, which I loved:

My aunts handled the decorations for the party. It was simple, but very pretty. So many people came to help me celebrate. Everyone was so nice and really made me feel special. I was a wonderful party.

Thanks everyone for all your hard work! You made my special weekend a wonderful experience. Everyone's clothes stayed on, there was no Realtree, and best of all, drama was absent! You all rock my world!