Memorial Day Weekend 2012

For the past two years, we have been fortunate enough to spend Memorial Day Weekend on the lake with great friends. This year we had a great time once again! Friday we went out for a sunset ride, spent all day Saturday and Sunday on the lake, had some awesome pizza at the Marina, and went to a Eli Young Band and Dierks Bentley concert on Saturday night at Eufaula Cove. Here are a few pictures from our weekend!

Friday night sunset -- so beautiful!

 Meagan and I

 The boys! 

 Love him! 

Everyday we've gone out on the lake for the past two years,  this spot by the dam has always been our first stop -- so I had to get a picture.

We are so lucky to be able to make such awesome memories with great friends. Thanks Kent for inviting us out and taking such good care of us all weekend. Most importantly, thank you to all of those who allow us the freedom to do so! Hope you all had a great weekend as well!

Graduations Big & Small

So this blog thing can be frustrating at first. I am someone who wants everything in its place and looking pretty immediately -- not so easy when you have no idea what you are doing! But I'm getting there, so bare with me please.

Anyway, back to the purpose of this post. As I said in my first post, I recently graduated with my Master's degree in Higher Education from the University of Arkansas. My header photo is Kody and I right before the ceremony. Here are a few other pictures from the day.

My mom and I before the ceremony -- so lucky to have her! 

 Calling the Hogs with our Commencement speaker, Alice Walton. Woo Pig!

 I got it! Well, I got the pretty holder. The diploma will be in the mail.

Yummy Rick's petits fours. There were more--we ate them all, don't worry.

Kody's younger sister Kayla graduated the same day with her undergraduate degree, so we basically went straight from my commencement to hers. Since his family lives much further away, we celebrated with their family for Kayla the rest of the day. The next day everyone came out to celebrate my graduation and Mother's Day! 

 Two very, very important people in my life. My sweet Dorothey and Mom.

We're a family filled with girls (with wonderful mothers)!

I know this is probably picture overload, but we've been celebrating so many wonderful things. So without further ado, it was also my niece Chloe's kindergarten graduation this past week! She said when she grows up she wants to be a future gardner. My other favorite future career of the day was "a rockstar who tours with Justin Bieber." Who knows where they come up with this stuff, but I'm glad I got the gardner a flower to celebrate. She also got Rick's petits fours that she specifically requested. 

 So typical Chloe. This picture just makes me smile.

 Dad and daughter

 Three sweet sisters. So proud of Haleigh, Jade, and Chloe for all of their accomplishments this year in 4th and 2nd grade and kindergarten! 

Congrats, Chloe! Onto first grade!

A special congrats to Haleigh and Jade as well. We attended both of their awards ceremonies where they each got special recognition. AND Jade hit a home run this past week! So many fun things to celebrate! I can't wait to tell you what I got for graduation... but I'll save it for now. We're headed to the lake with some great friends this weekend for Memorial Day. Hope you have a great (and safe) weekend! 

What's in a Name?

A lot apparently. I have been trying to come up with a name for a blog on and off for a very long time. I finally settled on “Academily”. So why the name? Well, first of all, my name is Emily. As Emily has been in the top 10 of names since 1991 (it was number one for 12 years straight), it’s a little bit of a daunting task to come up with a blog domain using my name. I love my name, but geez.
Anyway, the academic part came in because it has shaped who I am today tremendously. I have lived my life in semesters since I was 5 years old. I recently graduated with a Master’s of Higher Education degree with an emphasis in student affairs, and I have worked in a University setting since I was 16. So many good things in my life (my friends, my boyfriend, my job, my Delta Gamma sisters, my love of sports, I could go on and on..) come from my pursuit of academics. Moreover, I LOVE learning. I love reading. I love having weekends and special holidays off (this doesn’t include summer–I am NOT a teacher, nor do I want to be). One of my top five strengths in StrengthsQuest is “Learner.” Also, my boyfriend will be in school forever. Okay, not really, but it feels that way sometimes. He just finished his first year of medical school and because he attends UAMS and I live/work/went to school in NWA, school has forced us to have a somewhat long-distance relationship for two of the four + years we’ve been dating. This isn’t my most favorite thing school has ever done for me, but they keep saying it’ll be worth it in the end–I agree, I just don’t like it all the time. :) 
So that’s what “Academily” means to me. I started this blog 1) because I’ve wanted one for a long time, 2) because I finally came up with a name (and if I don’t like it, I’ll change it later), 3) because I finally graduated and don’t have to type a million papers every week, and 4) because I have a lot of exciting things coming up that I wanted a way to share easily without Facebook/Twitter overkill–so this is it! I’m looking forward to making it pretty and getting it organized. Hope you enjoy!
-Emily