Graduation

Josh made special plans for us the weekend of graduation. He didn't tell me what they were, only that Ansley was staying with his parents Friday night and that I needed a new little black dress. Friday afternoon we checked into a hotel off Cobb parkway that was about 5 minutes from the school and after hanging out for a little while got ready to go out for the night. We clean up pretty well I'd say :)



Our first stop was dinner at Stoney River. Josh and I both share a deep love for red meat and this is one our favorite restaurants. This is Josh and his steak, topped with lobster of course.



I had a hunch that we would be going to Stoney River, it is our go to celebration place, but I could not for the life of me figure out where we were going next, especially since Josh said that it is something we had never done before. He also told me cameras were not allowed inside. We saw Final Fantasy by the Atlanta Symphony! Final Fantasy is a Japanese video game that has a really big following in the gaming world. Josh knew the music from it was a little more modern and thought it would be something we would both enjoy. We just had no idea that so many gamers would show up to the concert. Some even came dressed as characters. Since I couldn't take my camera in I took this photo of the tickets and program.



We had to get be at the school at 9 am Saturday for graduation and Josh had made plans for one more stop on our date. Knowing my love/addiction for coffee Josh stopped at Rev, a local coffee shop in Marietta for breakfast. It was a really cool little place.



I knew I was excited about Josh graduating, we had been working towards this for the past 6 years, but I found myself about to jump out of my seat when it actually came time for Josh to walk across the stage.



Ansley got excited anytime someone started applauding and would clap and yell "Yay!" It's not the best picture but this was a big moment for our family.



Of course there were several photo ops to be had after the ceremony. I love this picture of Josh and me, however you can tell after sitting for over an hour and a half that Ansley was DONE.



Josh with my sister and her husband:



Josh with his very proud parents:



Ansley loved Josh's "necklace":



This is Josh's classmate Mocko. He was running late to graduation so they didn't put his actual diploma in there like everyone else. Needless to say that caused a little bit of momentary concern for him while everyone else got a kick out of it.



The first graduating Mechatronics class from SPSU!



This is the graduating class with the department head, Glen Allen. He is the one who is responsible for bringing this degree to SPSU.



This is the graduating class and Chris. Chris went thru all of the upper level courses with the group but still needed a few core classes to graduate. According to Josh, he provided a good bit of comic relief to the group.



After graduation we went to lunch with both sets of parents to celebrate. This (somewhat long) chapter of our life is over and we are excited to move forward!