I love pomp and circumstance.

It is so regal and so completely connected with graduation. No other piece of music will do. It gives me this little excited feeling, even when I am not the one commencing into a new phase of life. I loved school, I loved looking forward to each of its milestones, and I knew that each promotion or graduation represented a celebration of my accomplishments as well as a new beginning. Hearing pomp and circumstance makes me feel those things again, and though it can be extremely redundant (let's get real--they play that thing like 20 times in a row as the graduates parade along in that goofy get-up) it reminds me of my own graduations--they really were important events for me. For me, those types of events marked the passage of time even more than birthdays or holidays. I also enjoy hearing the little pep talks. They are these polished offerings, specially prepared for people who are embarking on a new phase of life. One talk that really resonated with me was about the making of a pearl. The young lady also talked a lot about the atonement (unusual choice, but we can do that at church schools, and I thought it was very fitting), which I have been thinking about lately since I just spoke about it in church. I enjoyed putting those two ideas in connection with 'becoming who we want to be'. I think in the past few weeks or so I have been re-assessing what pearl I envision for myself. I don't have any more graduations in the foreseeable future, and I am wondering how time is going to pass if I don't have them as markers!! I guess I can handle being 25 forever! Perhaps the birth of each child, the accomplishments of each child will take their place. I was telling Raimo that I never really thought much about my future beyond my 20's. Becoming independent and moving away, going to college, getting married and having a family were all exciting, futuristic kind of plans. Yeah, I did all of it by age 24 (with the exception of the growing family bit, though we did get that ball rolling). Now what? I guess I had some other lofty, seemingly-unattainable dreams. Maybe I'll think about taking on one of those. I'll have to get back to you on that.

Today we watched my sister graduate from college. It is a little strange that she has reached that milestone. Can she possibly be that grown up??

We are proud of her. All the sibs are growing up!!!

It was a beautiful day. And a little PF Chang's mahi mahi and tiramisu made it even better.  ;)