The last few weeks in pictures

 Friends: Lilly and Grace are so cute together! They love to play and chase each other and keep up entertained!

 Grandma's Cheesecake: I successfully used Grandma's recipe to make a wonderful cheesecake. I was nervous but it turned out great and everyone loved it!

"Fred the Pentapus- He doesnt want Ms. Hillyer to leave!"

"Arch enemies, but they love Ms. Hillyer!"

Saying goodbye to students! It was so sad- I am sooo happy to be done with grad school, but I had great students that I will miss!

 Hiking: Jo and I went to York River State Park and it was so beautiful! We saw lots of wildlife and enjoyed the sunshine.

Packing... This is what my room looks like... Dan, your present is in this picture somewhere!

A Wonderful Mother's Day!

This weekend was full of celebrating Mom! We took her to dinner, to lunch, made her lunch, had Grandma's cheesecake, bought her little presents, took walks with the dogs, went out on a boat, and went to bed early. It was everything that Mom loves! But here are a few reasons I love my mom:


1. She wasn't upset that I forgot her card at school!


2. Support- no matter what I want to do, from gymnastics, to career paths, to boyfriends, Mom always knows best and knows the best ways to help me through the tough times. I am about to graduate with my Master's and I definitely needed her support through this intense year of school.


3. Learning- Mom is always learning- no matter if she was staying home with us, in school, or teaching it, she was always making herself better. And reading, without her I would have no one to give me book recommendations or to read to me when I was little.


4. Hugs- she gives good hugs- and 4 hugs a day is the minimum!


5. Courage- We moved lots and lots of times growing up- and every time mom made sure everything came with us, we knew where to go to school and church and gymnastics and she set up our home. She had the courage to make new friends and be strong for us.


6. Love- Unconditional love is the best. It is good for when you are in bad moods and don't want to be nice! I know no matter what I do, my mom will be there with love.


7. Talk- Mom is always there to talk to, complain to, worry to, laugh to, be excited to, celebrate to, or just listen. 


8. Friend- Although growing up I didn't always tell my mom things (and she reminded me often that Holly told her stuff), I now hardly go a day without calling my mom and telling her all about my life. I am so lucky to have a mom that can be not only all of the things above, but always my friend. Someone to go to lunch with, and gossip with, and just hang out with. I LOVE YOU, MOM!

The Bloom

Dan and I have officially known each other for 2 years! Crazy how time flies, but I can't imagine life without Dan anymore : )


On Friday, I headed home and helped Mom with some cleaning for the open house on Sunday. (Our house is for sale- want to move to Fredericksburg? Know someone who does? Come see our house!) Since I am the HGTV queen, I helped mom clean our closets and de-clutter. Then, we headed to El Paso for a yummy Mexican dinner. Later, Dan and I went to see Fast Five. Mini Review: Lots of fighting, lots of cars, some random twists. Not bad- Dan loved it.

Saturday we got up and continued the cleaning frenzy. Then we headed to Winchester for The Bloom! Last year, we had quite the adventure on our year anniversary of meeting. This year was much calmer! We made it to Winchester right as the parade was starting. I enjoyed watching the high schools- cheering for JW and Millbrook of course! We even saw Erick Green who is a Virginia Tech basketball player (I sat next to him on the bus once! I admit, he had on sweats with his basketball number and I looked him up on the roster- I was shocked to see he was from Winchester! Yeah.. Im a dork.) We then walked many miles around Winchester, caught up with lots of friends, and finished watching the parade.

<3

The rest of the night consisted of a good dinner at Glory Days, meeting up with more friends, and home to fall fast asleep! The next morning I got to meet the new Kolar babies! Tara and Katie have both had the cutest babies ever, and it was wonderful to see them. Lucky for me, Tara lives in Winchester and will let me babysit!


Another good weekend in the books! This week will be my last rough one of graduate school. Then it is off to the real world! Ah!