DAY 1008... 4 Out of 5

Let's just start off by saying that pregnant some should never attend graduation ceremonies. They will make you cry pretty much the entire time! When the national anthem plays, you will cry. When you see the hope and excitement on the graduates faces, you will cry. When a foreign exchange student bawls her way across the stage because she is so thankful for the opportunity to be in America and graduate in America, you will cry your face off! Graduation ceremonies are no place for pregnant women!!!

Last night I attended my brother's high school graduation. I don't even know where to start with this kid. He is amazing! Not only did he graduate with a 4.0, but he attended a different school in a different state every year of high school. I don't know about any of you, but I don't even have the emotional stability to even think about moving to a different high school every year and keeping my grades up with AP classes. I am the only one of my siblings so far out of the 4 who have graduated to be able to have been blessed enough to have stayed at the same high school for all 4 years. So thankful for that! Jake aka Lord Kenneth, also received the second highest amount of scholarships in his entire class. The girl who eat him out only best him out by a few hundred dollars. The kid makes me look bad, but it doesn't bother me because I am so stinking happy for him!

Lord Kenneth is a very unusual individual. In a good way of course! I mean he asked for a plot of land for his 18th birthday so that he could become a Lord. Who does that? Brilliant. Some people put value on high school based off your popularity, whether or not you played sports, how many signatures you got in your yearbook, silly things that don't matter in the future. Jake ignores those things. He does what he wants to do and doesn't let what other people think bother him. He is able to put aside what might be popular and cool for what will benefit him in the future and what will help him succeed later in life. I am 10 years older than him and I have problems accomplishing that! He is so incredible! Just an inspiration to my old self.

I was reminded about hope last night. I had forgotten how invincible and strong and hopefully and excited I felt when I graduated high school. It really felt as though nothing could go wrong. I felt so determined and like nothing could hold me back. I'm sad that that feeling has faded over the years. Instead of feeling as though I can take on the world, I feel as though I have a never ending to-do list that never ends. Instead of feeling hopeful and excited about my future I feel scared and anxious. After watching the hope of those graduates last night and feeling inspired by their love of life and I want to have that in my life. Everyone should have that in your life. I am not sitting stale, I am moving forward everyday in my life. I should be excited and hopefully about getting my master's degree in August and I should be over the moon about having baby number two in November. I have so much in the past 10 years that I have accomplished! My life has definitely not gone the way I had hoped it would when I was sitting in my cap and gown just after receiving my high school diploma, but it's turned out pretty darn awesome. I have a wonderful husband, a beautiful and smart daughter, a fantastic job, we live in a house not an apartment, I have a car, and I am about to have a master's degree.

I think that my biggest issue was that I allowed the world and TV to show me what life would be like after high school and that really was not the smartest decision. Life is tough, and when you graduate high school and are allowed to make your own decisions and pay your own bills, you can either make good choices or you can make bad ones. I didn't always make the best decisions, but my decisions got me to where I am today and I am happy. I am blessed.

I am thankful for the opportunity that I had to attend my brother's graduation. I'm so lucky to have my family live in the same city as me. Such a HUGE blessing. But I am also so thankful that Jake has set such a good example for Aniston when it comes to school and just in life in general.

Congrats to all the graduates this year! Never lose that hope and that excitement that you felt for life the moment you graduate. There is always something to be excited about, and even though life can get you down at times, life is good. And you will be amazing! Go and be amazing. And world... Watch out for Lord Kenneth Jacob Kinville. He is gonna rock this world like nothing we have ever seen before!