Woo hoo!

I don't think that I have ever been more proud. Well, of somebody who didn't actually grow inside my uterus. Because, let's face it, I've been pretty proud of things my kids have done..walked, pooped in the potty, learned to read, etc, etc.

But this? I don't even have to be proud of this one. We're not blood kin.

That's my manfriend getting his degree. Isn't he sexy? My kids didn't recognize him because he took his glasses off.
Seriously? That's all it takes to fool you? I'm cutting my hair or something so I can hide.

But this feels amazing.

This dude was the keynote speaker. He's a Packer. I don't remember which one. He gave a speech
that emphasized the 3 Ps of something. It made my middlest need to go pee right in the middle
of said speech. So I left my oldest with a stranger and did the ol' butt in your face dance down the row to take
him to the potty.

It was me and my three kids in the auditorium for three hours. Not gonna lie. I wanted to walk out, but nothing was
going to keep me from seeing my manfriend walk across that stage. There was blood, sweat, and tears. And a
lot of crackers. But we made it through.

It took two and a half years, all of our savings, and all of my patience and understanding. There were times when the kids and I went days without seeing him as he rotated between his (unpaid) internship, classes, part-time job, side jobs, and his position as a volunteer firefighter.

There were times when I was so frustrated and angry with him for being gone, and felt like we couldn't go another day.

He's the one with the glasses. He apparently didn't get the memo about wearing his helmet.

But we just kept going on. Sometimes the mortgage was late. Some bills went unpaid. We ate a lot of pasta and a lot of beans. We did without. We borrowed a lot that we will probably spend the rest of our lives paying back. We gambled on our future. And I can honestly say that it's been a struggle every. single. day. of the last two and a half years.

So proud of that man.

But now we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. And, boy, is it bright.