Thomas' Big Day - High School Graduation

On Sunday, June 5, 2016 my brother Thomas graduated from high school.  The commencement ceremony was held at 2:00 in the afternoon.

^^Thomas and his buddies as high school graduates!^^

^^Our Dad's brother George and his wife came up for the ceremony and party.^^

We had Thomas' graduation party right after the ceremony.  It was a warm, sunny, and windy day.  Thomas had a lot of people come - family and friends.

Guests walked into our entry way and where able to see some pictures of Thomas.

The color theme for the part was red, white, and blue.

^^Guests could sign these papers - one with the front of Thomas' invitation and one with the back of the invitation - which will go into Thomas' scrapbook.^^

From the entry way, guest made their way into the kitchen - where all the food was.  We served grilled hotdogs & turkey brats with toppings, beans, broccoli cauliflower salad, fruit, and chips & dip.

^^My mom's friend Michelle came to help get ready for the party and serve food.^^

^^I thought all the food was delicious!^^

Cake was served in the dining room.  My mom got three big cakes from Costco - two white and 1 chocolate.

The beverages were in the living room.  There was water, coffee, and an apple punch.

We had lots of seating around.  Inside people could sit around the dining room table and in the living room. 

We set a few tables up outside on our front porch and patio.

^^Red, white, and blue skittles were on each table.^^

Now, Thomas will be joining me down at Iowa State.  And, I'm really excited that he is!!

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My Summer Home - MY FIRST APARTMENT

This summer I am living in my first apartment!  I am taking some summer classes and I just started working as a dietary aide.  It is all pretty exciting!  I know someone how just graduated and wasn't staying in her apartment over the summer, so I am just living in her space.  It is a three bedroom apartment, and just one of the other roommates stayed for the summer.  It is really nice that there is someone else around some.

Here's my apartment!

My roommate had the furniture and stools.  And, there is a nice, little porch off the living room!

Down this hallway are a closet, a "pantry" (which is a door that opens to some shelves), the bedrooms, and my bathroom.  Each bedroom has a bathroom, and mine is the only one where the bathroom isn't right in the room - mine is across the hall.  Which, I kind of like it this way.

I was super excited to be getting things for my apartment.  My mom actually found all the furniture I now have - a bed, desk, and bookshelf - at garage sales!  In between the spring semester and summer semester, I was home for a few days, and I worked on painting all the furniture.

My bedding is just what I used in my dorm room, but I added another comforter/blanket - the yellow strips.  It is from Ikea.

This desk was a wood color before.  I painted it white and switched out the knobs - the knobs are from Hobby Lobby.

 I haven't put up much for decorations.  I don't know if I even am going to since I will be moving to another apartment in a couple months.  I also need a chair for my desk, so that is missing from my room.

I have been living here for a couple weeks now, and I still don't feel like I am completely organized - it seems like I am still feeling the need to get organized.  But, I think it is as organized as its going to get for now.  Mainly it is my clothes that aren't organized, which it will help once I get a dresser, so my closet is a mess.

It seems kind of funny to take pictures of my bathroom, but here it is!  The rug is from Anthropologie and the towels I found at TJ Maxx - I needed to get some towels that went with the rug to make my bathroom fun!

The lighting in some of these pictures isn't great, but I have been wanting to do a post on where I am at, so this is what I've got!  This is definitely a first, college-student apartment, but for that it is pretty nice.