so much to say

In order not to bore my readers, this post has two sub-topics (if that's the correct word).

1. Commencemnt

First of all, I had never guessed I would walk in April's ceremony when I graduated. Secondly, I never imagined that it was so much fun. Thanks to my friends (Ying, Jinli, Natasha, Brian, and Dem) who helped make this day memorable for me!

Let me spare the details of gathering and walking, because those are pretty much the same for everybody. Here are some thoughts, if anyone cares.

---The invited speaker was NOT good. Her talk was long and pointless.
---Either the food was really good, or I was really hungry, or a little bit of both.
---The seating in Diag for Saturday's ceremony was very impressive. I was in awe when it popped into my sight.
---I began to understand why people want a wedding ceremony. It is quite a special experience to celebrate something that is important to your life with people who care about you.

After the ceremony, Brian took some pictures of me so that I could send them to my parents. When I asked him not to make me look fat, he reminded me that was how my mom liked it. Well, he was right.

Later on, Brian, Dem and I went to the bar in Holiday Inn (Natasha joined us after a while) to continue the celebration. We had some beer(s???), popcorn(s???) and fries. I had a great time hanging out with them, partially because of the buzz and partially because everyone (I think) was in a mood of celebration, and it was Friday afternoon, and the weather was nice, and we had a good chat about a lot of things, ...

2. BFF

Rui drove here after work on Friday. Although she didn't make it to the commencement ceremony, I was very happy that she was able to came this weekend.

It was really nice to have her around. We walked around the campus on Saturday and took some pictures with her in my attire, which almost looked like a bed sheet on her.

Then we went to Gellup Park and rent a pedal boat. The wind was so strong that sometimes it felt like we could never make it back to the rental place. The boat didn't move a bit no matter how hard we were pedaling. We were laughing hysterically because our struggles seemed quite hopeless.

In the evening we swung by Ying's graduation party. She has a guy friend there whose name is exactly the same as Rui's. I was a little disappointed that the space wasn't distorted a bit when they two meet. But how could I know?

This morning we went to the church. It was the first time that Rui had been to our new church building. She took a picture before we left, so I guess she liked it.

The rest of the time we were just chilling out. I made some food for her. And she worked on my puzzle for me. Also, I got her a little bit hooked on Dave Matthews. When we were at home, I was either playing Jack Johnson or Dave Matthews concert dvd. She liked a few songs by Dave (and who wouldn't?!).

At one point this afternoon, when she was taking a nap in the bedroom, and I was lying in my couch, reading "eat, pray, love" and playing Dave's concert, I thought to myself that "my life won't get any better". It might sound pessimistic, but it was truly not the case.

I was simply appreciating what I had in my hand as much as I could. My best friend, an enjoyable book, my favorite music, a sunny, quiet weekend afternoon, and the peace from my acknowledgement that I was being taken good care of by God. This was close to all I ever wanted.