What Now?

I defended my Dissertation this morning!  It went very well and was well attended by friends.  I was grateful to have friends to support me.  Bethany Kies, Peggy Sullivan, Heather Carney, Brett Burnham and Deb Barnett came to support me....which made me feel SO good.  Also, Dr Fetro came...which REALLY made me feel good.  She is where I began...and it meant the world to me that she would come.

And my family came...all but Jordan.  He has finally got his grades where they need to be so he opted to stay home and stay up to date in his classes (and hence keep his driving and extracurricular activity privileges).  I missed him, but was SOOOO happy my family came.  THEY have been my support and have sacrificed just like I have for this degree.

After a quick presentation my committee spoke about some things they wanted me to speak about concerning parts of my dissertation (nothing too big) and a few changes or edits.  Then they ushered us all out so the committee could talk about the rest of my life...heheehe

While out in the hall it was so nice to have friends surround me and tell me how great they think I did.  It made my day.

Dr Miller came out to get me...brought me in and shook my hand and said, "Congratulations, Dr Demers!"  Then she gave me a big hug with a big smile on her face.  I gave ALL of them a hug and was so happy.  What I really appreciated was that EACH of them seemed genuinely happy to have worked with me.  THAT made me happy.  I have LOVED each one of them and the help (for lack of a better word) they have given me through out this degree.

We went out to eat at Moe's (a southwest grill) and did a little shopping and headed back home.  It was a LONG day...but a good one.  And now it is only 8:30pm but I am TUCKERED out...and heading to bed!

Brett took a pic of the fam right after I came back out as Dr Demers!  I think it turned out GREAT!  I wish Jordan would have been there.  But he graciously allowed me to get a hugging pic when I got home!