A Milestone: Graduation and a Party to Celebrate

Our family experienced a milestone last week. Our oldest daughter graduated from High School. She also graduated with a 2yr. AA degree from our local Community College. She's worked hard the last two years to achieve this and I am so proud of all her hard work. 

As our children get older I realize how quickly time seems to go by. A friend once shared that "we have 18 summers with our kids before they move on or become so busy with friends etc." WOW...I wish I had thought of this when my girls were little. It makes you want to take advantage of every summer you have with them. 

Our youngest just turned 15 in March and she has just started her Drivers Education (another milestone around the corner). I will miss the days of having time with them in the car to talk and hear all they have to say. 

(the girls created two garlands using fabric from a friend...love how it turned out)

To celebrate her graduation we had planned a party for last weekend. It's always hard trying to nail down a date that you think will work for most people. Our June has been slammed with events and that only left one weekend available which happened to be our town's celebration weekend...but that's when it had to be. We scheduled for Sunday and set out to plan. I love the internet and all that is available on it for ideas, however, it can also be discouraging when you see how "all out" some people seem to go. Our budget just isn't an "all out" budget especially with my hubby recently starting a new job, but we did have creativity going for us and we ended with a great party full of beauty and yummy food.

(I couldn't find enough tablecloths to borrow so I opted for some butcher paper (that I already had) decorated with twine, daisies from my yard and crayons for people to doodle)

The first thing we did was ask around for some supplies, then we searched our house for things we could use. I might have spent $15-20 on decor. We chose simple dishes and beverages that go far and weren't costly. I did purchase a few items (bubbles and a bouncy ball) for any kids that might come and need some entertaining. 

(wish I had taken pictures of the beverages filled up....so pretty)

Food:
Corn Salad
Texas Caviar and Chips
Chili
Pasta Salad
Carrots with Hummus
Mini-corn muffins (I cheated and used a box mix)
Pizzelles (if you're italian, Bratseli if you are Swiss)
Mini cupcakes
Lemonade (regular and blueberry)
Flavored water (flavored with lemon/peppermint leaves, lemon/blueberry/choc. mint leaves)
Bottles of water

When it comes down to it, people are not coming for the decorations, perfect home or even the food, they are coming to fellowship with you and enjoy your company and celebrate the life of another. It's okay to let go of some expectations. My goal was to keep it simple, clean what needed cleaning, not worry about perfection (people will more than likely not notice the things that are bugging us). To me, it wasn't worth stressing over, I wanted to enjoy the weekend, enjoy the day. 

(we used items from around our house...scrapbook paper, fabric, frame that I haven't refinished)

The weather was beautiful. We enjoyed a bit of our towns celebration then spent the rest of the time getting ready for the party. I got an early start on decorating tables so all that needed to happen was for them to be moved to the yard. When the day ended cleanup was quick and I was thoroughly satisfied with how it all turned out. I was thoroughly exhausted but content. 

It doesn't have to be fancy, it doesn't have to be catered, it just has to come from the heart and make you feel happy and content (not anxious when the credit card bill shows up).

With Joy UNquenchable,