I'm A Real Kid Now?

(source: Megan Church)

And just like that it's over.
Who would have thought that they would let me graduate?  You can tell from my obviously surprised face that I sure didn't.
Now typically a graduation post would have some recollections of the great times I had and the wonderful people that I'll miss, and all that is true, but I haven't really processed through all of that so I'll save that for another post.  Instead, I'll tell you about everything that comes after graduation.
While I was still in college, I would ask friends who had graduated, what's it like to be a real person?
For those of you wondering, it has been, without a doubt, one of my most uninspiring adventures yet.
Here's a little tidbit:

• While applying for summer jobs, I've begun to wish that I'd taken cosmetic or bartending classes because my college degree is pretty useless. (hire me, please?)
• To reinforce my status as an adult, my parents have graciously added me to the family "chore chart" (not that I mind helping out, but something about the word chore that brings me back to third grade).
• I am now the chief driver of our family's minivan (sexy, I know).
• In an effort to appear cooler than I actually am, I attempted to make dinner for the family using trendy ingredients like feta cheese, tilapia, and quinoa (which my mother just informed me I've been mispronouncing).  Everyone else dutiful ate it and complimented me, but I thought it was disgusting.
• I took pictures of this trendy dinner to try to be as cool as Autumn over at The Beanstalk, but they ended up looking like they were taken by a drunk five year old.
• As a result, I've given up on trying to be trendy or cool and have taken to eating mac and cheese from the box like a real grown-up.
• Like all the cool 21 year-olds out there, I spend my evenings at home with my parents doing exciting things like eating McDonald's milkshakes and watching Life of Pi (My dad's comment was: wow, they did an amazing job training that tiger).

So life after college has been all I hoped and dreamed it would be.
Really, life after college has been an exercise in gratitude.  I've never been good at thankfulness, but I'm  challenged to consider all that I do have to be thankful for. I have: a college education, a family, fresh (if not good) food, a working vehicle, and, most importantly, a God who provides graciously despite me thanklessness.