Plop plop fizz fizz...oh what a relief it is!

And no, I am not talking about Alkaseltzer. hehe.

I am D-O-N-E! Here is the play by play:
Monday June 2
10:00pm My parents arrive in Houston at the Kuhns' residence. We stay up to talk up until 11:00 and head off to bed (or so I thought).
11:45 still awake...can't sleep...no feelings of nervousness but just can't shut down.
Tuesday June 3
12:30 still awake...I put my head where my feet are and vice versa..maybe this will help.
1:15 still awake...I need sleep I am very tired...my eyes just won't rest
2:00am ugh, so I might as well do something, I get up and flat iron my hair.
2:30 done with my hair, maybe I am tired enough to sleep
3:00 think again. I go downstairs, pour myself t glasses of milk and force 3 graham cracker cookies in my mouth (I wasn't hungry at all but hadn't eaten since 11am)
somewhere between 3:30 and 3:45 I fall asleep
5:30 (yes, 2 hours later) my alarm wakes me. ITs the big day.
6:30 My parents, Jesse and I are in the car, driving to Houston. On the drive I receive many good luck calls and texts.
8:00 arrive in College Station, I need my alone time so Jesse and my parents go park the car, and place 500 pennies (yes! 500!) on Sully while I go and set up my computer.
9:00 all the committee members are ready and it begins. My powerpoint presentation is about one hour long.
10:00am My chairperson asks the guests (my parents and two grad students) if they had any questions. My dad asked my how I felt :). At his moment in time, I felt relief. THe part I had rehearsed so many times was over and I didn't say "um" too too much. haha My guests are asked to leave the room and my oral exam begins
I was asked many questions about my stats, conclusions, data, everything...smooth sailing. When I didn't know the answer I would say very thoughtfully, "Hm, that is a Good Question, I wonder how that would have affected my results." One little thing needs to be changed about my stats, no big deal, my statistician says it will take 10 min.
10:45 I was asked to leave the room while the committee deliberates (decide if I pass or fail)
10:55 Dr. Hughes (my chair) opens the door and says "Congratulations Dr. Kuhns!" I walk in and my committee members are all standing and the shake my hand as they congratulate me as the knighted "Dr. Kuhns". Tears come out slightly, but I am mostly a mix of emotions at this point. Jesse has a dozen beautiful red roses waiting for me! Hugs all around!
11:20 my parents and I go to Sully to take pictures (with my 500 pennies). and we turn to ask some random guy to take a picture of the four of us. I hear from behind "Oh no, I got it! I'll take it."
Confused, I turned around, and GERARDO AND ROXANNA ARE THERE! Completely surprised!!!! Gerardo hugs me and picks me off the floor, I can't help but have tears come down my face. We take pictures and head off to eat at Christopher's World Grille with Dr. Hughes.
3:00 We got to the mall and the drive home after saying goodbye to my brother. On the drive home family calls and congratulates me. Enrique, Vero and Co. said prayers for me, Tia Mayte lit candles, Abuelita Moncha said a whole Rosary for me! At home, we are exhausted. We watch The Condemned (DVD) and just chill. Later, we pick up Star Pizza (the best pizza) and eat with my parents and go to bed.
This morning Dr.Hughes calls me at 7:45am to tell me that the small stat changes don't have to be done because the software I used to run my multiple regression already averaged the standard errors across the 10 imputed data sets. In short, I don't have to fix anything. I just need to add 3 sentences (literally) to the end of my dissertation!!!!!!!!!! Sigh of relief.
5:30pm After a long day of work, I sent in my 3 sentences (which turned into like 4 or 5) to Dr. Hughes, and I got a "two thumbs up" from her. Its OVER!!!! Okay so here are some pics!

Isn't my dad a cutie?

While I was waiting for the deliberation to be over.

Dr. Hughes and I

The Fam at Sully

500 Pennies!

The Garcia Ibarrola's showed up!

Thank you all for your prayers, candles, pennies, and thoughts. Without the help of those who care about me, I could not have written a word. Los quiero mucho!