kohler graduation!

I have finally come to the end of my long, long trip down the esthetics trail at Kohler Academy! It's been a fun little journey. Last summer, the construction industry wasn't looking so bright, so I decided it would probably be in my best interest to find a different skill set that I could fall back on if I needed to. So I signed up for day time classes at Kohler Academy, studying skin care.

I took the day route, because it only takes about 4 months to complete; unfortunately, that meant my work schedule was thrown all out of whack. I went to work around 4 in the morning and stayed until about 8:30 then headed off to school from 9:00 to 4:30 and headed home for dinner and to be in bed by 7:00. NOT fun! But I would be finished with school by Thanksgiving, so I figured it would all be worth it. Then in September, about 5 weeks into my schooling, I got my second major kidney stone and wound up having to have surgery, and take a leave of absence from school- so much for November graduation!

So anyway, I took my leave of absence, went back to working full time, met the love of my life, and started classes again towards the end of October- but this time in the evening. The night class was a lot of fun, and little more relaxed than the day. All the girls were really awesome, and since I had to start all over from the beginning of class, I kind of got the chance to help out my classmates, since I had already learned how to do facials before I got sick.

When I started at Kohler I had never even had a facial or any professional skin care service, and I almost never wore make up; Now, I have had many facials, and am a pro at giving them- and I wear make up a little more often, and can do a pretty awesome make up application on someone else as well! I had people that had been getting facials for many many years tell me that I gave them the best facial they had ever experienced and many people tell me that my facial massages were so amazing that I needed to ditch skin care and just go into massage. Those are some pretty awesome compliments considering that less than a year ago I didn't even know what a facial consisted of!

(A picture of our student spa at Kohler)


My experience at Kohler was so great, and I learned so much. A few of the things that I learned: facials, back facials, body treatments, waxing (pretty much everywhere on the body!), make up application, microdermabrasion, brow and lash tinting, and just about everything there is to know about the Dermalogica product line. I get so excited about skin care sometimes, I've turned into a major skin nerd. I love being able to help people with their skin issues- It's so awesome.

It seemed like I was at Kohler FOREVER, but now that it's over I kind of miss it. It was a bitter sweet experience graduating at the end of May. Here are some pictures from my graduation:

Christine & Larrinia- two girls from my night time class- saying a few words during the ceremony.

Kelly, one of our evening instructors giving us some words of wisdom. She was only our teacher on Mondays for a few weeks, but she was so much and you could tell that she really cared about us and what we were learning. And she was the only teacher that let us do pot lucks- which was really awesome for us! =p

During the ceremony they put together a slide show with a picture of each of us, with some words that described our personalities. Everyone gave me a hard time afterwards because the picture that they used of me was from my wedding, and everyone else's pictures were less flattering pictures that were taken in class during our make up challenge. I was thanking my lucky stars that I had turned in this digital picture of me with my make up portfolio because I remember how awful I looked the day we took those other pictures. haha

This is a picture of me and my classmates (minus Jewell & Brianne who couldn't make it to graduation) with Jill Kohler, the founder of the school, and probably one of the coolest women I have ever met.

See that big grin on Nathan's face? That's the grin of a man who's finally getting his wife back! He was so awesome and supportive while I was going to school. He would even do his best to make sure there was a yummy dinner waiting for me when I got home. We only got to spend a couple hours together each night before had to go to bed, because we were both working full time. It's been great being able to see him so much more.

As they handed out our diplomas, they also gave each of us a gerber daisy with a word tied to it. The words were picked by the staff as the one word they would use to describe us. My word was "Professional." My dad was so proud.

This is me with my all time favorite teacher, Amy. She was my instructor when I started in July, and I was really excited to find out that she was still going to be my teacher when I went back in the evenings. She's really nice, and really knowledgeable. I also really admire her organization and professionalism. She rocks.

Me and Jill Kohler- she's so awesome. I was able to have a couple one on one meetings with her during my time at school and she and her husband Burt, took all of the skin students out for lunch the day of graduation. It was a great experience to get to know her- she genuinely cares about every single one of her students, and wants the best for us. She's so amazing and very inspirational.

So, there it is. My education at Kohler is complete- for now. I might wind up back there some day- they have some other programs in the works that I might be interested in. But until then, I am preparing for my State Board test to get my license.