A Graduation Post

Everyone tends to reflect on life at the end of every year. I was never one to do my reflecting in December, though. I'm more of an April/May reflector. My deep thoughts of life and memories come with the close of every school year.

I took the last test of my college life today. I feel accomplished. I think the one big thing college taught me is to finish what I start. Without fail, every class I wanted to quit trying about halfway through the semester. I felt like my head was going to explode if any more information was shoved into it. But also without fail, every semester I managed to push through my midway slump, leading me to graduation.

While reflecting on my college experience, I found my most important lessons were not from the textbooks.

I learned freshman year that the bookstore rips you off. This was a hard lesson to learn but luckily I learned quickly and really only lost my dad's money that first semester. This year I found the ultimate trick: Buy your books off amazon and sell them back to the bookstore to make a profit - my business degree working at its finest.

I learned that if your roommate's boyfriend comes to visit from Maryland, and said roommate claims he went back to Maryland a week later, but roommate's room starts smelling bad and roommate starts taking platefulls of fried chicken into her room, he didn't go back to Maryland. He has been living in her closet for three months.

I learned not to heat up a fish's water before going out of town in an attempt to keep them warmer while you're gone. They die instantly.

I learned that someone from Canada can mysteriously withdraw money from your bank account through an ATM without your credit card.

I learned that if someone knocks on your door and is selling magazines for $50 a subscription, you should be suspicious if they only accept cash. We never did get that magazine.

I learned that by driving 90 MPH, texting and following too close, you qualify for a reckless driving ticket.

I learned Cedar can actually be a lot of fun if you just find the right boy.

I learned that if a very long bungee cord is connecting me and Jeff, and we are running in opposite directions trying to shoot a basketball, he will shoot layups and I will shoot from half court. Every time.

So at graduation I guess I'll throw my cap up high. SUU was good to me. I am glad to be college educated. And I am happy with the many memories and lessons Cedar City has given me.

Three Cheers for Nesting!

When Jeff suggested we set up the baby room, I knew I had to take advantage of his motivation. I am a little embarrassed he got the nesting bug before I did, but I'm glad we finally got the baby room all set up. I'll start with a picture of the "organized" closet. No baby stuff in here, but it's the biggest closet in the house so it's been dubbed the storage closet.
I am so glad Jeff knows how to put things together/fix things/tear things apart. He made this whole process very easy.
Here is the finished product. It looks like you can't really open those drawers, but you can. You just can't be standing in front of the dresser when you open them. We made it so crammed here...
so that it's nice and spacious here:
And this is a little sign I made right after we decided on his name.
It's such a relief to have the baby room done! I feel much more prepared for him. Now I just have to make it through finals and then I can focus all my attention on getting ready for the little guy. Seven more weeks! That's so crazy.

This One's For You Mom

Big MAcc

Last Monday we were anxiously waiting to hear whether or not Jeff got into SUU's master's program. Nothing. No acceptance letter, no denial letter, nothing. Jeff got all riled up Monday night saying he was going to march down to the school and demand they let him into the master's program.

He did march down to the school only to find out his application had "fallen through the cracks." SUU was waiting for his GRE score... which they got two months ago... then his letters of recommendation... which they realized were there. SUU basically forgot about Jeff's application. After many apologies, Jeff got accepted on the spot! Jeff will be taking classes over the summer and then finishing up in December.

This is how happy we are about the news.

On a side note: Remember the book/movie Holes? Remember how Madame Zeroni made Stanley's great-great-grandfather carry a growing pig up a mountain every day to make him and the pig strong? I climb a bit of a mountain every day on my walk. And I can't help but think of that scene every time I start up the hill. Am I calling my baby a pig? Maybe. But he is growing very quickly now and I'm definitely feeling the extra pounds. So I'm taking Madame Zeroni's advice and trying to use those pounds to my advantage so I'll have super legs by the time he's born. TWO MORE MONTHS!

Growth Spurt

Should we be concerned

that Eli's head

is measuring 2 weeks ahead of the rest of his body?

Brother Snoop Dogg

Two years ago today, msn.com pranked me. I got sucked into an article titled, "Snoop Dogg converts to Mormonism." The article went on to explain Gladys Knight had introduced rapper Snoop Dizzle to the Mormon religion. I was shocked, and sadly, I believed it for days until Jeff knocked some sense into me.

If you're in need of a good prank, I've got three words for you: chocolate covered sponges. Disguising sponges in a box of chocolates was probably the highlight of my college years.

Happy April Fool's Day!