Graduation

{April 27, 2012}

After 6 long years of school I am finally done!

Bachelors of Science in Nursing.

I'm officially an educated women.

(Jesse here. Don't worry. Despite my wife's hifalutin' edumacashun I'll always be her proof-reader and have made her aware of the delicious irony inherent to calling herself "an educated women." AKA Jesse pointed it out laughing hysterically and will never let me live it down. But in my defense, English never was my best subject nor does it say I'm getting a Bachelors in English.

(Husband thoughts [Husbaughts] in red.)

This semester was a beast so I was unbelievably happy when it ended.

Not only did I have many hours of volunteer service to complete, a senior paper to write, a portfolio to compile, many tests to take, presentations to present, and group projects to do.... We also decided it would be a good idea to pack up and clean our apartment, move 1200 miles away, and leave my man there for two months! 

Probably not the best plan but you do what you gotta do! 

Since some have called me long winded (mom), I'm going to stop talking and here is my graduation day in pictures. (With husbaughts interjected)

 The following picture was snapped with split-second timing by the non-photog husband between the milling masses of the recently-liberated graduates filing past me. Imagine threading a needle at warp factor 5. Make it so.

 Privacy, please. This was more for the benefit (or rather long-term psychological detriment) of Danielle's young siblings who were in attendance. Yeah, they hate it when I do that.

 We paid HOW much for this piece of green cardboard?

Danielle has a fascination with jumping pictures. Perhaps stemming from an adolescent desire to make manifest blah blah blah blah. She has great legs.

After the ceremony we went out to dinner where some more of my family was able to join us! It was so fun to see everyone there and feel their love and support.

Thanks to everyone who came!

And of course we'd hate to make it through a full post without some ridiculous picture of Jesse...

I'm just giving the people what they want.

Jesse's Final Thoughts: Looking back on the events of the day amid the hustle and bustle of family, friends, and frivolity, it's easy to lose sight of the great accomplishment we were witness to that afternoon. I mean, seriously. Golden Corral's rolls are amazing, and I live for the opportunity to have pizza, Chinese food, and mashed potatoes on my plate at the same time. It's a wonderful restaurant.

Jesse came back!

As usual I'm behind the times so I'm going to play a little catch-up.

{April 26, 2012}

April 26 had become a much anticipated day. It was my last day of work and the day my sweetheart came back to Utah to celebrate my graduation and take me back to Texas with him. I could hardly wait!

I kept myself plenty occupied at work and left rather late since I had to wrap up any and all loose ends before I left. I then went back to Jesse's parents house to freshen up a bit and find out where on earth the Provo Airport was located. 

I was greeted by two of Jesse's sisters, his parents, and a question of "Do you guys have any big plans tonight because I need help moving a fridge!"

Hahaha! Our only official plans included not leaving one another's sight, and maybe some kisses.... or a lot of kisses. :) But I decided there should be room to include a fridge move. So we all hopped into a couple of cars and headed to the airport. 

When we arrived, I wasn't sure where he'd be so I stood there looking lost until my handsome husband showed up and wrapped me in his arms. A hug had never felt so good. We then kissed until we heard shouts from the car, "ENOUGH!" (But let's be honest, we hadn't seen each other in two full months. We had to make up for lost time!)

 And then our caravan was off to Pleasant Grove to pick up a fridge. 

Good thing I decided to share my husband's muscles for the time being. He was quite instrumental in the move.

After everything was said and done with the fridge we headed back to Jesse's parents house where we met his other sister. We had all sorts of fun sitting around talking, laughing, watching YouTube videos, touching my SIL's pregnant belly, and telling (or in my case, listening to) inside jokes.

As it would turn out, I'm not the only person who missed my cute husband. He really lights up the room with his upbeat personality and sense of humor. I am SO happy to have him back!

Girls Weekend

Let's just say our weekend get away to Vegas was amazing.

Haylee Caplin, Ashley Shelton, and I have talked about a girls weekend for months.

We then decided to quit talking and start doing.

Haylee and I carpooled down to Vegas and Ashley met us there on Friday.

We shopped, talked, walked, talked, laughed, and stayed up way too late talking some more.

Saturday we did more of the same.

But we added Phantom of the Opera that evening.

It seriously blew our minds!

What an AMAZING show!

It gave me chills. 

And I already want to see it again.

It was such a therapeutic trip, 

especially after such a crazy semester of school.

The highlights include:

Phantom of the Opera (Obviously)

Staying up WAY too late talking

Shopping  

Jumping on the bed

And funny conversations  including:

Ashley: "What is your favorite flavor of M&Ms?"

Danielle: "Teal"

(At PF Changs)

Server: "What would you like to drink?"

Danielle: "Water"

Server: "Are you 21?"

Danielle: "Do I have to be 21 to drink water?"

Server: "No. You have to be 21 to sit at the bar." 

Danielle: "Ohhhhhh....."

He then hesitated before he asked Haylee or Ashley if they were 21.

I then learned that I'm the only one of the 3 of us who gets told on a consistent basis

 that I look like I'm about 18. Sad.

This also happened after I had this conversation with the Orange Julius lady early that day:

(I say lady but she couldn't have been any older than I am.)

Or so I think. What do I know?

OJ lady/girl: "Is that a baby bag?" (referring to my purse)
Me: "No. It's just my purse"

OJ  lady/girl: "Oh. Do you have a baby?"

Me: "No."

OJ lady/girl: "Oh good. You look way too young to have a baby."

What the heck? Does that happen to anyone else???

I swear random people tell me all the time I look like I'm about 18 or too young for something.

I'm sure I'll appreciate it someday.

Well and honestly I don't mind it THAT much now I suppose.

I just always want to say "Well guess how long I've been married"

See how they respond to that!

And notice that I am the only one who says dumb things. 

Maybe that's my problem.

Ashley and Haylee must say "age appropriate" things!

I did catch myself telling my in-laws when I got home that I usually think without speaking 

(Instead of what I actually do of speaking without thinking!) haha.

So there you go.  I guess I'm just awesome.

Or strange. One or the other.

The "pre" picture always has to look a little ugly right?

It cracks me up how alike these pictures are. 

We took these at different times in different places.

 This is where I decided my head looked too small.

 And this is when I tried to make my head look bigger. haha.

 Maybe these are the culprits for the next pictures?

Although I can hardly blame my caffeine free sprite....

 

 And this is what happens when you try to have 3 people jump with a self timer! haha.

 And then we tried just 2 of us. It didn't get much better!

 Nor with just 1 of me!

 We were exhausted by the end but didn't want to leave.

Thanks for such a fun weekend girls!

It was absolutely perfect.

Maybe if we start planning the next one now

 it will happen sometime next year!

4th Anniversary

Wow. Has it really been 4 years since we were married? 

Time has a funny way of playing tricks on us. 

I cannot believe it has ALREADY been 4 years but at the same time 

I have a hard time believing it has ONLY been 4 years.

Either way I love it!

Even though Jesse and I were apart for our Anniversary 

he always has a way of melting my heart.

I had a busy day at work and spent some time volunteering

and I didn't get home until about 9pm 

but I walked in and saw flowers from my man.

I'm so lucky.

The best part is that I get to see him in the flesh

TOMORROW!

Our 8 weeks apart have been tolerable (for the most part)

 but we're most definitely ready to be together again.