The Last Homework

I just submitted the last homework assignment I will ever have in my undergraduate studies.  I am officially finished with school.  For now.  Oh, what a relief it is.

Commencement

Today, BYU held its commencement exercises for the graduates of April 2013, me included.  To start this account, I must explain that I was under the impression that it began either at 5 or 5:30.  Thus, I got off work at 3.  Dad, who drove the lonely road up here by himself, picked me up so we could go together.  We stopped at home to check what the recommended attire, but instead realized that we were ten minutes late for the academic procession.  We ran out the door, me with my regalia still in its packaging, and Dad dropped me off in front of the Marriott center.  I quickly donned the cap and gown and watched the herd of graduates file by until I found a couple classmates I could attach myself to.  (Oddly, as I was waiting for any familiar faces, a photographer asked if he could take a picture of my silhouette...)

We slowly shuffled into the Marriott Center, took our seats, and listened to addresses from President Samuelson, Michael O'Connor (BYU Alumni Association President), Conrad Rosenbrock (funny-accented graduate), a musical number, and Elder L. Tom Perry.  Then, we were on our own.  I met up with Dad, and we picked up Brett from home to go to dinner (after an hour of watching the NFL draft, of course).

We decided to try a sushi/Chinese restaurant called Wild Ginger.  Mention it to Dad, and I'm sure you'll get his signature look of disgust.  Poorly fried sushi rolls that all tasted the same, service that kept us lacking (literally: Brett never got his pop, and we never got our second round of sushi), and an all-you-can-eat price more expensive than buying the sushi individually.  Needless to say, we paid for the sushi individually and refused to give the waitress a tip.

To make up for the bad taste in his mouth, we brought Dad to J-Dawg's to have a bun-less hot dog.  After that, he was satisfied.  Tomorrow, we'll treat him to a better restaurant.

And that, in a nutshell, is how I spent my first day of graduation.

What do I have to offer from it?

1.  The knowledge of a very bad place to go for sushi.

2.  Two men (Brett and Dad) on my couch watching the NFL draft.

3.  A program.

With my name in it.

And a scholastic recognition.

And tomorrow, I walk.  At 8 in the morning...

Last Day

Today is officially my last day of class.  Am I excited?  Of course.  I've been looking forward to the day I'm finally finished with school since the eighth grade.  That doesn't mean I'm not sad.  Spend sixteen years of your life doing anything, and the ending will always be bitter-sweet.
I don't think graduation will be the end, though.  There'll be a graduate program waiting for me in a few years, and I'm sure eventually I'll find my way back into school as a teacher or professor.  But for now, I'm finished.  After today, I have a week to get ready for finals, and then only two to take.  Then graduation comes on the 25th and 26th.
What will I do once school is out?  I'm going to clean my home.  I'm going to catch up with the endless pile of dishes and papers.  I'm going to read a book.  I'm going to write a book (or not).  I'm going to practice the piano and the violin.  I'm going to sit around doing absolutely nothing.  Then I'll go to work until the wee hours of the morning.  Then my shift will change, and I'll finally have a regular work schedule.

Then, I'm going to finally have my evenings with Brett back.  Thank goodness.

Counting Blessings

I have a feeling like God's wedding gift to Brett and me was a lifetime of extra blessings.  I have seriously never had life go so perfectly well.  Don't get me wrong, there are stresses and hard times - it wouldn't be life without them.  But honestly, we've been blessed so much, the trials seem smaller than cracks in a sidewalk.  I just wanted to list a few blessings we've received, mainly because they have a lot to do with what's been going on in our lives, and so they're not just blessings, but news as well.

1.  Brett got a job within the first two weeks of us being in Utah, which has made it so much easier to pay for all the crazy expenses that come with living on our own.

2.  Brett got promoted.  He is so stinking good at what he does.  And just a month into his new position, he's already gone above and beyond and set a new standard.

3.  I got a job recently, too.  :)  Brett's been doing a great job providing for us, but it's about time we started saving up more for the months ahead when he'll be starting school.

4.  Brett got into BYU!  We're so excited for him to start.  We've got his schedule for his summer classes already.  He's only taking two classes, math and art history, so both of us can work full time and get ahead of the game.

5.  I only have two more weeks left of school!  Admittedly, I will miss being in school, but I am ready for a very long break between my undergraduate and graduate studies.

6.  Brett and I both have callings!  This actually may not seem like a blessing, but it is.  Brett's a counselor in the quorum presidency, and I'm both a Relief Society meetings committee member and the ward pianist.  These callings have seriously helped us become a part of the ward.  Otherwise we might be social recluses.

7.  My visiting teachee is pregnant with her second baby!  I'm excited for her, and I've been dying to tell everyone, but I decided it would be best for her to break the news.  After all, it is her baby.  But at least I can tell people who aren't in my ward, right?

8.  Brett and I are acing our classes.  I know that's not saying much when you consider that Brett only has two classes and I only have three, but working full time and going to school is hard.  I get so tired, so fast.  But we're staying strong!

9.  We got to see our family over the weekend.  How could this not be considered a blessing?  We never get to see anyone, but Mom, Dad, and Clarke came up for the mission reunion, and we got to meet with them and take them out to lunch.  (We also took Aunt June and Uncle Gordon with us, and we watched the first session of Conference together.)

10.  We're almost finished with our taxes!  Maybe this may not actually be a blessing... but it's the first time we've ever done taxes together, and we were blessed to have Brett's dad help us through it.  I'll admit, I slept through the entire thing, but Brett and his dad toughed through it, and now all we have to do is mail the forms in.  But thank goodness we won't be stressing about them come April 15.

I decided I needed to have an even number of blessings/news, so I stopped at 10.  There's so much more, but I don't know how interesting they'd be, especially when they're so obviously (like having a car).

In other news, we also got more photos back!  As a wedding gift, someone Brett's parents knew took our pictures.  Since they're all up on Facebook, I don't think I'll put them here.  But I will put one of my favorite ones.

Why this one?  Because first off, it's cute.  But second, how nerdy am I?  I totally forgot to take off the sticker on my pants!  Eventually I'll photoshop that out, but for now, Brett and I can just look at it and laugh at how silly I am.

Also, Brett's parents sent lots of pictures from the California reception and the pictures Heidi took at the Arizona photo shoot.  I've decided not to put them up, because I'm lazy.  Except for one that Heidi took, because it just happened to be a great picture.

Great job, Heidi!  It's actually become one of my favorite ones, too.  Derrel's not the only one that can take amazing pictures.  :P