the graduated life

Thanks all, for the veggie suggestions! I actually have grilled asparagus on the menu for dinner tonight - and I think green salads will be the solution for quick and easy greens (plus salads sound good to me right now!).

So shout-outs to Kim Allgood (who always has great recipes on her blog, check it out to the left) and all you salad suggesters - Melanie and Emily.

This week has been the best! I took the last couple weeks of April off from piano teaching. I figured that finals and graduation and my sis-in-laws wedding this weekend would be too much to try and teach around. It was really nice to have my reading days and finals week and graduation festivities free. But I think this week has been even better - my first week graduated and NO COMMITMENTS! I've had time to clean my house, take afternoon naps, watch a movie here and there, practice my newly tuned piano, and just enjoy being in my home. I'm having a cozy morning inside on this blustery day. I could get used to this!!

A call for vegetable help!

Alright, friends. I know there are budding/full fledged chefs out there. I need your help.

I

hate

vegetables

right now.

I am awesome at getting fruit in my diet. Peaches, pears, blueberries, strawberries, apples. Check. Check. But vegetables are another story. Even corn - which is a sissy veggie, and my most common veggie friend - has been absent from my diet recently.

I blame it on the baby. Nothing sounds good to me right now. I need a solution.

Here are the stipulations:

-it needs to be cheap

-I'm anti-Mexican spices right now, so don't even think about it

-quick/easy would be nice, but isn't required

(I coud also use some quinoa suggestions as I recently inherited a box)

So grab those cook books and help a sister out! I'll give a grand prize blog shout-out to the person with the best suggestions! Ready. Go!

pomp and circumstance

Well I did it! The countdown is officially over. I am a college graduate.

Thursday, the day of Commencement, started out ugly. I woke up to find snow blowing past my window. Not appropriate, I thought. Not on my graduation day! I spent the morning getting my gown all ironed out and my clothes packed for my busy day. First on my agenda was a doctor's appointment. As you may now be aware, we are expecting a baby in November! We heard the heartbeat Thursday morning (which can be heard here). It was the perfect way to start a momentous weekend. When we left the doctor's office it was sunny and warm. The Class of 2010's prayers had been heard!

I raced off to get my haircut, met up with my mom for a graduation shopping trip at the mall. We found the perfect outfit, accessories and shoes and chowed down a sandwich before I made it miraculously to the end of the line as the graduates walked into the Marriott Center. I enjoyed the short and sweet commencement featuring D. Todd Christofferson. I absolutely loved seeing all the professors and deans gathered in their robes and hoods and hats and tassels. It felt like the opening feast at Hogwarts or something. It was fun to be part of something steeped in tradition and honor. My sister-in-law, Rachel, also graduated so we enjoyed double family celebrations. Dinner with the Paynes on Thursday, then lunch with the Thomases on Friday.

Convocation was held Friday morning and the weather had turned back to rainy and gray. But nobody seemed to mind as diplomas were handed out and excellent speeches were made. I felt lucky to be graduating from the college of fine arts and communications. We had some excellent musical numbers and entertaining speakers. Everyone there spent years learning how to perform - so the program was very well executed!

Following the walk across the stage, a few pictures and hugs, and a big Indian food feast, the weekend of graduation celebration came to a close, and I was officially done!

Here are a couple fun video clips - one of Rachel and me ringing the Victory Bell, and one of Rachel performing a dramatic reading about the Victory Bell!

It's been a great ride - thanks to all who have played a role along the way. You are many!

Now, on to preparing for parenthood. Does my degree help me with that?

reverse bucket list

I love making lists! So when I learned about bucket lists I put making one on my list of things to do. But a list of things to do before I die seems awfully intimidating. That will be a pretty long list! Instead, I decided to put my own twist on the list (Dr. Seuss?), and write a list of things I want to do - not before I die - but after I graduate! We'll start with a simple list of 10.

Post-graduation plans (in no particular order)

1- Get running again

2- Cook!

3- Read: the news, books, blogs, the scriptures

4- keep the laundry folded

5- get ready for this

6- start a savings account for one of these

7- meet the neighbors

8- eat lunch with McKay on weekdays

9- replace my dead PC with a living Mac

10- teach myself the guitar (always thought it would be cool to play. Never had the discipline to sit down and do it. Also, I've never owned a guitar)

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL-EVE!!

Remember as a kid when the last day of school was the BEST day of the whole year?! You couldn't sleep the night before and you woke up early and got all ready. You would get to school before the bell so that you could waste the day watching movies, signing yearbooks, eating treats and doing various other useless activities with all your friends. Then, when school ended early you would walk home and lie on the couch. Maybe you'd put in a movie, or re-read your yearbook. Chances are you were bored by the end of the day. But it was the best!

In college the last day of school marks the beginning of a long and dark road of studying. One thing stands between you and that carefree feeling of yesteryear. Finals.

Fortunately for me, I only have two major finals to study for. They'll take a decent amount of studying, but with McKay in Boston this week (cheering his mom on at the Boston Marathon and visiting his brother at HBS) I'll have loads of time to hit the books.

Who knows, maybe I'll take my finals on the first possible day! I did that winter semester of my Freshman year. I was DONE by 8 pm the first night of finals. It was awesome. I stopped by the BYU creamery on my way to my best friends apartment. I picked up snacks and was ready to party. The only problem was . . . no one else was ready to party. Oh well. It was still a good feeling and a good memory!

As I sit here the night before my last day of school - which will involve BYU Singers at 12:30 and the Bible as Literature at 5 pm - I have fond memories of college life.

I've enjoyed five years in some of the best choirs around. I had a chance to sing with Women's Chorus (as a freshman), Concert Choir (sophomore and junior) and BYU Singers (senior and super-senior).

I went on tour to the UK. I met Eric Whitacre. I recorded a CD.

Love these girls!

Love Blarney Castle

Love the bus . . .

not sure about my face . . . (Eric and me!)

Coming soon . . . We Sing of Christ, Vol. 2

I took jazz piano lessons. I took classical piano lessons. I played percussion in the symphony for a semester. I performed a recital.

I served a mini-mission in the Philippines. It changed my life.

Kids we met.

Families we taught.

Streets we walked.

Views we saw.

People we loved.

I lived on campus. I lived in a house with 12 girls. I lived in an apartment with a slanty sidewalk. I dated and fell in love. I got married. We lived in a basement apartment. We bought a house.

I made life-long friends. I learned hard lessons. I slept through a final my first semester. I stayed up late writing papers . . . I stayed up late having girl talk.

I received an ORCA grant. I was a TA. I submitted a proposal to create my own major (it was rejected!).

I think my college experience was exactly what it was supposed to be. I worked hard, and I played hard. And with all these good memories melting together to create a warm glow in my brain, I'm ready to move on! I'm excited to leave papers, assignments, grades and tests behind. Ready to move on to a new chapter of life.

new bands

I'm trying to find some good new music. I've discovered a few new artists that I'm really into right now - thank goodness for Pandora.

Angus and Julia Stone

Brett Dennen

Oren Lavie

anyone else discovered anyone great lately?

i love the sky

Although the weather of the past two days has been quite disagreeable (spring in Utah - anything goes!) the stormy, windy days have made for some spectacular sunsets! Due to daylight savings time, I have been able to drive home during sunset a couple nights a week. And what beautiful drives they've been!

I've always been fascinated with the sky. There's almost nothing more captivating to me than a gorgeous sunset, or a starry night sky. In another life, I would major in Sky Watching (maybe a made up degree).

Yesterday, as I was driving north on I-15 the road ahead was dark with a thick grey blanket of clouds. Behind me in the rear view mirror was Mount Nebo, bright and glowing as the sun set on its snow-covered peaks. To my left was a beautiful break in the low-hanging clouds. Dark purple and milky white clouds swirled together like soft-serve ice cream on a background of glowing pink. Pictures never do a sunset justice, especially when taken while driving. But here's my best result from my reckless driving photo shoot.

Screpes!

Happy Conference Weekend!

One of my favorite conference traditions that we have faithfully followed these past two conferences is the making and eating of "screpes" - or square crepes. We have the perfect crepe griddle, but it's square, so we invented the term!

McKay is the official Crepe Chef and did a fabulous job this morning.

here he is in his crepe domain

a close up of the flip!

We dumped fresh berries and sugar on these delightful pastries and officially kicked off conference weekend.

what we're watching

McKay and I have recently discovered the beauty of Netflix. We're currently enjoying our free trial! In honor of free movie month, here's a list of good flicks I've seen lately

Stand and Deliver (in honor of the late Jaime Escalante)

Memento (edited)

The Sixth Sense (classic!)

Invictus

Finding Nemo

A documentary about Donkey Kong (nerdy, but fun!)

The Office (season 5)

We're always up for a good movie.

Any suggestions?