4th of July and Moose Sightings!

For the 4th of July, my family traditionally attends the Oakley rodeo. I am a little cowgirl at heart and I LOVE this traadition. This year Meggie came with us and we had a blast. Later that month we went to the cabin again and spent most of our time moose watching. It was great!

Don't we look excited?

This is Meggie trying to click her heals....may I point out the trying part!

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL!

This needs no explanation except to say: High School Musical Marathon! Thanks all for making this happen.

Bear Lake!

Here are some photos of a trip to Bear Lake that Alex was nice enough to make happen.

Here are some of my favorites. My friends were kind enough to be my models.

CABIN TIME!

After graduation, the whole family, even the Texans, headed to the cabin for some fun and relaxation. Even some aunts, uncles, and cousins we able to make it. It was a great break and beginning to the summer!

Audrey's new outfit from Grandma Nedra

Ain't we cute?

the boys admiring the new addition to the family

the caretaker's cabin

what does that grin mean?

the swing is always more fun with more people

Danen impressing all with his strength

who would guess she's from Texas?

Maybe the best family photo EVER!

a few of the cousins. I promise that Logan is not trying to eat me.

Every year we take pictures for Mother's Day and this year we tried them with a twist. I'll let them speak for temselves.

GRADUMATATION!!!!!!!

So I thought I needed to give all of you an update of the last going-ons in my life! There will be mulitple posts, so get excited!

On May 8th, I officially became a GRADUATE of THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH with my BACHELOR'S DEGREE in ARCHITECTURAL STUDIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I believe those exclamation points show I feel about this fact! Most of that has to do with the fact that it took me six and a half years to get to this point. And thats not even counting the year and a half break for my mission. Yes, if you do the math that means that I have been out of high school for eight years. Thanks for rubbing that in! It has been a long process to get to this point and I'm not really sure what to do with myself at the moment. Oh, right, go back to grad school! Half of the journey is now over and it now feels wonderful to say that I actually have that little piece of paper. It may not mean much, but it has been a lifelong dream and can now be checked off my list. You know how you feel when you get to cross something off your daily list of to-dos? Well just imagine that feeling on a much bigger scale......and a much bigger to do list. That morning I opted not to go to the big University wide commencement so I didn't have to be up there til mid morning. My cute mom and I went shopping to buy a whole new outfit for me and it was so nice to actually have time to get ready! The ceremony was just the right length and since I knew just under half of everyone that graduated with me, it made it a whole lot more bearable. There are no unblurry pictures of the actual ceremony, but it felt great to walk across that stage and shake the Dean's hand! Afterwards there was a simple reception at the Architecture building where we all got to take pictures and see everyone. After a few formal and traditional pictures, my family headed off to celebrate with a lunch at CAFE TRIO! It was delicious and we got to enjoy our food in the sun on the patio. That night our family was all headed to the cabin so everyone was pretty anxious to get up there.. Overall it was a great day! Here are some pictures to catch you up on the days events!

Me & Tams

Me, Steve-O, & Enzo

Almost all the girls

I love how it looks like we are all conspiring something.....we probably were.

Christin & I

The Whole Fam...that could be there.

Just like everything else in this world, this has been a process. Little did I know two years ago that I would have gone to LA just to study schools, pulled so many all nighters, and learned so much. Architecture has always been a passion of mine and I have always known what I have wanted to study in school. None of this would have been possible if it wasn't for my parents. My father taught me to love architecture and instilled in me a sense of hard work. My mother gave me my creativity and the power to go after my dreams. Both of them taught me to try and fill the never-ending thirst for knowledge. Without their love and support I would not be where I am today and I certainly would not have my degree. Thank you for everything that borh of you do for me........usually without blinking an eye! I love you!

Hypocritic Oath

Yes that is right. I am actually posting a blog! I know, you can all grab the paper bags and start to hyperventilate! I have learned something the past couple of months......don't go on a rant about how people need to blog more often for my enjoyment if I do not plan to have the same curtosey for them. Or at least don't go on this rant if you don't want to hear about it! I am admitting it here in public that I am a hypocrit! Yes I say things and then don't comply with what I just stated. I know this about me and the first step to recovery is admitting it. I love reading blogs and spend a good chunk of my day doing so. I now promise to TRY and update my blog on a more regular basis. I say try because I can't say I will do something and then not do it, especially after this post. Please do not harrass me if I fall off the wagon, I will get back on eventually. I use school as my excuse for many things and this is one of them. Gladly school will be done soon enough....graduation is in a week.....and therefore will no longer be aloud to be an excuse...at least until next fall. This last week has been especially painful in the school department. I have spent more time there than I would like to admit or count. During this week, just like the blog, many things have been neglected. I didn't realize how ridiculous it was until after the fact. Luckily I have a very understanding roommate. It does help that she is in the program with me and therefore understands it a little bit better. Here is a little photo update on what happened......

my sad sink

my laundry and yes everything on the floor is or was actually clean

and this is a jungle of a front yard, which has now been attacked and overthrown.

and finally I wanted to give you all a little taste of where I was and what I was doing all week.

this is what the studio looks like at about 4 am during finals projects.

this is my desk as I am building my model. My grandmother sent me some tulips from her yard to brigthen up my weekend. They smelled great and it gave me a nice change of scenery!