Proud Wife

It was a close call, but Matt graduated last week! And if you don't believe me, I got it on video.

Matt looked great, and we are now both BYU alumni! We got to spend the weekend with our family and friends, and eat lots of yummy food.

And we know it's real, because Matt got his diploma in the mail about a week after graduating! 

In a month from now we will be leaving BYU, but who knows maybe we'll be back in 20 or so years?

Provo Top Ten

I'm not going to lie.  I can't wait to get the heck out of Provo more and more every day.  At the same time though, I'm a little bit sad.  I have really gotten to know myself here in Provo, have had some great experiences, and made some amazing friends.  I decided to put together a top ten list of my favorites memories from living in good old P-town.

10.  BEING A FRESHMAN

Gosh that was one fun year.  I made so many friends and did so  many crazy and fun things.  I also grew up a whole lot.




9.  BYU SPORTS

Especially that time we went on a bus up to the U to watch a volleyball game.  We won!




8.  ROAD TRIP

We went up to Idaho to attend my old friends Kristin's wedding.  Oh, and stopped to check out an ice cave in our dresses.




7. MG's

Yes, I admit.  I hung out with some awesome girls who all had missionaries.  (Missionary Girlfriends) And they were some of the most amazing women I have ever met.





6.  PHOTO SHOOTS

 

TyRee and I were photo shoot queens.  We had "urban", "country", "rainy day" and even "paparazzi" themed shoots. So glad we took so many pictures!





5.  INTRAMURAL CHAMPS

Yep.  We won the shirt. No big deal.




4.  MATH EDUCATION CONFERENCES

Call us nerds, but my dear friend Dani and I went to at least 3 Math Ed Conferences... including one in SAN DIEGO where we met the president of NCTM.



3.  GRADUATING!

Only took me 5 years and 3 major switches.




2.  CONCERTS

Just to name a few:  The Fray, One Republic, Hello Goodbye (twice), and MC HAMMER!




1.  MARRIED LIFE

After we got married, we have spent the first 3 years of our married life here in Provo.  What a awesome time I've had hanging out with my awesome hubby.


I think Provo have served me well.  I am going to miss it.. if only just a little.




And here's some honorable mentions that didn't quite make the list...

 

 

Books and Gender

I went to the Provo library's Family Literary Symposium a few weeks ago.  It was a great experience... I got lots of great book recommendations and got to here a great keynote from my favorite young adult author, Shannon Hale.

Shannon was amazing.  She was honest and smart, and had some awesome things to say about literacy in your family.  There were a few things that really resonated with me especially since I have been preparing to have a family in the future.

My favorite piece of advice from her was to give your boys a book about a girl every once in a while.  I am in no way a feminist.  I love wearing dresses and jewelry, cooking, and being a housewife/mother sounds like the best thing that I could ever do. But this really hit me.  Girls read ALL books.. The Princess Diaries and Hatchet... The Babysitter's Club and Goosebumps.... but if a boy decides he wants to read Pride and Prejudice he's mocked by everyone at school (boys and girls alike).  What is wrong with this picture? Shanon's advice: Give your boys a book about a girl about every 5th time or so you buy one.  This doesn't mean it has to have "Princess" in the title, but just a book where the main character is a girl, and it doesn't have much to go with war/sports/"boy things".

There are so many benefits to this! 1.Your boys read about more than just sports and battle.  2. They might learn a little bit about girls and how the think.  3. They will be a good example/friend when other boys might be criticized about what they're reading.  4. They will probably like it! My husband liked reading The Host with me, even though he was skeptical about it being by the Twilight author.

A few other awesome ideas from Mrs. Shannon Hale (and some other panel members) on how to help your family love to read:

• Read for pleasure in front of your kids, not just in bed at night
• Read books as an entire family, have the little ones act it out
• Read out-loud to even your teenagers and discuss them
• Make sure Dad reads to the kids (for some reason that makes it "cooler" to read)
• Buy your kids at least one book each for Christmas
• Have family movie nights AND family reading nights
• Support libraries by purchasing real books, not always electronic ones

He worried for me

I am a worrier.  I worry about everyone and everything, and I worry all the time. Sometimes, it really gets me down.  This usually happens when I'm bored, or when it's cold and dark outside.  Lately it's been the cold and dark reason. Here are just a few of the things I worry about:

• My health..... I always think things are worse then they are
• My husband
• My sisters... I want then to have all that they deserve and know that they are amazing
• My students
• My future children
• Myself.... Am I the best I can be?  Am I the best wife, daughter, sister, teacher I can be?

 Last week in Sunday School  I was privileged to be able to teach a lesson about the atonement. I read and studied and prayed over this topic and I learned so much. The most important thins that I learned is...

My Savior suffered for my worries.

This wasn't really a new idea, but it really hit me since I was currently in a "worrying slump". My Savior suffered for EVERYTHING that hurts me, worries me, troubles me, or even scares me.  Because I do not need to repent of large sins, this is really the way I should be using the atonement in my life everyday.  He knows how much my worries affect me like no one else does and He is there to help me through them every single day.  I know this with all my heart.

A quote from one of my favorite books Believing Christ sums this up beautifully:

"All negative aspects of the human existence brought about by the Fall, Jesus Christ absorbed them into himself.  He experienced vicariously in Gethsemane all the private griefs and heartaches, all the physical pains and handicaps, all the emotional burdens and depressions of the human family.  He knows the loneliness of those who don't fit in or who aren't handsome or pretty.  He knows what it's like to choose up teams and be the last one chosen.  He knows the anguish of parents whose children go wrong.  He knows the private hell of the abused child or spouse.  He knows all these things personally and intimately because He lived them in the Gethsemane experience.  Having personally lived a perfect life, He then chose to experience our imperfect lives."

Exciting News!

My amazingly smart husband officially accepted a job offer at Qualcomm in Boulder, CO.  I'm so proud of him!  The offer is awesome, and I am so excited to start this next stage in our life.  Matt graduates in April, and then we will be moving in June so I can finish up my year of teaching.

I don't know much about Colorado except that it's super pretty, has a ton of outdoorsy stuff to do, and it has a cool state flag.

Colorado, here we come! (Well, in a few months anyway)

Scrabble Craft

I searched for months to find a cheap game of Scrabble at a thrift store.  I finally found one and made these cute little coasters..

 They each have 2 words spelled in them.  See if you can find them!