Austin's Graduation

Yesterday was Austin's graduation... it was very nice. I was dreading sitting through the ceremony, because I was so bored throughout my graduation. I just remember sitting there and wanting to get to Grad Night. I had not liked high school very much. Even so, I started thinking of the finality of graduation. I haven't seen the majority of my class since that night, and to be honest that's fine with me. But it still was kind of sad to say goodbye to some people. I just don't like endings, to be honest.
But, Austin had a much better high school experience. Watching him grow during these last 4 years has been pretty amazing. He's always been more charismatic than the rest of us combined (besides Cole, maybe). His classmates love him, and he's loved that.
It was pretty amusing to watch some of my old teachers back at the UCI Bren Center. Some will just never leave, huh? There were also some classmates working as paraprofessionals and teacher's aides, which was amusing. In all, probably about a quarter of my class was there for younger siblings.
We all had noisemakers for when Austin stood up, because we wanted to try and embarrass him (nope). Little did we realize that we were going to wait for the VERY end, because he was going to be the second to last person called. Oh no, it gets better! He and his friend then continued to pick up their advisor between them and bounce her up and down, to the laughter and cheers of their classmates. My mom was laughing, but said it was "not appropriate". I was just amazed he had the guts to do it.
This picture we took was cute, and on my new cell phone which actually takes new pictures. He was so happy, and is probably exhausted from partying at Grad Night all night. But we're proud of him, and hope that BYU can handle this.

My summer friends

So one of the joys of being a Child Development major is that one of the best work experiences I can have is babysitting. I love it. The downside is that I don't have a whole lot of peer interaction, because I'm there for the kids. But I have been lucky enough to go to a wedding reception by now, for my friend Jen (Neeley) Harker. Bethany drove out with me because it was an hour or so away, and we only stayed for a few minutes. But it was gorgeous, and if I had a backyard that big and picturesque I would use ours too. But Murphy has made sure that we know it's his territory now. (Note: Our backyard isn't bad... it's just not big enough for a wedding reception). Watching her and her husband Dusty at the reception was cute, and it also helped me realize that having my reception the night before wouldn't be bad. She loved having everyone there, but she was just tired by the end of the day.

Don't even get me started on that dress. It was so gorgeous, if I could have found one in my size (because she's about half my size), I would have copied her in a second.
Other than that, I hang out with babies. Literally. I'll just give first names of these children, but they're adorable.

Keegan

Kamden (they can't let me use the camera without wanting to touch it all the time)

Maverick

 Savannah (aka Savvy)

I love them.

The week with Brandon

So I got the chance to visit Brandon from May 16 to May 20. It was a glorious occasion, as the last time I had seen him I had a total breakdown in the Long Beach airport parking lot. But anyway. We had business to do. Our wedding plans included:
1) Finding a suit for Brandon
2) Find an apartment
3) Get Brandon sized for his ring
4) Find potential invitation printers?
5) Get some quality time together

Monday was an exciting day. I was so antsy all day. When I got to the Idaho Falls airport, I was about ready to die I was so excited. It was great to see Brandon again. We immediately went to dinner at Garcia's, a restaurant we had been to on a previous date. It was right next to the mall, so we just went over and got his ring finger sized right then. Now I know what size it is, and I can find a wedding band for him. Afterwards, we went to his apartment and just hung out. I got to stay with Megan, Brandon's sister, who was nice enough to let me stay in her bed.
Tuesday was pretty low key. We didn't do any wedding planning, just hung out with each other.
Wednesday, we got down to business. Wedding business. We found an apartment! It was so exciting. Brandon, being resourceful as usual, checked the school's bulletin board website for open contracts and found one that opened in August. It's at Cambridge Court, which would put us across the parking lot from our friends Scott and Christie Anderson. We also found a suit for Brandon (he looks really good in it... but I'm a little biased.)
Thursday I tried to not be too sad. I knew my trip was winding down, and any time anybody else tried to hang out with us I became irritated and would withdraw a little. That's just my way of making sure Brandon knows I don't like being away from him I guess. But his sister Ashlee came into town from a wedding in Utah, so we got to go out to dinner. It was super fun, and the only place where we got a picture of us.

My hair looks super nasty here because my scalp decided to freak out as soon as I got there so I couldn't dry it even if I wanted to. So I settled for looking like a wet dog.
Friday I left. Knowing how much rent is now, I have more motivation to babysit. So if anyone needs me, I'm yours! My WVA camp counseling job starts in a few weeks, so hopefully I'll be way busy then.