Reminiscing

Crazy to think that a year ago Dallen graduated college, I attended my cousin's bachelorette party and was part of her wedding, and we moved to Texas! So many crazy and awesome things happened within that short time frame.

Dallen's Graduation:

It was great being able to see a lot of Dallen's family come for his convocation. His parents, Grammy, most of his brothers (including their significant others and kids), some aunts and uncles, and my dad all came to celebrate.

It was also cool that we both made it to the Jumbotron for each of our graduations! For his graduation, one of his really good mission buddies (his mission tatay) took Dallen's graduation pictures, and one of those photos was featured on the screen and in BYU's Instagram story. (For mine, two of my photos made the screen and BYU Instagram story).

This is the photo that made the Jumbotron & BYU Instagram Story.
Photo Credit: JCBA Photography

Dallen's graduation was also, literally, cool. Temps were in the 40s and was rainy/snowy (thankfully the snow didn't stick!) Too bad, the weather wasn't as nice as my graduation (80s and sunny).

Getting good seats for his convocation makes up for the not-so-great weather. We were able to see him, and him see us, as he was in the line to walk across the stage to receive his diploma cover.

(Not the photo that made the Jumbotron)

Example of how great of seats we had.

A well-deserved ring of the Victory Bell!

Mandy's Bachelorette Party:

This was my first bachelorette party ever (didn't have one for my wedding). It was a great, chill time. We got to explore Kansas City. Ate at a local barbecue restaurant and diner the next day, walked around IKEA, hang out at the pool and hot tub, and went out.

My dinner from the local BBQ place.

My lunch from Winstead's, the local diner.

The Skyscraper Shake. That thing was massive! Mandy, Marissa, and I were able to dominate it, just barely.

One of neat things of this trip was running into other Mormons at the hotel! We (the bridal party) were on our way to the elevator, when a group of ladies commented on my BYU hoodie. We had a nice chat in the lobby and elevator about how the mom and her daughter were here to pick up the other daughter, who had just finished her mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I ran into them the next day at breakfast and shortly later at church during Sacrament meeting. It was nice seeing familiar faces in a room full of people that I didn't know.

Days Leading Up to the Wedding:

In the days leading up to the wedding, there were quite a few crazy happenings. First, Dallen and Buttercup drove cross country for the wedding. They made it safely to Iowa and a little ahead of schedule, despite the fiasco with getting our rental car! Dallen had scheduled a rental car from Hertz months in advance, and to be picked up at a specified time. Well, the specified time came and left and no one showed up. He called to ask when his ride would get to our place, but no one answered the phone; it just rang and rang and rang. He tried again and the same thing happened. Eventually he was able to speak to someone and they said it would be about 15 minutes (or something like that). Well, still no one showed up after waiting another hour, so Dallen ended up having to drive himself there.

Second, while Dallen was driving cross country we received notice from my friend that she couldn't get into our apartment to feed Little Fishy. The key Dallen gave her wasn't working. Turns out he gave her the wrong key. We called a locksmith and everything worked out and she was able to find the right key that way there wouldn't be any future lock outs.

Third, there was a major gas leak in our apartment. The landlady tried to get a hold of us, to tell my friend that the gas company needed to get into the apartment. Well, we had no idea of this because we had absolutely NO signal where we were. We finally were able to get some signal while we were on a hike. We were able to contact my friend, but they weren't home and couldn't get back until later that afternoon. Things managed to work out and the gas problem was solved. Surprisingly enough, Little Fishy survived! With how high the gas level was, I was concerned with how she was doing.

 While we had time before the rehearsal dinner (the same day as the gas leak incident) we decided to recreate one of our dates: lunch and a hike (it's one of my favorite places to go hiking). I just love the picture of Dallen and Buttercup overlooking the river. 😍

That was the end of the crazy happenings (for now). While Dallen was driving to Iowa, I was able to spend a day with my grandparents. It was fun hanging out with them. Grandma and Grandpa had some errands to do in town, so I came along. We then had lunch at the local drive-in. It was as good as I remember it being growing up.

The Wedding:

The day before the wedding was the rehearsal dinner. It was a lot of fun! It was Cinco de Mayo themed, since it was Cinco de Mayo. I was able to see an aunt that I hadn't seen in quite a few years and a cousin that I hadn't seen for even longer.

All the guys had to wear a mustache and the ladies the sombrero.

After the rehearsal party, us ladies in the bridal party made our way to the bed and breakfast, where we were staying for the night. The bed and breakfast was very cute and there are few neat experiences that happened. The first being there was a room called Buttercup! I discovered this over breakfast the next morning. I debated bringing my phone with me, but left it in our cabin, since it had no reception. I should have because right when I saw it I wanted to take a picture of it. The second and third neat experiences also happened over breakfast: there was a statue figurine of what appeared to be the Christus and a picture on the wall that appeared to be of a temple. Those two experiences had me curious if the people running the B&B were LDS. I didn't ask them, but I got my answer the next day when I went to church. Turns out the branch president and his wife are the owners of that B&B! The statue really was the Christus and the photo really was of a temple. The reason I didn't recognize them was because they moved into the branch sometime after I had moved out.

A little tour of our cabin at the B&B.

The ceremony and reception were both nice. The weather was great for a wedding and pictures. I danced a lot and enjoyed sitting at the head table.

The dresses

Pre-Move:

After the wedding but before we actually moved, we went down to where we were moving to find a place to live. We had quite a few places lined up that we liked and were going to look at, but just days before getting there, all of the places we were interested in were rented out. We had to start from almost ground zero again.

As we approached our destination city, the air conditioning in our rental car went out and the windshield got a crack from who knows what (a rock maybe?). Being in the South, in May, it is just unacceptable to not have AC. We went into the car rental place to get a different rental. We ended up liking the new car a lot better than what we were originally given, especially since the original car was long overdue for an oil change (we didn't notice that until all of the problems with the vehicle started happening).

After looking at countless places (in person and online) once we got there and not having much luck, we finally found a place. The place we found (and currently live) was actually not yet listed. We were looking at a different place on the same street and the property manager/real estate lady (not quite sure what she was), mentioned that there was a different place that would fit our needs better. Sure enough, it was! It was like it was meant to be.

Shortly after signing the lease we were on our way back to Utah. The ride back to Utah was mostly uneventful, until we got to middle of nowhere, New Mexico when the tire on the rental car went flat. I think we hit a pothole wrong and ended up getting a big hole in the sidewall. Dallen was able to get the spare tire on, but it quickly turned into a long day trying to get the car replaced/repaired. We went to the closest Hertz car rental place and they didn't have any vehicles for us, so they sent us to another Hertz car rental that was an hour away (and not on our way home) because that was the next closest and they were more likely to have something. Turns out they also had nothing, but said to take it into a repair shop to get the tire replaced. We took it in and had it fixed. Thankfully, they allowed us to bring Buttercup inside. She was such a trooper through the whole ordeal. It was a bit frustrating, though, because there was a tire repair shop literally just down the street from the first car rental place we stopped at in New Mexico, and I felt they should have just sent us there, instead of on a wild goose chase, using up all the miles on the spare tire.

Buttercup waiting for the rental car to get fixed.

After the tire was replaced, the rest of the ride was uneventful, and we were so glad when we finally made it back to Utah.

The Move: 

The move was quite the adventure. The place we rented our moving truck from didn't have the size of truck we reserved. They had the next one smaller or next one larger (which also happens to be the largest truck one can drive without a CDL). To be able to adequately fit Dallen, me, Buttercup, and Little Fishy, we needed a truck with a bench seat. That meant we had to get the big truck. It was quite a bit larger that what we needed, but there was no extra charge. Plus, it provided us with ample space to sleep in the back at night! In addition to renting the largest moving truck, we also reserved a full car trailer. To give you all an idea of how big that all really is, we were almost as big as a semi with trailer.

Photo Cred: Dallen

Buttercup and Little Fishy did great on the move. I was concerned how Buttercup would do with the truck being so loud (she doesn't like our car for this reason) and how Little Fishy would do overall (movement and temp-wise). The first night I was worried that Little Fishy would freeze because the air got down to the 40s and goldfish are supposed to have the water be at mid 60s to low 70s. The temperature and movement didn't seem to bother Little Fishy and I actually think Buttercup enjoyed being a trucker dog.

A little fun back story pertaining to where we moved to: Back before Dallen and I got married we drove through the metro area of where we now live. I remember saying how I could never live here because I wouldn't be able to drive because of how crazy the traffic is here. Fast forward almost five years (almost six today) and this is where we moved to. I think it's Heavenly Father's way of compromise: Dallen came to BYU (my dream school) so I could graduate there, so now we live in a big city for his dream job. I think it's kinda funny.

I'm still adjusting to the traffic (drivers here really are crazy and so is the traffic!), but I love that is warm basically year round (could do without the big bugs), all the things that there are to do here (I'll mention some of what we've done in a future post), and getting to see aircraft take off/land right outside our place.

A Wild Idea

Sometimes when I am up late at night and am disappointed at the way our country is headed, I get this wild idea that I should maybe run for president when I'm old enough. I don't know if I ever will actually run, but I think the things I believe in could save America. I would help bring America back to the way the founding fathers had intended it. I think I could be a good president. If I were to run for office I wouldn't want to do it the common way, i.e. being a senator/house representative. I think many Americans are getting sick of those types of people being president because they don't really care about the state in which they represent they only care about their own personal ideas. Because I would want to go the non-traditional route I know it would be a lot harder because I am neither rich or famous. I would find a way to get myself known though.

I then had the not as crazy but still crazy idea that I would go to graduate school and then law school. I probably won't actually go to law school because I don't have the intention to become a lawyer or judge, but it would be useful for the background on all the laws that exist in our nation. However, if I do go to grad school I would want to continue in my field of family and see if there are any emphases on law and religion. Religion and family really need help because they are under serious attack.

With these two ideas I think I could have a unique perspective that most don't have when they run for office, which just might be able to help me. Maybe in another post I could share the stance I have on certain topics, but for now this is all just a wild idea.

P.S. If any of you have ideas of how I can make a difference in our nation without becoming president, please comment below. I really want to help our nation rise.

#LDSconf Weekend

Let me just say I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE! I look forward to it every six months. It is some of the greatest times of the year because it is like a spiritual boost that puts you on a spiritual high and leaves me wanting to do and be better.

I particularly enjoyed it this year because I did not have to worry about getting homework done in between the sessions (leaving me with ~6 hours to do homework). Conference weekend is SO much better when no homework is involved. I really feel like I was able to enjoy and get a lot more out of conference than the past few years because my mind was able to fully focus on what was being said by the speakers and what I felt from the Spirit.

Here is just a bit of what I loved from conference:

I feel like I gained so much this year. Everyone said things that stuck out to me. I really appreciate the talks that were geared toward the topic of family, such as Elder M. Russell Ballard's about family councils. Who knew there were so many different types of family councils? I didn't. About a month and a half ago my husband and I started holding regular council meetings of our own and it really helps us know what is going on in the upcoming week. I suppose we technically did family council meetings for about 2 years, but it was us checking how the other was doing throughout the week. Elder Ballard's talk gave me ideas of how I would like the various family council types to be implemented for when we have kids.

• General Family Council
• All family members 
• no electronic devices
• predesignated time
• more formal
• discuss things like family problems, finances, plan making, support & strengthen each other, and pray for one another & the family unit
• Executive Family Council
• Parents only 
• no electronic devices
• review each child's various needs and progress 
• talk about personal relationship with each other
• Limited Family Council
• Parents with one child at a time 
• no electronic devices
• decisions about what a child does/does not want to do with their future
• listen to concerns & challenges that this child has
• can be more informal
• One-on-One
• One parent and one child at a time 
• no electronic devices
• think Daddy-Daughter/Mommy-Son dates
• more informal
• special spiritual & emotional bonding time

This time around I actually watched the Priesthood session, unlike past conferences in which it was playing in the background while I did homework. I got so much from it, even though it wasn't directed at me. I was able to feel God's love for President Russell M. Nelson. I know that he is doing the Lord's work. I particularly loved President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk. Maybe it's because he spoke about families and I graduated with a degree in Family Life, but it was great. I took almost a page worth of notes. Two things I liked most from President Uchtdorf's talk are what he said about choosing love rather than being right (this is something I learned in my family life classes and it has always stuck with me; I try my best to apply it when a disagreement arises) and what he had to say about relationship pebbles. If I were any good at making uplifting quote memes I would do them on these two things.

“No matter how flat your relationship may be at present, if you keep adding pebbles of kindness, compassion, listening, sacrifice, understanding and selflessness, eventually a mighty pyramid will begin to grow.”

From Sunday's Session I liked President Monson's talk about choices. I liked how he repeated his quote from a past conference that decisions determine our destiny. I also liked his new quote about choosing to do the harder right than doing the easier wrong. Choosing the right, even when it's hard to do so will provide us with blessings. I also enjoyed the humor Elder Holland had in his talk; that was a great way to end conference weekend.

These are just some of the things that stood out to me from conference. I hope you all had a great conference. If you didn't get a chance to watch or listen to all the talks, they can all be found at lds.org.

Beginnings and Ends

Haven't written on this blog since before school started. It has been just that crazy. Plus, some of my time has been more focused on another blog. Now that the semester is winding down (can't believe tomorrow is my LAST day of class as for-like-ever--at least as an undergrad) I feel like I can devote some time to giving an update on the last almost 4 months (even though I have 10 pages to read, a quiz to take, and two 2 page papers to write all for tomorrow).

First, let me start by talking about the classes I took. They all were family related except for one class. This semester I was in Eternal Families, World Lit part 1, Family Life in World Religions, Advanced Family Processes, and a capstone research class.

Eternal Families is a new course. It is part of the new cornerstone thing that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came out with for its Church schools and institutes. For anyone that took Eternal Marriages and Strengthening Marriages and Family at BYU it is like a combination of these classes. I took it because I like learning about families and marriage (hence my major) and because I needed 2 credits in order to graduate this semester. I didn't need it for fulfilling my religion requirement I filled that out last semester or the semester previous.

World Lit was a pretty good class. Definitely a lot of reading (thank you Sparknotes!), but I tried to do as much of the reading without the use of Sparknotes (although it was used quite a bit to allow me to have time for other homework and responsibilities). Not too difficult. Three exams (that includes the final) and two papers (one 1-page and one 4-5-page) and about 10 in-class essays (open book but doing the reading or as much of it is helpful). At first I was not too sure of how well I was going to like it, but I ended up getting the hang of it and liked it just fine.

Family Life in World Religions was awesome. I really enjoyed learning about Judaism, Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, and Islam. I loved learning how we are similar and how they live their lives and just learn about the religions because most of them I did not know much about them. I really am grateful for taking it. I have my husband and hopeful job to thank for inspiring me to take the class (I used to think it pointless to learn about other religions when I have one that I am perfectly happy with and love, but now I know it is important for us as a people to come together and focus on our similarities). There's only a midterm and final and a few other assignments. I'll post a picture of something I made for one of the assignments (it was really fun and not too difficult, especially when I have a husband who is really good at math).

What I like to call the Proclamation Principles Temples Clock

Advanced Family Processes was a class that I was terrified to take. I was not looking forward to taking it AT ALL. However, when I switched sections it was not so bad. It was actually great. One of my favorite classes. There was no midterm just a final (which I am a little bit nervous for). There is quite a bit of reading, but it is manageable. The professor I took it from is great. He is a really nice guy and sincerely cares about the students. So, if you are a Family Life major, especially Family Studies take it from Dr. Loren Marks if you can.

The research class was also pretty good. It only met once a week for 50 minutes and we didn't even meet each Monday. There is no test or final. Just a five page paper if you take it as a capstone. Otherwise, it is just 200-300 articles to code. I know that number seems daunting (I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do that many), but the more you do the easier it gets, especially if you get studies that are multiple samples or international.

I will certainly miss being at BYU. It has been a great 4 years. Definitely made some really great friends and best friends (who I'm pretty sure we're like sisters just because of how similar we all are!), which I hope we will all stay in touch (and get together occasionally) as we move on from BYU and into the "real" world with grown up jobs wherever it may be. Learned so many things. Became a better version of me. Loved being surrounded by so many people who share the same values and beliefs as me.

The girls I like to call sisters. Us back when we were young lasses just barely starting college. My how we have grown up over the years! :)

Although I'll still be in the BYU area for another almost year and a half at least, I'll miss going to class and learning things everyday (not the homework and tests though!). I look forward to hopefully coming back for a Master's degree in 20 or so years (who knows maybe I'll come back to school when my future kids go off to school--how neat would that be!).

It has been real. It has been fun. It most certainly has been real fun. Here's to a beginning of a new chapter of life!

(Just a few pictures to summarize this semester)

LAST FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

WOMEN'S SESSION OF GENERAL CONFERENCE

HOMECOMING/BYU SPECTACULAR

David Archuleta!

 HALLOWEEN

Twinning! She was getting tired of all pictures I was taking.

Don't worry she didn't eat any of it. There was nothing left for her to eat!

RELIEF SOCIETY SUPER SATURDAY

LIFE

Her favorite hobby: fetch!

Doggy Selfie!

Where Did Summer Go?

It's crazy how fast time can go. It's been nearly 3 months since my last post. Since my last post, Dallen and I adopted a dog from the rescue we volunteered for. We fostered her for a couple weeks before deciding to make her part of our family. She is super cute! We were originally told she was a Chug (chihuahua pug), but when we took her to the vet for an orthopedic exam, the vet believed she has dachshund in her because of her bone structure. Now I call her a Chugshund. Her name was originally Tipsee, but we changed it to Buttercup, as in Princess Buttercup from The Princess Bride. She learned her new name very quickly. I think she likes it better than her old name.

Here she is!

Can you see the resemblance?

Because we adopted her it means that we can no longer foster anymore pets due to having to pay extra money to have more than one pet in the apartment. No worries, though, because someday when we'll get our own house we'll foster as many animals as we like without having to pay extra money. :)

Over the summer Dallen and I took a day trip to Arches National Park. It was a lot of fun! We didn't do any extensive hiking because it was already getting late when we got there, but it sure was cool (the only lame part is that they didn't have any mugs with my name on it--or any names for that matter). I took a whole bunch of photos that I still need to upload to my computer and put into a scrapbook before the end of September. We were originally going to try and hit up all the national parks in Utah, but that didn't happen. Partly because they are not very pet friendly and because other plans come up. We do have a goal though to travel to all of the national parks in the US, starting with the rest in Utah.

My mom came to visit for a few days last month and it was nice having her around. We mainly just chilled at the house, went to visit the animal rescue that Dallen and I volunteered and fostered for, we went out to eat, and attended the temple. 

This week Dallen's parents will be visiting, so I'm looking forward to time with them as well. I'm not sure of all that we'll do, but that's okay. :)

It's crazy to believe that school is starting at the end of the month and that summer has basically come and gone. I look forward to learning new things and finishing my final semester (that's right Fall is my LAST semester of college! CRAZY!). Plus, school will keep me from Netflix-binging. :P

We'll see if I'll post again before school starts...I'm looking to do one post on a couple movies Dallen and I watched over the summer, as well as movies that I'm looking forward to seeing this upcoming year.

Life as a {Foster Dog} Mom

Dallen and I have been foster dog parents for a few months now. We technically started in late January, but that was just for a weekend. We became more serious fosters towards the end of April. So far we fostered three dogs and are possibly fostering a fourth starting Thursday.

Overall, it's been really fun so far. Sometimes it can be challenging because they have their own idea of what to do and how it should be done, but they are still awesome even when they don't do what you tell them to do. That's kinda like real parenting, right? You still love them even when they aren't doing what you asked and are getting a little on your nerves.

Some of them are house-trained/pee pad trained, but move away from the pad too soon which causes a mess on the floor. Others will sleep on their dog bed (or by it) one night and the next insist to sleep in bed with you and completely refuse to sleep in their own bed (in some ways that's not so bad because it forces us to cuddle all through the night. :P). Others still will be complete angels during the day and when it comes to me getting ready for bed decide it's time to be crazy and try to use me as a chew toy, despite having at least four other options for valid and appropriate chew toys. Some may decide that the only way they will go to the bathroom is if they go on long walks because for some reason our own lawn isn't good enough. Despite these quirks/frustrating, they are awesome and adorable and I love getting to play with them, love on them, and cuddle with them. It makes my heart feel more complete when there's a dog in the home.

Fostering also allows us to kinda know what to expect when we have kids of our own someday. Dogs like kids have their own personalities, minds, likes/dislikes, emotions. I'm thankful for the opportunity we have to get practice before become real (dog) parents. Plus, it also allows me to put into practice some of the things I learned from my Theories in Family Perspective class. Thanks Dr. Butler!

Someday we would like to get a dog of our own someday (we would like to get a cat, too, but Dallen is mildly allergic--BOO allergies!). Fostering allows us to figure out what type of dog we would like to adopt someday. So far we know that we would prefer a dog with a short coat (won't get matted, no need to go to a groomer--saves $$), doesn't shed a lot, doesn't bark too much (we do live in an apartment after all and I would like to be courteous to our neighbors), and is small (our apartment is tiny, so it needs to be a dog that will fit comfortably in the limited space we have. Plus, I grew up having smaller dogs, so that's what I'm used to).

For now, though, I'm happy with helping these amazing dogs find their fur-ever homes. Every dog deserves to go to a good, loving home, as well as feeling loved. I do my best to show these dogs that they are loved and that I care about them because who doesn't love feeling loved? :)

Here are some family portraits (minus Little Fishy) and some that I think capture their darling personalities:

Family Selfie of Chico and me (Dallen was out of town, so I was a single parent for a little bit...lemme tell you it is not easy taking care of a dog [or kid--not that I have experience] on your own).

Chico loved to sleep. I thought this one was funny because normally it's the cat that goes on your laptop.

Chico also loved to play.

And to sleep like this.

We only had Lucky for a few days before he found his fur-ever home.

Lucky loved to sit with you.

He also was a really chill dog, which was AWESOME!

Family Selfie with Smokie. I absolutely LOVED this dog! He was the whole reason for the move and the start of fostering. Unfortunately, someone else adopted him. :( Glad he found a good home though.

Apparently, Smokie loved to drive.

He also loved to sit with you.

And look out the window at what's happening around.

Here is a video of one of the dogs that I find cute:

This is the second time Chico found his reflection. First time was in the bedroom mirror.