New found love!

So since i graduated, i have had lots of extra time on my hands, not having homework anymore of course... and since we left our tv back in provo for the summer, i have turned to reading! and i love it! currently i am reading a new series that is entertaining but not quite as good as the set that i read right before, which is this:

they are so soo good! i'm so glad i finally read them! they came highly recommended from other people and i wasnt sure i would like them because of the story line but i LOOVED them. it is a story set in dystopian north america after the united states is gone and the land is divided into districts. each year a girl and a boy between the ages of 12-18 from every district have to participate in what is called the Hunger Games. they basically get dropped off in an outdoor arena and have to try to survive/kill in order to be the last one standing to win. it sounds kinda awful but its really an awesome story! and its pretty clean too! if you are looking for a good read, seriously check this out. there is also a third book coming out in august and i cant wait!

Happy 3rd?!

This past tuesday was our 3rd anniversary.. has it really been three years already??? holy cow. you know its funny. i thought we had a great relationship when we first got married but as i look back, i realize how much we have really changed and grown together since then. we are best friends and i love that about our relationship. it has always been that way. we have always been so perfect for each other. and i'm so grateful for everything we do and share together. sam seriously makes me laugh every single day. the other night we were at a company get together here in denver (yes we are in denver this summer in case you hadn't heard)... and sam was talking with a couple of people and just being his usual crack up self when one of his fellow employees turned to me and said "there is never a dull moment with this guy, is there?" LOL isn't that the truth?? i just had to laugh at the pure honesty of the comment. that is what i love about my husband. well, that and the fact that he is drop dead sexy! ;) I cant wait to spend many more years with my awesome man. i'm so excited for what the future has in store for us. i love you babe! ...anywho, here are a few pics from our celebration(s). we went out to eat on saturday since we knew sam would be working tuesday evening but we still had a nice dinner at home on tuesday as well..

it's sort of a tradition for us to go out for a good steak on each anniversary so we were waay excited when we found out there was a saltgrass here in denver!

Sam surprised me with 2 dozen roses on tuesday night when he came home from work! they were beautiful!!
the best i could do at arranging them considering i didnt have a very big vase, nor any greenery. but it worked out bc i actually prefer this sort of tight arrangement anyways.. and i love that it reminds me of my bridal bouquet (aw how sentimental haha)

Graduation!

After 5 years, many credits and dollars later, I can proudly say I am completely done with my undergrad degree! Commencement(for everyone) and Convocation(for my individual school) was held on April 22 and 23. My parents came up and both sam's parents came too(Stephen was graduating also).. anywho, thanks so much to everyone for coming out to support me and also, thanks to Emily for hosting a great party after the ceremonies! it was perfect! and it was so fun seeing everyone for a few days!

on our way to Commencement... the movie is kinda long. you don't have to watch the whole thing, I just thought sam was hilarious lol:

After Commencement:

The Graduates:

Convocation for Fine Arts Department:

Receiving my "diploma" aka white holder with a sample sheet in it haha:

With my voice teacher Darrel.. finally got a good picture with him:

Hooray!! all done!!

Springtime in Provo

Well we are in Denver now for the summer but just wanted to get caught up on my posts! And of course, graduation pics will be up soon... for now, just wanted to write about a couple fun things from the past few weeks back in provo.. first-- all the cherry blossom trees in the entire town bloomed at once! it was a beautiful sight to see while driving around provo and walking around campus. I took these pics of the tree right in front of our apartment balcony. it is such a huge tree! and i had no idea it was a cherry blossom tree until these pink beauties popped up one day! it was awesome to wake up to this scene outside my window every morning. Spring has definitely sprung! :)

We also got a chance to go to a BYU baseball game and sat right behind home plate! Sam's bro Joe has been going to these for the past few weeks so we (along with steve) decided to join him for a BYU vs. TCU game. they smoked us of course but it was still fun to sit and hang out!

cant go wrong with the great baseball snacks! nachos, sunflower seeds, hot dogs, and even dippin dots. yum!
the brothers watching intently even tho we were about 6 or 7 points behind by this time haha:

Grandma Great's Funeral

Last week we went to a funeral for my Great Grandma- my grandpa's mom whom I have grown up calling my "Grandma Great." She was 99 years old and died peacefully the week before. My 2 sisters from California and my mom came in to town and it was so nice to have them here.. It seemed more of a joyous occasion because my Grandma was so old and most of her loved ones had already passed on before her. So it wasn't really sad in any way bc we were all happy that she is finally at peace and with her family and friends. Anywho, it was pretty fun bc after her funeral was over and we were supposed to drive to the cemetery that was about 20 minutes away, we got to ride in a limo! One of our grandma's friends who was there owned a limo service and asked if we wanted to ride with him. It was awesome! I am pretty sure that was my first time in a limo. Then my sisters, mom, and I spent the rest of the day shopping and eating out. it was a great way to spend my last day of classes (by skipping them haha).

Me with Grandma Great last october when we went to visit her:
awesome photograph i found in her house when i visited-- she is the girl on the left, her sister on the right. they are walking in downtown SLC. coolest photo ever!
In the limo on the way to the cemetery.. it was way nice. not like a funky prom limo but more the government luxury type. He told us he has driven people like Laura Bush and even Mitt Romney! Sam was excited to be sitting exactly where Mitt sat haha:

With Mark, the driver. He was so awesome!
At the Cheesecake Factory! yumm.. noah is such a cutie! oh and ignore the finger hehe...
It was fun to see my sisters again!

My 23rd Brithday

I love when birthdays end up lasting 3 days instead of just 1. It just so happened that this was the case this year because I had to share my birthday weekend with both General Conference and Easter. We were still able to find time to celebrate, although the celebrations were kinda sparatic lol.. My actual birthday was on Saturday, April 3rd but bc Sam had to sing with the men from the BYU choirs at General Priesthood session that night, we decided to go out on Friday night instead. I told Sam I wanted to go to the Happy Sumo (which is provo) bc i had been wanting sushi forever but when we started driving toward the freeway, i was like uhh, you are going the wrong way babe. he say, nah we are just going to the one in SLC. it got me pretty excited bc i knew he must have had something else planned. after dinner (which was as amazing as i'd hoped it would be!!), we walked around the corner to the Clark Plannetarium. growing up in nasa-town, i felt right at home the moment we walked in the door haha.. we got tickets and went to see this:
It was AWESOME!! I highly recommend going to see it. they showed all sorts of awesome footage of spacewalks the astronauts have had to make to fix the telescope AND some great 3D images of nebulas and galaxies and baby stars and everything in between! plus we got to wear these:
afterwards, we went home, rented a couple movies and Sam made me a homemade pizookie. it was delicious. what a great date, babe! thanks!!
the next morning(my actual birthday) sam and i went shopping for a birthday present. the only thing i could find that i really wanted were these:
so sam decided to ditch me in some store and head off into the mall to find me a real bday gift bc i couldnt decide on anything haha. He came back with this waay cute beach bag and t-shirt and reeeally great smelly lotions n stuff. it smells like sugar and coconut. mmm:
then Sam had to leave with all the men to sing in priesthood so I took off the Emily's house. I got there after they had dyed easter eggs but i thought they were so cute, i had to take a pic. plus i figured this would be the only time i was around anything very festive for the Easter weekend:
At the priesthood session, this is a pic from Joe's phone of the choirs (Sam was able to get tickets for Joe and Steve to go to it)..
After the boys got back to Joe's house, we decided to end the night with some settlers playing:


aaaand finally on Easter Sunday, my good friend Alainna and her husband had us over for homemade pizza and to eat my birthday brownie cheesecake that she had made for me!! everything was sooo yummy! thanks for having us guys!!


I seriously had such great birthday this year! I'm so happy to finally be 23 and had so much fun celebrating it with everyone! thanks family and friends for the cards, gifts, and well wishes!! ya'll are the best!!

Y Hike

Last week Sam and I hiked the Y with Joe (sam's bro) and Emily and their kids. It was so fun! and also nice to finally hike up in the daytime since any other time I have done it or attempted to, it has been at like 11 oclock at night haha.. and it was just our luck that the weather was absolutely perfect! pretty cool so we didnt get too hot AND the air was soo clear. no inversion or storm clouds or anything. it was great.. and we got some awesome photos....

parking lot, before the hike:aaand we're off!

finally made it! i am soo out of shape haha... but the view was so worth it:

campus:

I am soo excited for spring to get here so we can do more stuff like this!!