a fun surprise

this weekend was full of fun surprises! the best was seeing matt and megan at church today. megs was one of my college roommates and best friends! we love her and matt and miss them like crazy. it was a busy weekend but we managed to skip a lot of church to chat and catch up. it's okay if your at the church and your meeting with old friends right???

even though it was only 15 minutes or so just seeing matt and megs warmed my heart. for some reason seeing friends (who are basically family) from home makes me feel less alone in the world. i love how small the world is! yay for byu football games that bring good friends to chicago.

any other friends want to come visit?

a utah game

oh man i really need to play catch up on my blog. when i went to load my pictures from the halloween party i found pictures from august that i have forgotten about...i'll get to those. today i wanted to post pictures from our utah-byu football game party. 

poor med school boys had a test the monday after the game. game day was spent studying for them. luckily we talked them into finishing early to come watch the game with their wives. we had a blast watching the game and stuffing ourselves with typical football watching food. dan and i really enjoyed the game :-) 

people say a house divided can't stand....i say a house divided is more entertaining! 

and here is us. i was trying to cover the y on the mr.'s shirt i the second photo. he caught me just as we were talking the picture. it's an awkward picture but i just had to post it! 

throwback thursdays // efy

once upon a time i was an efy counselor. actually it was 4 years ago. wow how time flys. i went to efy 4 summers in a row as a youth. i fell in love with the program. i always dreamed of being a counselor.

freshman year of college i applied. waited and prayed. i completely expected to not get hired. i was young and there were so many others who wanted it. but to my surprise i got the job. at the time it was just what i needed. to be honest i wasn't in the best place in life. i wasn't happy with school or provo. honestly i was ready to move home and go to the u. i don't know why but i felt that byu just wasn't for me.

well after a summer back down in provo (to my dismay). i fell in love with the city, my school, and made some amazing friends. i was able to teach the gospel to some incredible kids. i basically had a summer of play and was paid for it. by the end of that summer i was excited to go back to byu. i was ready and had a plan.

some memories from efy those 4 summers ago....
-my princess backpack. everyone was always stealing it (so jealous)
-making eric d. stockes stickers and handing them out to everyone
-getting byu brownie smashed in my face. actually pretty pleasant!
-all the counselor parties and events
-my vegas girls who taught me about style
-those nights when i would tuck my girls into bed and for the first time i knew what it was like being a big sister
-all the open mouth smiles (you can tell how happy i was)

i am so glad i did efy. i like to think that if i didn't do efy i wouldn't have stayed at byu, i wouldn't have gone to jerusalem, i wouldn't have changed my major and i wouldn't have met my mr. basically efy is the cause of all awesomeness in my life (haha!). the mr. likes to tease me about being "one of those" types of people (you know the efy counselor kinds) but secretly i think he likes my pep!

whats your throwback thursday memory?

the mr. and mrs. went to a game!

last weekend spence and i got amazing seats to the byu vs. ucf football game
the mr. drove us down through the aweful traffic
(i took a much needed nap)
and joined the crowd of cougars walking into the stadium


we enjoyed a delish dinner before the game
it reminded me a little of our pre-game dinners at the u (i'm not going to lie i like the u's dinner and location of pre-game dinner a lot better)
then we headed to our seats to find a lunch box of more food and water
nothing like our old school "student seats"

it was fun to see byu win a game
plus it was an exciting game at that so it made the trek worth it


we spent the rest of the night visiting nick and karli (spencers cousin and his cute wife who we love)
j-dawg our cute little freshman brother. can't believe he is a freshman
and can i just say....4 years later the freshman dorms are amazing...so jealous
and of course danny and michelle (it has been way to long since we've seen them!)
(ps. michelle's cute decorated house makes me ready to decorate mine...!)


thanks provo for being a fun getaway for us
we enjoyed a fairly construction free drive home
listening to music
telling stories
and just enjoying each other


nothing like a great football game to make me fall more in love with fall!


now for this weekend...
a quiet weekend at home (my parents home)
dog sitting with my mr.
watching conference
and some much needed crafting


sounds like a perfect weekend....now only if it were friday!!!

a letter to byu

byu,

i just walked out of my very last class of my undergrad.

and now i sit in your library for the very last time

so many emotions fill my heart

remember when i started here,

i hated it and wanted to transfer to the u (well i wanted to transfer about every semester but...)

over time i grew to love your beautiful campus

your wonderful professors

and knowledge filled library

i started here 4 years ago with a plan

over the last 4 years that plan has changed dramatically but only for the better

you brought me countless friends and memories

you took me to jerusalem, where i left a piece of my heart

you helped me fall in love with the harp

and opened my mind to knowledge i never thought i could understand

you brought spencer into my life

and created a beginning of a new family 

thank you for helping me grow

for helping me find myself and find a new path

i will miss your beautiful campus

i will miss your zoobie ways

i will miss your intense classes

and i will miss the constant learning

you always say,

enter to learn, go forth to serve....

well that is what i intend to do

i have learned so much about the world, politics, life and myself within your walls

and now i fully intend to take what i've learned and share it with the world

one day i'll change the world

and i will owe it to the four years i have spent in happy valley.

so byu,

though i may never really consider myself a cougar

you will always be my alma mater

and i will say that with pride

thank you for the best four years of my life

see you again in a couple of months when i officially walk across your stage

dressed in blue

and accept the document that proves 4 years at byu makes one a better person.

i will miss you byu (shh don't tell my family that)

forever,

your favorite ute

squid

a proud mrs.

the mr. and i are celebrating tonight....

but shh....

he doesn't know.

we're celebrating something big

wanna hear what it is?

the mr. is graduating! 

yep. my cute spence is officially done with his undergrad. 

he can't actually graduate until april (we'll both walk together)

but he is done.

and i couldn't be more proud.

he worked so hard.

a degree in economics and he is pre-med 

usually people just do bio for pre-med.

my man did basically two majors.

and is graduating with a stellar gpa (more than his little wife can say).

so the point of this post....

i am so proud and grateful for all his hard work. byu is hard but spence worked even harder.

he has done so much already for our family.

one day he'll be a great doctor.

but today he's a great husband.

congrats baby! you made it!

now lets celebrate!!!!

(yep i even made you a congrats banner, you know how much i love banners!)