Finally Graduated

Yes, I realize this post is about two weeks late, but life has been crazy lately.  Our move went well-I'll write a post about it sometime this week, hopefully-and we are happily settled in Moscow.  We didn't have internet in our apartment for a week, but we could check our e-mail on the computer lab in the complex.  Once we got the internet, my computer wouldn't connect with it, but Zak got it to finally work on Thursday, so here we are.  And now I will tell you all about graduation.

My parents and Jenna arrived late Thursday night--we barely made it to Taco Time before it closed!  Jenna slept over at our place, it was a lot of fun to have her around.  We had her play the PS3 game 'Katamari Forever', which was a lot of a fun to watch.  The next morning we got up and had fruit and banana bread and then went to the school to secure tickets for everyone.  We waited an hour and a half and only got three extra tickets, instead of four.  Blah.  We did have fun, the three of us, people watching and whatnot.  We met up with my parents and went to Wal-mart/Desert Books.  My mom wanted to find some things for Kenny for his upcoming birthday.  My grandparents, who had been on a drive to Driggs (visiting ancestral territory is a big thing with my grandma), came and met us.  We decided that my family would go down to the mall in Idaho Falls and then meet my grandparents for dinner in Rexburg.

So we walked around the mall for awhile; Zak and I showed my family the wonders of Five Guys Burgers & Fries.  We enjoyed the 'zoo life' at the mall, and shopped around a little.  It was nice to just hang out with my parents and Jenna.  For dinner, I picked Da Pineapple Grill.  Zak and I had been there once by ourselves & with Dad & Jenna, Kenny, etc. last year.  It's very chill and Hawaiian and delicious.  We had such a fun time talking and eating.  Plus, it was nice for us two to go out to eat and not pick the cheapest thing on the menu-it was nice to be treated out to dinner.

Graduation on Saturday was actually very nice, both the commencement and convocation were nice and didn't last too long.  The only slightly annoying part was having to be at the auditorium an hour early to stand in a line by myself, without a phone, in heels.  So that ruled.  Zak was able to secure some seats for my parents and Jenna.  My grandparents chose to watch the ceremony via satellite from where my convocation would be held--in comfortable seats.  Plus, I was only able to get 5 tickets, not 6, so that was a factor.  The graduating class was the biggest winter semester graduation--about 1500!  Most were receiving Bachelor's as well.  A girl the row in front of me threw up within the first few minutes--I believe she was pregnant--and she and her husband left, and didn't come back the entire hour+.  How sad, to make it to graduation with your spouse, only to miss out on it.

The college convocation was very nice as well.  There were some interesting shoe and tights/leggings choices.  One girl had on Wicked Witch of the West tights!  There was a really beautiful clarinet solo by a girl Zak actually went on a few dates with in Connecticut.  An interesting interpretive dance was performed...it was called 'Freedom' and I didn't realize until half way through the song that the lyrics were talking about...slavery. Plus, the main dancer was a man, so that...Ok, men + interpretive dance = silly, in my opinion.  The backup girls were nice, but I thought it was just too cheesy.

After that, we took some pictures and my family on a little tour of the campus.  Well, they mostly wanted to see the famous periodic table of elephants.  My grandparents wanted to see our packed-up apartment, so we did that as well.  I wished everyone could have seen our place when it was cute, though!  Zak and I went to my parents' hotel room; they stayed at the brand new Marriott Spring Suites place or something.  It was very nice.  And they had room to stretch out and cable tv!  We had dinner/lunch reservations at a place called Jaker's in Idaho Falls for 4, so we headed down there.  It was a very nice dinner--I had done a lot of research to make sure it would be suitable for my grandparents and graduation, and I'm glad we went there.

My grandparents then left, and Zak and I went back to my parents' place to play cards and hang out.  We really loved having them around, it was so nice to have people to socialize with!  Plus, they brought us some treats from Costco-fruit snacks, SunChips, and some other goodies.  :)

Sadly, they had to leave Sunday morning.  We got up early and met them for breakfast at the hotel.  And then watched them leave. :(  It turns out they were held up in the Sierra Nevadas by a huge storm.  They had to get
chains and it took them longer to get home, ugh!  Zak and I finished packing everything up that Sunday and then moved on Monday.  The next entry will be about that.  Spoiler: the driving and weather was great until the last hour, when I was driving.

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Well, at least they get along?

Super psyched! (at Five Guys) more like 15 Guys..

Correct number

Grandma at Da Pineapple Grill

Family, minus the brother

2nd grandchild (out of 13) to graduate from college

The cute couple

Grandpa about to punch the camera

Jenna & I both make this face.  Yes, there are three pillows behind my mother. 

Watercolor 'art'

Due to some popular demand, I decided to take pictures of the watercolor paintings I have created this semester.  Some I really do like, but others...yikes.  Below each picture I'll label what I was supposed to have done for the painting.  Just remember that I am (seriously) no artist, and that I only needed a passing grade for this class.  This was my first time with watercolor and for the most part, I enjoyed it...until I got to class and saw some amazing pieces other students had done.  Oh well.  I know I'm no artist, but at least the suffering is over!

same design, each in a different type of wash (L-R): Flat, Graded, Mingled

first piece

quadratic harmony 'copy' piece--I don't really like this except for the awesome reeds in the water in the lower right 

pulling towards neutral...I really like doing these kinds of exercises

darks

complementary color piece, not a fan of the composition, but it's an improvement from an earlier piece

this was supposed to be darks, but whatever...my teacher 'helped' (I guess?) with that 'shadow of a tree' 'S' shape on it...oh and I used salt on the gravel/stairs to give it texture [P.S. I used a reference picture that my friend Sarah took while in Salzburg, Vienna for this]

hers is clearly better

leaving whites...I used a picture I took in Vienna for this, but changed it to a panda:

I actually did this one as an alternate for leaving white, but I didn't end up turning it in.  It's of Sacré-Cœur, in Paris.  The black is all sharpie...Below is the reference photo I used (that I took!):

UGH I hate this piece, it's stains (layering yellow, rose, blue).  It did not turn out the way I envisioned it.

delicate triad: quinacridone rose, azo yellow, cobalt blue

'copy' piece

I saw this and really liked it, so I decided to go for it, turns out this Asian style was really good for me (thanks, Eastern Asian Art History class!) p.s. that's a crane, and it's written in Chinese

my teacher had me do the crane again, but as a texture piece. I did the wash and then put plastic wrap over it and let it dry, to get that fun texture. Zak said it looks like Mt. Fuji in the background

my final--a henna tattoo inspired peacock, with it written in Chinese

matted with a 3" frame...didn't fit exactly right, but oh well

Grad announcement

I know the majority of people who read this blog got (or will get) a graduation announcement, but I thought I'd put it up because I just LOVE IT!  My family put it together for me.  My mom was adorable about getting this together--she called me from Michael's a few times, describing the paper, or the card size.  It was so nice of them to put together for me and I really appreciate it.  I was planning on doing it myself, but after talking to my mom about it, she said they'd do it for me.  It was a little hectic at times, but it got done and I think it is A W E S O M E ! ! !

Experience the genius of my family:

*if you click on the announcement, it should magnify it so you can read the font; also the seal at the bottom is what they put on the back of the envelopes

The Update You've Been Dying For...

What have we been up to, you wonder?  Well, a little bit of this and that...As the days continue, my brain starts to panic, but luckily we have been able to get a lot accomplished this week.  I packed up most of the remaining kitchen stuff (leaving a few necessities out) and got everything done for my finals except one painting!  This semester's finals were not overwhelming in the least, but then again, I've never had a very stressful finals week.  That's why being an art major is awesome, sometimes.  So everything except one painting and an actual final next Thursday night (really, 7:15-8:45 at night? The night my family's coming into town?!) is done, so I can focus on packing and cleaning.  Zak has been awesome, even when working every day this week.  He brought up the Kirby and cleaned our bedroom carpet and shampooed some rugs with it.  It looks so much better.  He also, in his crazy cleaning mode, decided to scrape off the scum from the tub--what a wonderful husband I have!  Today I'm going to focus on the kitchen (blah), and maybe pack up some more boxes.

The other day our manager for the place we're moving to in Moscow called and told us we had to fix a few things on the forms she had sent in for us to be accepted, or something.  We really had no idea what we were getting ourselves in, subsidized housing is intense!  But our manager is extremely helpful and replies quick and after several hours of e-mailing back and forth, it looks like we fixed everything that could be fixed at the moment.  We are still waiting on U of I to figure out Zak's financial aid stuff, but I'm pretty sure that's it.  What's great is that our manager understands our situation and wants to help us--we'll have to update forms once we get jobs, and she even said if everything isn't 100% with her boss, she'll still move us in because she has faith that everything will be solved.  So at least she has been very nice to work with.

A week from now I will be sitting in the commencement exercises for graduation.  Wow, I can't believe that this is the end of my scholastic life (for the moment, anyways).  At times it really feels like it hasn't been four years or that I haven't learned as much as I should or could have, but at other times it feels like I've been in Rexburg for a lifetime.  What's been great about this is that I've known and been with Zak the whole time I've been at college, except for my first semester.  So he knows everything that I've been through, the classes, the good and bad roommates--it's been so great to have him just know what I'm talking about.  And as much as we are ready to be done with this town, in the years to come I'm sure we'll look back on these years with some fond memories.  As my sister Jenna always points out, I did meet my husband here, so that's gotta count for something, right?

I'm not sure how long it'll take me to transition from school to work, but hopefully it'll be a quick one.  The other day Zak was saying how weird that'll be-for me to be the one working, and him going to school.  I'm not exactly thrilled about it, to be honest.  But I guess that doesn't matter, this is what's going to happen and I need to be the one who will support my husband while he goes to school.  Zak is actually really pumped about U of I, which is great-it's nice to see the excitement in his eyes and voice when he tells me about the different classes and such.  I'm sure I'll be able to adjust to our new life, but I am kind of freaked out about it.  I've only known going to school since I was 5 and I haven't worked as much as I could've.  I guess I feel just a little unprepared, but I will suck it up and do my best.  After all, I'm a pretty awesome wife the way I am now, in Rexburg, I can be the same awesome wife in Moscow, right?  Right!

The days have been flying past, and soon my family will be here.  So it looks like we have some work to do before then, if we plan to move on the 12th!  It'll be fine, once I can have Zak home for a day or two.  Oh and also, it's been snowing profusely the last few days.  The weather reports say it should be nice by Thursday, but it IS Rexburg, which means those reports are basically crap.  The weather changes so quickly here it's ridiculous.  I am very unhappy by all this snow--it's freaking April!!  I can't wait to be out of this town!

Fire Alarms and Whatnot

Life has been flying for us in Rexburg.  Today Zak went with me to pick up my cap & gown & other graduation things.  I can't believe that I will soon be done with school in a few short weeks!  Of course, I can't wait--each class is a slow, annoying torture at this point.  It's hard to stay motivated, but I want to go out with a pretty decent finish. 

S E V E N T E E N  M O R E  D A Y S ! ! !

We have also had an excessive amount of fire alarms this past week and a half.  Like, 4 of them.  The only other time it had happened was in November, around 11 P.M. where it was cold and I had just gotten out of the shower and was thoroughly frozen.  Last week there was an alarm in the afternoon, which wasn't bad because it was delightful outside.  Another alarm occurred a few days later.  But last night was the worst.

12:40 A.M. the loud alarm goes off, and I immediately wake up.  Zak is a pretty hard sleeper and didn't wake up until I patted his arm.  Grumbling, we put on clothes, grabbed our phones and keys and walked outside.  We waited about 5 minutes outside until the police, ambulance and fire department showed up.  I am not the happiest person when I first wake up, and I'm especially not pleasant after being awoken to a stupid fire alarm and my neighbors all feel it is THAT important to laugh, giggle and yell at 1 in the morning.  Plus, I was cold.  I guess there was some small fire or something, because after 10 minutes, when we went back inside, the complex smelled a bit like smoke.  I know fires aren't planned, but seriously--who was cooking or so inattentive that a fire was started so late at night?  Really??  And today it's gone off multiple times in the last hour, but we were told they were all tests.

Let's just say we are thoroughly ready to be out of this place.

Also, I have started to do Pilates; my doctor asked if I was doing anything like that at my first appointment, but then I found this great little book at the D.I. for $0.50, so I figured I'd give it a shot.  So far, I've been slowly working on the warm-up and introductory exercises.  I haven't seen a whole lot of improvement so far, but I have noticed my abs or legs slowly strengthening again.  And it usually calms me down and helps me sleep.  My back pain varies every day; I went in for another appointment last Friday to get my prescription renewed.  I have been doing everything right-the exercises, starting Pilates, having Zak massage the pain, taking the pills, sleeping with a pillow between my legs at night-but I was still in pain.  Luckily, as I've continued the exercises and cohering Zak to give me massages every other day or so, my back is doing better, slowly.  The doctor recommended physical therapy, but I don't think it'd work into my schedule or that my back is at that point yet.  Hopefully I can get into better habits and be successful with all these exercises, etc.

It is also starting to get very nice around here, 80% of the time.  It's usually in the 40s or 50s with sunshine, but sometimes it..snows...Blah.  On Sunday Zak and I went on a 4-mile, 1 and a half hour walk around town.  It was beautiful outside and we walked down to the nature park that I've never really been to.  It was nice to walk with Zak in the sunshine and talk about everything.  Luckily, just as we were nearing home, the sky turned for the worse, so we chose the best time to go out, it seems.

Tomorrow I am being forced to go to Provo, UT on a field trip for my American Humanities class.  We are going to the BYU museum of Art, which I wouldn't mind, but the teacher is making such a big deal out of the assignments PLUS I was just down there on another field trip last semester and I hate driving down there.  But I should hopefully be able to see some of my best friends, Amy and Anne, while on lunch break or something!  So there is that to look forward to, plus I have a fun friend in my class and we are bringing movies in hopes that the suburbans we ride in will have DVD players.  Although yesterday my teacher was talking about how he'd rather us not bring our ipods, etc.  Yeah..no.  There is minimal to see on the 4 and a half hour trip to Provo, UT and we are leaving at 6 A.M. and I don't want to really interact with some of the people in our class.  Whatever, my teacher is kind of ridiculous, if you read my previous post.  Hopefully it'll be an Ok day, especially if I get to see my friends.

That is about it; we are trying to get Zak's financial aid and everything ironed out with U of I; it's been more of a pain than we hoped.  Zak's past employers at Horkley's never got him his W2 and when he inquired about it, we were told it'd be sent to our apartment.  It turns out that it was sent to the store and Zak wasn't called about it; he went in today and they had it.  UGHHHHHHHHh.  They are just so incompetent and it's always frustrated me, but now it's worse.  I can't believe how poorly they've treated this situation.  But, we only have one more form to complete, so hopefully next week it'll all be sorted out.  My school work is actually lessening, which is strange.  I got my capstone paper finished, but I need to format it, etc.  Should be fine.  Oh, the fire alarm went off again for 30 seconds.  Gotta love it.

Vacation Plans

Hooray, we have vacation plans figured out already!  Yes, it is a bit early, but the ticket prices weren't too expensive, so we got a head start on everything.  This June, Zak and I will be going down to L.A. to spend a week with my family on our annual family vacation.  I am beyond excited; I look forward to L.A. every year and back when we were hoping to move to NY was a bit disappointed that we probably wouldn't be able to make it.  But we got everything worked out and it's going to be awesome!!  I've already started prepping Zak on what we do while we're there: bike ride, dinner at Cheesecake Factory, family dinners each night, one amazing day at Disneyland (you seriously haven't been to Disneyland until you've been with my family...it's epic), beach time, maybe going into L.A. to a museum or a restaurant...I am so happy this worked out because I grew up with my dad's family around me and some of the best memories I have are from our annual trip to L.A. 

We were originally going to stay Saturday through Thursday because Zak's family was planning to fly out west to visit Glenda's parents, but a few complications arose within their plans.  So they aren't flying out until a few weeks after our vacation.  We will probably drive down to Zak's grandparents house and/or have Zak's family visit us, since it's only 2 hours away.  The plans with the Reillys aren't set in stone yet, but we are really hoping it all works out, because it'd be nice to be able to see both my family and his this summer.

We are very much looking forward to moving and settling in at Moscow.  It's going to be a good summer!

Riddle me this...

...does watching videos on the history of jazz for 80 minutes of a 90 minute class period count as teaching or is it just me???

Because that is what my Tuesday's American Humanities class was comprised of.  No, I am not kidding.  And, more or less, that's how the last several weeks have been--mostly video clips on the history of music or musical theater or art, etc.  So my interest level in going to class is z e r o. 

This sucks because I would normally be very interested in the subjects I'm supposedly learning about, but this teacher just drives me up a freaking wall.  I've had him before-2 years ago for a 101 Humanities class (after I had taken 202 and 201 classes) and it was awful then, as well.  The problem is he treats everything like it is the most important, reverent, sacred, beautiful, exquisite thing ever created; and he talks in a hushed voice all class.  Another problem is his teaching style: in this class, it feels so scattered and I don't really feel like there is a core base to the semester, that I'm just floundering about in readings by Mark Twain and the international skyscraper style in Chicago.  This was a problem in his 101 class--he would glaze over topics I thought were important and then spend days on one subject.  I swear, we spent a week and a half on the elements and principles of design (which I have already learned in my art classes that semester).

I didn't mean for this to turn into a rant, but I have a lot of feelings about this.  One class period we were supposed to all briefly share about an LDS artist in some artistic field, which was fine...Until class was over and not everyone had gone, so the teacher decided it would be more important to continue the discussion the next class rather than talk about something actually pertaining to American history, like, I don't know, s l a v e r y.  Yeah.  Things like that just bother me.  We're also supposed to have 3 memorizations-2 of our own choosing, 1 being the Gettysburg address.  He must have talked about the importance of memorizing the glorious, beautifully worded Gettysburg address about 10 times in one class.  (No offense, I think the G.A. is awesome, but I had a rough time memorizing it because I was going to get graded on it--my heart wasn't into it, which I think is the wrong idea-to push the students to do it, rather than presenting an opportunity)

In conclusion, I loathe my professor.  I think he is an awful teacher and cannot wait until I don't have to be stuck in his class for 90 minutes.  The only reason I have for going to his class, more or less, is to talk to my friend, whom I feel bad for leaving alone (since we share the same opinion about the class) when I can't handle the teacher.

7 more classes.  Ugh.