Graduation & Moving

Jonathan graduated from the University of Utah on May 8th, 2009!! He got a Bachelors of Arts degree in Spanish with a Minor in Chemistry! I am so proud of him! He worked so hard and, even when he hated doing it, he still made sure his homework got done, even though sometimes it meant he had to stay up until 4:30 in the morning to do it! I can't even begin to count the nights that I fell asleep on the couch waiting for him to be ready to go to bed! He is such a hard worker and I admire the way he always makes sure to do what needs to be done, even if he doesn't like it.

The day he graduated was fairly hectic. We had to be at the Huntsman Center an hour before the ceremony started. I decided to go with him rather than go with his family since they were going to be late. It turned out okay because I met up with Kira and got to sit with her. Erick was graduating too. The ceremony was long and pretty boring, but when I got to see Jon afterwards it made it all worth it. He was so happy and excited!! For lunch we went to This Is The Place Heritage Park and ate on a table in the pavilion. It was pretty windy and a lot colder than I thought it was going to be, but it was nice to eat. After that we went back to the Huntsman Center for the commencement or something like that, where he actually goes up and gets his diploma. That was long too, but a bit more exciting since Jon actually got to do something! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera at home and ended up only taking pictures on my phone and with Jon's parent's camera. Of all days to forget my camera.... *sigh* Oh well. I'll just have to get copies from his parents!

It was an awesome day and very exciting! We went on a date later that evening as a 'last date in Utah' kind of idea. We went to Settebello for dinner, drove past the Salt Lake Temple where we got married, drove past the park where Jon proposed, and parked up the hill where we could see the whole valley while we drank Sparkling Cider! It was fun and we got a chance to talk and think back on our time there! We have some great memories! For his graduation, Jon's parents gave him a large painting by Walter Rane called Jehovah Creates The Earth. Jon has always loved the painting and now it is the center piece of our front room. It's amazing and we love it!

The next day, May 9th, we moved down to California for the summer! We had breakfast with Jon's family and then headed out! The drive was a little harder than the past since we only had one car and barely enough room to sit comfortably. Poor Jon, he's so tall, he had to have his legs bent for the entire drive. He's such a good sport. I got lots of PEZ at a gas station! I love PEZ! SO yummy!! The cats weren't too happy to be stuck in their crates for so long, but they got used to it and slept most of the time. They even ate and drank some water, which usually never happens when we have to travel with them! We got to California around 8ish and had plenty of time to unload the car and go to the hot tub! We've had a good weekend! We're all settled in and ready to start the summer!! We rented a movie Saturday night as well. That was interesting! We didn't get a new release and it was still $3.00!!! We got so used to only having to pay 49 cents for a movie that we just couldn't believe it!! That's 6 times what we usually spend!! We decided we should sign up for Netflix rather than spend that much money! Haha!

On an unrelated note, we find ourselves suddenly in a dilema that we did not expect! We got an e-mail from the University of Michigan saying that if we wanted to, they could hold Jon's acceptance for a year so we could spend the next year doing whatever we want! We did not expect to have this choice. That means that Jon could work for Pinnacle again next summer, PLUS the rest of the year in between! That's a lot of money we could make that would help us be better off for medical school. We could get a nicer condo or house, live more comfortably, and have a really great time! On the downside, we'd be a year behind in Medical School then we planned to be. There are a lot of ups and downs for both ideas and we aren't sure what we want to do. Oh, and we have less than a week to decide! At the moment we are leaning towards just going to Medical School. We are planning to go to the temple on Wednesday and hopefully that will help, but it sure is a twist in our story that we didn't expect!

So, it's been quite the busy week, but we are WAY excited to finally be out here in California for the summer and to getting closer to Medical School!! Things are great and we couldn't be happier!!

Here a few pictures from the last couple of days:

Jon's last day of school (he decided not to shave until he took his last test) and me sleeping uncomfortably in the car with the kitties.

Jon in the grass in our front yard on the day we moved. It got really long! And my PEZ!!!

Jon with his Settebello pizza and the Welcome To California sign! Unfortunately the windshield was pretty dirty so the camera decided to focus on that instead of the sign! Lol!