I finally got my diploma!

Because I finished my classes online in January, I couldn't officially graduate until the end of the semester which was about a month ago. I've been anxiously checking the mailbox every day for my diploma, and it finally came! I'm so happy to have it. We've had an empty frame hanging on the wall next to Adam's for the past 9 months, and it feels good to finally have it filled!

We're the Featured Wedding!

Our wedding is the featured wedding on Utah Bride and Groom.com! It has been for awhile now. I check back periodically, figuring that they would have moved on to someone else's wedding pictures by now, but they haven't. It's pretty cool! If you want to check out some of our pictures, click here. We had a fabulous photographer and I love showing off our pictures!

CHESS!

Adam and I bought a chess set at Walmart yesterday for $2.98. Yay for great deals! He absolutely loves the game and has been wanting to teach me how to play for awhile now. His love for chess deepened while on his mission in Iceland. Icelanders are crazy about the game and play it all the time. The missionaries on the island followed suit. Adam says that they almost always had a game set up in their apartment and would play it whenever they had a spare minute. They would play while eating meals and always resume at the end of the day when they got home. Adam claims that he was pretty dang good.



While he was teaching me the names of the pieces and where each one can move, I took notes in a little notebook so that I could remember. I'm a visual learner, so it really helped. After only a game and a half, I took his queen. We didn't get to finish it last night, but we're going to resume our game soon. We'll see who wins.... I have a good feeling that the victory will go to me! :)

Going Home

Adam and I, along with a few friends, took a vacation to St. George last weekend. We went boating at Sand Hollow, watched the play my little sister is currently in, and pampered my mom on Mother's Day. I love going home. There is something so comforting about spending time in the place I grew up. I feel comfortable, relaxed, and happy. It is a little different now that I'm married and sleep in the guest bedroom with Adam instead of in my childhood bedroom. But a wonderful kind of different. I feel like the same person that I was when I lived there, but better because I am with Adam now. It's hard to explain. Anyway, here are some pictures from the weekend:


On the 4 person tube.


Adam makes AWESOME homemade pizza. My little Martha!


My mom with all she wanted for Mother's Day- all her girls!

We are going to try to spend as much time in St. George as possible this summer before we move across the country. We're really looking forward to it!

Action Shots

One of the greatest features of our new camera is that fact that it actually takes the picture when you want it to! With our old camera, we could never get action shots because if would take 2-3 seconds from the time you pressed the shutter to the time the picture was actually taken. One of the first things we did was take some action shots- because we could!

Small Living

Living in a 700 sq. ft. apartment has taken some getting used to. I grew up in a sprawling suburban home where each child had their own room, where there was always a three car garage, and plenty of storage space. We had a big yard, lots of tall windows, and oversized appliances. I have none of those things now, but I don't mind. Living simply definitely has its advantages. Even if our apartment is a complete disaster, it never takes more than 45 minutes to tidy the living room, fill our 1 1/2 foot wide dishwasher, and vacuum our little rug.

I haven't always been able to say this, but I am beginning to appreciate simplicity. Adam has had a strong hand in this. He is always trying to make me get rid of "stuff" that he claims we don't need. I am proud to say that we recently raked through our apartment and filled a huge garbage bag full of the "stuff" that really isn't necessary and took it to the D.I. It feels nice to have less.

Our apartment isn't much, but it's fun to have a place that feels like home. My favorite part of the day is always coming home to Adam, popping a frozen pizza in the oven, and cuddling on the couch.

I hope I can continue to appreciate simplicity, especially because it's going to be quite awhile before we get anything bigger. We'll be renting for another 3, 4, maybe even 5 years! Wish us luck! :)