What I learned

I gotta say...

graduation has kind of left me feeling like a 4th grader coming home from school. Mom asks, "What did you learn today?" and I lazily reply, "Nothing."

Not that I actually learned nothing in my four years of undergraduate studies. It's just that it's kind of hard to really pinpoint the different levels of knowledge in my head. How much more is in there today than was in there 4 years ago?

"What did you learn?"

Well, I'm proud to say, I figured it out.

The answer came while I was taking a trip down memory lane, using a handy new tool on my ASU profile page that let me quickly scroll through every semester of my college life and see what classes I took and what grade I got in each.

*Confessionary side note: I've always been a grade-aholic. Dallin doesn't "play that game," as he says, but I do. I keep tabs on my grades. Laugh if you want, but hey, if that helped me get my Summa Cum Laude, I'm laughing right along with you. Side note over.*

So anyway, looking through my grades, I quickly notice the lowest grade I ever received in all my four years: a B-. As in, B minus. I hated that grade. Those minuses bring you down, man.

Then I noticed what class I got that hateful letter-with-a-negative-mathematical-sign in. And I remember...I hated that class. It didn't interest me. I didn't like or agree with the teacher. The content was rather pointless. And it was one of those huge classes where all we really could do was listen to lectures accompanied by power point presentations. Boring. Poorly presented. Just an all-around bad fit for me.

You see where I'm going with this?

I didn't like this class, so I didn't really try. Sure, at the time I probably thought my grade was totally unfair, but really, it wasn't. I didn't really study for the tests. I didn't go to class if I had any kind of basic excuse to avoid it. And I didn't care. I really didn't care.

If I had put in the effort, I would have received a better grade. Bottom line.

It seems so obvious - what you put into something is what you take away. Output equals input. You're not going to benefit from anything - a class, a project, a goal, a marriage, a church calling, a cookie recipe - without putting the right amount of effort into it. And the more you put in, the more you'll take out.

As I looked through the rest of my classes, I remembered some of the ones that I loved. Those classes that had me reading new and exciting things, discussing ideas with my other classmates, and hanging on the teacher's every word because you could just tell they loved what they were talking about. My grades? A's, baby.

The point is, I can do it. Because I can work hard. I can find the time to do the important things. Somehow, what I give is enough. If I devote time and energy to something that is important to me, it will pay off.

Like, oh, my degree.

No, a Bachelor's degree in English Literature isn't exactly a one-way ticket to a successful, prosperous lifestyle. But it's a subject that I love. It's something that I've put a lot of work into. No, I didn't have to memorize dates, charts, equations or theories, but I got to think and analyze and bring my own thoughts and experiences into a wonderful world of literature that was just waiting for me to visit.

And even if, right now, I can't really see how this is going to pay off, I know it will. I've been taught the importance of education since I was little, and I truly believe that any kind of knowledge and truth that I have received will benefit me. Because I did my part.

Now it's time to do my part in other places too. To put more effort into my marriage, my home, my job, my preparations for motherhood, my church calling. And, of course, to keep putting effort into my education. To never, ever, stop learning.

Because hey, someone's going to ask me what I learned when I get home.

Your mom goes to college.

But I don't.

Not anymore.

Let's just forget about the fact that I'm going to grad school in the fall, shall we? With that forgotten, as far as anyone reading or writing this blog is concerned right now, Katie's done with school. Right? Right. Glad we're on the same page.

So here are some pictures highlighting the big event. Well, big events. This graduation thing was quite the drawn out spectacle.


Obama speaking at our commencement. Can you see him? Yeah, I couldn't really see him either.

Alice Cooper was also there, to sing his good old "School's Out" song. That was cool. I didn't get a picture of him. But here's one, if you want to be picky about it:

Squeem. At least his song is good.

Here's Dallin getting his diploma cover at his convocation. So distinguished.

Here's the face Dallin made at the video camera right after receiving his diploma cover. They made him give the diploma cover back. Ok, no they didn't. But I'm sure they wanted to.

Look, it's me! Getting a diploma! Ok, a diploma cover! Holla!

With Dallin's parents.

With my parents.

With my grandparents.

You just gotta know that all three of these sets of people sat through two rather long convocation ceremonies just to hear one name called. They basically rock.

Well, I guess that about covers it. I mean, my mom took a gajillion more pictures but I think you get the gist.

Now, I think a future post is going to contain just a little bit of reflection/gushing about my college experience, but at the mo', I'm bed laden with a killer cold and really just want to read a good book until I fall asleep. I hope you understand.

Until then - CONGRATS CLASS OF 2009! WHICH HAPPENS TO INCLUDE MYSELF! YAY!

And, as always and until the end...GO DEVILS!

The Case of the Disappearing Belly

MISSING:

One pregnant looking stomach.

Last seen: last night

Last seen with: Dallin and Katie

If you have any information, please contact us. We're not putting our phone number on the internet, duh. You're reading our blog. Contact us that way.

Ok but seriously...

I wake up, and my body looks like it doesn't even know what the word "pregnant" means, let alone that it has been experiencing it for 14 weeks.

But by bedtime, after a day's worth of eating and drinking, I look like this:


And even though I know this little pooch could still easily be interpreted as "Whoa. She's put on some pounds." instead of "Hey! A pregnant lady!" you gotta start somewhere.

Really, I'm ready for this come-and-go belly to become a perma-pooch. As it is, I end up just feeling really fat and bloated after I eat. Which is pretty annoying.

In other non-pregnancy news...we GRADUATED! Stay tuned for a post on that...I gotta get some pics from my mom's camera first.

But hey- it's summer! I love summer. Summer and I go waaaay back. It is a deep and abiding friendship that I can't wait to develop further this year.

Oh. Develop. My belly needs to do that.

Sigh.

Mother's Day-slash-Anniversary

That's right.

Mother's Day this year - Sunday, May 10, 2009 - marked the one year anniversary of this happiness:

Ah. Bliss.

Seriously, this year has been amazing. I love my husband with all my heart. I know he loves me too. And I'm so excited for the rest of our very own eternity. I'm sure there are many surprises in store...

like the one we experienced last Saturday.

I say "we," because apparently Dallin had no idea what was going on either. We were in this together, saving the world - or at least the President.

Let me explain.

So Saturday morning, Dallin made breakfast. I came to sit down to eat, and noticed an envelope with my name on it sitting on my plate.

"What's that?" Dallin asked.
"Oh, I don't know," I said jokingly, sure it was a love letter from him as usual.
"Well open it," he said.

I argued that it would probably make me cry, and I'd rather do that alone, but at his urging, I opened it. I was glad I did.

It was a letter from none other than Jack Bauer - who, in case you've missed out on one of the best television shows to ever exist, is a special agent involved in thwarting attacks on our country. He's pretty much a stud.

So Jack told me that he was working with the government to rescue the President, who was being held hostage. There were all kinds of details in there, but basically, they wanted my help.

I was given an address and told to go there to do some research. We left immediately (obviously, since this is pretty top priority stuff). With the help of our handy-dandy iphone (which we named Chloe - which all you 24 fans should get), we reached the designated location. It was a Barnes and Noble (to research - obviously!). After a few minutes in the store, we were approached by a contact that presented me with an envelope. This had a B&N gift card in it, along with the address of our next location.

The letter told us we were going to be doing some physical training, so we went home for a bit to change. Then with Chloe's help, we reached the next destination - an incredibly nice gym. I'd told Dallin I was thinking about getting a gym membership so I could stay relatively fit during my pregnancy. We toured the place (did I mention- incredible?) before our tour guide informed me that I was already a member there! Woot! So we hung out there for a while, went swimming and stuff, and then it was time to move on to the next location.

All I knew here was that I needed to pick up a package. It happened to be a flower shop, and waiting for me was a lovely bouquet of hot pink roses and daisies! I. LOVE. FLOWERS.


From there, we were told that we would have to meet up with some contacts. Ultimately, we were hunting down a guy named Victor Creed. The next address led us to a restaurant where we had some yummy dinner, and our waiter brought an envelope with another letter and movie tickets inside. "Wolverine!" YES.


So we went and saw "Wolverine." The bad guy's name? Victor Creed.

Of course, he was defeated. Day saved. Problem solved.

My last envelope included some "Thank you coupons" from the government as tokens of appreciation. These will give me future opportunities to get massages, hand off dinner preparation, and send my dutiful husband out to get some strange food I'm craving at any and all hours.

One coupon made me a promise - that our family would take a vacation together every year. This is something that's very important to me, since my family has always tried to do it in the past, so it means a lot to me to be carrying it over to the future!

I can't believe I got so lucky. How many guys put this much thought into a present? This guy is THE BOMB.

Or Weapon XI. Whichever you prefer.