122 days until this is for real

graduation was great. It gave me a twinge of desire to get a master's degree but not at the same time. Thank you family for coming to support me! It was a beautiful day. I love the student speaker that talked about all the hard work we have done to graduate but that sometimes it is the people around us that make bigger sacrifices than we do. Parker has put up with a lot and has given up things he wanted to do so that I can finish school and I am so grateful for that! Also my parents have been there every step of the way and been so encouraging and supportive. Thank you family. i love you. I'm almost done!

posterity

i have been working on a little project the past couple days to get a bunch of my grandma beverly's photos scanned. here are a few of my favorites.

*take more pics for your posterity

happy birthday amy

today is her golden birthday and also the day she comes home from India. can't wait to have my best friend back! happy birthday lil sis! we will celebrate when you get home!this picture cracks me up everytime.

katie + ryan

katie got married on tuesday at the draper temple. it was such a beautiful ceremony, beautiful day, beautiful bride and groom. I love going to temple weddings because I don't think I heard a thing on my wedding day...I was way too nervous and overwhelmed so going to others peoples weddings lets me here everything I missed. Ryan's grandpa preformed the marraige and it was really beautiful. katie has been one of my best friends since freshmen year. She and Ryan make a great couple. I couldn't be happier for her.claire the photographer/bridesmaid. Her pictures are much prettier than mine. Check them out at here. Claire also did my engagement photos which I love.Claire, me, Linda, Emily. We all lived on the 7th floor of Deseret Towers freshmen year, may it rest in peace.

graduation

today these roles will be reversed! my graduation is slightly premature since I still have 4 months left of school and over 200 hours of clinical left to do, but since there is no december graduation, most of my class opted to walk in graduation now. even though i won't have my diploma for a few months i am so thrilled to be almost done. i never thought this day would come. i have only ever imagined myself going to college and being a college student but never graduating. i know that may sound strange but i really never thought about the day i would be done. i went up to campus a couple of days ago and was filled with such a overwhelming sense of gratitude. as much as the nursing program and BYU alltogether has driven me crazy, i have loved my college experience. i feel so lucky, so blessed to have spent my 4 undergrad years at BYU. there is such a spirit on campus that i forget about when i leave. i think it's a spirit that comes on any college college--a spirit of learning and hard work and that feeling of being just one tiny person on a huge university campus with thousands of students, yet feeling like you have a small ownership over the campus because of all the time you have spent there and memories you have made there. i have also loved the mixing of spiritual and secular. i love sitting in anatomy or chemistry or humanities and having a professor bring up the plan of salvation or joseph smith. i love that i was never afraid in class to ask how this principle or that teaching applied against the background of the larger knowledge of the gospel. i know that i maybe didn't have some trials or "normal" college experience by being at BYU but i loved it. i loved the diversity, yes diversity, and the unity at BYU. i would never trade it.

so as thrilled as i am to be graduating, i have thoroughly loved my college education. i love school. i love learning new things. i love being scared to death on the first day of an intimindating class and then walking out of the testing center on the last day of class, knowing that i accomplished something.

i know i have been extremely blessed. i know i am going to try to do something with myself to not let it all go to waste. i am scared and excited to be a grown up although i don't know if just graduating college qualifies someone as grown up. So i just wanted to say that as i start my last semester of undergrad that i plan to take it all in and love it as much as i can because i know i am going to miss it when it's over!

i like long walks up the canyon, sushi, and sweet boys named parker

I love summer nights with nothing to do but hang with your husband

Angel's Landing

Hiked out in Zions on the 24th. Thoroughly enjoyed angel's landing with parker and melissa and an overcast day kept things bearable temperature-wise. This hike is a must-do sans small children and those afraid of heights. the view from the top is beautiful!

Pioneer Day

today

parker out of town + my day off work + access to online netflix = me watching movies all day. would recommend all three. back to work tomorow. Can't wait for this on Saturday!

10 minute top

found this tutorial a while ago...bought the fabric...didn't have anything to wear today...so I made this shirt. basically my kind of shirt...loose fitting and simple but still cute...i hope. I would make this shirt a few times over if I could find some good fabric. If you find some....make yourself a shirt!

4th

this is the only pic we took on the fourth of july. we watched the fireworks from the stadium fire on the MTC field with Brian and Ashlie. We had a great view but it took us an hour and a half to get home...an hour and a half and we live 10 minutes away. And most of that time was spent within one block of the temple. Traffic wassn't half that bad in downtown Seattle last year! But we had a great holiday up until that point. We spent the day up in South Jordan with parkers family playing tennis and bad minton, and went and saw the movie Up (the movie had me crying in the first 5 minutes... such a sweet show...would definitely recomend it). I love the fourth. I love the weather and bbq's and the fireworks and family. Next year, we will find a remote hill or mountain to watch the fireworks.

my first fish

So we went fishing up the canyon on Saturday

and this is what we caught!

provo prodcue lovers

12 peaches for $2.00. 5 apples for 0.35 cents. 11 lb watermelon for $2.00. cantaloupe 3/1.00. strawberries for .77cents a pound? 5 green peppers for $1.00. Seriously? I love summer. But also Wednesdays is the day for people in provo to buy their produce! BuyLow and Sunflowers Farmers Market, both on University Parkway, have BIG sales on wednesdays on produce. BuyLow it is just wednesday, but seriously the produce is ridicuously cheap. Just be prepared to fight the masses because it is crowded to say the least...feels almost like mexico. Sunflower Market it's all week but the weeks overlap on wednesdays so you get double the sale. So if you live in provo, make wednesday your shopping day, at least for your fruits and veggies! let's make it a party! Bringing home the peaches and cantaloupe reminds me of this place.

Pike Place Market in Seattle

missing sisters.

emily, (not usually found without jim) on a day trip to Cozumel.

melissa and amy last summer when they were visiting p and myself in seattle.

amy, teaching in india.

my sisters are world travelers and I long to be with them. where are they? Emily is in playa de carmen, Mexico for the moment, getting a 3 month crash course in espanol. and amy and Melissa are in India teaching at a school called Shanti Bhavan. So this summer I feel completely deprived of sister time. I'm missing the talking, laughing, crying, clothes swapping, and cooking. I really can't wait till they get home although Melissa will be going to Michigan for medical school in August and Emily is usually flying to some exotic destination. there is just something about sisters that is so comforting. You know they appreciate you for who you are and know you like only a sister can. Despite the sister arguments and fights, you know they will always be there for you! I love my sisters!! Be safe!

the next time...

the next time I decide I want to cut my hair, don't let me!

thanks.

why

Ed why?! So sad to see you go!!! Definitely a front runner for me and wish he wasn't so attatched to work although it's understandable. If Wes stays on one more week, I am going to puke. WHY does Jillian like him!?

Happy 26 to Parker!

we had a little family party up at parker's parents house on sunday night to celebrate his birthday. kelli and brent made a delicious dinner and parker got some great presents and of course, parker won the weekly front yard golf tournament. just a lovely night. Today is his actual birthday and we are going to dinner tonight...he may even get to get a new set of clubs if he's lucky:) I just wanted to let parker know how much I love him and am grateful for him! He is SO sweet and fun and such a cutie. I lOVE that boy! I don't know how I ever lived without him. He is my best friend! Happy Birthday Park!!

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cake with PB & Chocolate Ganache

This cake is absolutely delicious. The moment I saw it, I knew I had to make it for parker's birthday. It screams his name...seriously. Parker walked into the kitchen while I was making the cake and said..." wow you really aren't messing around." That is always a good sign. the recipe is below.

I found the recipe for this cake is here.

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cake with PB & Chocolate Ganache

1 box (18.25 ounces) devil's food cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Good pinch of salt
2 cups mini Reese peanut butter cups, chopped, plus 1 1/2 cups more for garnish (about 2 - 12oz. bags)

Ganache
12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
4 TB of confectioners sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line with waxed paper; coat paper.
In a large bowl, beat cake mix, eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil and salt on low for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high; beat for 2 minutes, scraping down side of the bowl after 1 minute. Fold in 2 cups of the chopped peanut butter cups.
Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 34 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let layers cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn out cakes onto wire racks and cool completely.
To make the PB ganache place chopped dark chocolate in a medium-size bowl. Bring cream just to a boil and pour over chocolate. Whisk until chocolate melts. Add peanut butter and confectioners sugar, whisking all till nice and smooth.
To frost the cake, you can first trim the tops of you cakes (with a serrated knife) first to make them flat, I didn't do this.
Put one cake layer on cooling rack and place on a baking sheet. Pour some ganache on top; spread evenly with a spatula. Then place remaining cake layer, and pour remaining frosting over the top, allowing it to spill over the sides. Smooth top and sides with spatula (see Note below).
Refrigerate 1 hour to set. Transfer cake to serving plate and garnish with the chopped Reese's PB Cups.

Note: I saved a bit of the ganache to put on the cake just before adding the chopped Reese's PB Cups to act as a glue, making sure everything adhered correctly, then chilled it again to let it set. So basically, frost the cake, then chill, then add a thin layer of ganache again, add the garnish, then chill again.

Another note: When you use wax paper in the oven, all the wax paper has to be trimmed down so cake batter is covering all of it or else it will smoke and be nasty.

Make this if...

you like thai food at all!!! One of the things parker brought me home from Denver was this spicy little dish. It is to die for and as you can see be the recipe below, not difficult to make at all. Adjust the spices to your liking:) Chicken Curry

Simmer for 10 minutes in a sauce pan or wok:
Cocunut Milk 1 Can
Green Curry Paste 2 T.
Chili Garlic (Red) Sauce 1 Heaping T.


Add and simmer for another 15 minutes:
Thin-cut peices of chicken and 2 T. of Fish (oil) sauce
And cut greens:onions, peppers, basil leafs, and veggies

Serve over jasmine or brown rice!!!

India

Amy and Melissa are headed here to Bangalore, India today. They are teaching at a school there for the summer. Read more about the school here. Isn't it always a little nerve-racking when family members are flying thousands of miles above the earth? I wouldn't say that today is the best day to be traveling either with the news talking abou this. say a little prayer if you read this today!