Post Grad

Well it's only taken me two months since I've walked across the graduation stage to write a post about it. I was so blessed and truly lucky to have attended BYU. It not only gave me what I consider the best education available, but a spouse to boot.

Celebratory jumping photo! It was only appropriate.

Shaking hands with the deans of the Family life college. Thank you and goodbye.

BYU also gave me one of my best friends! We started this whole shin-dig together the first day of freshman orientation and finished at graduation. How we passed our classes freshman year with all the crazy things we did still remains a mystery...

Finishing my degree made possible by the following people...Heidi Ann, my foxy Florida soulmate and BBF4E. I am so glad she decided to move out to Utah and keep me company and sane these past four years.

My Dad and Vicki. I am grateful for the examples they have been to me throughout my life and for raising nine crazy kids.

This second set of parents of mine, who are nothing but supportive and loving. I wrote many papers on marriage and relationships based on their experience and advice. I probably would have quit school long ago if it wasn't for that guy next to me. To say Jason encouraged me and helped me stay positive is a severe understatement. It's cliche but I understand how someone can be your "rock" because he is mine.

My mommy, the first person I would call after doing awful on a test or two. She has an uncanny ability to see the good in life. Holly, who always believed I would get into BYU when everyone else wasn't so sure, including myself. She's a keeper and understands me in a way no one else does.

We used graduation as an excuse to partay! These are some of my beautiful sisters who attended.

Big thanks to Scott, Linda, my mom, Holly, Marissa, and everyone who helped organize and set everything up for the party! There are obviously many other family and friends who were supportive and helpful in finishing my degree and I'm so grateful to you all.

blast from the past and present.

It is so interesting to look at pictures and see how much people have changed over the years. It makes me laugh at how much older my friends, husband and I look. Examples below..(sorry I can't figure out how to make it not underline everything)

Oh dear. Hiking Y mountain as a freshman, I guess the pose gives that away.

I thought there was only supposed to be one awkward stage in life. Apparently, I had a few.

Don't worry it only took me 2 1/2 years to realize it.

Our birthday dinner! One of my favorites of us. September 2010.

Dating and first outdoor adventure together. Never again. Summer 2008.

Jungle Party 2008, this crocodile hunter outfit had me sold. Alas, still awkward.

Europe trip 2010. Together in Paris.

My sister's wedding! March 2011. I love this time in our lives where we are young, in love, and finally look appropriate in pictures. :) Upcoming post: GRADUATION.

Never suppress a generous thought.

I heard this quote in church and tucked it away as something to remember everyday. Lately, we have been progressing towards an upcoming graduation and move to San Jose, living life to the fullest. This is what we have been up to in these parts.

BYU basketball games. It's a pretty big deal here. We like to think of them as FHE.

Cougars fo life.

So this is a player on the basketball team. He was ahead of me in line at the testing center and has the biggest booty I have ever seen. I thought for sure he was hiding a watermelon in the back of his sweatpants.

My sister Kat is getting married! Katy, our sister-in-law, and I threw her a bridal shower last weekend and even though most of our other female family members couldn't be there, we had a great time. Hopefully Kat did too, congratulations future Mrs. Tilby!

These are the cupcakes I made for the party. One day I will have time to make homemade fondant and create some real beauties. I thought these turned out cute and appropriate for the shower.

Food table. So chic.

Tiffany, our other sister, sent Kat a bedazzled bikini bottom along with a bunch of other thoughtful, sexy, fun gifts. She is a creative genius that one.

We also just celebrated Linda's birthday at one of our favorite restaurants. It is so fun to have Jason's parents close by and we love spending time with our family.

This picture captures a beautiful moment.

I had a dilemma last weekend when a ward activity I was in charge of was taking place at the same time as Kat's shower. No one from my committee could go to replace me and I was really stressed about what to do. My generous mantra must have rubbed off on Jason because he volunteered to go and organize the whole activity for me so I wouldn't miss the shower. The real shocker was the activity took place at the same time as a BYU NCAA tournament basketball game, any wife of a sports fanatic understands the importance of this. My kind husband still went and missed watching his favorite team play and WIN IT, and if that isn't love, I don't know what is.

14th of February

We had a very laid back Valentine's day. I hope one day we can take a trip, get massages, or do anything that doesn't involve a chain restaurant and studying for a test. Not that I'm complaining, time is very limited that Jason isn't working on a project, at work or fulfilling his EQP duties. I love this holiday and having a day dedicated to showing someone you love them. I love Jason, he is so dedicated to our future and making me happy everyday.

Eating at P.F. Changs!

Jason got me the Nordstrom bracelet on my wrist, a gift card to my favorite cupcake shop and chocolates! He knows me very well.

All in all it was a great day. We are still in love after more than 2 years HOO-RAH.

Sundance Tradition

The Sundance film festival is by far one of the best aspects of living in Utah. This was the fourth year my friends and I braved the snow and slush for the glimpse of a celebrity and hopefully access into a film. Unfortunately, we didn't make it into a movie this time but still had fun nonetheless. I will miss this tradition a lot after we all move on from college.

Jason couldn't come but Emily and Dustin let me hang out with them all day. It was very much appreciated.
Sara, Tyler and Rachel. Tyler and Rachel just got engaged!
My lovely friends. They got me through college. Well, Jason helped a little too I guess.

Long time no see...

I am finally cleaning out the cobwebs on this blog and writing a new post. We have been a tad bit busy and to be honest I have to be in a certain state of mind to sit down and devote three hours to updating this thing. You understand, don't you? Maybe Tiff doesn't :) These are just a few of the things Jason and I have been up to..

After much thought and multiple internship offers from EVERY firm Jason interviewed with, yes I'm bursting with pride, we decided to accept an offer from Ernst and Young in San Jose, California. Jason has been studying 24-7 so he can accurately do your taxes, please appreciate this effort.

Workin it, and I don't mean on the dance floor.

We are also enrolled in a little thing called college. I thought Jimmer was a good representation of BYU, until I have a picture of me in a cap and gown. April 21-22 everyone. Jason won't graduate until April 2012, but he will have a masters degree alongside his bachelors so it will be worth the extra year in Provo!

Since I haven't updated in months, I had to include pictures of the most amazing trip we took with my in-laws last August. We went to Paris, Amsterdam and Dublin and these pictures don't come close to capturing everything we experienced. Look on Facebook for full albums!

Dublin was a wild and crazy time!

Beautiful castles and landscapes at every turn.

The Netherlands was where my brother-in-law, Jeff, served his mission. The reason for the trip to europe was to visit the people he taught the gospel to and seeing where he lived for two years. He was a great tour guide and speaks dutch just as good as any of the locals.

PARIS. We all ate pastries and visited museums around the clock. This is the gardens at Versailles palace. The palace was beyond words.

I had to get this picture. I love my husband.

So back to reality in Utah...

We have attended the occasional Jazz game...

and back in December we celebrated our two year anniversary!

Phew, I think I just hit the three hour mark. Thanks for your patience and please don't give up on checking this blog :) We are so blessed and have many exciting times coming up in our future.

Our humble abode & greatest caloric intake yet.

I had great culinary success these past couple weeks and I wanted to share it with you. It's too bad we don't have kids yet because I'm sure THEY would eat more than just one doughnut or cupcake. Jason is not much of a sweets person though. I'm lucky I have great friends who are more than happy to take leftovers. Below are doughnuts, french apple tart and chocolate cupcakes, all from scratch. Hey now this was within two weeks time so don't start gagging from the calories yet. I did chocolate glazed and maple bacon doughnuts. The latter might need some explanation though, I wanted to try to make a something sweet paired with bacon since it's kind a craze in the food world right now, sweet and salty. I love this combination and they turned out delish. The apple tart is my new favorite dessert. The pastry crust was so flaky and buttery and the apples caramelized and not overly sweet. There is an apricot glaze on top and it was truly a million times better than anything I have had from a bakery. I got an idea from my friend's blog to photograph our apartment for those of you who can't see it for yourself. We love our apartment and we plan on living here until we say our fond farewell to BYU. Just to update everyone, we are both juniors and I only have two semesters left until I graduate in marriage and family studies! Jason has two years to go which includes receiving his masters of accountancy. I am trying to enjoy my last college years while I can and Jason is just happy to ace his tests. Next post I promise some pictures of us together.

Doughnuts that have risen. I only have fluted cutters but I actually liked the edges.

Golden and fried. All desirable traits!

Chocolate and maple bacon. Don't knock it til you try it.

French apple tart! Essentially only pastry, apple, butter and sugar.

I'll bake it for you. Just call.

I took this because I was so happy with how similar they look to the picture in the cookbook.

So we are starting the tour in our second bedroom (office and storage room). Here is my desk.

This is Jason getting up and leaving, trying to avoid pictures. His desk.

Bedroom! My dresser and Jason's. I kicked him out of the wooden dresser, it was just too crowded.

Bed and Jason's shoes. He has some kind of complex about putting shoes in the closet..

Bathroom. It's tight quarters in there, but worth it to have a washer and dryer. Yes the toilet is just in front of the washer..like I said worth it!

There are a lot of weird things about our apartment, such as this door not opening all the way and none of the drawers in the kitchen being wide enough to hold a silverware organizer. It's these things that will make me appreciate a home so much more.

Living room. So the door on the right is the bathroom door and our two bedrooms are right in that nook too.

Ok, I realize our apartment looks a little barren. I like to think of it as simple and clutter-free. I love our big couch pillows!

Kitchen. I really like our kitchen compared to other kitchens in BYU married housing. We have a dishwasher and working modern appliances. Couldn't ask for more. There isn't much storage space, I keep a lot of our pots and pans in the living room closet but I'm grateful for what we have.

See our silverware organizer on the counter? It is normal to us now but I still open the top drawer when I empty the dishwasher sometimes to put silverware in. I have a little basil plant on the counter there! I love it but it slowly dying, which makes me sad. I hate buying fresh herbs when it's so easy to grow them in the windowsill. You can see our microwave on the bottom left because there was no counter space near an outlet for it. I apologize for the fingerprints on the window.

Our dining room table, thank you IKEA.