BOISE STATE GRADUATION 2013

My baby sister--who is not so much a baby anymore--graduated from Boise State last weekend with a master's degree.

I am so proud.

Rebecca Jolley is a master of English, rhetoric, and composition. 

The graduation ceremony was a miserable, three-hour affair. BYU-I ingeniously divides up the majors into different buildings to makes the ceremonies go faster. 

But not Boise State. After the 2,000th student's name was announced, I was ready to sell my LIVER on the black market to make. it. stop.

In my defense, I was sick. And I had forgotten my phone back at Becca's apartment, so I had nothing to do but wallow in misery. But then, as if to make up for what they just put us through, glitter rained down from the ceiling for the last 10 minutes. 

Apparently, falling glitter makes me happy. 

Becca was blessed with some awesome friends during her Boise State experience.

Her best friend Kevin, graduated with the same master's degree.

A Hawaiian friend in their major, had the matching leis made for her and the other 4 master of English, rhetoric, and composition graduates.

We continued to take many, many pictures, but I'll only share the few successes. It's not that Becca isn't pretty to look at. 

She just seems to have an inability to be photographed with her eyes open. 

Lovely lady.

This is my new favorite picture of my family.We had such a wonderfully happy weekend and this picture just seems to illustrate that. 

With the Big D.

I think our parents did alright by us, don't you?

In exchange for the cost of her master's program, Becca accepted an assistanceship and taught 100 level writing classes. Here she is in her classroom. 

And here she is by her desk...looking all professor-like.

Then Becca showed us around Boise. We picnicked, window shopped, admired local art and mocuments, and watched giraffes fight at the local zoo. 

Seriously people, if you have never seen giraffes fighting, you're missing out. Go YouTube it. 

We also oohed and awed over countless geese and their new hatchlings. 

Don't mess with the mamas. They mean business.

Goslings in a row. 

I took more pictures of these guys than I did of Becca. It's embarrassing, really. For your sake, I'll only share 5% of them.

Last one.

I suddenly have the urge to snuggle something. 

And finally, Becca's happy dance. It had to be shared. 

Next time you see her, ask Becca to demonstrate this happy Snoopy dance. It is hilariously accurate.

Bursting with Love and Pride,

Rachel

CONSTRUCTION BIRTHDAY CAKE

I was home sick from work on Thursday and Friday. Thursday consisted of about ten hours of Netflix on the couch. Figuring I would go coo-coo with boredom with another day like that, I forced myself to be somewhat productive despite my miserable state. 

This was the result. I have not decorated many cakes, so it was a fun experiment. I saw a similar cake here and wanted to build one for Andrew ever since. 

I baked a 9x13 chocolate cake, cut it in half, and layered the pieces on top of each other. After spreading chocolate peanut butter frosting, I went to work decorating it to look like a construction site. 

I dug an actual hole in the top of the cake and scooped the innards (eww...that word makes it sound gross) around the top to look like dirt piles. Oreo's, Nestle Buncha Crunch, and chocolate rocks from a local candy shop finished the layered dirt look. 

I personalized it with Andrew's construction company's logo printed on a "sign" from the computer and stuck to the top with a toothpick.

Graham crackers were cut into pieces for lumber, and I sprinkled a few areas with green sugar sprinkles to look like grass or weeds.

The construction vehicles are sold in a 5-pack at Wal-Mart.

Andrew loved the cake, but when I asked him to stand by it for a picture, this is what I got. 

Great, Babe. Now smile.

Very funny. Try again.

Not quite what I had in mind either, hon. 

"Andrew Ashmore!!! Behave your age!"

Eventually, I got what I wanted. Though part of me hates that he looks so innocent in this picture. 

It's all a lie.

But anyway...hooray for Andrew's birthday #28. And hooray for my awesome cake decoratin' skillz. It was a fun way to survive a sick day.

FYI: I got the wooden guy from my dad who has a hobby of making and selling sets of families and historical figures as  kids' toys. This is one I used to play with when I was little that I thought matched the theme. 

We celebrated that evening by stuffing our pockets with Kleenex (we are both sick), and heading over the theater to watch the BYU game (we don't pay for cable channels). 

After coming home and eating a piece of cake, we both sat back from our plates in kind of sugar-induced catatonic stupor. This cake's sugar level is though the roof. Any neighbors are welcome to come by (please come!) and take a few pieces off our hands. Holy heck this cake is rich.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME.

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The brownie pan to end all brownie pans. Andrew won't come home anymore to find every single edge piece carefully carved out with only the gooey middle left behind.  

Ha! Who am I kidding...now there'll be nothing left!

My purse exploded with a strange sound on our way out for dinner. What I found inside was Andrew's cleverly hidden gift to me: my very first smart phone. 

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I hope to learn to operate it in the near future. Keep me in your prayers.

I received the sweetest, homemade birthday card from my little sister. I labeled it for you so you would understand the story. Cute, huh? Her likenesses are impressively accurate.

In case you're wondering, this is not from one of my 5-year old twin sisters. Or the eight-year old. It's from my twenty-four year old sister in grad school. But it tops the list as one of my most favorite birthday cards ever. 

Did I tell you Lane is living with us right now? Well, he is. And he enthusiastically announced that his gift to me would be homemade gyoza. 

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Even if I didn't LOVE the stuff (which I do), I never would have argued with him. He and Andrew lit up like Christmas trees discussing all of the Japanese ingredients they would need to purchase. 

Deep concentration. Lane and I are filling the won ton wrappers and sealing them shut with water. The insides consist of cabbage, pork, mushrooms, and a whole lot of spices and herbs I've never seen before.

Gyoza...pot stickers...mandoo...about the same delicious thing. We ate lots and lots of them with sticky rice and chopsticks while I tried to follow Andrew and Lane's story swapping about their crazy experiences in Japan. 

Anyway. It's official. I am 27 now. I suppose I should start feeling like an adult sometime soon...

When did you guys start feeling "adult-like?" 

COUNTING DOWN

Right now, everything in my world is a whirlwind of looming changes, large and small. The anxiety of waiting for the debut of this entirely new life feels like I'm teetering at the top of that first wonderfully, awful drop on a roller coaster. Here are all the countdowns going down in this little life of ours. 

• Of course there is the house...I swear, it's all I talk about these days. Every conversation begins with a variation of the question: "How's the house coming?" A month MAX. And we really do mean it this time. We are in a race against the clock to have it ready to close before our June 1st deadline. What a year it's been!

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• A new house means a new neighborhood, which means a new ward for church, which means a new calling, which means new people I have to learn to be comfortable around, which means feigning calmness while experiencing heart palpitations.

I'm not antisocial, I promise. 

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• It's the last leg of the school year, yet there is SO MUCH TO DO. I know my 3rd grade sweeties sense the nearness of summer vacation, because it's getting harder and harder to keep their attention. Between warmer weather, assemblies, field trips, field day, the class play, and standardized tests, this dreaded month of no structure or routine to speak of makes classroom management nearly a bust from here on out.

• I just took part in the interviewing and hiring process of my new third grade partner teacher for next year. When it came down to it, I was basically allowed the final decision. This was very, very generous, and having been on my own for so long made it mean all the more. Having the new gal to work with is going to change EVERYTHING, and I am nervous and excited and full of hope for next year. 

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• My birthday is coming up.  I'll be 27. Yes, I count down the days until my birthday. Because simply put, birthdays are awesome. This year's countdown has been especially hard, because Mom's wrapped gift arrived in the mail a week early. And then Andrew placed it in the middle of the living room with the instructions that I am NOT to touch it. He did it on purpose just to torture me. Punk. 

Don't tell him it's working.

• Even the weather is getting in the mix. Spring is so close! My tulips are blooming, the grass is green-ifying, and it was in the 80's this last weekend. And then...I drove to work this morning in a blizzard. Countdowns shouldn't go backwards--it's not fair!

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• According to the receipt from the DMV, my brand-new driver's license will arrive in 10 days. The lady had me stand against a blue wall for the picture while she clicked away on her keyboard. I stood waiting for her cue, contemplating happy thoughts that might incite a non-awkward smile...when a bulb flashed in my eyes! That woman forgot a countdown altogether! I was indignant but didn't say anything. Now, for the next eight years, my I.D. will illustrate me as a seriously sullen, slightly spacey organ donor. 

AURORA's BAPTISM

My sisters and I.

FIRST COMES LOVE

That is one of my favorite Christmas card outtakes. I thought it fit the occasion; we have been married for five happy years! Andrew is my perfect fit. 

It is gratifying to have a best friend who can finish my sentences, read my thoughts from facial expressions, and love me even on my ugliest and witchiest of days. He seems to hold the perfect balance between accepting me for me and...patiently giving correction when I'm an irrational twit. That happens every now and again.

He's unfailingly kind. For example, there was the time he pretended to enjoy the pumpkin pie I served (his favorite) until I took a bite and realized...it was completely devoid of sugar. It tasted like poo. (Who does that? Isn't sugar like the most important ingredient of any pie?)

Yesterday, we had an exchange that perfectly illustrates us:
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After Andrew spent ten plus minutes listening to me stress before making a silly decision at the store, I said to him:
"Thanks for being patient with me and my insanity." 
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To which he very sweetly took my hand and responded:
"You're welcome, babe."
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He's lucky I laughed. 


Actually, that's another reason Andrew's so perfect for me. He makes this uptight, much-too-serious gal laugh out loud on a daily basis. He is my happy thought.

That doesn't mean he's perfect, though. If I get an elbow to the eye as he rolls over in bed one more time, Andrew is going to EAT my pillow. Mark my words.

Otherwise, I look forward to an eternity of happy wedding anniversaries. 

CRAFTY GRADUATION GIFT {tutorial diy}

My sister recently graduated from BYU-I with her B.A. in English. The timing of her internship and the start of her master's program are such that she won't have an opportunity to walk across the stage when her name is called. No graduation cap, no hand shaking with university dignitaries, and no smiling photographs with family members. Poor Becca, right?

But graduating is kind of a big deal. Something to celebrate--something to be really proud of!
Being the wonderful sister that I am, I couldn't stand for this important event to slip by unrecognized.
So I made her a present--a special, personalized gift to commemorate all that she has accomplished, and all that she has yet to accomplish in that bright future of hers.

I bought the fattest letters I could find (greater surface area for maps) and painted just along the edges. The rest I would be covering up, anyway.

Then I pulled out my scissors and thrift store atlas and went to town! Our spare bedroom was--and still is--a wreck.
The hardest part of this project was cutting and piecing it all to fit properly on the wood letters.

I originally got my idea from HERE, but I wanted to make this more personalized.
So I included bits and pieces of everywhere she's lived or vacationed to that might mean something to her: Gilbert, Mesa, Flagstaff, Provo, Orem, California, Nauvoo,Washington D.C., Mt. Rushmore, Rocky Point in Mexico...

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...and many, many more. This girl has been busy!
I visually separated each destination with super thin, white strips of paper, and cut the Eiffel tower image from a vintage map of Europe I bought for $1.00.

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Then I decoupaged over everything several times, and it was ready to hang on a wall or display on a book shelf.

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Then, almost by accident, I came across THIS free printable that was a perfect fit in every way: Becca loves to read, the "knowing" and "learning" matched the occasion of graduation, the colors matched, and it even used the word "GO" in capital letters.

Divine intervention, I'm tellin' ya! I never could have come up with anything better myself.

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I printed it out on photo paper, mounted it on scrapbook paper, hole punched the corner, and tied everything together with raffia.

A picture perfect graduation gift that I even got to hand deliver when we visited her in New York last week!

And she loved it.