Graduation and a new start in the East

I'm starting a blog. I can't believe I'm actually doing this, but why not? Right? I just moved all the way across the country and I'm starting out on an adventure, so what better way to record it, complete with pictures. This way I can let my friends see a little of what I'm up to out here! Not to mention that I'm not yet working, so I have some spare time between job searching to do something like this.

On April 21 and 22, I graduated from Brigham Young University. What a great feeling! In a way, it kind of doesn't seem real. Up to this point in my life, school was almost always the next step into "my future." And now here I am all finished and with no plans to return for further education. While I have loved school, all good things must come to an end, and I am at that end and ready to move forward into a new stage of life. Here's me ringing the Victory Bell.


My parents came down for the graduation and Matt and Hilary brought Jason. I am sure going to miss playing with my adorable little nephew! I have such a great family and I am so grateful that everyone has been so supportive of me in this crazy move of mine all the way across the country.

James and I started the cross country drive on Monday, May 25. It was a long drive, but actually pretty fun too. I'm glad I got to spend the time with my brother. We only got minorly lost, and we both decided that Ohio is a ridiculous state. In Ohio we saw Delaware, Nevada, Lima, Africa, Lisbon, Liverpool, Calcutta, and Palestine. Check out a map sometime. You'll see even more unoriginal names borrowed from places elsewhere, we just didn't happen to drive close enough to see the actual road signs for them.

While in Nebraska, we stopped in Omaha to see the Winter Quarters Temple and Visitor's Center. That was really neat and I'm glad we stopped there. James and I were grateful for our car as we thought about how the pioneers took several months to cover the ground in wagons and handcarts that we had covered in less than two days of driving in a car. I'm glad that we made this stop along our way to visit the historic site and remember the pioneers.