Graduation and family visiting

Hi guys!

So I am officially graduated! I finished off well with an A and an A- for my last two classes ending college with a 3.61 :) I officially have a BS in Psychology! The diploma arrived in the mail yesterday so it feels even more officially official.

For graduation, my sister Jessica flew in on 19th and stayed until the 29th! I hadn't seen her since Thanksgiving of 2012 so it had been way too long. She stayed with us and we had SO much fun :) We got to spend Easter with both of my sisters and we spent the day going to as many temples as we could.

We saw six temples that day: Provo, Mt. Timpanogas, Draper, Oquirrh Mountain, Jordan River, and Provo City Center (not pictured)

Oquirrh Mountain temple

Draper temple

Jordan River temple

We went to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake on that Monday which we all enjoyed :) Then on Tuesday, my parents came to town and on Wednesday, Adam's parents came. We went to a bunch of places while everyone was here including the aquarium, the Natural History Museum up at University of Utah which had a exhibit on the history of chocolate (the exhibit smelt really good haha), and lots of different restaurants!

Thursday was commencement! Adam and I went out early with my dad to take photos around campus in our caps and gowns. We went out at a good time because there weren't really other people taking pictures.

Commencement was cool and we got to see President Uchtdorf pretty close up during the procession going into the Marriot center :) Then afterwards we got Hawaiian ice and went over to our place for spaghetti. Then on Friday, we had convocations. We decided to attend the convocations for my college and Adam would walk with me. This was actually a great idea because we found that the speaker was Adam's mission president, President Bullock!! So when Adam walked across the stage, he got a hug from his mission president which was so cool :) and just like that we were finished! For Adam it was kind of weird because technically he had finished in December but it was still awesome to have this experience together :)

Afterwards, we went to dinner at China Garden which both of our families love. On Sunday, both of our parents went back home to Washington and Colorado. Jessica stayed a couple more days and we got to go a few more places like Temple Square and Bridal Veil falls. We had so much fun having both of our families come and visit. It was kinda crazy but I'm so grateful that they took time out to come to our graduation. It is still surreal that I am done with school and may never go back. I am still hoping to get my master's but its still weird to think that I may never have to go to class again. I think it'll probably hit me more this fall when Adam starts grad school and everyone else will be coming back to BYU for the regular semester and I won't be going.

Oh the crazy changes in life! I am so grateful for my experience at BYU. I feel like a completely different person from when I first came to Utah. I have grown so much intellectually and spiritually. And I met Adam here which was a plus! ;) I am so glad that I pushed myself to come out here and now I am the first one in my immediate family with a bachelor's degree :)

Well that is all for now! Love you all and God bless!

<3 Ashley

Changes

Hi everyone!

Its Ashley this time. We have lots of updates since the last time we blogged but hopefully it won't be too long :)

Ashley:
At the end of March, I ended up getting a job with Utah Youth Village working in a group home for girls with behavior issues. I was really excited to get a job in my field of study and excited that it was full-time. However after a few weeks, I decided that it would be best if I left so that I could finish school first. They needed someone as soon as possible to work 40 hours a week and with finishing up the last weeks of school in addition to a new and intense job, the stress got a bit too much. I did not feel like it was right to ask them to wait a month for me to finish school before I could work, so I decided to leave. I was really disappointed that this opportunity did not work out because it had seemed so perfect. But I know that I needed this small experience to help lead me to where I need to be. God has a plan for everything so I know that even things that do not work out have a reason. So after graduation, I was able to work a couple more weeks as a secretary before I couldn't anymore because I wasn't a student. We had some fun last days and I will sincerely miss everyone I worked with. I have applied to a ton of jobs so hopefully I will get hired soon. I just interviewed for a job today doing Applied Behavior Analysis with a 4-5 year old child with autism. It is only part-time but pays really well and would provide good experience. Hopefully I get it, but we'll see :)

An Office of Digital Humanities selfie showing some of the awesome people I worked with :)

Adam:
He officially decided to get his master's in Instructional Psychology and Technology! We eventually heard back from WSU and he didn't get in which was totally fine with us since he had already committed to BYU. So, I realized we never explained what that program is about which I'm sure some of you may not know. This program studies course development and testing and how to apply technology to education. Some areas that this can be applied to is online learning (like Independent Study), normal classes of all levels, and new employee training for employers. This combines his desire for teaching but also the technology background he gained from his Digital Humanities minor. Since he would be attending BYU in the fall, he could start working on campus again after graduation. He had been working at Vivint for the last few months but was excited to try to get something a little closer. He ended up getting a job in Independent Study! This is a different area than he worked before but he still enjoys it. He helps with anything involved in testing done through IS. Also, he will be teaching a course at BYU in the fall!! He will be teaching Intro to Digital Humanities (DigHT 215). This course is pretty new so he will also be in charge of developing the class. This will be an awesome experience and he is so excited to be a real teacher! 

 Here is his name listed where people can register for classes

 So that's it for the updates :) next blog will fill you in about graduation!

<3 Ashley