Wedding Festivities

We flew to Utah this weekend for Paul's wedding. Thanks Paul for getting married, we had a great time.
The bandThe men trying to find refuge from the heat during pictures.

Home Sweet Home

We are back in Texas, just around the corner from where we were last time. We are really glad to be here. It was a long week driving down but we got to stop in Dallas and see Tina, H, and Charlotte, which we really enjoyed. Charlotte is quite a talker now and so fun.

Graduation

I graduated this morning from BYU's College of Fine Arts and Communication with a BA in Visual Arts. I was surprised sitting on the stand with a much stronger sense of accomplishment than I expected. One of the hardest things for me has been a lack of resolution upon graduation. The BA program does not have any type of final project or capstone presentation. So, I've been feeling like there was little designation that I was actually done, and had really accomplished something. Sitting on the stage and walking up to get my 'diploma' was a resolving act that helped the last three years come together for me. I am really excited to be graduated and start making art in Houston. Thanks so much to Dad, Mom and Mark.

one week

7 days and counting down until we leave for Texas. We are really looking forward to moving back to Texas. Here are a few of our favorite things about moving: (in no particular order)

-The drive down is a great 3 days with just the two of us. We enjoy the scenery, the company, and a good audiobook.
-There is family everywhere. We are looking forward to being again close to Mark's parents and Steve and Kalina and have enjoyed being close to my parents and siblings, the Denneys, and Phil's family
-It is nice to get a break from school for awhile. (even though I'm done on Friday!)
-We missed most of the summer in Houston, and most of the winter in Utah. So we're on the good weather schedule.
-Moving means we don't accumulate very much junk (or rid ourselves of it every 4 months)
-We are getting really good at packing up and being efficient about it.
-We get to change apartments- especially good when things start falling apart the last week, like the toilet...

Holding Pattern

Our life is in a holding pattern right now. This happens each time we prepare to move (so every four months). All these things that we want to do- projects, paintings, herb gardens, even certain recipes-are all just waiting for us to move. And things we want to buy too. We are just waiting till we get down so we don't buy them and then have to stuff them in the car. So often, Mark and I find ourselves saying, "we'll do/get that when we get to Baytown". (or we'll do/get that when we get a house). So... we are really ready for our move. We leave here in 2 weeks.
We still do have some stuff to do here- finish classes, pack up, clean the apartment, graduate- but those aren't keeping me busy all day everyday. Mark's CS projects are still keeping him pretty busy but he's almost done. I imagine he'll be done tomorrow or Tuesday. It's hard to not get bored and to stay productive when so much that I want to do would be better to start in Baytown.
One upside to having free time is enjoying it with Mark. Friday, David came down and we went to dinner and played games. Last night, we went on a beautiful walk up Rock Canyon. I will miss the Utah nights, when it gets cool enough to go outside. I hear that doesn't happen in Texas.