This week, in honor of our recent gathering for Christine's graduation, we decided we'd all dig through the archives and pull out our very own graduation photos. Some are more vintage than others, ahem.
Here we go (someone tell me if I got the dates wrong):
SARAH 1997:
I spent the last 3 hours going through every photo album and memorabilia box in the basement and had pretty much concluded that there must not be any photographic evidence of my BYU graduation anywhere. But of course in the last box I would have thought to look in, I found a few priceless snapshots. I can't believe how young everyone looks. It's awesome to see Grandpa Z there. I forgot it was at the Provo Tabernacle. In all my searching I also found my old planner which reminded me that John & Stephanie were getting married that same weekend so Scott flew home for the rehearsal dinner and then back for the graduation (which he missed due to delayed flights and an unplanned overnight in Vegas) and then I flew out for the wedding the afternoon after the graduation.
Last week:
1. Supported the boys in their goal to participate in the school-sponsored No TV Week. No TV, movies, computer, video games, iPods - Monday through Friday. I wasn't going to make them do it but the promise of an extra recess motivated them. It was a challenge, but it was really amazing to see the difference it made in our home - more playing together, more talking about their days, earlier to bed, on time to school - how could we live this way forever? It's not practical in our world today to think we could live without computers and the Internet. But I suppose we could implement limits on all of the above, or do our own unplugged weeks from time to time. I was so impressed with their resolve I kicked in an extra $10 incentive mid-week.
2. Recovered from an amazing weekend with all the family visitors and activities. Cleaned up the house, got back to work, ate A LOT of pulled pork leftovers (sadly 6 lbs will still end up in the trash), made a pile of lost & found items (anyone claim the clinique foundation compact in the kitchen?).
3. Started planning details of our upcoming East Coast trip. Plane tickets are in place but need to figure out the New York City days hotels (I'm leaning towards a Central Park location) & activities (got our Statue of Liberty tickets already), and car rentals for the rest of our time.
4. Totally missed the Anthro sale. So sad. Oh well. Guess maxi dresses weren't meant to be for me.
This week:
1. Friday is our first Rooftop Concert. Need to pull it all together and make sure everything is covered. I'm tremendously relieved the weather reports are looking fabulous.
2. Update my blog - need to cover spring break, graduation/oliver's baptism weekend, and various odds & ends. Must update before our trip.
3. Get work project far enough along to be able to do a demo (maybe I'll have to go out to CA soon - it's been a while)
4. More planning of East Coast trip - actually need to pull the trigger on hotels and cars.
ANNEE 1999:
(Three months puffy and pregnant with Henry! And Sarah is nearly 4 months pregnant with Brenden in the above picture)
-Celebrated Spring Break 2011 for the second time. This time it was with the kids, and decidedly not with Darin, who is once again fully "Heads Down" wrapping up his semester.
-Took the children to the UNC Planetarium. I was pretty sure this activity would be a total nerdy bust. To my utter amazement my kids were way into the "Carolina Night Sky" show. When it came time for the presenter to ask questions, all four of my kids hands shot up in the air. They had many sky questions. Who knew?!
-Sent Jane and Ruby to a day of horse camp. We thought of Aunt Christine that day. The girls went with a couple of their friends from school. They rode horses! Too bad I didn't stick around to see it. They want to go back soon.
-Packed up Wednesday night, so that we could depart first thing Thursday morning for Carolina Beach!! We spent all day Thursday at the beach and hotel pools. Spent the night at the hotel Thursday night. Found ourselves back out at the beach by 9am Friday morning, where we stayed until early afternoon. Then we got hungry. Found lunch at a cute Beach Shack pancake restaurant, and ended the day at the NC Aquarium. It was the most delightful spring break trip I have ever taken!
This Week:
-Recover from spring break! The house is a disaster. Laundry is everywhere. I haven't had five minutes to myself in weeks! (come on, it feels that way to me!)
-I'll be subbing on Thursday and Friday. I better savor every moment of my quiet Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday!
-Finish my quilt. This is the week. I just know it is!!!
-Have fun with Darin again. By Tuesday morning he'll be totally done with this semester. Everything will be turned in. I would say we have a few day-time dates worth of celebratory fun coming our way. He will have a three week break before he takes a summer class.
IE LI 2006:
Last week:
-Easter Sunday with family in Provo complete with dinner, egg hunt, and family love.
-Monday morning short bike ride with Sarah and kids.
-Monday lunch with Jonathan, Ie Ling, and Ie Ling's boyfriend Blake at Zupas.
-returned to Virginia.
-swimming, T-ball, and preschool.
-finally took down the brass chandelier and replaced it with a paper lantern for the former dining room/present craft room. Steve did most of the work.
-cleaned up the house only to let it get messy again.
-celebrated Steve's birthday with presents and one of Steve's favorite desserts, strawberry cheesecake.
-bought some gray TOMS for myself. You were all right. They are amazingly comfortable and I might have shed a tear or two in Nordstrom as I watched the TOMS video.
-went on a date with Steve.
-Easter Sunday with family in Provo complete with dinner, egg hunt, and family love.
-Monday morning short bike ride with Sarah and kids.
-Monday lunch with Jonathan, Ie Ling, and Ie Ling's boyfriend Blake at Zupas.
-returned to Virginia.
-swimming, T-ball, and preschool.
-finally took down the brass chandelier and replaced it with a paper lantern for the former dining room/present craft room. Steve did most of the work.
-cleaned up the house only to let it get messy again.
-celebrated Steve's birthday with presents and one of Steve's favorite desserts, strawberry cheesecake.
-bought some gray TOMS for myself. You were all right. They are amazingly comfortable and I might have shed a tear or two in Nordstrom as I watched the TOMS video.
-went on a date with Steve.
This week:
-swimming, preschool, t-ball
-help Steve execute the Elders' Quorum sponsored adult ward social. Any suggestions for cool, easy, cheap centerpieces?
-a girls' night with friends
-I'm also thinking that I should host a playgroup at my house because it's going to rain a lot this week.
-hang up at least three things on the wall.
-exercise and eat well
-make a decision about doing another Ragnar Relay in September. The team needs five or six more people. Anyone interested?
-find a babysitter for the social
-help Steve execute the Elders' Quorum sponsored adult ward social. Any suggestions for cool, easy, cheap centerpieces?
-a girls' night with friends
-I'm also thinking that I should host a playgroup at my house because it's going to rain a lot this week.
-hang up at least three things on the wall.
-exercise and eat well
-make a decision about doing another Ragnar Relay in September. The team needs five or six more people. Anyone interested?
-find a babysitter for the social
STEVE 2007:
RACHEL 2009:
It's really, really sad to me that my home computer has died and won't turn on (Rachel got her computer back, so I've added this picture!). I'm sure I can get it repaired, or at least get all my data off of it. But I haven't been able to use it for the last week. I thought my graduation photos were on my external hard drive but when I pulled it out to check tonight, they aren't there. So so frustrating. The only graduation photo I have is one I put on facebook at the time as a profile picture and the one I've attached. I really wanted to pull out one of the group photos. Or the jumping photos!! Ok, I should sleep it off.
LAST WEEK
--Returned from vacation on Monday night and was glad I only had to make it through a 4 day week! So sleepy.
--Tuesday - Finally used Macy's giftcard from the wedding to buy fancy sheets. Just happened to be the first day of the Friends & Family 25% off event (ends Monday) so that was lucky!
--Tuesday - Made one last purchase in the Anthro discount window. CZ you're right, they did still have the flower bathmat!
--Got the house back under control post-vacation. Cleaning, laundry, cleared off bookshelf, reorganized closet, unpacked a random box.
--Pulled one more all-nighter on Friday night to help Ken finish his last paper for school ever. 34 pages long. Thank goodness that's done!
--Slept almost all day Saturday, except for when we drove out to Olney, MD to go to the first Cafe Rio in the DC area!! It tasted great. They weren't as speedy as the Utah locations, but that will come.
--Made a homemade pizza on Sunday afternoon as we have done almost every week this year. (Best dough = whole foods, best sauce = still TBD...) But it is probably the last time we'll be able to do that for the summer. It's getting too hot!
THIS WEEK
--I'll be working at a client site out in Chantilly, VA for the next 2 weeks. A little nervous. Really need to leave early tomorrow.
--Finalize Mother's Day gift plans and order/mail
--SEE A MOVIE. (Atlas Shrugged and Jane Eyre - still top of the list)
--Go back to volleyball on Monday night!
--Cook dinner at least 2 times this week + weekend. Run at least 4 times this week. Time to resume these parts of life after the busy season shut down.
--Possibly head up to PA on Saturday to visit some friends!
CHRISTINE 2011:
Last few weeks (this is a little long since I missed a couple weeks):
- Got locked out of my bedroom, which resulted in borrowing an extra tall ladder from the Wiley's neighbors to use to climb into my unlocked window on the second floor.
- Ran out of gas, luckily in a parking lot, where I was able to safely wait for mom and Brenden, Oliver, and June to come to the rescue.
- Took three finals and completed one final project, all of which resulted in me successfully passing all of my classes so that I could GRADUATE (with the exception of one pesky independent study class that is currently being tackled.)
- Enjoyed a great graduation/Easter weekend with most of my family in town, it really was perfect.
- Went to a Bees game and had a mini BBQ with friends, we try to take advantage of any warm days we have.
- Hiked the Y a few times, it's become a part of my minimal workout regimen.
This week:
- Work at Anthropologie Monday and Tuesday, I'm finally getting some more hours!
- Go riding at least twice and go to yoga three times.
- Make some good progress in my independent study class.
- Apply to take the CPA exam.
16 comments:
I actually graduated in 2006 and Steve in 2007.
Corrected!
Ok maybe I didn't consider the timing of Sarah & Annee's graduation and the resulting awkward photos for those under 14 at the time...
Sarah how crazy to remember all the wedding madness that took place graduation weekend!! That would complicate things EXPONENTIALLY. That is so sweet to see Grandpa Z.
Will comment more fully later...
I will also comment more fully later.
I graduated in 1997.
Love all the pictures. Congrats to all.
Annee - are you going to let Jane and Ruby get into horses?! Your beach trip sounds so idealic. Way to do Spring Break right.
Ie Li - so glad you get to experience the slipper-comfort of Toms for yourself. Seriously one of those trends we need to embrace while we can - before something new and much less comfortable (and more expensive) comes into vogue.
Rachel - have you remembered what you used to do before busy season? Are you bored yet? Congrats to Ken for finishing the last of it. So glad you get to go to a local Cafe Rio. How far away is it? Do you think you'll go there frequently?
CZ - perhaps you should make a copy of your key and leave it here at my house. So that way when you come to get the ladder again next time I can just give you the key instead. It'll be much easier to strap to the roof of the Jetta.
Sarah, I think a school sponsored "no screens week" sounds idealic. I wish we would implement such a plan here. But it does feel like there needs to be some sort of external motivation. I wonder what that should be?!
Ie Li, I find changing out light fixtures to be one of the easiest and most satisfying home improvement projects. I can't wait to see the change. I made Sarah change out a light fixture one time when she came to visit me. I figured with her computer skills, there had to be some cross over in the electrical realm. We are both still alive :)
Rachel, I am fervently reading Jane Eyre so that I can go see the movie. I read this in high school, but I feel like I must have either read the Cliff Notes, or only the first few chapters. I don't remember any of the details in the middle of the book. So that's kind of fun. This narrator, she's your favorite british reader, isn't she? I borrowed it from your library :) She sounds very familiar.
CZ, I don't think I'll be signing the girls up for weekly riding lessons yet. But I'm happy to get to know the local cute barn lady who runs the horse camp out at her own property. On a full camp day the morning is spent horse back riding, the afternoon is spent in the art studio. Honestly, I want to sign up for that camp :) The girls will get to go a few times over the summer. It's too cute to pass up. Ruby rode a horse name Rudy. She kept telling me she was riding on her horse twin :)
P.S. Ie Li, I could be talked into the Ragnar Relay. Is it only fun if you know the people on your team though? I would be a stranger to the team. I could see if there were any other girls down here who would want to pair up with your team up there? Send me more details if you want.
Sarah,
Good luck with the Rooftop concert. I hope I'll be able to attend a rooftop concert once in my life.
A central park hotel location seems ideal. With kids, that's where you want to be. Don't forget to ride the boats in Central Park Lake! It's my favorite memory from the trip. Though I wonder if Huck would try to jump in the water.
Annee,
When I ran the Ragnar Relay, I only knew one person well in my van. But by the end, I was friends with everyone else. It was a lot of fun.
Look at www.ragnarrelay.com and select the DC race. You can look at the course map there. There are a lot of hills, which is really unfortunate for me, but could be a fun challenge.
I loved your pictures of the beach. That seems like a good idea for a busy season.
Rachel,
I love Jane Eyre. I wasn't aware there was a movie of it. I must see it. Maybe I need to reread it to refresh my memory on the details.
I'm glad you got to go to Cafe Rio. That sounds pretty good right about now.
Christine,
Independent Study courses are the worst. When is it due?
Congratulations on your many accomplishments. It was so good to see you last week.
I just wrote a comment that was the length of an entire blog post and right when I clicked Publish blogger said "Sorry we can't complete your request." Seriously?? My luck with computers is ridiculous these days.
I think it's time for me to get some Toms too. They're for sale at Urban Outfitters so that's an automatic 25% off!
I haven't completely resumed my normal life, but I am laying plans to cook next week, and the house is all clean and tidy again which is great. The downside of more time is you feel like you should "run errands" which always randomly equals spending money. With dinner subsidies, mileage reimbursements, and no time, busy season is really, really good on the budget.
The new Cafe Rio is in Olney, MD which you've probably never heard of because why would you? It's near-ish Garrisonville. We probably won't go there again. 9 more locations are opening this year, 1 right in Tyson's Corner! I can't wait. Next busy season I'll get Cafe Rio in the regular dinner rotation.
CZ can you send me that picture of Ken helping you with the ladder? Hilar.
No Screens Week sounds amazing. I'm glad your kids got so into it! Those things can either be "cool" or "lame". Maybe you go No Screens once every 10 days? Or 10 weeks? Sorta like giving tithing of your time/attention?
The Jane Eyre narrator is Juliet Stevenson. Love her. I'm determined to see it this weekend before it leaves theatres, especially now that you confirmed it is so good! Ie Li you should hurry and see it too! People love the version.
I think it's so cute that J&R tried horse back riding! When will we see pics?
I've been wanting to run a Ragnar Relay for so long now. But after Cherry Blossoms this year and National Marathon last year I promised myself no more busy season races. But it would be so fun to do all together! Should I break my promise?? I'll think about it...
Sarah good luck with the Rooftop Concert this week! I really wish I could come, always sounds so magical. I know you'll pull it off perfectly.
CZ - If you need a consult on the CPA application you know how to reach me :-)
Ok this is the last time I'll try to post this novel of a comment!
Ha! Ha! Rachel. You're longest-comment-ever posted. Never fear!
Also, I've edited the post to add your graduation jumping picture. It just needed to be there.
P.S. Mom, can you explain the reasoning behind the mannequin hand position? I mean there must be some reason, she is very rational about these things.
I was looking for my pocket.
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