...You might be a redneck.

Last week we made the trip back to good ol' Montana for my sister, Brooke's, college graduation. She graduated with a bachelors in music education from the University of Montana. On the way up we got to see my grandparents in Idaho. It was a very short stay, though, as we had to leave early in the morning to get to the graduation on time.

The graduation itself was fairly entertaining owing to the nature of the College of Arts. Let's just say there were lots of birkenstocks, flower dresses, hiking shorts, pirouettes, and quotes from famous Marxists. Many snide remarks may or may not have been exchanged with my brother in law, Al...

While we were there we stayed with Brooke and Al in their new house. Al took me out gopher huntin', and I developed quite a shot by the end of our stay. I wasn't counting but I think I unloaded about 10 clips myself. I even had the rare opportunity to shoot a mama gopher and her baby. I know, I'm a cold-blooded killer, but that baby gopher had it coming... Lakin wasn't too keen on shooting things that have fur and breathe but shot a few clips from the rifle and even tried out the revolver. She hit the first target she's ever shot at in her life! I'd say that's pretty good. We're definitely going to have to get back to Montana soon to clean up any survivors.

Not all Montana license plates are created equal

Perfect's DMV

I'm sure we've all heard the Walgreens commercials about a little town called Perfect where elderly ladies always cross the street with an escort, neighbors greet each other by name, and everyone firmly believes in recycling.

Today I entered their DMV.

I drove into my 2-hour parking space with a sinking feeling. Past experience with the DMV has taught me to block off a sizable chunk of time before entering said building, but I continued on (I was pretty sure I wouldn't get in anyway with only 1.5 hours standing between me and closing time). A man standing behind a large desk greeted me, decided I was worthy of their time and attention, and then handed me a number: 755. That's a big number, the kind that indicates you will be waiting in line...forever.

I walked into the waiting room. As I was looking at the three rows of empty chairs, trying to decide which one I would sit in, an automated voice said, "Now serving number 7-5-5." A happy attendant took my papers and gave me a set of license plates in return.

I was there a grand total of 10 minutes (and that includes a conversation with a cute, dirt-covered 5 year old who wanted me to stay and then demanded I say hello to his two brothers and mother).

Welcome to Perfect!

One year ago today...

...Lakin and I got married! (If that last phrase confused you, it's because you didn't read it together with the title.) We celebrated yesterday by going out to eat at the Bombay House (an Indian restaurant on University Ave). It's very good, so if you're looking for a new restaurant to try, go there. I recommend the garlic naan and lamb vindaloo.

After dinner we watched "Up!" and, yes, I cried (three times). We had already watched it at the dollar theater a while back, but it's a good movie, so we figured our anniversary was a good time to watch it again.

Today, after church, we visited all the Lakin and Robb Historic Sites, including the locations of our first date (Red Robin and the MTC field), first kiss (the parking lot next to Monticello, very romantic), and the proposal (also at the MTC field). We took pictures of all our adventures of the weekend for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoying the meal at Bombay House

The Monticello lawn where we first met

The skating rink where we first held hands (cliche but effective)

The car (and parking lot) where we first kissed

Las Vegas

Robb and I decided during winter semester (when there seemed to be no end to snow or studying) that this will be our summer of adventure. First stop was a trip to Las Vegas for our friends, Alex and Troy's, sealing in the Las Vegas Temple. We took a quick stroll through the strip and made a stop at the Hoover Dam on the way home. I love being done with school!

I'm sad their eyes are shut, but don't they look happy?

I love to see the Temple

...especially when all of Hays clan is there. Robb's older brother, Brett got sealed to his sweetheart on April 24th, 2010 in the Timpanogos Temple. Here are some of my pictures (except for the first one, that was definitely Heather...you can tell by the superior quality of the picture, lighting, position, etc. :) ).

Congratulations, Brett and Megan!!!

At 8:00, while sitting around at the reception, we learned that no one had any plans to attack their car. Naturally, being the good brother and sister-in-law that we are, Robb and I rushed off to find supplies. This was the result:

He's going to be such a good daddy someday.

Guess Who's An Alumna?

I recently discovered the word alumni is plural and that one graduate is an alumnus. Then while googling it today to make sure I spelled it right (because misspelling it would a) be embarrassing and b) might make BYU rethink sending me that diploma), I learned that female grads are alumae or in other words, I'm an alumna (if that was confusing see here).

Obviously I didn't major in English :)

BYU has a two part graduation ceremony. Convocation was on the 22nd and involved the entire graduating class of 2010 (so naturally the majority of the ceremony was spent getting everyone in and then filing them out). The highlight of the ceremony (beyond actually walking in, which was pretty amazing...surrounded in that sea of blue, I felt like part of an army about to go out and change the world) was our key note speaker, Elder D. Todd Christofferson...

...and I fell asleep during his talk. So I'm entering the real world with only 2/3rds of whatever words of wisdom he decided to share and I have no one to blame but myself.

The next day was our own little College of Nursing graduation. Utah decided to honor the occasion by supplying overcast skies that dumped a mixture of freezing rain and mushy snow on us as we sprinted into the building. The ceremony was wonderful. I was a little nervous about making it across the stage due to scarring memories from my high school ceremony (where my cap feel off and the head off my rose ended up flying across the room), but I managed to stay vertical with my cap in place during my three minutes of glory :)

And now it's over. I've worked, studied, carpooled, and commiserated with this same group of sixty-some girls and three guys for the last two years and I can't really comprehend that we'll never be in the same class again, and in some cases, that we'll never see each other again. Life can be bitter-sweet sometimes.

Here's us after the Convocation ceremony

(see how well rested I look :) ).

I stole the picture from my talented sister-in-law's blog because as of yet it is the only picture I have of graduation. In fact, apart from this picture, the only proof I have of graduation is an empty BYU diploma case :) If any family or friends have any pictures, please send them to me! I would love to have them (my email is lakinmarie@gmail.com)!

Guess what? I'm done!!!

Love,

Lakin