Gra-jee-ation

I gra-jee-ated frum call-ige! Lakin took some wonderful pictures to capture the moment, and put them into this nice, easy-to-digest collage below:

(Click the collage to enlarge)

I can't say as how I have anything spectacular to add to the pictures. Commencement was on Thursday. The alumni association really needs to find a new representative who can do 1 min talks. I honestly think his was longer than Elder Scott's! Anyways, I got to sit next to McKay and his wife, Dasily during commencement, so that was cool.

Friday was convocation...for the entire College of Engineering and Technology! Yeah, it was long, too. We were supposed to have our own Mechanical Engineering convocation at the Provo Tabernacle, but you know how that turned out, so we had to take the longer route. They actually did a pretty good job of keeping the speeches relatively short, though. They also did a good job of reading off the names as quickly as possible. All in all, it only took 3 hours, including waiting an hour for the other college to get out of there.

Now, I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering! It feels kinda like before I had a degree. I think that's partially due to the fact that I still have graduate school coming right up. I plan on staying at BYU to get my Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering. If I'm still alive I might go somewhere else to get a Doctorate in Aerospace Engineering. We'll see... For now I'll have to be happy with putting B.S. after my name.

Traditions Ball

Robb and I got tickets to the BYU Traditions Ball. It was magical. There was a live band, dance lessons, interesting appetizers, and three hours of uninterrupted Robb time. There were professional pictures taken at the event, but they aren't available yet so I had to make due with our post-party pictures taken in our spacious living room (after we moved our armchair out the way).

We learned how to swing dance that night, so this is us showing off our moves. I think we're cute, but I'm a little biased.

Boys and Basketball

Basketball is a violent sport. You wouldn't think so, you don't bowl people over like in football or try to drown opponents like in water polo, but my memory is littered with all the injuries my brother and dad acquired for the love of the game. What I never understood was why, after my dad needed his wedding ring sawed off due to a smashed finger or my brother needed stitches after a bad collision, they were so excited to play again. Stitches (ace-wrap, splint, insert your favorite piece of medical equipment here) came out, basketball shoes went on.

It must be a guy thing.

Anyway, Robb is playing on our ward's intramural basketball team. I am usually designated as scorekeeper because a) both teams must supply a person to tally points and fouls, b) the team has no other use for me, and c) the other wives are better at hiding.

For most of the game our team was behind. Several of our key players, including Robb were off on their shots and we weren't getting our fair share of foul calls. Robb went up for a layup, stumbled over one of the other players, and came down wrong on his ankle. He limped over to the sidelines and sat down supporting his left ankle. Five minutes later (after a very brief icing) he started carefully putting weight on it and five minutes after that he was back in the game (because "it doesn't hurt anymore").

They won. Robb's injury improved his shot, oddly enough :) He mentioned the pain coming back after leaving the gym and by the time we got home he discovered his left ankle was three times bigger than his right.

Picture taken after some serious icing and wrapping

What it looks like now. As of this moment, Robb promised to stay away from the court...but we'll see how long that lasts :)

How do I love thee?

I must say that February the 14th is infinitely more enjoyable now that I have a permanent Valentine of my own. I can't begin to express how much I love this boy. We decided to stay home and avoid the Valentine's crowd. Robb bought me flowers and I got him a fishing license (hence the origami fish)...romantic, huh?

Dinner was amazing, but dessert was life-changing...not even joking. I used this recipe, if you're interested in having your life altered as well.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Doughnut Falls

I love snow. I feel like I'm in minority here as people clamor for signs of spring, but I love the way it transforms the ordinary grey and drab landscapes of winter and makes everything dazzle. We live in a wonderful world, my friends.

Robb skived off homework to go snowshoeing with me up to Doughnut Falls (over time water carved a hole in the rock face, hence the name). We brought water bladders with us to keep hydrated, forgetting that with arctic temperatures the water would probably freeze in the tubing...which it did (at least in mine...Robb managed to keep his flowing the entire hike. Don't worry, he shared with me :) ).

The end of the trail brought us to this point. After standing dangerously close to the edge for this shot, I was prepared to head back, when a fellow hiker encouraged us to crawl through an incredibly shifty looking tunnel dug into the side of the snowbank and see the falls from below. He promised that within three feet the tunnel opened up into a solid cave and the likelihood of dying in an avalanche was minimal...so we crawled on down and found this:

Breathtaking.

Daily Life and How to Chop Onions

I have a file folder for all my January pictures entitled, "Random" (creative, right?)...but that seems to describe life at the moment, lots of random (and amazing) things going down in Provo.

Julianne Dana left on Wednesday to enter the Missionary Training Center. She'll be serving in the Washington D.C. mission and speaking Spanish. I met her my sophomore year at BYU and we've been good friends ever since. I'm going to miss her...a lot, but she'll be such an amazing missionary. Hurrah for Israel!!!

Robb and I went on date to a packed Chili's. There weren't any tables free for the next 45 minutes, but there were two spots available at the bar. I've never sat at a bar before, but the hostess promised we didn't need to buy anything alcoholic, so we went for it. Cons of the seating arrangement: you are really, really close to the bartender/your fellow diners and you might be mistaken for a closet drinker. Pros: eavesdropping on the drunk man telling his life story to his date and watching two middle aged women play the field was immensely entertaining; twirly barstools are always fun; and the bartender kept our water glasses well filled.

Robb bought me a tripod for my birthday and it is wonderful to get pictures of us without having to bug innocent bystanders or resort to the huddle-and-try-to-aim-the-camera technique. These are a couple of pictures taken before our date (our smiles aren't completely candid because it was FREEZING outside).

And I made a revolutionary discovery this week. I was chopping onions for dinner and had to run to our bedroom for minute to relieve my streaming eyes, when I realized I had the means of protecting myself from the fiery vapors...my swimming goggles. The experiment worked, but it did require the loss of some dignity on my part and Robb may have started laughing so hard that he cried.

Further experimentation may be needed to see if benefits outweigh the risks :)

Robb Hays: Intramural Basketball player and Rocket Scientist

Robb started playing intramural basketball this semester with some guys from the ward. At 6 feet, 1 inch, Robb was our tallest player (by a long shot...we have a short, but speedy team :) ). He made a couple 3's and was the go-to guy on defense. Sadly, we didn't win, but there's always next time.

For Robb's capstone project, he (and his team) are entering a rocket in a NASA competition. The Frozen Finger's Launch was a practice run for the big day (and they weren't kidding about the frozen digits). The rocket went up great, but broke in half when the parachute ejected...so back to the drawing board. And that's what Robb Christopher Hays is doing these days!