Catch Up

It feels like it's been so long since I last posted, and there is a lot to cover so let's get started eh? I can already tell this is gonna be a long one.

First. Name Change:
Did you notice the name change!? Kinda weird. Kinda fun. I love it. Though I will say, going through the actual process of changing your name on all important documents is rather annoying.

Second. The Wedding:
So. I'm married now. :) I love it. Everything went perfectly for the wedding. The dinner the night before went smoothly and the little program Braedon's mom put together was really cute. Then there was the day of. The ceremony went great - I couldn't stop smiling (just ask anyone). It was so amazing to have family and close friends there! I loved seeing everyone's faces when we first walked in. Then when we got outside the weather stayed super nice for us. It was overcast, which made it so we weren't all sorts of squinty for pictures, plus we had some really cool looking clouds in the background. Awesome. The reception went really well too! I didn't actually get any ice cream but I heard it was good! And the cheesecake that my sisters and brother-in-law made was fantastic. So glad we went with cheesecake rather then just regular cake. Hmmm. Delish. Mine and Braedon's dance went well enough - our music stopped half way through for some reason so we had to start over (it's all those pesky ghosts that follow me around), and it was a little difficult with my train, but I don't care I had fun dancing with him. :) All in all we were both really happy with how things turned out.

Third. Amazing People:

I want to give a little extra shout out to all those that helped make things go so perfectly. First, my mommy. She seriously is the master planner. She made things so easy and I was never worried once that something wouldn't work out that she had planned. I love my mom and I'm so glad to have her! Second, the rest of the family. Thank you all for helping scoop ice cream, make sure toppings were filled, get gifts from people, and all the other countless little things that needed doing that somehow got done. Thank you thank you thank you! Thirdly, Kelci. Can I just say that I had the best Maid of Honor ever? Cause I did. I just love that girl - especially when I call her a few hours before the reception because I forgot to buy a garder and she was totally there to get one for me. She basically rocks all around. Fourth, all our friends and family. It was so fun to see everyone and see there love and support. I really appreciate all those that came out to see us! We love you all! Thank you so much!

Fourth. The Honeymoon:
Braedon and I went to St. George and we loved it. It was so nice to not have an ajenda - to get up when we want, leave the hotel when we want, do anything when we want. It was perfect. We did some hiking, some lounging by the pool, some "lounging" in the hotel, went and say Iron Man 2 and also Robin Hood (loved), got some frozen yogurt, ate out, got some massages, sat out and read by the lake, and did some more hiking. It really was the perfect week - so nice to be with each other and not have to worry about anything else for a few days. :)

Fifth. Coming home:

When we walked into our apartment and saw all the gifts I was pretty amazed. Wow. People are nice. :) Sadly we weren't able to open them till the next day when we were having the parents over for dinner. It was fun to open them all - especially the cards. Holy Hannah we got a lot of gift cards/cash/checks. Again - people are so nice! We have already gone shopping for the essentials we needed and those gift cards came in handy. Again thank you for all those that have shown us so much love and support.

Sixth. Being Home:

Since the wedding me and Braedon will pariodicaly look at each other and say something to the effect of "we're married!" in the hopes that maybe saying it this time will make it set in. I guess we were expecting some big type of change to happen once we were officially husband and wife, but it just feels so natural. It's just another step in our long and wonderful relationship. My friend Marchaan once told me, after she got married, that marriage felt like one big giant sleepover with your best friend and I can't think of a better way to describe it. We love being able to see each other every day, having our own place, and just building a new life together. It's been a little crazy getting everything into place - I feel somewhat like a pack mule with all the packing, unpacking, carting things back to the car to return, carrying new things from the car to unload, up and down, up and down. Whew. But I think we are finally just about settled. Our couches and table still haven't arrived, but hopefully they will get here within the next week or so. Until then we at least have some bar stools and a futon that work just nicely.

Seventh. Back to Life.

Now that the honeymoon is over, Braedon is back to work and I'm back to searching for work. I had an interview today that went really well, but I found out it's only for a part time job... so we'll see what happens. But besides that I haven't really received much (any) word yet. Hopefully my endless amount of applications over the past few weeks will start to kick in soon cause I'm getting a little antsy. Don't get me wrong, the time off has actually been a little bit of a blessing. There is so much stuff that has to be done that it's nice that one of us has the time off to take care of it. I was also able to relax a bit, read, run (in my fantastic new Vibram shoes that I loooooove) and so forth, but I'm just ready to start working again.. Anything would be nice (preferably with benefits).

I'll leave it at that for now.

Love and hugs.

Two Days

So.

I get married in two days.

What the whaaaaat?!

I really needed a break from looking up car insurance and job searching, so I thought I'd do a little blogging. :)

- Me and Braedon's stuff is all moved into the apartment, and it's all unpacked too. We still have to decide where we want to put picture frames, but we figured we would wait till after the wedding, when I'm sure we'll have more pictures we'll want up. :)

- On the topic of our apartment... I just want to say that I love it. It's so nice, open, and ours. :) We have been really blessed to have such an amazing place to move into, that is a lot more affordable, and a lot more space then any other apartment we had looked at. One of these days I'll post some pictures... :)

- Braedon and I with a bunch of friends went to the Paramore concert last night. It was fantastic. My voice is struggling a little bit today, but that's okay. It was so fun! I love Hayley Williams and I wish I could sing (and jump) like her. She has so much energy. Loved it. Best Wedding Gift ever. :)

- I've had a cold since about Thursday... and it's getting better, but not fast enough for my liking. Hopefully I feel okay for the wedding.

- So, apparently it's suppose to rain on Thursday. People keep telling me this in such despair and expect me to be super upset about it... but I figure, there isn't really anything I can do about it. Annnd to be honest, I've always like the rain. :) Plus, rainy pictures always turn out so pretty, so whatever happens happens, eh!? I just hope it's not too cold.

- Tonight Braedon's dad is going through the Temple. We couldn't be happier for him, and I'm so excited that I'll be able to be there to support him. :) We also couldn't be happier about him being able to come to our wedding. :) Happy week indeed!

- I feel like I'm forgetting something right now... I'm not really sure what, but hopefully it's nothing important... how annoying.

- I booked me and Braedon a couples massage down in St. George for this weekend. I'm so excited. I've never had a massage and I can't wait. Both of us have so many knots and tension in our shoulders and neck right now just the thoughts of a massage makes my neck feel better. ;)

- Our Vibrams have been back ordered... sad news. So looks like they wont be here till June... I guess we'll just have to wear regular hiking shoes for the honeymoon. La sigh.

Anywho. I guess I should get back to work. Thanks for listening. :)

Stay classy internet.

Pay Off.

It's official. I've gotten my grades back and there is no way they can take that diploma away from me. :)

Observe:

PSY 3210 Adolescent Development: A
MGMT 495R Executive Lecture Series: A
MATH 3400 Partial Differential Equations: B
MATH 409R Topics Mathematics, Knot Theory: B-

and my personal favorite,

MATH 4220 Advance Calculus II: A-

Yaaaaaay! It feels so good to see all the hard work I've put into this last semester pay off! And to get an A- in Advance Calc II! Are you kidding me!? An A-!? That's so fantastic!

Whew.

I'm gonna go get me some well deserved icecream.

:)

Oh how I've missed thee...

So now that I'm finally done with school I've been thinking of all the things I've missed doing because of school ( or me being too tired because of school)... This blog is dedicated to those things. :)

1st) Spending time with Braedon. - I'll actually be able to see Braedon every day this week. That makes me happy. I love my Braedon. (ps. 9 days! )

2nd) Reading. - I haven't been able to read, besides math text books, for so long. For those that know me, this is a big deal. I love reading... and I've missed it so much. I can't wait to catch up on my list of books and get lost in pages and pages of words. Mmmmmm reading...

3rd) Running - I haven't gone running in so long. I'm actually a little nervous to start it back up... I'm gonna be so out of shape. But it will all be worth it. :) (I'm also excited to try running in my new vibrams when they get here!)

4th) Hanging out with these guys, nuff said.

(Love you guys!!)

Sadly I'm still pretty busy with moving, job searching, and all the such... but I'm looking forward to having a little extra time on my hands to be able to do those things I enjoy most.

(Hopefully though I don't have too much time on my hands due to lack of a job... let the search continue. :S)

Till next time.

Love and hugs. :)

(Enter Title Here)

I feel compelled to write this blog since today will be my last day working in the stats lab. And I can't think of a clever title. Deal with it. :)

So.

I graduate in 2 days.

Wow.

It feels like this day has been such a long time in coming... I'm not really sure if it's completely sunk in that I will be done with my Bachelors in Mathematics in just two days. Done. For reals. The end.

Of my undergraduate career that is.

Yup. That's right. I'm not stopping. Over this past weekend some thought's came into my head, I talked to one of my professors, went to the temple with Braedon... and this all led to the decision that I will be going to Graduate School. At least, that's the plan.

What am I doing to myself?

In all reality, I actually am excited the more and more I think about it. Since I've decided so late in the game to go to graduate school, I will for sure have a nice long break from school (hallelujah). I could possibly start in January, but a lot of programs don't like you to start in the middle of the year, so it looks more likely that I'll be starting Fall of 2011. I don't think I could have just dove right into any more schooling. I definitely need a break like a bear needs to hibernate.

So now the plan is to find any full time job in the Salt Lake Valley to help put some money into savings (so if you know of anyone hiring, let me know), and start studying/practicing for the GRE.

Yay tests. ;)

I'm not going to lie, I actually almost wanted to cry when I first felt like I should consider graduate school. The thought of two more years of schooling is a little daunting, but the more I prayed about it, researched it, talked it over with people, the more it felt like the right thing to do. So I'm choosing to trust, and to be optimistic. :)

Anywho.

On to other news. Today as I was handing in my Advance Calculus take home final Zhu, my teacher, promptly orders me " go get an envelope for your wedding on my desk, it says For Katie". So I take his keys and go to his office, search around his cluttered desk, finally find the envelope, and go back to the classroom he is in. Upon asking him if I had the right envelope (who knows maybe there are two Katie's he's giving stuff to...) he repeats "ya ya" and then proceeds to tell me what's in it (which was a very nice gift card). He is such a funny guy, and I love how proud he is of his students and how much he cares about them.

As I walked out of the room and said goodbye, I actually got a little sad about graduating - I'm going to miss a lot of people here at this school. I never realized how close you could get to teachers and fellow classmates. But when you have a teacher 3 or 4 times, and you have the same kids in your class 6 or 7 times you start to build some really awesome relationships. I'm going to miss that. Hopefully I can still keep in touch with the people I've met and become friends with. :)

So there you have it. Graduation. I can't believe I did it. And now, with school finally ending for the semester, I can start working on all those things I've put on the "Do after you are done with the semester" list. Like cleaning. And washing my car. And packing. And finishing our guest book. And painting some old furniture. And job searching. And moving.

And getting married.

Sounds like a good plan to me. :)

Closer and Closer!

Working in the stats lab = new blog post.

-I wonder when I'll blog when I'm no longer working at the math/stats lab.

-Invites go out tomorrow. Thank. Goodness. Besides getting the wedding video finished up, all wedding plans are done with! Woot!

- Bridals went fantastic last Tuesday! The weather ended up being perfect for the shoot (even though it played with me all day) and we got some really good shots. I'm gonna have a hard time choosing...

- While out on my Bridals I had multiple people comment on my shoes, one even going so far to ask if he could take a picture. So awesome. I love my shoes. :)

-My last day of class is on Wednesday. My last day of finals is in 10 days. Then only 2 days after that and it's graduation! :)

- I didn't think it could, but my patience for people in the math lab is still decreasing as that graduation date gets closer. Every time a person walks into the lab I secretly am giving them the death glare in my head.

- I gave my knot presentation today about Celtic Knots, and it went really well. :) My good friend Josh was also presenting today so I brought some drinks and he brought some food to share with the class because everyone knows that you get a better grade when you bring food, right?

- The food that Josh ended up bringing happened to be those fancy hotdogs (oxymoron?) that has the bread wrapped around it - because they looked like a Torus knot. And then he also brought some Funyuns (mmmmm) because they look like the unknot. It's funny. I swear.

- I love Funyuns - but not so much an hour after I've eaten them. I can't get the taste out of my mouth. Bleh.

- Me and Braedon have a place to live! We are going to be taking the basement apparentment that my sister and brother-in-law currently live in right now. They move out to their own new place the first bit of May, and then we will be moving in after them. :) Perfect time, eh?

- Speaking of a place to live - we are also getting new couches! They are red. And I'm excited. :)

- I get to go to a special (FREE) lunch on Friday with all the other Math slash Math Education graduates. Minus the faculty, there will be a grand total of ten of us. Does that seem kind of small to anyone else?

- I had my first shower on Saturday (I know, kinda gross - I should probably work on that hygiene problem, har har har). It went really well! People are so nice. I've never been a super girly person though, so I have kind of a hard with showers. Especially with showing that my gratitude, cause I just can't make myself do the typical squeal of delight on how cute those oven mits might be, or how perfect those muffin tins are. While yes the mits might be cute, and the muffin tins might be perfect - I'm just not sure how to exactly express that. :S Hopefully my gratitude is felt by those giving the gifts, cause I really am grateful. :)

- Me and Braedon also started to learn our dance on Saturday. Oh. My Lanta. My feet were so sore afterward - and my hips, and sides, and armpit, and butt. Apparently I'm just not used to moving that way. But I'm so excited. That's all the detail you're gonna get - if you want to know more, you'll have to come and see. :) Though I have to give a shout out for Corey for taking so much time in helping us. He basically rocks.

- I think I'm done for the day. My brain is too tired to think of much else.

Loves and hugs. :)

1 month.

So I'm sitting here in the stats lab, and there are just the right amount people to keep me occupied enough not to be able to do my homework, but not quite enough to keep me completely busy the whole 2 hours. Thus the blogging.


1) This month has already been so crazy and is about to get even more so. As I said on facebook, make sure and wear your poncho's so you don't get Katie guts on you, on the chance that I literally explode. (Over dramatic)

2) Thursday, one of my best friends, Ben Stanfield, came home from his mission. His girlfriend that was waiting for him (that also happens to be my maid of honor) thought he was getting home sometime this week. Needless to say, it was a fantastic surprise and I was so glad to help out with it. :) If you want her full account of the story just go here.

3) On that same note, I'm excited to have my Ben Friend home. :)

4) As school gets closer to coming to a close, I've entered a new stage of annoyance for stupid people around me. Or lazy people. Or just students in the math lab in general. Or psychology majors that freak out about a 5 minute presentation for a class that requires absolutely no other work. Don't talk to me about your 'stress' (Again, over dramatic).

5) I'm taking my bridals tomorrow. Of course it's the one day this entire week that will be rainy. If I wasn't wearing an expensive dress that still needs to look nice for later, I'd totally take them outside in the rain. Instead I'll just find some cool indoor location down town... I know they will turn out good either way. :)

6) The invites are designed. I love how they turned out. We should start printing and stuffing envelopes here soon and then be sending them off. (Check)

7) Tuxes and flowers are also done as of this weekend (Me and Braedon had one of the most productive weekends ever). I'm excited for how both will turn out. I'm even more excited to not have to think about either anymore till the day of the wedding. (Check and Check)

8) I keep on having to remind myself that I chose to be a math major, I finish school in 16 days, and graduate in 18.

9) How cool does it sound to be able to say "I graduated with my Bachelors in Mathematics". Pretty dang cool to me.

10) I'm still on the job search. If you hear of anyone looking for mathematicians or some such let me know. :)

11) I love Braedon so much. I know that's pretty obvious, but I still feel like saying it. I can't wait till I get to marry him and be with him for time and all eternity. :)

12) Why are people still coming into the stats lab? Don't they know that I'm tired and my brain is basically to the non-functioning level? Don't they also know that they aren't funny or clever but rather just annoying and make me think they are just stupid and lazy (refer back to #4) when they say something to the effect "I'm so glad it's not super busy! You can just teach me everything I need to know for the test *chuckle*, since I totally fell asleep in class! *Chuckle chuckle*" Not. Funny.

13) This combines two forms of nerdy, and I love it.

(If you can't read see it well, it is a little picture of Gandolf from Lord of the Rings, saying "You Shall Not Pass" to an exponential function. It's funny. I swear.)

:)

Brain Spasms

It seems like just last week I was blogging about how I couldn't believe it was March. Now it's April. What the weird.

I've been looking forward to slash dreading April for a while now. Anytime I open my calendar on my phone I have a mini brain spasm about how much I am going to have to do this month. Remind me again why I thought that planning a wedding, balancing social life, finishing my last semester of school/graduating, and finding a new job all at the same time was such a good idea?

*Brain Spasm*

In reality I know I'll be able to handle it, just don't be surprised if you don't see much of me this month. ;)

So in order to help my little mini brain spasms I'm going to do a bullet point list because in case you haven't noticed I'm a total list person and it helps me feel better after I write them. :)

- This is my last semester of my undergraduate career. How crazy awesome is that!? Pretty crazy awesome if you ask me.

- On the same note, this month just might make my brain explode if I don't keep on top of things.

- Ben comes home soon. Like. Really soon. I'm so excited for him, and most of all Kelci. I loves that girl and I can't wait for her to finally be done with the two year ordeal.

- I love Kelci. (I felt like she deserved her own bullet point, cause let's face it she is just that amazing.)

- Braedon and I, with a bunch of friends, went to Moab this weekend. It was amazing. I love Moab so much. I also love our friends so much. I really have never met a more loving, respecting, fun, crazy group of people ever. They are fantastic. Thank you all for making it such an awesome trip! (Maybe I'll post some pictures later... we'll see)

- I have a big Knot Theory presentation coming up that I haven't done a single thing for. I should probably get on that.

- Showers are going to be starting soon for the wedding. That is just all sorts of weird to me. I'm not the biggest fan of that kind of attention but getting free stuff is always good, so I'm not really sure if I'm looking forward to it or not.

- Wednesday should be my last chiropractor appointment for my neck! I really am glad I went back to get my neck fixed, and even more glad that it's finally done! It's wonderful to not have a constant headache. Go figure.

- We are going to go Tux shopping on Saturday. I'm not really sure where, but we are going. Braedon looks fantastic in a tux. :)

- My bridals are coming up! I'm way excited. I really want to get a picture by a hobo, so cross your fingers that the opportunity arises. ;)

- So, I've decided that I don't want to be a teacher anymore. Well, more I've been getting very strong feelings that I'm not suppose to be a teacher. Life is fantastic, eh? Here's to hoping I figure out what I'm going to do with myself soon. :S

- Me and Braedon just might be learning a special dance for the wedding. Ask me if I'm excited. :) I can't stop smiling when I think about it. Hopefully we don't completely suck.

- Okay, I think I'm done now - off to do homework! Woot. :P

Loves and hugs.

Update the Update.

Another week down.

Hallelujah.

But for reals, things are going really well. Let's have a bullet list update, shall we?

o Me and Braedon finally took some engagements. We had been planning on taking some at the Salt Flats for awhile (and also some in Moab when we go next week). and finally were able to go last Saturday. Braedon’s little sister Savanna came with us and was a huge help. The weather was fantastic! It was a lot of fun and I really love how the pictures turned out!

o Along with taking our own engagement pictures comes the responsibility of editing them. I really enjoy editing – but after a while it gets a tiny bit tedious. But again it’s fun to see how all the pictures turn out, so I’m okay with it. Observe:


o Again with all the new pictures I’ve finally been able to start making our guest book. I’m making it through blurb.com. It’s fantastic! I’m having fun putting it together. Hopefully it turns out good.

o Okay enough bullets about pictures.

o Spring Break was last week. UVU is weird and only dose a half week off – but it was so nice to finally be able to catch up on life – clean, do some laundry, etc.

o I go through the Temple on Saturday. So crazy. It seems like I was just making the appointment a few days ago – not a few months ago. How does time go so fast and yet also so slow?

o Moab is next week. So. Extremely. Excited. I have always loved Moab, it really is one of my favorite places to go – add to the fact that me and Braedon will be going with some of (if not the) most amazing people ever. It’s gonna be fantastic.

o I got a 92 on my last Partial Differential Equations test. How did that happen? I think I might just have to get some ice cream to celebrate.

o I just realized that I have some wedding showers coming up – and me and Braedon have still not registered for anything. Hmmm. Maybe we should get on that. :S

o It's Spring. It's warm. I'm staying caught up in school. I'm marrying my best friend in 49 days...

...Life is good. :)

Contest!

So I entered a contest to win a free engagement session with a photographer - for any of you out there reading this if you wouldn't mind going and voting for me and Braedon, that would be fantastic! (Only one vote per IP address - so use multiple computers if you want to vote more then once!)

Click here: http://angelaliddle.blogspot.com/ and then click Katie M. and Braedon G.

Thanks!! :)