yay, diploma! |
my front row seat on stage ;-) |
This was definitely NOT something I volunteered to do! Back in March, in the middle of one of our classes, I got a note from the chair of our department, Dr. Askew, that simply said, "Ashley, see me after class." I hadn't gotten a note like that in years!! I sat through the remaining hour of lecture going over and over the past few weeks, trying to figure out what the heck I had done wrong...
speaking... |
When I walked into Dr. Askew's office, though, he had his normal friendly grin on his face, and I was a bit more confused...and then, he told me why I was there and I panicked. I asked him if I could say no, and I was seriously considering it. But, obviously, I did not say no. How could you?! All went well. It's still so surreal -- I think about it and ask myself, "Did that really happen?" I cannot believe the last two years have gone by so fast. The experience has been so much better than I ever could have imagined, from the people, to the education (of course), to the city in general.
Dusty, Mom, Dad, Nise, Bryce, Grandma, Harvey, and Miss Aurora Glynne all came out for graduation weekend. I rented them a condo up in Park City, which was absolutely perfect for us! Spent about $120/night for an entire three bed, two bath condo, rather than $100/night x 2 for hotel rooms! So nice to just be able to cook meals at "home" and not spend a fortune on eating out either. And nobody had to be cramped into hotel rooms or my apartment. We spent the weekend driving around the Salt Lake area and drove out to the Bonneville Salt Flats one day, where Mom had fun driving Gramma's car on the flats.
I'm definitely not ready to leave. I'm ready to be home with Dusty, my family, his family, and my friends, but at the same time, I absolutely love Salt Lake City and the people who have become my Utah family. I had originally planned on moving home at the end of the month (i.e. last week!), but I was asked to stay at my internship at PEAK until the end of June. Somewhat of a tough decision (especially with how much we have to do for the wedding!), but in the end, the "pros" won out -- great experience doing nutrition counseling, being paid quite well, and, well, just being able to stay out here for another month. And more time for visitors!!
Chels came out to visit once more. We took a trip down to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, camping Thursday and Friday nights and spending the days hiking.
Then, Dusty came out last weekend, Memorial Day weekend, and we went back down to Zion on Thursday, camping Thursday night and staying in a hotel by the park on Friday night. We spent over 6 hours hiking in Zion on Friday, drove to Bryce Canyon and hiked another 5 hours on Saturday. Then, drove a scenic byway, Highway 12, and spent the night in Torrey, UT on Saturday night. Saturday morning, we drove to Capitol Reef National Park just 10 miles from Torrey. We were so sore and sunburnt from hiking Friday and Saturday and had just planned on spending a couple hours in Capitol Reef and then making the 3.5 hour drive back to SLC in early afternoon. But, then we got to the Capitol Reef visitor center and saw that Moab (and Arches and Canyonlands National Parks) were only 2.5 hours away...and made the decision that we were going to hit all five National Parks in Utah. I just put those pictures up on Facebook (click that to see them!)...well, 135 of the 900+ we took! We completely forgot to stop to get a picture at the Bryce Canyon sign!
The next few weeks will be busy, busy. I have a bunch of wrap-up "stuff" to get done for my internship (reflection paper, evaluations, etc) that I have put off for the past three weeks. And I should probably start looking for jobs (I'm taking advantage of my break...haha) and studying for my RD exam.
Sammi is coming to visit June 12 through June 17!! Woohoo! Then, I'm driving to Sioux Falls the third weekend in June to go to Amanda and Andrew's wedding, pick up Dusty, and exchange my car for my mom's pick-up for the big move back home! Then, I will be working Monday through Thursday of the last week of June and hopefully be headed home Friday, June 28! Should be back in Minnesota on Saturday, June 29 or Sunday, June 30. And, of course, there's the wedding planning :) Cannot believe it's less than 4 months away!! So excited for all that is to come. It's been a good year so far, to say the very least :)
Sammi is coming to visit June 12 through June 17!! Woohoo! Then, I'm driving to Sioux Falls the third weekend in June to go to Amanda and Andrew's wedding, pick up Dusty, and exchange my car for my mom's pick-up for the big move back home! Then, I will be working Monday through Thursday of the last week of June and hopefully be headed home Friday, June 28! Should be back in Minnesota on Saturday, June 29 or Sunday, June 30. And, of course, there's the wedding planning :) Cannot believe it's less than 4 months away!! So excited for all that is to come. It's been a good year so far, to say the very least :)
Love you all and I cannot wait to see you in a month (or sooner!).