Ahhh, April. Our last month in Provo. This was a bitter-sweet time for us. Isn't funny how when a change is put before you it is so hard to be happy and excited about it, but later on that change has become something that is now the hardest thing to leave? This was Provo for both Rusty and I. Neither of us really wanted to come here at all, but both had a feeling that we needed to when picking schools (I wonder why...). Now that it is time to leave, we are both struggling! Provo has definitely become my home. I love driving into the valley and seeing the mountains there with the city nestled at their feet. I love the people always doing things and being generally happy. I know Provo gets a bad name ALL OF THE TIME, but honestly I love that place. It was hard to say goodbye but also exciting to move on to the next stage. This month was a little crazy! We finished up our classes and took finals while packing, doing paperwork for the house, last minute preparations for Europe, and moving. But before all of that... we took off for a weekend to go to St. George and Zion's National Park. :) We felt like we were about to suffocate from all of the things that we had to do and we just had to get out. Also, we wanted to do a couple more things in Utah before we left.
We went down on Saturday and met my sister Jessica and some of her friends from work. We got there and started hiking around Chuckwalla because we were going to climb there later on but it was too crowded to right then. The hike was a lot of fun and it is always so pretty down there. It was early enough that there was still green to contrast against the red rock. I just love it! After our hike the wall was still too crowded and it was really hot so we went and got some delicious sno cones and then grabbed our lunches and slack lined and played catch in the park for a while. Then we decided to go and rappell at Coyote's Gulch. At first I was a little nervous, but only because it was about 150 feet. And that is still scary to me. But I am happy to say that I not only did it, but I did it twice! Boom baby. Rocked it. By this time it was time to set up camp, sing songs with the guitar by the fire, and hit the hay. No climbing for this trip :(
The next day we went to Zion's! This is one of the coolest places I have ever been. I had been here once before but I was unsuccessful at doing Angel's Landing. I know, that is so lame. But I got to this spot where it was only like four feet wide and it was 1,000 foot drops on both sides. A little known fact about me is that I hate heights. Part of why I like canyoneering and rock climbing is because it really makes me face my fears. I was with Rusty, Jessica, and her friend Matt and they kept telling me that it got better but I didn't believe them. But after doing it, it really does haha. That is by far the worst part. The rest of it looks really scary but it actually isn't that bad! So this was a definite win for me. Cross that off the list; I can leave Utah happy now. We ate lunch at the top and fought off chipmunks the entire time and then climbed down to do some more hiking into the Narrows before heading home.
I also got to visit and spend some time with my grandma before I left Utah! She alternates living with my parents and aunts and uncles, and she had been living in Utah for a little while and was down in Springville for the day so Rusty and I went and picked her up. It was a blast talking to her and listening to her tell some stories. We were going to meet Jessica when we took her out to dinner and her only request was pancakes so we took her to IHOP and she was so thrilled! I think she thanked me about 30 times for that pancake! She is the cutest!
Also in April, we graduated. It's not a big deal or anything... but actually IT IS! WE GRADUATED FROM BYU!!!! Oh my word I still can't believe it. This was 4 years coming for him and 5 for me (changed my major too much... oops) and it was finally coming to a close. It was a liberating and exciting feeling to know that we had finally accomplished something that we had worked so hard for; something that really took over our lives and defined us for years. We were students. That said it all: the late nights, the early mornings, the test anxiety, the bs-ing papers, the poorness. It was all defined in that one word, and now it was over. We were no longer students we were (gasp) adults. That was a little hard to swallow, but not on this day. No, on this blessed occasion we were just so happy to be done with all of the aforementioned things. We were free :) My parents and sister Beckie came to Provo and of course Jessica was there. It was wonderful! It was also a crazy day. The movers came the day before and started packing things. The morning of graduation was spent staying out of the way as the movers loaded our belongings, collecting my family, signing final documents for the sale of the house, packing for Europe, going to Jessica's to get ready, being almost late to graduation, just making it in time, and then going out in the ceremony. Rusty and I wanted to walk together and because all of my friends won't graduate until next April because of Student Teaching I walked with his class. Then they asked Rusty to give the opening prayer at the ceremony and made both of us sit on the stand the entire time. So we walked out first with the Dean and the speakers and then sat up there trying to look serious and not make faces at Jessica. After graduation we ran home, changed, cleaned the house, locked the door forever, and left to Salt Lake to have dinner and stay in a hotel there. It was a lot harder to leave that house in Provo than I thought it would be. I think it is because of how much Rusty and I put our hearts and souls into that place. For two years we worked on that thing constantly. Painting, tearing down walls, tiling, shampooing, texturizing, carpeting, putting in outlets- you name it. When you work so hard on something it becomes part of you. I'm glad that we sold it and we were so blessed it did, but it was still hard to leave it. I love that house. The next day we spent some time in Salt Lake City walking around Temple Square and eating at Gourmandies (things I knew I would miss). Then we drove to my grandparents' house to see them and some family while we finalized our backpacks for our trip!
Rusty and his good friend Colton!
Then we all kind of lost it.
We were bored and tired and hungry.
And we didn't have enough seats in the car.
At the delicious Italian restaurant!
I love this temple!!
Then on Thursday we checked out of our hotel to go and do some laundry before catching our flight. When we got to the laundromat I realized that I didn't have Rusty's credit card... and neither did he. I remembered using it in the hotel for some ordered in pizza (in our never leaving our room phase) and so we sped back to the hotel and asked for a room key again. When we got there I saw that the sheets had already been pulled and I started to panic. We were supposed to leave for Europe in a few hours and we had no credit card. Seriously? Then I felt like I should check underneath the night stand so I shoved my hand back as far as a I could and pulled out a tiny plastic card. The credit card. Choruses of Hallelujahs started ringing in my head and I was flooded with relief. It was a great feeling to finally make it to the airport, all checked in and ready to go, and early I might add. I started to get a little bit nervous but I was so excited that it didn't matter. We got on our Iceland based airplane and flew to Reykavik, Iceland for our layover. We didn't have enough time to leave the airport because it is in the middle of nowhere, but we did eat some Icelandic food and laugh while we tried to figure out their written language. On this flight, we were right above Greenland as the sun set. We watched the sky get colorful and the sun dip down close to the horizon but never below, and then we watched it rise. What a cool experience, and a great way to start our journey! We landed in London at 11 A.M. local time, but with only a few hours of sleep we were feeling a little groggy and confused. Luckily, we made it to our flat and checked in :)
