Visits and Vacations

Finally, I have interesting things to talk about besides the same-old same-old!

This past week, Stephen's family visited from Boise. His mom's parents and her siblings live in the Salt Lake Valley, so the Rollins spent their spring break in Utah. I spent Thursday with them while Stephen was at work. I get along with his family very well, and it was so nice to spend time with them. I'm very grateful that I don't have to be with Stephen in order to fit in with his family. They are all so accepting, welcoming, and loving. We went to the mall and to an arcade. Stephen joined us for dinner and we stayed up late playing games.

On Saturday, I had a Relief Society activity. Because of my new calling as the weekday meeting coordinator person, I was in charge of the swap meet. It was very successful. We had a large turnout and an even larger donation pile. People were really excited to get rid of things they didn't need anymore and to take home other things. I got some new games and decorations in my odds and ends. We needed three tables just for women's clothing, and a lot of sisters benefited from that as well. We had an awesome lesson about service and I was so grateful for all that helped me make this activity a success; their actions added to the lesson of service. It really couldn't have gone any better.

After the morning activity, Stephen and I went back to the Salt Lake area to visit with his family. We played games and I helped cook dinner. I then attended the General Women's Meeting with my mother-in-law and her mom, sisters, and two nieces. It was such a fun night! I felt like one of the girls and it was great to have the bonding time. I was touched at the meeting by the speakers, songs, and videos. If you didn't watch it (male or female), I recommend viewing it. The speakers did a wonderful job at addressing both young and old. I felt inspired, and I was grateful to share that with my family around me. 

After the meeting, the women went home and took over the upper floor to continue our girl time. We sat and talked for hours and I loved it. I really enjoy conversations like that. It was so neat to talk about both temporal and spiritual things with these women. I look forward to going to Women's Conference with them in a few weeks. It helps me a lot to feel this sisterhood while my own sisters and family are farther away. 

This morning, Stephen and I woke up 15 minutes before we were suppose to be at his cousin's baby blessing, but somehow managed to walk in during the opening hymn. We complemented each other on our ability to get out of the door quickly when needed, though we also agreed to not make it a habit. The blessing was for the other side of Stephen's family--his dad's niece's baby was being blessed--so we were able to see more extended family. They are also just as loving, welcoming, and accepting. Baby William was passed around for a while, and I held him for a bit before he became fussy. Newborns are so cute!

After church, we gathered at Melissa's (the mom of the baby) house for lunch. I brought some cute appetizers I was proud of.  It was fun to visit with family and friends. I wasn't directly related to many of the people there, but you wouldn't have been able to tell from the way we all interacted. The women talked about babies and the men talked about programming, so Stephen and I both felt satisfied in our separate circles. I had a lot of fun and was grateful to meet friendly new people and eat good food.

So there you go! Our last few days have been busy with family, but I wouldn't rather do anything else. I'm glad I married into such a loving family. It reminds me of my side of the extended family and the memories I have of times with them. I'm excited to continue getting to know people better and feeling the love and strength that comes from a family who cares about each other and supports each other. I hope to carry on this feeling with my own future family. (Which, by the way, is still in the future, despite everyone's not-so-subtle hinting).

Moving on to other things, there are only 25 more days until I graduate. Two weeks from tomorrow is the last day of class. Can you believe that? This semester has gone by fast. It's been helpful that my classes haven't been too stressful. In fact, one class in specific has been anything but stressful--my capstone course. I believe I've mentioned before how we're studying classic Hollywood movies in that class. For the first half of the semester, we spent most of our time watching movies, which I will not complain about. For the second half, we've been working on a research paper, and to provide us with more time to work on it, our professor has canceled class seven times in the past five weeks. But wait...it get's better!

My professor wants us to experience Hollywood, and, in order to do that, he pulled some strings and planned a trip for our class to fly to California and spend a few days in Hollywood! I'll be leaving Provo very early Wednesday morning of this upcoming week and spending three days visiting major sites like the Walk of Fame, Universal Studios, and the beach. While there will be educational things within the trip, it basically is a graduation vacation. I have friends in this class, so, while it'll be the first time Stephen and I are apart since we've been married, I will still have fun. Stephen told me I better not spend my time in California missing him and to have as much fun as I can. I'm grateful I married someone who is supportive instead of jealous or controlling.

Speaking of Stephen, there are exciting things happening for him too! He has officially applied for graduation for December of this year rather than April of 2015. We looked at the requirements he still had left and realized the 17 credit deficit could be completed in one semester. After a family counsel, we felt it was best for us to make that our plan. He will be taking solely computer programming courses, which makes it a heavy load. In order to make this doable, Stephen won't be working that semester, which will free up a lot of time for him. I'm wanting to get a full-time job after I graduate, which should carry over into the Fall and give us the income we'll need. And then we'll both be done with school! I am so excited to not spend our evenings together doing homework!

So it's an exciting time in our lives right now. A lot of family activities, a trip to California, General Conference, ending my last semester, finals, graduating, and more family activities. I have a feeling that April is going to be a good month!