Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

I know this is a little late, but I wanted my mom to know that I think she is just wonderful and a darn good mom, so, I give you...

The Top 13 Things I Love About My Mom
13. She gets excited about “teacher stuff.”
12. She read to me and took me to the library when I was little.
11. She makes up songs about everything – including my phone number and address.
10. She actually likes hanging out with me.
9. Her laugh. It seems to bubble up from her toes.
8. She works so hard!
7. She knows just when I need a love note.
6. Her funny sense of humor.
5. She’s beautiful, inside and out.
4. She listens.
3. Her unshakeable testimony and her faith throughout all of the trials my family has experienced.
2. She sacrifices what she wants so her children can have what we need or want.
1. The way she always says, “Do you know how much I love you?”

I remember…

I remember Mom’s little notes hidden in my camping gear when I went on the dreaded cooking and camping trip and in my luggage when I moved to DC.

I remember Mom’s chocolate chip cookies on my first day of student teaching.

I remember the pink roses my mom and dad left at the front desk of my apartment building the day they flew home

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I remember when Mom would read to me. I loved the sound of her voice.

I remember laughing with my mom.

I remember Mom making the sacrifice to pick me up from Trax after school every day during my freshman year of college.

I remember shopping for Nutcracker dresses with my mom.

I remember Mom made every birthday special.

I remember Summer Adventure Days with my mom.

I remember riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad with my mom. She taught me to scream on roller coasters.

I remember practicing spelling words with my mom while she washed dishes in the kitchen.

I remember spontaneously going shopping at IKEA and going to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix after.

I remember Anne of Green Gables and Gone With the Wind movie marathons every summer.

I remember my mom’s emails that were always fun to read when I was in DC.

I remember calling my mom for comfort after an especially rough day during my sophomore year of college.

I remember my mom standing at our front door and waving whenever I left the house.

I love you, Mom!

"Whatever you build... build it to last," David McCullough

On Friday, May 8, I graduated from the University of Utah. David McCullough gave an inspiring commencement address. I've been thinking about it ever since. I just had to share a piece of it. You can read the complete address here.

"With its enormous towers of granite, then the tallest structures on the continent, and its use of steel cables, the Brooklyn Bridge combined the architecture of past and future. It was the start of the high rise city in America, but also in its way very like the ancient cathedrals of Europe, in that, rising above all else within sight, it was intended, as said, to stand as a testament to the aspirations of the civilization that built it…

So what will we build in the years ahead? What will you build, you of the new generation upon whom so many high hopes are riding?

Will you help navigate the troubled waters? Will you rise above avarice and indifference and self-pity? Will you be a generation of builders, not more mere spectators who leave creativity and performance and responsibility to others?

Will you take what you have learned here as inspiration to still greater learning?

Will you make your lives count?

The easy answer is time will tell. The better answer, I think, is it's up to you…"

The time has come...

Graduation announcements? Mailed.

Cap and Gown? Purchased.

Final assignments? Completed.

It's official. Come next Friday, I will leave the academic institution lovingly known as "the U" and begin my life as a college graduate/career woman. On one hand, it's hard to believe it's been five years since I first set foot on the University of Utah campus as a brand new freshman. On the other hand, it's hard to believe that there was a point in my life that didn't involve the Institute, blue books, research papers, Rice Eccles Stadium, or OSH.

For the past few weeks, I've been feeling equally excited and nostalgic. Yes, I cannot wait to walk across that stage in my cap and gown and put the finishing touch on my college experience. At the same time, though, I can't walk across campus or drive down a street near the U without thinking of all the memorable experiences I've had there. Like the time I helped change a flat tire in the parking lot of Rice Eccles Stadium. Or my first day as a freshman when I walked into OSH and hoped no one could tell I was completely new there (I'm sure they could tell). Then there were the times I'd stop by UMFA just long enough to stand in front of my favorite painting. And the sad day during my freshman year when I sat in the corner of the Point Bistro watching other people meet their friends on the sidewalk outside and wondering if I'd ever find friends at such a big school (I found them). I love the memory when my dad showed me around campus before I started my freshman year, and when he met me on Veteran's Day for the program at the Union. I remember performing in Christmas concerts at Kingsbury Hall, and gathering at the Sill Center for PA meetings. I remember early morning aerobics at HPER, quick lunch breaks between classes, and late nights at the Marriot Library.

Five years have passed, and though the time has come for me to move on, I will always look back on my college years with a smile. I am now and forever will be... a UTE!