The best two years...

Last week Austin and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary! It's a little crazy to think that three years ago I went on a cruise with my girl friends and met the most amazing man in the world. We've done a lot of fun things over the past two years. We worked for the US Census, went to school and GRADUATED, had many fun summer vacations, went on two more cruises (we are up to three total now), and now we're trying to act more like grown ups. I wanted to start a tradition of taking a picture with a picture from the previous year for each anniversary. The lighting isn't very good in our apartment so we ended up with this but it will be fun to see years down the road.

We have gotten really sneaky about our gifts and it always adds something fun to the giving of the gift. This year Austin had to work until 4 and I had to work until 6 and then had a soccer game at 6:30. So, before he left I set up this little trail of love...



View when walking into our home.



Walking into the living room.



Going up the stairs



Down the hallway.



And into the spare bedroom, only to find....




 Then, I picked him up from home, after work, to head straight to my soccer game. Then we got some Chinese food and came home to just watch a movie and relax. When I opened the door I found this wonderful surprise...

Austin brought me a yellow rose to work one day when we first started dating. I have loved them ever since.

Two years down, eternity to go....and I can't wait to see what's next!

Very Pinteresting...(Santa Fe Chicken in the Crockpot)

OH man. If you are looking for easy, I'm talking dump cans into a pot easy, this is your new favorite recipe. This was so very yummy and very simple to make. I literally dumped all of the ingredients (except chicken) into the crock pot and walked away. When I returned back to the house 6 hours later, it smelled wonderful and tasted even better. I will definitely do this again. I'm giving this one a 5 out of 5.

This is what it looked like at first.

I didn't get an ending picture, once again, because we ate it too fast. It was so good and it made really yummy left overs too!

It's true what they say...

I don't know about you, but my parents, teachers, siblings, etc. always talked about how important getting a degree is. I have also read a lot of things about when you have a degree you can get paid a lot more and have more opportunities. Ok, makes sense. Knowing of of this, I was still shocked when Austin got a new job a week after graduating and they have so many benefits. He says that they treat him very well. He has a lot more responsibility but he gets a lot more respect too. It was really neat to see what that little piece of paper can do.

Kiddos

If you were lookin' for THE cutest kids in the world, you came to the right blog. I am the aunt of the most adorable nieces and handsome nephews on the planet. I love them so much!

Grace:



She is such a funny girl. She loves dance and drama. When she was little she would put on one-person plays for the whole family. She is so pretty and has inherited the Hadley sense of humor. We love this little princess.
Quote:

"My mom wasn't paying attention to me and I lost my patience and I stuck the bead up my nose!"

Neal:

AKA: Nealio

He is one tough kid. I think that he never stops moving. He is always running, jumping, climbing, bouncing... He also says some of the funniest things ever. He loves to play soccer and t-ball.

Quote: After Austin, asked what Neal was growing in his garden he replied

"Ya know, salad."

Sam:



AKA: Sam the Man




Neal and Sammy are best buddies. Sam is such a sweet heart and always tries to be a peacemaker. He loves Lego's and dinosaurs. He is just started soccer and loves it!

Quote:

"I don't want a pretend party for my birthday party this year. I want a real party."

Henry:

AKA: Henners

Sweetest little boy. He is also very tough. He has the cutest little voice and longest eyelashes I've ever seen. He loves to play with little Claire.

Quote:
"I don't want to tell the joke about the dolphins. (Why?) There's just no porpoise in it."
Claire:

AKA: Claire-bear or Scary Clairy

She is such a feisty little princess. She loves all things girly but she is very strong willed. She is very cute and loves to play dress-up all the time. If she could wear her princess dress everywhere she would.

Quote:

"I want syrup and sugar on my pancakes."

Abby:



AKA: Abby-gal

 Cute little baby girl. She is very tall and thin for her age. To communicate, she nods and pouts her lips and grunts. She has the prettiest blue eyes and curly blond hair. Right now, she loves to climb on everything.

Russel:



AKA: Russel the Muscle

 Such a cute baby boy. When we went to see him in the hospital (after he was born) Grace ran up so us and said "We finally have a black baby!" As you can see, he is the only one with dark hair, olive skin, and dark eyes. We love this little sweety.

Very Pinteresting... (Texas Roadhouse Rolls with Cinnamon Honey Butter)

Now that I have some extra time on my hands (see graduation post), I've decided to actually start some of my projects from Pinterest. I am really excited about it too. I might as well blog about my adventures with these projects. I'll tell you about the project, give the site, some pictures for entertainment, and a ranking out of 5 (5 being the best) of how well I liked it.

Austin's been enjoying my 'To eat' board a lot. To start it off, I will show you how liked making the famous Texas Roadhouse Rolls from this site (complete with Cinnamon Honey Butter).

 The Rolls:



Kneading the dough... a great way to relieve stress.



The butter:

This was so very, very good. And it was surprisingly easy. I would give this 5 out of 5 for it's delicious taste, quantity (made almost 2 dozen large rolls), and simplicity. This was very good!

iPost

iCruise
iDate
iLove
iGot engaged
iMarried a handsome man
iEat
iSleep
iCruise again!
iWork (sometimes 2 jobs at a time)
iCook
iClean
iDo the dishes
iMake a budget (and stick to it)
iWork out
iSaved
iCruise one more time...
iGrocery shop
iLove my family and friends
iBlog
iWent to college
iStudied for many tests
iWrote many papers
iSaved a little more and
iSpent a little more
iStudent Taught lovely children
iGraduated




and now
iPad (or rather wePad)

Bachelor Pad

Check it out!



In case you can't read that, it says Degree Progress = 100%!

 You are looking at two of the newest graduates of Weber State University. Aren't we lookin' "GREAT, GREAT, GREAT"!


I love this picture. I think the men's bathroom sign adds a nice touch.


The day was very long but also a lot of fun. We decided to both go to the commencement ceremony where we each walked into the Dee Events center in our cap and gown. Highlights from this included the WSU symphony playing the procession song (they were amazing!) and turning my tassel from the right side to the left. The speakers said lots of great things including keeping your life balanced, setting goals, and continue your education.  I really liked it when they had all of the people stand who worked part-time or full-time while going to school. I think about 95% of the graduates stood up. That is amazing and that is what really sets WSU apart because so many students don't work and go to school and they complain. Sorry but I don't want to hear it. I'm proud of my Wildcats and their hard-workin' ways!

Next we headed to the brunch at the Union building where we ate lots of food because Weber State never gives you anything for free so we had to take advantage. We had a little time to kill before my ceremony so we wandered through the Apple Store and tempted ourselves with I-products....(there will be more on this in another post).

Finally, my ceremony was about to start. I met my fellow classmates (who have become dear friends) out on the lawn in front of the the Browning Center where we waited to go inside.

 

We amused ourselves with pictures and woes of finding jobs. Then, finally I got to walk across the stage with my classmates. We took our seats as we listened to two of our friends speak about changing the world. They did an excellent job. There theme was from a quote from Gandhi saying "The future depends on what we do in the present." I really enjoyed what each of them said and felt like they represented us well. Then, the big moment came when I finally got to give the card to the reader with my name on it, hear "Stephanie Anne Okelberry" and walk across a stage (that suddenly grew a mile) and hear my husband scream, ever so sweetly, "YA STEPH!". I hugged my professors who I have grown to love and then we left feeling bitter sweet.

 

I got to see my sister, nephews and niece, grandma, mom, dad, and my mother-in-law for a brief moment before we sprinted back to the Dee Events Center for Austin's ceremony. His dean spoke briefly about the medical profession and honored some professors. The longest part was all of the nurses who were graduating. Half of the graduates were getting there Associates of Nursing. It was very impressive. I gave Austin my signature Native-American yelp when they called his name. He walked graciously across the arena and hugged his professors. They have been really good to him the last couple of years and I feel like I know them a little too well too. I'll miss seeing all of the CLS/MLS dudes and dudettes. They were a swell bunch!

To celebrate, we went to Chili's with my parents, my grandma, and Austin's parents. Good food and good people.

Our day ended perfectly, with us laying on our freshly cut grass. Taking in the beauty of the sun setting and talking about our future hopes and dreams. It was a perfect day.