A Whole Bunch of Scholars

Spring was a pretty big deal for my family this year. We had not one, not two, not three, but FOUR people graduating.  My little sister from high school (when did she get so old??), my mom and brother in-law, Jake, from their Bachelor programs, and my sister, Olivia, from her Masters program!  I have never been so proud! Three of the graduations fell on the weekend Derick and I were leaving, it was a stressful couple of days full of family parties, packing, graduation ceremonies, and saying goodbye, but it was absolutely perfect.

Shout out!

Can I just give a shout out to my mom for finally grasping her degree?  It is something she has wanted for so long, but she put it off so she could dedicate her life to being an amazing mom, and then a few years ago she decided to go back.  I will admit I had a few tears rolling down my cheeks when I watched her ecstatically walk up to accept her diploma! I am so happy for her!

Can I give a shout out to my brother in-law Jacob for receiving his bachelors after many long years of changed majors, being deployed to Afghanistan for a year, and ending it with being 1 out of 6 accepted into his Masters program?? Many applied but few could say they got accepted. Great job Jake!

Another shout out to my smarty pants sister, Olivia, who after one year of teaching decided to go for her Masters degree. She not only got it, but she got it with a 4.0! If only I could be as smart as her.

And last, but certainly not least, my little sister, Arielle. My Ari-bell. I couldn't be at her graduation because it was later in the month but I am oh so proud of her! After being home schooled  for a whole year, and being extremely behind on her credits from missing so much school, all due to health issues (freshman year)-- she rocked out the normal classes, along with taking college credits, and many online classes to get caught up.  She did all of this with receiving straight A's her last few years of high school, along with being extremely busy with her thespian plays she did every trimester. If anyone has given me an example of handling hard work with grace it is her.

Congrats guys!!! You did it!

My Un-Birthday Party

Derick and I were due to leave for Colorado in a couple of weeks when my mother in-law announced she wanted to throw us a going away party.  I felt like it wasn't necessary since we would really only be gone for a few months but I figured  it would just be like a typical Sunday dinner with the Cox family, just with the focus being on us leaving.  So I went along with it.  That Sunday we walked into my sister in-law, Janelle's house, with some balloons set up and everyone yelling "Surprise!" I thought they were just being funny--since we had already known about the party.  I kind of laughed a little and didn't think much else of it.  It wasn't until Derick gave the blessing on the food: "We are thankful we can be here today to celebrate Caitlin's birthday.." That I got confused. I immediately opened my eyes and looked around the room at everyone still closing their eyes with a big smile on their faces.  After the prayer everyone started singing Happy Birthday. It was after the song I found out what was really going on.  My birthday is on June 16th and since we would be gone on that day my wonderful Cox family decided they wanted to throw me a birthday party 2 months in advance.  It made me so happy to know that they had even thought to do such a thing!  Grandpa Cox, and Grandma Bingham had even driven a few hours to attend! It was such a perfect night, with a real birthday cake, and real birthday gifts, with the amazing family I am so happy I married into.  

A Summer Away

Derick and I made the decision in January that we would be leaving for the summer so he could do summer sells for a company called MSI.  We both have always been pretty skeptical of summer sales, since we always hear that they never really crack up to be what the recruiters say.  I have never even pictured Derick as the type who would be up to doing it.  He had kind of played with the idea last summer, but he decided to marry me instead (thank goodness;)  ) We knew doing it could potentially be a big risk.  We didn't want to quit the good jobs we had, leave our perfect first home, and our families-- all to move across the country and not make any money at all, or maybe even lose money.  It wasn't until some old friends from high school started talking to Derick about the company called MSI, which markets for a company called Garbage Man, that we really began to consider the idea.  The numbers were a lot higher, and he was hearing positive feedback from people he knew personally instead of recruiters throwing out names like "Johny made 60K last summer".  Instead of going out to convince people to spend money they didn't have on security systems, pest control, or satellites, he would be convincing people to save money instead! The weirdest part of it all was that we would be selling garbage contracts.  Coming from a state where garbage is automatically included in the utility bill it took me a lot to wrap my brain around the fact that people had to actually shop around for a garbage removal provider, but the idea was good.  The prices were better than the competitive garbage services, and the company he would be working for, Garbage Man, is a green company, which would appeal to a lot of people.   After hearing many many more details, discussing it for many hours, we finally decided it wouldn't hurt to try it out! The biggest plus sides to the whole scenario was that pretty much our entire group of married friends would be going out with us, and we would be going to Colorado Springs which is close to home, and which holds my sister, Rachel, and brother in-law, Derrek--who wanted us to live with them.  The opportunity really sounded too good to pass up! It was decided, we would be packing up our car and driving to Colorado Springs at the beginning of May! 

Happy Earth Day

To be quite honest, I have never been big on actually celebrating Earth Day.  I am extremely curious, is anyone really? I have always wanted to plant a tree or something just to be helpful, but the idea always crosses my mind without me really doing anything about it.  This year I knew I had to finally do something.  I am big on being festive for every sort of holiday so I couldn't get over the thought of myself not doing something, once again.  That's when I texted my dear friend, McKell, and asked her to have a photoshoot with me.  I knew she would be down for it, that is why she is my go to person when I have these crazy ideas in my head.  We dressed up as hippies, and after half an hour of begging Derick and his friend, Calvin, to take pictures of us, the idea was a go!-- now, I know, I know.  What in the world does this have to do with Earth Day? Shouldn't the day be about bettering the earth? We didn't care, because we had so much fun doing it.  Maybe next year we will be able to plan ahead a little more and be able to plant some trees along with dressing up as hippies.

My sister made a good point when she saw these pictures, just how many trees did we kill to have those books? Not very 'earth dayish' ha, oh well!

M.I.A.

It is no secret that I have been missing in action lately! Seeing as the last thing I posted was about me dying of sickness, I hope no one thought I had keeled over, leading to me not being able to blog anymore.  I assure you that was not the case.  The reason would be I have been so extremely busy for the past 3-4 months to the point where I have been on the verge of crazy, and on top of that I haven't had internet in over 2 months.  I have missed blogging a great deal and so I am glad I have found a few hours to be able to catch up a little.

I decided instead of making ONE big huge long post about what has been going on in my life, I would make a bunch of mini-posts about different things.  So bear with me while I post about 20 blogs in a day all from the past.

Picnic Lovin'

I have a deep love for picnics.  They are my absolute favorite.  The only thing that can make them even better is having Derick there with me, with some Apple Spice to go.  That restaurant is the best, and the way they package their food adds quite a bit of charm to a sunset picnic. Despite the somewhat chilly weather, it was a perfect night with the love of my life.

Easter Sunday

Seeing as Easter was 2 weeks ago, you can probably tell I am a little behind on my blog posts! For me, it's just a miracle that there still happens to be Easter candy in my cupboard.  I have the worst sweet tooth.  I (and Derick too) were almost positive I would have eaten the whole bunch by the Wednesday following Easter. 

It was such a great day!!

• We were able to attend church with my dad.  He was thrilled!
• The Easter bunny visited our house and hid my basket in the dishwasher! Silly bunny..
• We had an Easter egg hunt even though the youngest person in my family is 17.  We are all young at heart.
• We were able to have a feast with my family at my parent's house, and then another feast with Derick's family. (I am so grateful that we live close to both of our families) 
• I got to spend time with the cutest nephew and the cutest nieces on the planet
• Derick and I couldn't find our Easter basket that Derick's mom hid from us for at least an hour! (she is very good at hiding things)
• I was able to have the knowledge and testimony of the true meaning of Easter. I am so grateful that we have a holiday to celebrate the Atonement of Jesus Christ.