College Grad

BYU graduation was spread over a two day period.  More time for celebrating!  Woohoo!

So on Thursday I got up early and headed to campus for my last final: Literary Critical Theory.  We were told to analyze a few Robert Frost poems.  I got a little creative and wrote about racism, minorities, etc.  "Soo... the flower represents white Americans..."

That's what I love about English.  If you can find a shred of evidence to back you up, no one can say you're wrong. 

I hope that will prove to be true in the real world too.

Soon after I got home, the fam arrived.  Here's the crew!

Doesn't Zac look like he's just having the time of his life?  {Honestly, I don't blame him.  Graduations that aren't your own can be kinda dull.}

That picture was taken after I walked on Friday.  Notice the absence of one of those quaint caps.  Well... I'll get to that story later.  Here's the cap, if you were disappointed by the first pic:

So back to Thursday.  I grabbed my cap and gown and the fam dropped me off in the parking lot where the humanities majors were to meet.  Luckily I have a few other friends in the humanities college, otherwise the whole standing-and-freezing-my-butt-off-in-the-parking-lot-for-an-hour thing would have killed me.

We floated along the sea of blue gowns down through a tunnel that let us up into the Marriott Center.  We listened to speakers.  Lots of speakers!  On both Thursday and Friday!  I don't blame anyone else for playing Scrabble– but I was totally into it.  It's different when it's your own graduation.  I especially liked the Dean of English, who was hilarious and compared professors to troglodytes.

Walking was awesome.  I went by my full name, including the new last name.  I watched the announcer out of the corner of my eye to see if he would smirk, burst into laughter, or do a double take.

He did a good job.  Very good at suppressing any emotion.

After the final speaker, as we all stood to watch the faculty file out of the building, I turned around and asked Amelia to throw her hat with me.  The guy next to me was in on it too.  At my high school we were forbidden to throw our caps at graduation, which was devastating.  So I had this Hollywood image in my mind.  We were going to throw our hats and everyone would get excited and join in.  Roaring applause!  There would probably be some confetti or something.  Something!

Yeaaaaah, three flimsy caps flipped into the air and that was the end of it.  I did get a few cheers out of people in the audience, but the graduates were acting like they were participating in a funeral procession.  Sometimes, BYU, you gotta lighten up and have some fun, k?  At the very least on graduation day.  Anyway, hence why I'm missing the cap in some of the pictures.  Just as well—they're not exactly flattering.

Then Amelia and I went outside to ring the bell.  It's a BYU tradition for grads to ring the bell to announce to the world their accomplishment.  I'm adding my own superstition that it's good luck for finding a job.  :-)

Meet Amelia:

Oh, you might have also noticed that really "cool" professor in the background.  I was hoping to get a picture of one of some of the professors in their colorful hoods and funny page boy hats but this is who we got.  The professor who refuses to be stuck in tradition.  Love it!

Back to Amelia.  I may have mentioned her before.  Last fall semester she and I randomly had every single class together but one.  It was obvious we were meant to be friends.  She may be one of the main reasons I was able to survive the last year of school.  Thank you Milz.  

While I'm at it... thanks to all the people I met at school-- both BYU–Idaho and BYU--who helped distract me when I needed it, and who made school an absolute blast!

 And thanks, Roy, for being patient with my late nights of studying and essay-writing.  But especially thanks for being the best cheer leader ever!

And thank you Cosmo for providing such a great photo opp. 









Thank you BYU for the "sample" diploma.  Truly.

It will look most excellent on our wall for four months {while I wait for my real one to come in the mail.}

Thank you everyone who sent their congratulations via snail mail or facebook {yes, I succeeded in my fast and though I am again frequenting facebook, I don't feel as addicted.}

But in all honesty, I never would have had these amazing experiences without these two:

Mom and Dad—
When the moment came to flick that tassel from one side of my cap to the other, I wasn't thinking about how many assignments I'd finished to get there.  I wasn't thinking about that C in college algebra or the A+ in geology.  I was thinking about how lucky I am to have parents who pushed me to succeed.  Parents who let me choose my dreams and then provided me with the opportunities to accomplish them.  {I was also thinking about how weird it was to have a Jimmer backdrop for your graduation photo, but it was less important.}

Thank you SO MUCH!

Comprehending Graduation

Wait, why am I still at home?  I should be in class... right?  Sitting through another lecture on feminist criticism.  Flipping through yet another Shakespeare piece.  This is life- it's always going to be this way.

Oh.  Until I graduate on Friday.

And then what?

I've been a student my entire life!  I don't know anything else!  How can they just throw me out into the real world and expect me to survive?  What if I just want to write essays and take exams for the rest of my life?  I've complained about it for years, but it suddenly seems so much more comfortable than going out and finding a job.

*Alright, Breathe!*

I just can't get it through my head that I'm done with classes.  Done!  It's so alien–I can't wrap my mind around it.  Of course, I'm still working on final essays and studying for exams, but those will be over before I know it.  And then it's all uncharted territories.

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to don the cap and gown – all that stuff.  But I'm feeling ridiculously nostalgic.  I know I'm going to miss the environment of being a student.  Maybe I won't give it up.  After taking a year off and working maybe I'll start up a master's.  By then I'll be homesick for Shakespeare, I'm sure.

Ah, it feels good to vent. 

Now back to my papers and studying like a mad woman.

Hmm... Flunking out might buy me some extra time here, though.  :-)

Story

Anyone want to see pictures of my favorite baby?

Lil' Stor Stor!

 She likes to watch TV.  Especially General Conference.  So cute!  And I'd also like to point out Carson's pink toenails in this shot, and mention that none of the boys have bothered to remove the nail polish from April Fools Day.

I don't have any nieces or nephews of my own, so I probably overdo my love for this little girl a bit.

This weekend was her baby blessing.  Afterward there was a luncheon with all of Shellena's family {which includes us and the McAffees of course}.

Andrea and I made a killer potato salad to bring.  It might be the first time I received compliments that weren't just out of pity!

Shellena thinks I'm well on my way to becoming domestic.  But really... I think Andrea and I should just share a kitchen forever.

The Tietjens are the cutest little family!!!

The night before the event, Kenny and Andrea came over for a camp out.  You know, so that we could cook together, then wake up bright and early to drive together to the blessing.  Since we're in Utah, it's still too cold to actually camp outside.  So we had one in our living room instead.  There were s'mores {though we didn't end up eating any}, scary ghost stories, almost no sleep, etc.

We brought our air mattress and our guest bed mattress out.  Ummm... two days later I'm still hanging out on our guest bed mattress, wedged up against the couch in our living room.  Even though the train is louder out here, for some reason Roy and I really love sleeping in the living room.  Maybe the mattress is more comfortable... maybe it's because we can watch a movie to bed... I don't know, maybe it's just something different.


Matt and Sarah came over for a night of N64 games yesterday and... yes the mattress was still taking up all the space in our living room.  Maybe I should have been embarrassed of the piles of blankets and pillows cluttered everywhere.  But we just bounced around on the mattress while racing Mario Kart.

Who knows how long our living room will look like this.  :-)

School of Choice

Time's up.  We gotta choose a school!  We need to plan where we're going to live for the next three years.  Ah- stability sounds heavenly. 

I'm proud to say that Roy was accepted to every single law school we applied for {except he was wait-listed at Seattle, but really it's just a matter of time before they call him up and beg him to come, I'm sure ;-)}.

So we've been waiting, debating, procrastinating, and then we get this package from Mom.

Hmm... I have a feeling she wants us in Tucson.  Just a hunch.


Today I dropped an envelope with a down payment into the mailbox.  And it was addressed to...
The University of Arizona!

Why?  Because we really loved that Arizona water bottle Mom sent. 

In all seriousness, Az is the best school that we applied for.  Although we did try to fairly consider each school, Roy had his heart set on this one in particular from the beginning.  When Roy got his acceptance he was on a high for about two days straight.  It's highly ranked as a law school, it's close to family, and the people at U of A law have been the nicest and most personal out of all the others.  Roy got a phone call congratulating him, and they've sent us lots of information and flew out to Salt Lake to meet with those in Utah who were accepted.  Talking to the representatives in Salt Lake really made me feel confident in our choosing U of A.

Now that we've officially reserved Roy a seat, my hubby is starting to realize that this is really gonna happen.  It's not some abstract dream- it's really official!  I think he might be a wee bit nervous.  But hey- at least he doesn't have to go through it alone.  He's got me!  {I guess that could be both a positive and a negative... I can be a little distracting.}

ARIZONA HERE WE COME!

Festival of Colors

In the rural area of Spanish Fork, Utah, planted right in between muddy fields of cows and corn, is the Hindu Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple.

Yes, random.


But really cool!  Several monks from the temple came to the Day of Hunger on BYU campus last year.  They taught us a mantra/chant/song and we basically did the conga with them!  Fun!

Every year, thousands of people {mostly BYU students} travel out to their temple to celebrate the festival of colors, or "Holi".  It is so popular, that they do a "throwing" every two hours.  Think New Years countdown style.

Holi has been celebrated by Hindus since the 7th century.  There seems to be a lot of significance.

• The celebration of the coming of spring.
• Throwing powder and water {traditionally made with healing herbs} to keep sickness away that was believed to be at it's peak during the spring.
• Celebrating stories of their deity.

That's about all I know about the traditional Holi.  The modern one–at least the on in Utah–is basically just an excuse to throw colors at people.  When Roy and I started walking up the hill toward the temple, random strangers began throwing colors at us.  No waiting for the countdown.  People would just shout, "Clean people!!!!" and then we'd be bombarded.  I thought it was kind of fun.  Roy... well he got hit in the fact a few times.

By the time we got to the top of the hill I looked like this.  Just from random people throwing colors at us.

 But by the end I looked like this!

';l,';l,';l,';,';l,'

';l,';l,';l,';l,';l,'

';l,';l,';l,';l,';l,'

';l,';l,';l,';l,';l,'

';l,';l,';l,';l,';l,'

';l,';l,';l,';l,';l,'

';l,';l,';l,';l,';l,';l,';l,';l,';l,

';l,';l,';l,';l,';l,';l,';l,

';l,';l,';l,';l';l,

';l,';l,';l,

';l,;'l,

';l

 

Why did we go?  Because we won't be living in Utah for much longer.  We figured we better have the experience now.  This picture below isn't even a picture of a throwing.  It's just people dancing and crowd surfing to a Hindu band singing "Hare hare krishna" over and over again.  I know Krishna is the central figure of Hinduism, but I have no idea what "hare" means.  They said/sang it a lot.

Roy and I only stayed for an hour.  We met up with Leah and Jamie and some of their friends for a little while.  And I was surprised at how many people I saw that I knew.  I even saw friends I haven't seen for years!  Everyone of all faiths comes together for this!

Oh and guess what?  I still have pink in my hair.  It has been over a week and I can't seem to wash it out.  The green, yellow, blue, everything else came out.  But my hair has been dyed pink.

April Fools Continued

After our very large baby shoes project, I didn't April Fool very many other people throughout the day.  I just indulged in little lies here and there, followed up with, "April Fools."  You know, just for laughs, and just because I have the excuse.

But Andrea, Shellena, and I had planned one more April Fools project for our husbands.  At Supreme Nails.  :-) 

Oh yeah!  We'd been planning for days.  And by some miracle I'd been able to keep the secret from Roy the whole time.  But as we were driving to meet up with our friends Roy became suspicious.  He knows me too well, and knows that I would plan something devious on April 1st.  Somehow... I really don't know how... he guessed that this was what we were doing.  How in the world am I going to fool him in the future?  After five years together?  Thirty?  I have my work cut out for me.

Kenny, Roy, and Carson.

 

 Our husbands are such troopers.  They didn't complain for a second.  In fact... they liked it pretty quick.

Kenny might have liked it a little too much.  He was falling asleep.

 Carson was mesmerized by how fast his dude could clip toenails. 

 Roy gave me a "help!" look at first because he didn't know what he was supposed to do.  For anyone who doesn't know, Roy is ticklish.  Really really ticklish .

He said, "If it tickles can I tell her to stop?"

I said, "No, Roy.  You have to bear through it."

And he did.  But I wish I'd captured some of the looks on his face.  This one is really tame.  But it's still funny because you can see Kenny snoozing away in the corner.

 The finished product (notice Roy's lotioned leg hairs haha!):

 Soooo pretty!

Happy April Fools boys!

P.S. Every single person who commented on the last post said "PUT UP THE VIDEO!"
So here's the challenge... if someone can convince my dad that is is all just good humor and no one will tease him... too much... and I get the go-ahead, I can put it up.  He specifically told me not to put it on the internet, probably because someday he's going to run for office and then the video will show up on every page on the Internet.  But hey, I think it would be worth it!  Haha!   Someone talk him into it!

A Boy Named April Fools

When I was a kid I was an absolute pathological liar.  I had my entire first grade class convinced I was a vampire.  When friends came over to my house they wanted to see my giant boa constrictor that I fed horses to.  I even got my elementary school faculty in an uproar when I told them I'd seen a big, smelly man in the girl's bathroom singing "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum."

Eventually I learned my lesson: lie honestly. 

April Fool's Day is the one day a year when lying is acceptable- encouraged, even!  So I don't hold back.  And I really let my inner liar out this time.

We sent packages to our parents.  The boxes were empty except for a pair of baby shoes.  But on the bottoms of the little shoes...

Yes, I've been planning this prank for months.  Roy thought it was a pretty funny idea.  So did the guys at the post office.

 The packages arrived a little early to each house.  Too bad it wasn't actually on April 1st.  But then again... it might have made our prank all the more convincing.    I was at work when I got the first phone call.

It was Zac, my 14-year-old brother, and I've never heard him so excited before in my life.  I had to calm him down before I could tell him to look at the bottoms of the shoes.  It was almost heart-breaking to crush his hopes and dreams of "being an uncle."  I couldn't stop laughing.

Since Zac had opened the package on his own, I recruited him into our prank.  I wanted him to re-seal it and get video of Mom and Dad's reactions.  After getting over his embarrassment he was happy to do it.  As Dad was opening the package Zac got out his phone and pretended to be texting.  Really he was capturing the moment.

And it was a fantastic moment.  I would post the video on the blog but I don't know that Dad would love that idea.  We got him SO GOOD!  He just kept looking at my mom over and over again like he'd been slapped in the face and couldn't believe it.  Zac finally said, "She said they wrote the name on the bottom of the shoes."

Almost reluctantly, Dad picked up the first shoe.  "April."  He told me later he thought that was a horrible name for a boy {they were boy shoes}.  Then he picked up the second shoe and read "fools".  He looked up, stumped for just a second, and then threw his head back and laughed.  And anyone who knows my dad knows that this is hilarious.

Others who fell victim to our prank include Kirsten and Alexa {our sisters}.  Roy's parents said they immediately had their suspicions, but hopefully the little girl shoes were still enough to make them jump.  Even if just for a split second.

Roy and I have watched that video of Dad like five times, and we laugh so hard.  It's been quite a successful April Fool's Day, and it's only just begun!

Facebook Fast

{Day One}

Alright, Facebook is useful.  It has the capability of locating and connecting people across continents who otherwise maybe never would have gotten in touch.  It's great.  But the Firefox server does this nasty little thing where it automatically inserts my most visited web address, which happens to be Facebook, into my search bar.  It's trying to do the thinking for me.  And I've been letting it!

So every time I get onto the computer with a goal in mind {like, hmm, I dunno, homework!} I get distracted.  Facebook always comes first.  And if you're visiting Facebook several times a day, guess what!  It gets really really boring.  Painfully boring.  Like I'd really rather chew off my fingers than sit around on Facebook staring at the homepage feed, but for some reason I'm allowing my computer to control me.

Therefore, today is my first full day of the Facebook fast.  I won't get on that website even once between now and April 22nd, when I graduate.

{via}

Maybe I'll earn a few extra minutes each day to do those little domestic things I've been slacking on.  I haven't made the bed in a week- and how long does that take, really?  Only one Facebook visit?   :-)

A Wedding Weekend in Oregon

The most excited I've ever seen Leah {Roy's little sister} was the night she told me she was getting married.  There wasn't a ring yet, so she said it kind of hushed but like she was about to just burst.  She told me before she told Roy, which for some reason made me feel really special.  Not that I rubbed it in his face or anything...

I'd never had a sibling get married before.  And Leah had only been my sister for a matter of months.  But still, I had this urge to do a whole profile check on this guy.  Is he good enough?  Does he have a criminal record?  Is he secretly an ax murderer?

Luckily it didn't take hiring a detective to figure out that Jamie is a great guy.  Roy and I were stoked to be able to fly out to their wedding in Oregon this last weekend.  We spent the first night at his Aunt Elizabeth's, who was way nice.  When she found out I didn't like meat she put spinach in my eggs instead of sausage or bacon or anything.  :-)

The next morning we arrived at the LDS Portland temple.  Without Roy's tux shoes that he was going to lend to Jaime.  Awesome.  We are so great.

I did take some pictures at the reception, but they turned out dark and grainy.  So here is the only picture I have of the Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter!

It was a little cold and rainy in Oregon, but when we took pictures the rain miraculously stopped.  The ceremony was beautiful.  The reception was held in Newport at Sue and Jay's reception hall- the very same one that Roy and I had ours in.  But the time of year, the huge tent out back, and the different colors really made it look like a completely different place.  It looked fantastic.  Oh, plus they had karaoke. 

When we were starting to clean up after the reception Roy started asking around for his wife.  He said he was surprised when he heard "She's out in the tent doing karaoke."  :-)  So he came out to laugh at me real quick while I sang "Summer Days" with a bunch of his relatives.  Fun!

Once Friday was over we still had a whole day to hang out in Newport.  His mom made us amazing coffee cake and we played Mario Bros with his sisters for a while.  Then we decided we should go out and do something.  Leah had her friend Megan be her wedding photographer, and she was staying at the Buckmaster's as well.  Then downstairs there was Cayte (Jamie's little sister) and two of Jamie's friends.  We all piled into the Denali for an adventure.  Milly came too.

The Devil's Punchbowl.

I wanted to go swimming in the freezing, raging waters but...

We followed the longest, squirmiest road up a mountain before we got to the trail head.  The road was narrow, with only a single lane.  We almost died when a car rounded the corner at the same time as us.  Scary moment.  But this hike was so much fun, even despite the downpour.

Milly was a bit overly excited.  Whoever had her on the leash essentially got dragged through the forest.  In this case it is Cayte.

When the trail forked we split up.  Me, Megan, and Roy were tromping up the slick, wet trail and wondering whether it would ever meet up with the main trail.  After all, the primary point of the hike is seeing the waterfall and we didn't want to miss it.

Roy ran ahead with Milly.  He found the waterfall.  Megan and I found a newt!

{And no, we didn't bring proper shoes.  We had to leap through gigantic puddles.  I still need to wash my poor Pumas}

Oregon is one gorgeous place.

 We all made it.  I thought the wet hike might provoke my cold to make a comeback, but I'm still feeling great!

Dennis and Laura drove Roy and I to the airport.  Oregon seriously has some winding roads, which quickly put me to sleep.  But the time that I was awake was fun.  We were sad to say goodbye.

Soup for the Soul

I'm finally over my sickness!

The cuRe:  Love!  Yeah, okay, other than that.  Naturally, Roy did do a good job taking care of me.  But everything really turned around as soon as we set foot in Oregon.  That place is truly soup for the soul.

I'll write about it once I've caught up with school and have a spare moment.

Can't Sleep

It's almost midnight.  Roy has been snoozing silently beside me for about an hour and a half.  I tried to sleep for a while at first.  But you know how still the night is?  {Ok, other than when our entire bedroom rattles every time a train passes.}

You know the nights where the only thing you can hear is your own breathing?  And when that breathing hurts because your throat feels raw, it's kind of distracting and makes it hard to relax and just sleep.  Normally I would say, "YES!  An excuse to down some NyQuil!"  Tonight I'm resisting the temptation.  Why?  Because I have two papers and a test to study for tomorrow and I need to be able to keep my eyes open.

Any drug that causes drowsiness has a crazy impact on me.  I fall fast and hard into a dreamless sleep that can last for 24 hours if someone doesn't pull me out.  And even when I wake I walk around like I'm filled with sand.  So heavy and slow.  The last two days my head has been bobbing until about 3 pm.  Then I'm wide awake, can't sleep, and ready for more to put me out.

I sound like an addict.  Well I can assure you that I'm not.  See, I'm writing as therapy, hoping it will soothe me to sleep.  No more NyQuil.

Hopefully I get over being sick soon because we have some traveling to do this weekend for Leah's wedding.  :-)  Not to mention I have homework to do before we can go.

OK, what can I write about to lull me to sleep?

Tonight Roy and I saw Disney's Tangled with our friends Matt and Sarah.  What an amazing movie.  I laughed, I cried-- okay I didn't actually cry.  But there was a little girl a few rows ahead of ours that did enough crying for all of us.  Spoiler alert: there is a part where our "prince charming" of sorts dies from a stab wound.  He cut Rapunzel's healing, magical hair to forfeit his life to save hers.  It seems that all is lost.  And then we hear the little girl ahead of us bawling loudly, "But she doesn't have any magic left!!!!"

Haha!  That's exactly what the creative minds behind the movie wanted!  There is so much emotion in that movie, I absolutely love it.  As we watched the credits roll at the end I watched as though waiting for my own name to scroll past.  I wish it had.  A movie like that makes me wish I could have been part of the creative team.

Can you imagine?  Script writing for Disney?  Story boarding?  Now there's a dream.  I told Roy that maybe instead of getting my master's in creative writing I'll look into a film program.  It's kind of a joke... I think.

Before I start rambling senselessly I'm going to end here.  Maybe it's better to lull myself to sleep in a less public way- haha!  Goodnight.

P.S. I just looked over at Roy, still sleeping, and he had this huge cheesy smile on his face.  Hahaha!  Then he started mumbling something, so I asked him, "What, Roy?  What are you dreaming about?"
He said, "Dreaming about doing the same tax return that I already did."
Well I guess we know what Roy's dream is.
Who knew work made him so happy!

Rain, Snow, Worms, and Other Things

Don't you hate it when the weather catches you completely off guard?  That's what happened to me on Monday.  Utah has a funny habit of warming up, tricking you into thinking it's finally spring time, and then dumping buckets of snow on you.  Well Monday morning it was sunshine.  By afternoon I had dripping wet hair and my coat smelled funny because it has little feathers inside that I'm pretty sure aren't supposed to get wet!

With no hood, no umbrella, and my shoes starting make squelching noises, I decided to just enjoy it.  It's not worth running around and looking like an idiot.  On my long walk to my car I was watching the ground, avoiding puddles, when I saw a worm on the sidewalk.  Then a split second later there were hundreds and hundreds of worms everywhere, all glistening wet, stretched out on the cement. 

Maybe you're used to this.  But in Arizona worms don't come out in hordes when it rains.  Frogs do, but not worms.  But I was quickly seeing that worms and frogs pretty much meet the same demise.  Now look out, I'm about to get a little graphic.  It was almost impossible not to step on them, they were literally coating the walkway.  The few students around me didn't seem to mind just smashing them under their shoes.  GROSS!

So I'm sure you would have laughed if you'd seen me tiptoeing through the rain down that sidewalk.

The next day I was prepared.  I wore my wellies!

But of course it was warm and dry the whole day.  While walking up to campus I noticed the ducks were kinda far from their pond.  And then I realized what they were doing.  Worm pancakes.

Alright, should I leave you with something a little less disgusting?  How about some good news?  Roy and I got to go snowboarding again this last weekend.  My favorite!  I want to go again!

And I talked to the guys at the lost & found... they're on the hunt for the missing wedding band.  :-)

A Cute Little Miracle at the Hospital

Prologue: One night when we three couples were hanging out, I thought it would be fun to make guesses on the baby's birthday.  Shellena's official due date was March 15.  Roy guessed March 3rd, and we all scoffed.

Yesterday, March 3rd {somewhere around 10 pm} Story Rae Tietjen decided to make her debut.

Just like that, Carson and Shellena are now Daddy and Mommy!  WHOA! 

This little cutie didn't waste any time.  She got outta there fast!

Last night I was actually on my way to keep Shellena company at their apartment.  Carson had a late class and she was really not feeling so good.  She needed someone to distract her from her contractions.  The poor girl had contacted her doctor earlier in the day, who told her it was really very unlikely she was already in labor, and so she toughed it out thinking that she was probably just being a wimp. 

So, I left my class early only to arrive at their dark and very empty apartment.  When Shellena didn't answer her phone my first thought was ooooh myyyyy gooodnessss she's at the hospital!!!!  

I was able to get a hold of Carson, who told me that they were indeed where I thought they were.  He had jumped out of class when Shellena texted him, finally unable handle the pain for another minute.  When he explained to the professor why he had to leave, the class applauded him right out of the room.  Exciting :-)!  But still the couple were worried it might be a false alarm {the words from their doctor most likely casting doubt into the situation}.  Therefore, they didn't want me or any visitors heading to the hospital just yet.

Roy was at the gym and unable to answer my calls.  I didn't have a key to our apartment because I'd given it to my sister-in-law.  It was cold.  None of my friends were answering their phones.  I was homeless, not to mention anxious for our friends who were possibly having a baby!!!

So I calmed my nerves at Costa Vida.  Hmmmm, veggie salads....  wow just writing about it is making my mouth water.

Roy was able to meet me there eventually- which was really good because I felt like a LOSER eating at a booth by myself, surrounded by couples and big groups of students.  We rushed to the hospital together and met Kenny there.

Turns out the hospital is a pretty complicated place.  At each door there were two phones.  One of them would ask for a code and would then open to let you in and the other one... I'm not even sure.  But we picked up the wrong phone at one of the doors.  Oops!

After getting in trouble with nurses and meddling around with phones, we FINALLY found Carson and Shellena in a spacious room.  Shellena in a hospital bed with an IV, Carson right at her side.

And let me just say now... I'm recording here my first experience ever with this whole birth thing.  Sure, I've visited a few new mommies and their new babies, but only after it was born.  Days after.  I'd never seen a person right before giving birth!

It was a lot less scary than I'd expected.  We talked to them for a while, and they both seemed calm.  When Shellena felt a particularly strong contraction she would press a button that would make her feel a bit better.  Not so bad!

After a while the boys left to get Carson some food and things to keep him occupied.  Then Shellena started feeling a little less chipper.  Before I knew it, nurses were rushing in and exclaiming how quickly everything was going.  "The faster the better," they assured her.

All of a sudden I found myself trapped in a corner of the room with nurses and doctors all over the place.  I knew it was time to split, but I wasn't sure how to get passed the blockade of scrubs!

I eventually made it out with Carson's help.  But I was so excited!  I wanted to just stand on the other side of the door, waiting and listening.  Before I'd always thought giving birth was kind of a hush hush, we-don't-talk-about-it-because-it's-kind-of-gross thing.  Let me tell you, the excitement of a new person coming into the world banished any and all of those thoughts and feelings.  I just felt... AMAZED!  Amazed that Shellena and Carson had created a human being, that she was coming right away, and that she was going to be their daughter!

The sign on the door told Roy and I to clear out and head for the waiting room.  We weaved through the labyrinth of a hospital with huge smiles on our faces.  You would think we were going to be real aunts and uncles or something.

After watching basketball in the waiting room for what felt like forever, my phone rang.

ELLIOT: Is she here?
CARSON: I'm holding her in my arms right now.
ROY & ELLIOT: We're coming we're coming- {hang up}

We rushed back down the hallway, squeezing each others hands.  The excitement was palpable!  She was here!  We pushed open the door without knocking and...

Voila!

Baby!  {Disclaimer, all of these pictures were taken with my camera on my phone, so they aren't that great}

They didn't have a name for her right away, so we just called her Baby.  Or She.  Carson offered her to Roy but he said, "She's too little!" and didn't want to risk holding her.  Um- I hope that's not a problem in the future.

I got to hold her though.  And all my previous theories about how all newborns look like monkey-aliens... shattered.  This little girl is so beautiful.  And she looks so much like her parents I couldn't believe it.

Shellena looked amazing.  Not sweaty or red-faced or anything.  She had deflated as though she had never been pregnant before.  I don't expect that happens to everyone.

Story was born with her umbilical chord wrapped around her neck but they got her out quickly and everything was fine.  She's healthy and sleeps like a rock!  Sometimes Shellena would blow lightly on her face to make her wrinkle up her nose or squirm a little bit.  You know.  Just to make sure she was still actually alive.

Roy looked like he wanted to take her home.  He said, "Ell, can we get one of these?"  He was joking around.  But... I have a feeling this experience has opened up a whole new can of worms.

Since the Teitjens had rushed off to the hospital in such a hurry, they sent Kenny and I to their apartment with they keys to grab some things they'll need for staying at the hospital for two nights.  Why not Roy?  Because my hubby gets really sleepy.  He went home to go to sleep. 

When Kenny and I returned to the hospital we had to be checked in by security, because of the late hour.  The silver-haired man behind the desk asked for my first name.  And, of course, he gave me a weird look when I told him.  -_-  He asked, "Really?"  Haha!

Baby was with Carson getting her shots and getting checked out.  When we went back upstairs to where Shellena was staying, Andrea was there.  She'd had to work late and so had missed seeing the baby.  Until they brought her back in, of course.  If Roy and I were excited to see the baby, Andrea was ecstatic. 

Which is understandable, because this baby is adorable.

The next morning, after seeing off my sister-in-laws, Andrea and I returned to Carson and Shellena's house.  There were a few more afterthoughts we volunteered to pick up for them.  Like the car seat.  They need a car seat in their car now!  So weird.

We took advantage of having access to their house and car :-)

Welcome to the world, Story!