Milestone Week

I'm sure those of you who read my blog are shocked that this is my third post this month, but I am really getting into the blogging thing lately because so much has been going on in our lives and I want to record it well! This week was no exception. On Tuesday, the 21st, we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. I had to work that day, but we decided to make our favorite BBQ chicken pizza (thanks Jocelyn) and have a picnic at night. There is a really cool spot by our house that overlooks the whole city. Well, when I got home we made the pizza and put it in the oven. Ten minutes went by, then twenty, then thirty, and this thing was not baking. The cheese was not even melting at all. After about an hour, we finally realized that our oven was broken. It was heating up a little bit, only from the pilot light within the oven. By this time it was getting dark and so we decided to pull out our toaster oven (thanks Whitney) and we proceeded to cut our unbaked pizza into slices and cook it piece by piece. It was pretty tricky since the dough was super sticky by this point, but eventually, the pizza was edible. We missed out on our picnic, but we did enjoy our wedding video and called it a night. Another good memory to add to the long list from the past three years. :) Here we are while waiting for our pizza to cook with the pretty sunflowers Ricardo bought me:

The very next day was my last day of rotations ever and then on Thursday, Ricardo headed off to Temple for dental school orientation. Here he is getting ready to go to school, sans shoes. He is now going by the catchphrase, "the barefoot dentist" thanks to comments people made when I posted this picture on Facebook. He had a great time meeting his class and learning about his school on Thursday and Friday and he is excited to start school officially tomorrow.

As you can imagine, his orientation made for a hectic start to the weekend, as we were traveling to Florida for my graduation from PA school. I left without him on Thursday and he flew down on Friday afternoon. On Friday night we went to the Senior Awards Dinner and Dance. My mom and both of Ricardo's parents were also able to attend, which was great. My dad arrived late that night because he was in Utah helping my little sister move in at BYU.

Here I am with my seatmates from PA school, Allison and Alexa. We must have done something right in our row, because we all were inducted into our school's honor society (cue the green cords around our necks). I love these girls!

All of us at the dinner. My eyes are a little crazy here, but this is the only picture of all five of us that night.

I won an award for having the highest GPA in our class and they gave me this really nice plaque. Ricardo's dad was really excited about it. :)

Here I am with my challenge bowl professor and challenge bowl teammate, Sonia, who received the same award I did. They said this was the first time they ever had a tie.

Me and my good friend Tzafra, our lovely class president. She is moving to Massachusetts, so I am excited to see her while we live in the northeast!

                Our other challenge bowl teammate Katherine and our awesome professor!

Ricardo and I after the dinner. I feel like I'm gloating in all these pictures by holding up this plaque, but no one would let me take a picture without it. I tried.

                                                                  Me and my mom!

 We were able to stay the night with our awesome friends, the Millwards, and they made us a delicious breakfast in the morning. Here is Dustan cooking up some yummy bacon.

                   Chowing down on breakfast with the Millwards and the Alders. We miss you guys!

          Saturday morning was the big day. Here I am after it was all said and done.

   Ricardo and I. He deserves so much of the credit for my success in school, because he put up with a lot of studying and worked to put me through school and acted as my surrogate patient for a long time. I love him!

   My wonderful parents who also deserve a bunch of the credit for this graduation. I'm so grateful to them for always making education a priority in our house.

 
              Our master's hoods have a shark fin at the bottom, because that is our school mascot!

                                          Challenge Bowl darlings. I will miss these girls!

              My good friend Laura and I. It was so sad to really say goodbye to a lot of my classmates.

   Ricardo's parents and his brother's family also came to the graduation, which was quite an ordeal for the kids involved! It was LONG! My wonderful sister-in-law Whitney made me these cute cookies. Such a cute idea!

   Ricardo with our nephews at our celebration dinner afterwards. We miss them! Look how tan they all are!

                             Post-dinner picture, saying our last goodbyes for awhile.

 All in all, it was an amazing week and a fun weekend. I can't believe I am done with school forever. It was an amazing experience and I made some lifelong friends in addition to being trained in my dream profession. Now it's time to study for boards, get a job, and support Ricardo while he has his turn. :) Life never stops!