Graduation!

April 26th, 2013 was a momentous occasion. After five years, I graduated from BYU! College has been a wild adventure. I've made fabulous friends, stayed up way past my bedtime, aced some tests, failed many tests, gotten married... What haven't I done? I really have loved college, and adventuring into adult hood is a bit scary. It seems like just yesterday stuff like this was happening:

Darby and I at The Mayan (may the place rest in peace)

Daron and I making "animal cell" cookies. He was so excited!

The fortress of solitude! We lived in this fort for about two weeks. It was awesome.

 And now here we are, we've come to the big day! I graduated in FACS Ed (which stands for Family and Consumer Sciences). What the heck does that mean? It means I teach "home ec" classes, although it's not the home ec classes you remember. Don't believe me? What's syneresis? What chemical properties cause fabric to wrinkle? What is the zone of proximal development? If you don't know (without googling!), then you should come take some classes from me. I'm an expert, and I have the diploma to prove it.

My lovely sister Amanda made my announcements!

I made Daron's shirt. Yep. I most definitely did! Told you I was an expert.

The graduation ceremony was disappointing, I can't lie. The valedictorian gave an... interesting address, and the faculty member's speech was insane. He used the word "bastards" multiple times (as in, he was talking about illegitimate children- don't ask me WHY), talked about gay marriage, abortion, polygamy... You know, all the good stuff. It was an insane talk and it had NOTHING to do about graduation. He was retiring and I'm 100% sure he decided to take some of his favorite lecture topics and just throw them into one ten-minute speech. It was awkward and offensive, but at least my family can laugh about it for years to come.

The best part about graduating is that I graduated with a job! Yes! For those of you that don't already know, I'll be teaching high school in Las Vegas. We're moving this summer- I'm so excited to move back to Vegas, but I definitely miss some parts of Utah. And I can't lie, I will miss the good old BYU.

The Troubles with Tragedies...

A couple days ago I was on the phone with my sister. I told her that I had nothing to do with my days, and she stated, "You know what you can do! Start your blog again!" I've been hearing this for the past year and a half, even from various friends. But I've been busy! And incredibly boring... Going to school and working nonstop left me with an incredibly predictable schedule and little to say. I have a year and a half to catch up on, I know. However, I feel as though starting out small is the best way to kick things back into gear.

Today, Daron and I went to see "The Great Gatsby" with my friend Brittany. 






In case you've lived under a rock, I'm going to spoil this 88-year old book by stating that it is a tragedy. I turned to Daron and asked, "And what did you think?" I already knew the answer, but felt it was polite to ask anyway- I was correct in my assumptions. Daron really disliked it. Daron holds a special hatred for tragedies. He avoids them whenever possible and on the occasions he DOES watch them (i.e. when I make him), he declares his dislike for whatever movie we watched- this usually includes a disdain for whichever characters he blames for the tragedy. (Today was a hatred for Daisy)

This is where Daron and I differ greatly. I love tragedy; I love the "heavy stuff" as Daron calls it. Sure, I also love comedy but sometimes I come home and I need to watch something deeply tragic. Daron hates the heavy stuff because he prefers fiction to be escapist, and he doesn't enjoy escaping into a world that's crappier than real life. I find this completely understandable. But why are some people, why am I drawn to the tragedies found in fiction?

I think it's because I connect to the tragic characters. They feel more real than the comedians, and I like that connection. Tragedy wakes something up in us; it reminds us that there can be some beauty in these horrendous moments in our lives. Of course, that beauty's usually just found in the movies/plays/books. The tragedy in real life is usually just sucky and gross. Maybe that's why I like tragedy. Because fiction can turn tragedy into something more profound than reality.

But I don't know, I'm not great at waxing philosophic. Why do you guys watch/read tragedies? Are you drawn to having a good cry sometimes? Or are you like Daron who would rather be the optimist?

While you all muse like I just did, I think I'm going to watch Moulin Rouge. Because what's more tragic than a singing prostitute with tuberculosis?