Phase 1: Newlyweds: Graduation

After spending about two months living life at a hectic pace we have finally sat down to document all that has been going on in our life. As I sat down to write about graduation it began to dawn on me how quickly it all seemed to go by. We were finishing up finals, packing up to move across the country, traveling every weekend and finishing all of our plans for our busy summer. In the midst of all that both of our parents journeyed out to Provo to celebrate with us. It was a whirlwind weekend with so much going on that only after the fact did I realize how exiting and happy it all was. Now that I think about it, that is how our whole college experience was. It all went by so fast, we experienced so much that I look back and think how quickly 4 years went by. Now that it is all over and I look at college as a whole rather than in semesters, phases, or moments, I realize how blessed we were. We learned so much, we grew, we made lifelong friendships and had life-changing experiences. It is rather emotional to say goodbye to that phase of life. It will be hard when Fall comes around and all of the Cougars migrate back to Provo and we will be starting our new lives in Minnesota. Life comes in phases though and it is time for us to move on with out next exciting phase!

Back to graduation though. What a cool experience to see thousands of students and parents pile into the Marriott Center to celebrate all the hard work we have put in over the last 4 years. We heard from Elder L. Tom Perry who shared a beautiful message with us. The words he spoke to us beautifully articulated what I was feeling at that moment, and still at this moment two months later. He said:

" Today you graduate. Your undergraduate years are now over. You are now finished with this point of your life. You will not travel this road again. There will be no retakes, second chances, or repeats. You have your degree. It has been a lot of hard work. Today you have a great deal of satisfaction for what you have accomplished. You will always have special memories of these wonderful days. With this degree has come accumulated experience and hard-earned wisdom.

Tomorrow the journey in life resumes for you. The choices you make will make all the difference in what you want to achieve. With all of these new decisions and challenges before you, let me encourage you to seek and find a balance in your future life. "

There are countless things we will miss at BYU, below are some of those things.

Our friends.