Gwen Graduates from College!!!!!

I simply had no idea how THRILLING the entire experience would be! 

On Friday, April 22, 2011, I graduated from Brigham Young University.

My 61st birthday had been 5 days earlier, and I gave myself the most exciting gift

I have had in a LONG time!

In front of the fountain north of the ASB

Jeff captured the moment just seconds after I was handed my Diploma

(COVER only, of course)

Jeff, Paul, Gwen, Teagan, Maycee and Brad outside the Marriott Center

Ellen Allred, director of the BGS (Bachelor of General Studies program)

has been my sweet friend since I was 5 years old!

Jeff and I in front of the Maeser Building.  A young man driving some folks

on a tour around the campus LEAPED from his golf

cart and asked if we'd like to have both of us in the photos Jeff had been taking!

BGS held a celebration, complete with Cosmo.  Brad was pretty thrilled!

See the cameras and microphones on the right? 

Next thing I knew, I was being interviewed, and my friend from

Nauvoo (Irene) who was in Provo for her daughter's graduation,

texted me the next day to say she saw me on TV that evening.

All in all, we had a GREAT time.  Ate too much, and slept too little,

but then, it was a "once in a lifetime" experience!

Elocution Lesson

Because I have friends who do not "do" Facebook, I repeat the photos I posted there this afternoon.

I have always loved the musical Singing in the Rain.  One of my favorite songs is the "Elocution Lesson," wherein the "stars" are being primed for being in the "Talkies," rather than acting in the silent movies.  To prepare them, they are asked to repeat some tongue twisters:  "Moses supposes his toeses are roses, but Moses supposes erroneously."   I was leafing through one of the old books that sits on my piano and discovered that it is an elocution text that says on the flip side of this page that it was printed in 1898.  However, if I read these Roman numerals correctly, 1905 is mentioned.

This is obviously a college text I purchased in a used book store in Redmond.

Your inflection should rise and fall--as diagrammed here.  Much more dramatic that way, I would guess!

And if "Moses supposes" doesn't tickle your tongue, try some of these!  Theophilus Thistle is some type of thistle sifter?????

Priceless, huh?

Joanne's Quilt is Finished!

Joanne's Quilt was a joy to make.  The colors are so calming, and the pattern so fun to do.

Obviously, this is the entire quilt covering our couch--a rather dismal day outside,

so no help in any true lighting in this photo effort!

And just so you can see the blue backing fabric.

Joanne and Joe have received the finished product in the mail and were not disappointed!

I have begun and nearly finished a much smaller project,

but photos cannot come out until the gift is given.

It's Joanne's Turn!

Now that the school work is complete, it's time to PLAY!

Joanne and Joe chose the same pattern as my previous quilt, but in different colors. 

I LOVED making the Double Wedding Ring;

here it is all stretched out on the big frame, for the pinning process.

All set to start stitching!  Thanks, Joanne, for getting engaged,

so I have a Quilting Priority!

Post Script Post!

Just a little addendum to previous post.  The Snow Plow Man came and did his duty, and then our friend came with his truck / blade to wrap up the street cleaning.

View of our front walk and step!

The Mountain at the top of the street.  Susan's garage and front door in the background.

And NOW here's what that poor fire hydrant looks like! 

Wonder how long it will take to melt???

February 1 Midwest Snow!

The month of January was consumed with two tasks: 

1.  Jeff and I substituted as Shift Coordinators at the Temple for friends who had pressing obligations elsewhere.  That meant creating the "perfect" schedule and then seeing what really played out in the lives of our wonderful friends who are ordinance workers.  Four Weeks In A Row! 

(In addition to our normal Saturday shift)

2.  I worked like a robot to complete my Capstone course to finish my degree.  There was a major paper, an essay which turned out to be a miracle, a long set of paragraphs about what I learned getting this Bachelor's Degree, and LOTS of new things to learn about the computer--and to beg for Jeff's help on.  I put my portfolio binder into the mail on Monday, January 31.  That evening we fought battles with the computer, getting the files small enough to email to General Studies Office. 

And then we waited for the THE STORM to match all storms which brought February in with a WHIRLWIND.  It snowed and the wind blew for about 12-15 hours. 

Here are some photos of the results of the storm:

Rick Marshall pulled out his snow blower before the sun was up this morning.  Note that the snow is up to the "head" of the fire hydrant in front of our house!

I opened up the back (basement) door to THIS! 

Note that the height of the snow is WAAAAAYYYY more than half the width of the door!

Jeff shoveled a path one shovel wide to my parent's house. 

Above the top of my boots, and nearly to my knees.

Mom's and Dad's back deck.  It was nearly full, up to the railing!

The wind blew the snow completely around the U of the back of our home.  From the left (garage) clear across the bottom of the photo and out the other corner.  The resulting drift left a chasm on both sides.  It is amazing the way the snow blew for hours yesterday.  And, the snow plow has now come to clean the street, so we can now leave home--which Jeff promptly did! 

This photo is for Joanne. 

Thought you'd like to see the nice "nightcap" on the light outside the back door.

NO MORE PHOTOBUCKET MESSAGE!!!!

My sincere thanks to Lynda for the message telling me how to get rid of that annoying little message.  It took only 2 or 3 clicks of the mouse! 

Hip, Hip, Hooray!