Freewrite: Graduation Week

This past week felt like the longest week of my life. So much happened, and I want to remember it all, so I'm just going to kind of write it all down without worrying too much about embellishments. We have tons more photos, but they're all on my sister's camera, so you'll have to check out her blog if you want to see them. http://elegantklutzblog.blogspot.com

Wednesday I was sick as a dog with the worst flu of my life. Actually, in hindsight, my sisters and I think it was probably food poisoning. (They were very involved in my recovery, because they didn't want to get sick when they came to visit me). Basically I went to bed at 10:00pm Tuesday night with a little knot in my stomach. I ignored it, but then at midnight I woke up with terrible nausea. I tried to just drink some water and go back to sleep, but twenty minutes later I was in the bathroom emptying my stomach.

And you know how when you have the flu you feel sick until you throw up, and then it all feels better? Yeah, that didn't happen for me. There was hardly any warning beforehand--I felt fine, and then all of a sudden I had to run to the toilet. And I didn't just throw up once and feel better. My stomach kept cramping and I kept heaving over and over again, even when there wasn't anything left to come up. It was disgusting and painful, and it happened every half hour until 5:30am.

But then I didn't throw up again after that. I'm thinking it really must've been food poisoning because my system just flushed itself out all night, and then I was fine. I was shaky and weak and had a killer headache, but I didn't throw up again all day. I just wasted all of Wednesday trying to sleep after such an awful night.

I'm just glad I didn't get sick until AFTER I'd finished all of my finals, but it was still inconvenient. It was supposed to be my last day in the Bio Department, and I had things to finish and people to see. I had to miss out on all that.

Then of course I woke up Thursday and felt completely fine, like nothing had ever happened. Wednesday was just weird.

But I managed to say goodbye to my work friends after all, and then at around 10:30 I met up with my family on campus. My parents and Ashley were there from Arizona. It was so good to see them. I'm so happy that they made the effort to come up for my graduation. My grandma and grandpa Chamberlain were also there.

We went to the Sacred Gifts exhibit in the MOA. It was much more crowded than the first time I went (all by myself, in January, I think), but there was still a heavy sense of reverence in the museum despite the amount of people there.

After we emerged with a greater appreciation for art, we went to lunch at Kneader's. Then my parents and sister came back to my apartment with me, where I frantically packed to move and they helped me get things ready. They were especially eager to iron my very wrinkly robes (which had been in a package for who knows how long and had seriously awful creases). After Mom gave it a go, Dad made me go find a proper ironing board, and then all three of them went to work on it.

This is Dad's way of showing how important properly-ironed robes are.

I am glad they did that. I felt very put-together, and I'm grateful I wasn't one of those people who looked like they just barely got their robes at the Bookstore and threw them on at the last minute.

Commencement started at 4:00pm. I found a group of editing friends, and we all walked over the Marriott Center bridges together.

It was a nice ceremony, with beautiful speeches and an amazing musical number put on by a quartet of trumpeters. But honestly I don't remember much about it right now because at the time I was so stressed out. I still had to pack and do my cleaning check, and I'd left my phone with Ashley because I had no pockets, and my family and I hadn't coordinated beforehand where to meet afterwards. I felt very lost. I had no idea where they were sitting, and they of course couldn't find me in the sea of blue robes. But I borrowed a friend's phone and made contact with them during the trumpeting, and enjoyed the rest of the ceremony after that.

(It's supposed to be "BYU")

I successfully found my family, and we took a few pictures, then left the main Provo area (where everyone and their dogs were getting dinner) to eat at Subway.

We went back to my apartment and changed our clothes. Then we left Mom at my apartment with my laptop, and Dad, Ashley, and I went to the volleyball semifinals.

It was Ashley's first-ever volleyball game, which blew my mind. Volleyball games were one of the highlights of my childhood. Dad used to take me and my friends all the time. We would run around the track and play in the back court and get sick on hot dogs. Good times. It was very nostalgic, being there with my dad again. The last time we went to one of those games together, I was in elementary school. Now I'm graduating from the Y, and it's all thanks to him. He instilled a love for this university in me very early in life.

And Ashley had fun, too. She quickly fell in love with the hot volleyball players, and she and I hung out in the student section for a little bit. 

(We won the game, by the way.)

At the end of the day, my parents and Ashley piled a bunch of my stuff into their car and took it up to Salt Lake for me. Meanwhile, I spent the next three hours frantically trying to finish packing and cleaning the apartment. I didn't get nearly close to finishing, so I set my alarm for very early and tried to get some sleep (which was very hard to do, because my roommates weren't as stressed and so they stayed up all night celebrating the end of the semester).

Friday started super early for me. I tried so hard to finish my cleaning check on time, but in the end I didn't. I just said, "screw it" and gave up my security deposit. I honestly didn't care anymore, I just wanted to leave.

I only had about a half hour after trying to finish cleaning to do my hair and make-up, but I somehow managed.

And I managed to get to Convocation on time, despite the fact that my family forgot I had to be there an hour early. Good thing I called to check where they were, or I would've been waiting forever. As it turned out, all I had to do was run outside in my cap and gown and call down the street to a neighbor. He gave me a ride willingly. :)

Convocation was great. I ran into lots of editing friends again, which was fun. But again, I barely remember the ceremony. I was just too exhausted and stressed still to pay much attention. I did, though, have a moment of sadness and gratitude. It was when they had the faculty stand up, and we applauded them for their teachings. None of my professors were even there, but it still made me tear up and finally realize that I was leaving this amazing university.

After the ceremony, I met up with the family again and we took tons of photos for the next three hours. Again, Ashley has all of them, so hopefully she posts them soon and you can see them. Here's the only one I've got.

After we wore ourselves out taking photos, we packed the rest of my many belongings and went to Salt Lake. I threw away three garbage bags full of stuff, and gave another three bags to D.I., yet I still have so many things. It was frustrating.

But we managed to get it all moved to my new apartment, after a few hiccups. It was just Dad and me at that point. I got lost a little bit trying to find my new apartment, because somehow I completely forgot which building I was in. I tried to use my key on the wrong door, and the person living there freaked out a little bit thinking I was trying to pick the lock. When she realized it was just a misunderstanding, though, she was really nice. :)

That made me feel like kind of an idiot, and then I got to feel like a hobo when we found a grocery cart in the building and used it to transfer my stuff from the car to my new room. It was really funny. Dad and I kept laughing at ourselves as we used our stolen grocery cart.

Then we laughed at ourselves much more when we remembered that our gas tank had been empty when we left North Salt Lake. Somehow we'd made it all the way to Millcreek township, gotten lost, and even gone all the way to Shelli's house without the car just giving out on us. We joked that it would die right when we made it to a gas station, but nope. It was completely fine, for which we were grateful.

When we got back to North Salt Lake, we had a Chamberlain family dinner to celebrate my graduation. Not everyone could come, which was sad, but hey, I'll be living much closer by now, so I'm sure we'll see each other enough in the near future.

My family gave me some amazing graduation gifts. Aside from the money (which I had been hoping for and SUPER appreciated), I got a block quote by President Monson ("The past is behind us--learn from it; the future is ahead--prepare for it; the present is here--live it."), a biography of President Eyring, and a coffee-table book of President Packer's art. I felt so grateful that they would choose gifts that would uplift and inspire me to be a responsible, more-spiritual adult.

When it was all over, Dad and Ashley tried to stay up to greet Amanda, Chase, and Sarah when they finally arrived. I barely managed to stay awake long enough to greet them, and then I crashed. I was so exhausted--emotionally and physically--from the last few days.

On Saturday I got to properly spend time with my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. Mostly, though, I hung out with my mom and sisters. They took me on a post-graduation shopping trip, where we spent four hours just finding a bunch of amazing clothes for me to wear in a professional workplace. Here are some of the outfits I've worn so far (they don't accurately represent the professional stuff we found--these are the more casual pickings):

After we shopped for way too long and I spent WAY too much money, we had a Springer family dinner at the Mandarin. It was delicious, as usual. I haven't been there in so long, but that place has great memories for me. That's where we had my big 12th birthday celebration with the Springers, too. It was weird not having the McConkies and Andersons there, though. Our Springer side seems so small with just us and the Jenkins.

Since it was my family's last full day in Utah, Ashley really wanted to just go on a drive around Bountiful. So she, Mom, and I piled into the car and went around to the Bountiful temple, and to just drive around the chuchi neighborhoods and look at the insanely big houses. We saw lots of deer along the way.

And it was COLD. It was so warm the past few weeks, but right when my family came here we got an insanely-freezing cold spell. But Im sure they loved it, after Arizona is already so scorching hot.

For the rest of the night together, we all just chilled. We watched the volleyball finals (which BYU won by a long shot), just chatted for a while, and then watched The Secret Life of Walter Mitty until we were too exhausted to do anything else.

Which brings us to the last day I'll write about (see I told you this was a super long week. We did so much stuff!!)

Sunday, I got dressed in some cute new clothes and tried not to get depressed about my family leaving. That wasn't my only overwhelming emotion, either. I was also panicking about being on my own so soon--having to be completely independent and not have any more milestones besides working and saving up for furniture and a car.

But I did get some good quality time with my family that morning before we all parted ways again so soon. My parents, Sarah, Ashley, and I went to Temple Square and took tons of photos of the gorgeous Spring flowers. We even ran into Elder Christofferson.

Then my parents and Ashley left, which sucked. I miss them so much already. Poor Ashley's an only child at home again, and my parents didn't get nearly a long enough vacation.

Sarah and I went to Grandma Springer's house and just talked together until the grandparents got home (I let us in with the house key they gave me). We went for a brief walk around the neighborhood, too, and caught up and bonded a bit. I love that kid. I'm glad I got some alone time with Ashley, and then with Sarah. I don't get enough time with my sisters on an individual level anymore.

We worked on Sarah's homework a little bit, too, and I had a funny moment of panic when she looked through her planner. I thought, "Oh no, what do I have due this week? Am I forgetting something??" And then I remembered, I don't have anymore homework. EVER. AGAIN. It's both very liberating and very scary.

Grandma made us an amazing chicken and asparagus dinner. Amanda, Chase, and Jackson joined us, and we had a great time together, especially just watching Jackson hobble around and explore the world. He loved playing with beanie babies, with Grandma's flowers, and even with his own reflection in the door. :) I got to hold him a lot. He's such a sweetie and growing so fast. I really felt like an aunt today, now that he really recognizes people and is so interactive. I wish I got to see him more. I was so sad to see him and my other siblings go at the end of the evening. It was really hard for me.

But then it was time to go to my new apartment and settle in. I don't know why I was so nervous about it, but I was. Everything was just so unknown, and it was a bit overwhelming. But once I got here and knew I was here to stay, things fell into place just perfectly.

I'll post about the actual apartment and my roommates tomorrow (you've had enough for today, I'm sure. My sisters probably never even read this far.), but let me just say that I think it's gonna be great. Sunday night my roommate Liz invited me to watch Prince of Egypt with some of her friends in the ward, and they were all so cool and so welcoming. I had a great time with them. They seem like my kind of crowd.

Conclusion: I'm graduated now, and the future seems pretty overwhelming, but things fell into place this last week despite all the goings-on and the stress, and I know that everything will work out in the future, too.