I did it: COLLEGE GRADUATE!

I can't believe I have been in college for four years and finally graduated last Saturday at the age of 22! I never dreamed of this day coming.  I have learned so many valuable things that have impacted me for the better. My freshman year of college I decided to move out of my parent's house and move in with some friends in a house just off campus. Buying food, paying for gas, staying up late, having a part-time job on top of school, and dealing with other roommates was a huge adjustment for me. It was also a scare when my GPA slipped from a 3.9 to significantly lower than that in one semester. I had to learn the hard way the importance of attending class and studying for countless hours to get the grades I did in high school. I was so blessed to have my family live in the same area I went to college because they were always there for me when I needed them most, when I needed a place to stay, or just a home-cooked meal! I have met many lifelong friends and most importantly my husband :) during my college journey! I would never take my college years back for anything.

On Friday night, the day before graduation, my family/ close friends and I went to dinner at The Coppermill to celebrate. My mom was so sweet and bought cute "teacher decorations" to place around the tables and also a graduation cake and cupcakes. I love the quote about teachers, it is so true!

Josh and I

Mand and Dad

Mom and Rick

 

 

 

Larry and Ellen

Jeanine and Brad

Craig and Linda

Carrie and Bailey

GRADUATION DAY:

My Level 3 buds

Shayly- one of my good college friends

Getting my diploma

Friends since 5th grade and all the way through college

So grateful that my Papa was willing to pay for my college

Sissy's (Yes, I'm taller but I wore monster heels that day)

Next year this is where Josh will be (crossing our fingers ;)

Love my parents. They have been a huge support to me!

March: The Birthday Month

Josh's BIG 25
March is the coolest month to be born I guess. Josh and my sister Charlie share the same birthday on March 10th, and my birthday is March 14th.

March 9-12, 2012 
Since I was student teaching at the time, I didn't get the same spring break as the rest of the college and Josh but luckily I was able to get the weekend off at work so we could take a quick little trip to Viva Las Vegas!  We left on Friday afternoon and stayed with Grandma McDonald in Milford for the first night. The next morning (Josh's big 25 birthday) we continued our journey to Vegas. We stopped in St. George on the way to see Jim and Carrie and arrived at Andy and Kelly's house Saturday afternoon. The first thing we did was put our swimming suits on and tried soaking up what was left of the sun. That evening we went out to dinner with the LeGrow clan and then we went to a casino where I officially gambled for the FIRST time! (Last year I turned 21 after spring break which was spent in Las Vegas, so this was my first opportunity to gamble legally). I can't say I'm addicted but I definitely enjoyed it. The game I spent all of my twenty bucks on was some Sex and the City game. It was quite an entertaining game and I can see how people get addicted to gambling if you have the money to do so. On Sunday we laid out at the pool for a few hours and then went into the city to shop and walk around. We drove back home Monday morning. We are so lucky to have family that lives in warmer weather so we can sneak away for a weekend!

Birthday Boy

From the left: Me, Josh, Mitch, Kelly, Andy, Stephanie, Jake

 

 

 

 

Hapy Birthday To Me!
March 14, 2012

This year was one of my top and memorable birthday's for sure. I love surprises and Josh managed to surprise me twice on my birthday. My birthday started off pretty normal just waking up and going to school except one minor problem, my phone wasn't working and hadn't been working since the night before. I didn't really think anything of it because I've had problems with my phone for the past few months, but I was worried that if people were trying to get a hold of me on my birthday they couldn't. (Only I would worry about such a thing)! 

At lunch, my mom came to my school and surprised me with balloons and took my phone saying that she was going to take it to Josh so he could take it to the store to get fixed. When I got home Josh was here and kept asking me if I was going to take a nap. I thought I might as well because we weren't going to dinner until later. I had a lovely nap and was woken up by a cell phone ringing but not a familiar ring tone. I sat up and saw a gift bag next to me so I opened it up and there was my phone but not my phone...a new iPhone!! I was so ecstatic and had no idea he was getting it for me. There was also a cute poem in the bag that he wrote about us that rhymed and everything! 

For dinner we went to my favorite restaurant Callway's. For those of you that aren't locals, it's the best Italian restaurant ever!! I knew that Josh had made a cake for me that afternoon when I was napping and I was so worried because during dinner he kept saying that just him and I would go back home and eat the cake. I wanted my family to be there with us so bad because that is a tradition of ours. I kept saying things like, "Are you sure you don't want to invite anyone over?" "How are we going to eat all of that cake?" On our way home he made a stop at Wal-Mart to purchase some ice cream for the cake but he bought three tubs of it and I wasn't quite sure why so much. We arrived back at our place and when I stepped into our house friends and family popped up and surprised me. I was so shocked and amazed that Josh coordinated all of this behind my back. He did such a good job at keeping it all a secret. I'm so glad I was able to share my cake with our family and friends :) and be with them on my birthday. I owe the planning of such a perfect birthday to my hubby!


Side note: Josh had purchased the iPhone the night before my birthday and so my original phone wasn't working because it got shut off. When my mom brought it to him at lunch he took it directly to Best Buy so that they could load all of my contacts, photos, etc. on it. Sneaky? I think so!

Friends

Had to get a picture with the cheese ball. She LOVES the camera

All the girls (minus Char)

The cake Joshy made. It was delicious!

Catch-Up: Ketchup: Catsup

I am probably the worst blogger EVER but I have a good excuse for my slacking off...it's called SCHOOL. These past three months I have been finishing up my last semester of college ever! So between student teaching Monday through Friday from 8:30- 4:00 and working at Sports Authority, I was also trying to be a good wife and keep our house in order and spend as much time as I could with Josh. So after the excuses I still want to catch-up everyone on our exciting past 3 months of being newlyweds. We've had so much fun! Read up:

My First REAL Valentine!
February 14, 2012
This was Josh and I's first Valentine's Day together and it is the one I will never forget because he is my first true valentine that I can say I truly love. So on lover's day I woke up extra early and made him Belgian waffles for breakfast. Then I created a little scavenger hunt for him and the gift was at the end. Each heart had a sentence written on it that I especially love about him. The hearts were placed throughout the house, each heart hidden in a place corresponding  to the clue from the previous heart. For example one of the hearts said, 'I love that you are athletic and enjoy playing sports' so the next clue was taped onto the remote. I enjoyed watching him find the hidden hearts. I believe it to be true that men tend to be blind...you'll see why in the fourth picture below!

Valentine's Day breakfast

The hearts for the scavenger hunt

'I love your obsession with Oreo's'

This is the blind one...Josh COULD NOT see the heart. So funny

Opening the gift

3 Month Anniversary
February 19, 2012
I know for some of you 3 months of being married is nothing but time has just flown right by for us! This month it will be 6 months. We have learned and grown so much as a couple. Anyways, for our 3 month anniversary Josh surprised me with a candle light dinner with my favorite meal-- mandarin orange spinach salad, fettuccine alfredo with chicken, coconut shrimp, garlic bread and brownies for dessert. It was a Sunday and I had to work late that day but when I came home my favorite meal was sitting before me. He was so cute about it too because he was trying to surprise me with what he was going to cook. I am so impressed because he did some research online and found recipes to make all of the food. He is such a fantastic cook! Sometimes I wonder why he doesn't just cook for us all the time...

The dinner-- PS the beautiful flower arrangement on the table is what Josh got me for V-Day :)

The Lucky Slice Pizza = Not So Lucky!
March 2, 2012
For Josh's birthday all he wanted was to go to the Jazz vs. Heat game in SLC (simple enough). He was so excited about it and bought the tickets like a month in advance! Our friends Checketts and April came along with us. On our way down to the game we stopped at his cousin Mike's restaurant The Lucky Slice Pizza in Ogden. Mike hooked us up with hot wings, pizza, and bread sticks. It was absolutely delicious and I would recommend it to everyone (except Josh had to make a pit stop at the gas station on our way to the game due to the hot wings). I figured from eating there we would bring some luck to the basketball game, but unfortunately that didn't happen. Usually when I would go to Jazz games I am cheering for the Jazz but I guess Josh has switched me over. It was weird to be the outcasts in the stands cheering for the away team. I can't remember the final score or all that happened during the game but the Jazz turned out with a win. The heat were not so hot that night. It was fun to be able to see Miami play live twice in a season (once in Miami when we were on our honeymoon).

'The Lucky Slice Pizza'

Heat fans at the Jazz game. Rebels!

Honeymoonin' Time

Josh and I decided to wait until Christmas break to go on our honeymoon so that way we wouldn't be missing school and we could just have a relaxing vacation.We went to Miami, Florida. For those of you that don't know me that well, I am ALWAYS cold no matter how many layers I wear so when I first found out his parents were sending us to Florida I was looking forward to getting some warm weather in January. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The week that we were in Miami it was oddly cold. Usually it's in the 70's during January but while we were there it barely reached 60!
We have this little thing in our family that whenever we used to go camping the weather would turn out bad because of my mom. Her name is Irene and so they would always say "I-Rain" is here and that is why the weather is bad. Well, I think my mom has passed her bad luck onto me. Within the past few years I can think of numerous times we went camping, to Bear Lake or on a trip and the weather was out of the ordinary. When I was 16 my mom, Charlie, and I went to Laguna Beach, California for spring break. The whole time we were there it was overcast. The sun didn't even peak around the clouds for a moment! Also, it seems like every time I would go over to Bear Lake for the weekend with my family last summer the weather would not be what I was expecting. It would be cloudy and windy with very little sun. I think with that said, you probably would be better off not inviting me to go on vacation with you!!
Even though the weather was crumby in Miami we still had a wonderful time! We were able to rent a car and drive to many different places. We arrived in Miami on Monday afternoon and after we got settled in out hotel room we went and ate at Benihana's. That was my first time going there and I absolutely loved it! The food was amazing, especially the ham fried rice. Josh had told them we were on our honeymoon and so they sang us a special song and gave us some yummy dessert. 
On Tuesday, we decided to drive through the keys to Key West. As I got dressed that morning I knew it was supposed to be colder that day but figured I would be fine wearing shorts and sandals. When we went out to the parking lot to get into our car it was freezing (maybe a little exaggeration) so I ran back up to our room and changed into pants and boots. 3 hours later we arrived! It was really neat to drive through all of the Keys and cross the bridges that went from one key to the next. Key West was different from what I pictured. It has very narrow streets and old houses that were turned into shops, hotels, and businesses.There was surprisingly a lot of people there for a Tuesday afternoon! We waited in line to get a picture by the monument stating that we were 90 miles from Cuba. Josh also told me about the Mile 0 which I had never heard of before. For those of you that are from Utah... Key West is the town that is the farthest south on the map of the U.S. Unfortunately, we didn't ever find the Mile 0 sign to take a picture of. Then we walked down Duval Street and roamed the different shops on that street. That night we ate at Hard Rock Cafe and for dessert we ordered key lime pie since it is famous in the Keys.
On Wednesday, we went shopping at the Dolphin Mall (which was my choice)! This mall was huge! The mall was a mix of outlet and normal stores which was the perfect combination. It took us at least an hour just to make a full circle around the mall. After shopping we headed to the American Airlines Arena AKA home of the Miami Heat!! We had a lot of fun at the game. Luckily, Lebron was playing because Dwayne Wade was out for that game. It was neat to watch a team that is actually good because I've only been to Utah Jazz games ha! Josh especially loved it because he is the one that purchased the tickets at least a month before our honeymoon!
 On Thursday the weather started to warm up so we drove to north beach and walked along the beach. The water was very clear and I felt like I was in the Caribbean. There were a lot of people laying out on the beach which we had planned to do but accidentally left our suits at the hotel. We turned our rental car in that afternoon so after that we went back to our hotel and just relaxed and watched TV. We flew back to Illinois Friday morning to spend one last day with Josh's family and to go to Colin's birthday party.

90 Miles to Cuba-- Southernmost Point

Cold or hungry?

Famous Key Lime Pie

Josh + Bob Marley= Love

On Duval Street

Miami Heat

At the game

Lebron warming up

Beach

Just a little chilly

The Boardwalk

Such a pretty day

Home For The Holidays

I've come to learn that deciding which family to spend what holidays with when you are first starting out as newlyweds can be tricky. Fortunately, we were able to spend time with both of our families this holiday season. As mentioned in the last post, Josh and I stayed in Logan and had our first Christmas together in our little home and spent time with my (Joni's) side of the family. The rest of Christmas break we were able to spend with Josh's family. We are so thankful that his parents were able to fly us out to Illinois to be with his family during the rest of the holiday season.

Josh and I arrived in Illinois on Tuesday, December 27th at night. On Wednesday Josh's parents, Jason (Josh's brother), Josh and I were able to attend a session at the St. Louis Temple. It was such a pretty day outside, sunny and all! Josh and I haven't been back to the temple since we got married so it was nice to be able to go together and to be there with his family as well. I look forward to learning new things as I go each time.

St. Louis Missouri Temple

That evening Grandpa and Grandma Grodeon (Lisa's parents) had the McDonald family over for dinner. We were able to see our nephew Colin and he was so excited to see me. Megan said that on the car ride over Colin was singing, "I get to see my girlfriend, I get to see my girlfriend." (For those of you who don't know about this, Josh's nephew has called me his girlfriend ever since the first time he met me in August. Even now that he knows I am married to Josh he still calls me his girlfriend. It's so cute).

On Thursday we lounged around for most of the day and got things ready for the open house. That night we all went out to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings and then Jason, Josh, and I went to a bar to see his friend rap. This was my first time of experiencing the bar and it was interesting indeed! I am a very very curious "people watcher" and since we obviously weren't drinking I spent most of the time watching drunks interact with one another. It was entertaining for me.

Friday evening was our open house so during the day we helped get everything set up for that. Lisa did such a great job decorating the house and keeping the plum color vintage theme we used at our wedding. She is so creative. Josh and I dressed up in our wedding clothes for one last time and so did his parents and siblings who were part of the wedding. I'm glad we did, not only because I got to wear my dress one more time but also so his friends and relatives who couldn't make it to our wedding could see us all dressed up! The open house turned out wonderful. A lot of the McDonald's family and friends were able to make it and I was glad I could meet them. I also met some of Josh's friends he went to high school with, but they didn't let me in on any secrets about Josh! For some reason nobody took pictures!!! We totally forgot. So I will describe it for those of you who weren't there. We had a chocolate fountain with strawberries, marshmallows, creme puffs, and pretzels to dip in the chocolate and also an h'orderve bar with meatballs, shrimp, and vegetables. Oh and also this yummy punch drink. My favorite thing was the bottled water. Lisa ordered stickers that said, 'Josh and Joni McDonald, November 19, 2011'. So we stuck the stickers over the bottled water labels (picture below) and it became our own special bottled water. It was such a cute idea.

Our "personalized" water and napkins

Wedding Day at the Logan Temple

Let's see....Saturday was New Year's Eve. We spent the evening doing the McDonald family tradition--fondue with steak and shrimp & chocolate and fruit, and play games. I had so much fun and plan to carry this on someday with our own family. And yes I finally got a REAL New Year's kiss from the love of my life!!

Fondue-ing it up!!

The Ladies

New Year's Eve

Bill is already getting tired...only 1 more hour to go!

My New Year's kiss