Wouldn't Be Here without our Moms

We had the great pleasure of having both sets of parents and Bridger out for graduation this week. Back in February when we had flown out for Grandma's funeral our parents made the connection that they'd all be on the same flights out to the Burgh in a few short months. So Friday evening Jaden went and picked everybody up while I stayed home and made dinner and prepped food for breakfast the next morning. Since Jeff and Amy had extra luggage for our DC trip the following week Zach was nice enough to go to the airport with Jade and help transport people and bags back to our place. We all had dinner together and played a few of our favorite games: It's in the Bag, Bank!, and I Should Have Known That. It was a fun evening all together before the big celebration the next day. I took my parents back to their hotel downtown and then Bridger came back with us and slept on the air mattress on the floor of our living room. Jeff and Amy stayed in our room and Jaden and I slept on the other air mattress in my office with all of the boxes we had started packing up. 

The next morning I got up and put Jaden's favorite sausage egg casserole and blueberry muffins in the oven. I went and picked my parents back up and we shared a meal and got ready to head down to the graduation ceremony. Because CMU's campus is small and the parking is so limited graduation was held in one of Pitt's stadiums. Thankfully it was indoors because it was a rainy morning and afternoon so we didn't get a lot of pictures on graduation day we waited until the next day when the weather was better and we could actually go on CMU's campus. 

I don't know why but I was pretty emotional all graduation day. I am just so proud of Jaden and how hard he has worked to get us here. I distinctly remember the day he called me when I was just leaving the University of Utah and headed down to my job at SPG in Salt Lake, he was telling me that he met with a professor named Randy Boyle who told him about the opportunity to go to Carnegie Mellon University and get a graduate degree in cybersecurity. I remember how it just felt right to both of us. From that day on I had all the confidence in the world Jaden was going to do it. Things kept falling into place and we made it. He did it. I am so proud of his hard work, long hours, diligence and persistence. I know how much he wants to take care of our little family and set us up for long-term success. I know how hard it has been for him to not have a job during most of these past two years. He said to me a few weeks ago that it is a hard pill to swallow knowing that I am the only one providing for our family. I told him that he is providing in a different way for our family. He is providing us opportunities we wouldn't otherwise have which is so true. I am so grateful for him and so grateful for the ways we have seen guidance from God in this journey. I also want to mention here that he had his second round of interviews with Invite Networks and it went really well and they said that they would work on getting a package put together for him. I can't believe we are going to be heading home and he gets to work with a team he already knows and loves. Really is so much better than we had thought!

I also kind of can't believe it is over. As excited as we are to not have school be a part of our lives any more it is a surreal feeling knowing that the goal we have worked toward our whole marriage is completed. 

The actual graduation ceremony was long but overall good. I did feel bad that the commencement speakers weren't really that inspirational. Maybe that's harsh but it wasn't really about success and future of the graduating class but more about the success of the individuals that spoke which I wasn't a huge fan of. I like when the graduation speeches leave you with a feeling of excitement in a future filled with new possibilities. There were glimpses of that, the dean of the University talked about how the graduates were going to use technology to solve the world's most complicated problems which is kind of mind boggling to think about. And then a congresswoman Alumni spoke and said a line I wrote down and loved, "Take the opportunities that come your way and I promise more opportunities will come." I feel like that resonated with me so much because of the way our opportunities have shifted from Dallas to Utah. We felt like we had a solid plan but it has been altered and as we pursue a new opportunity back in Utah I'm confident that it will open other doors to other opportunities. She also said "perspective enhances your purpose and power," which I couldn't agree more with. 

After the ceremony we waited for the boys to go get their diplomas (which are HUGE) then we headed over to Chipotle to pickup food for our combined family graduation party. We have been planning for months with our friends to all get together and do a dinner after graduation. The girls and I reserved a room at the church and went down before everyone got into town and setup tables chairs, a balloon arch and decorations. We had Chipotle cater and had everyone go around the room and introduce their families and get to know each other a little bit. After everyone had eaten Jaden played the boys' capstone project video for everyone which was a big hit and then we played a slideshow I put together of pictures from the last two years. I created a shared album that everyone loaded pictures to and then I sorted them and added them to a big slideshow set to some awesome music: a Pittsburgh song Taylor found, the theme song on friends, You've Got a Friend in Me from toy story and finally See You Again from Fast & Furious. It was emotional and so fun to look back through so many amazing memories. 

After it was over and tissues were passed around Jaden got up and talked about how grateful we were to be part of such a great group and family and thanked all of the parents for raising such good kids. It opened up the room and people shared favorite memories, things they learned and several parents spoke up about how amazing and comforting it was for them to know that we had each other out here. I told the group that my grandparents had close grad school friends that they sent Christmas cards to and kept in touch with for the rest of their lives and that I knew that we were going to do the same. I am so grateful for our CMU Crew. They have made our experience so much richer. 

After lots of hugs and pictures we cleaned up and parted ways. Our family went back to our apartment to change and then we all went up to the Duchesne (pronounced du-cayne) Incline where one of the oldest incline cable cars in the country. It is a neat experience to ride up in the same cable car that used to carry steel workers to and from work in the city as it was first being built. Even more impressive is the view of the city from the top. You can see where the three rivers converge forming the point where Pittsburgh is built. It is especially beautiful at night all lit up. We walked around up at the top where there is a street lined with restaurants and bars before heading back down and calling it a night. 

Sunday we got up and I put in the Hall's egg dish in the oven and we had leftover muffins and yogurt parfaits for Mother's Day brunch. I picked up my parents and brought them back over for brunch and we gave each mom a Bryan Anthony's necklace. I really like the words that accompany the jewelry because they give an added meaning to the piece and are so beautifully written. My mom's was a wave and talked about the depth and power of a mother's love, Amy's is a sunburst and talked about the song "you are my sunshine" which is one of her favorite songs and talked about the light a mothers love gives as it guides you and accompanies you throughout your life. Which is so true! It felt so fitting that graduation fell on Mother's Day weekend because like Abraham Lincoln once said, "All that I am am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."

After brunch we took everyone down to CMU campus to take pictures and have Jaden show everyone where he spent most of his time these past two years. I was again filled with so much pride and gratitude as we passed the building he said he sat at when he came out and did the campus tour in November of 2019 and thought to himself "I really want to get back here," and he did. He got us back here and now he's going to get us home and I couldn't be more grateful. 

I am so grateful to be married to Jaden and be building this life together. I am grateful for our mom's that gave us life and love that enabled us to be where we are at. 

Peaches

• Having our families here to celebrate with us
• Bridger coming to support Jade and staying over at our apartment
• Feeling so proud of Jaden
• Graduation dinner with our friends and all their families. We feel so blessed to have gotten to know so many of the parents prior to graduation when they would come out and visit their kids. We would still do our Sunday dinners and hang out on weekends and so we got to know them and played games together and heard lots of funny family stories and family traditions which was so fun
• Graduation was on Mother's Day

Pits

• Graduation day was so rainy
• Technical difficulties playing the videos at the graduation party but we got it sorted out
• Blisters from shoes on campus
• Lots of waiting before and after graduation. Dad was particularly bugged by the people who blatantly butted us in line getting into the building