Graduation...and LOTS of Pictures

Finally! Brandon and I finally graduated from the University of Utah and it feels so good to be done. We had so much fun having family fly in or drive up from out of town to come see us walk across the stage.
Before I keep going on and on, I need to rewind and start from the start of the festivities, but please be warned that this post is a little longer than most of the others that I've posted. Don't worry, a lot of them are pictures. Here we go....
My Grandma Mona and my Tia Marlen flew in from California to see us graduate! We were so happy that they were able to come for our special day. Also, I may have mentioned before in this post that my Tia Marlen wouldn't come to Utah, but this is her second time and the second year in a row that she comes! To keep the tradition alive, we went to our favorite taco stand close to where we live. Now, you're probably thinking to yourself, "Why of all places would they go to a taco stand to eat, when there there TONS of taco stands in California?" Well, you're right, there are  a ton of taco stands in Califas, but there is something unique about this (and I'm sure other taco stands here in Utah)  taco stand that you can't find very often at the stands over there; tripitas (cow intestines). For those of you who think are brave enough to click on the link, be my guest. In reality, it doesn't look that bad compared to the other pictures I found of tripitas.

You got to love this picture. My Dad looks like a kid in a candy  store scarfing down his food. That's my grandma in  purple.

The next morning was crazy, but fun at the same time! There were about 10-15 people in our little apartment  getting ready for the long day. As I was getting ready, my Tia decided to help me and did my make-up and hair. She was a great help. 

Here are some of us from the Salt Lake School District cohort before we entered Kingsbury Hall to graduate! These girls are great and we had such a great year together. I like this picture because you can check out all of our shoes that we're sporting with out caps and gowns. I was brave enough to wear my tall wedges. 

Here I am right before they call my name! So glad they didn't mess up. 

Some of the clan before I came out after my convocation ceremony was done. 

My Mom named this caption, "The Graduation Kiss" on her Facebook account. Cute.

My Tia Marlen said this as the caption for this picture, "Awww! Now we're headed to our sweet gringo's graduation...Brandon Callahan, School of Business.

My Mom literally had to go on a mission and FIND Brandon before his convocation ceremony started to give him some neck bling in the form of flowers and kukuoi nuts. Out of the 800 graduates in the School of Business, SHE FOUND HIM! Here's proof!

Something really cool about the commencement ceremony for the business department is that they actually had bag pipers perform as the candidates entered the building instead of the regular graduation procession song. The reason why they have bagpipers perform is because the founder of the U of U's school of business, David Eccles, was Scottish. Very cool.

Where's Brandon?

YAY!

Brandon with some of his friends. 

Us with Brandon's mom and step-dad, Jeff.

Us with my parents.

Brandon with his dad and step-mom.

Done with graduation! Now, to head home and partay!

My mom does some catering on the side, so she insisted in throwing us a party. We were impressed with how immaculate she made our party look. WOW!

She made that cake and all of the red stuff!

Cutting our cake. It was as if it was our wedding day all over again, but without our cake fight. Maybe I'll share those pictures with ya'll someday, but not today.

The next day, we had some more fun. Since my grandma couldn't come up to Utah last year, we took her to the Pie Pizzeria for the first time since we took my Tata here last year. We thought it would be funny to take the same picture of my gma and dad like the one that we did of my Tata and dad. You can see that picture in this post to compare the two.

It really was a great long weekend to celebrate and be with my family. It was a very important day for my side (the Ramirez side) of the family because I am the first to graduate from college/university with a Bachelor's degree. I really never thought I would graduate from college, but I finally did. Although it took me a little longer, I don't regret it because it has helped shape me into the person that I am. We have so many people to thank because we wouldn't have made it without them.

One more fun news, I interviewed at Riley Elementary School, the same school where I did my student teaching and....I got the job! I found out the morning after my last day of student teaching and it was such great news. I was so nervous and prepared to be rejected, but I got it. I'll be teaching first grade come August. 

Here is a picture of my school, Riley Elementary School.

We are happy!

The Aftermath

Well, as I said before, today was my last day of student teaching and it was very bittersweet. Dang, I am such a crybaby. I felt sad because some students cried too. I think it was because I started crying and it made them sad, too. Either way, there were a lot of hugs, smiles, love notes, and tears throughout. 
Here are some pictures from today. Once again, I am sorry that I can't show you pictures of their faces, but there were a few that I did get picture of without their faces.

I absolutely LOVE this picture! All of my girly girls (minus one) with their flowers.

 This one isn't a great picture, sorry!

No words can express the love that I have for this woman. She is such a great example and teacher. 

 She LOVED the gift. Go figure!

Thank you so much, Joy. I am a better person and a teacher thanks to you.

Student Teaching is Almost Over

Well, it was officially over on March 30th, but I chose to come in and volunteer for three or so weeks in the classroom (oh, the joys of transiency!) MY last day at my school site is this Wednesday and I am dreading it. You get so attached to these little people that you grow to love them. In preparation of my last day, I wanted to make my kiddos a little something so that they can remember me. 
I decided to be a little creative and ambitious. First, I made each of my 25 little friends a mini box made out of scrapbook paper. Instead of making 12x12 sized boxes, I simply cut the papers into fourths (6x6 boxes) and it worked just fine. Besides, my fingers would be very worn out if I made the normal size for all of my students. 

They all came out really cute and fun sized. For the boys I knew what I was going to do for them with their boxes, but I'll show you after I tell you about the girls' boxes. I was a bit stumped, but I realized that sometimes when you have a lot of extra cut up papers from a previous craft, you can use it for another one! That's what I did for the gals.

 In this case, it was various colors of tissue paper. I just bunched these scalloped-sized tissue papers and hot glued them into the inside of the lid of each box. To top it off, I hot glued a glass bead for the bud of each flower. 

So simple, but oh so cute! 

Who loves discounted Easter candy? Meeee! Well, I got these M & M's and added a little handful to each box. Don't worry, I tried a few M & M's myself and they taste just fine. 

This one happens to be my favorite flower of the bunch.

I also wrote each of them a little note that included a, "Thank you", a memory I have of them, and a wish I have for them. I may have gone a bit overboard, but I think they're worth it and each note is unique to each of them.
I folded each note and put them in a box. I signed them, sealed them, and will deliver them come Wednesday. 

Now, on to the boys....

My Dad happens to be a Hot Wheels collector and he was generous enough to give me a box full of them to give to my boys. He'd ask me every now and then if I had given them away yet and I always gave him the same answer, "No, not yet. I will soon, though." Not knowing when exactly it would be, I finally have a great  time to give them away.

 Voila! The boys' gifts. 

And last, but certainly not least, I made my cooperating teacher's gift. I found this awesome Monogram for teachers idea on Pinterest and I decided to be daring and do it! Boy am I glad I did it. It came out adorable and I know she will like it. 
So sorry for the glare.

It says, "J is for Ms. Joy, a VERY special teacher!"

 Wish me luck on Wednesday. The water works will probably go down, but I don't care. I will share some more pictures and fun-ness from Wednesday.

Tio Louis

Last weekend was so nice. Besides the not so nice weather, it was a memorable one. Why, you ask? Well, my Tio Louis was in town to drop off my grandma at my mom's house. The last time I saw my Tio was on the day Brandon and I got married (almost 4 years ago!) and I was so excited to come down to Nephi and see him. 
We did a few fun things with him while he was here. We went to Bridal Veil Falls and it was really nice. I wasn't sure where they were, but when we got there, I realized that I've driven by before. It's quite lovely.

We also went to Fat Cats and bowled a few games. It was really fun because we don't usually go bowling. 

He is definitely a Ramos. He's got those pretty green eyes. Jealous.

 We also learned a few things too. My grandma is actually pretty good at bowling. She beat me the first game! Don't let her cute, small self deceive you.

 I'm also so glad that my dad played along with us. He's not too fond of activities like these. He's a pretty good bowler himself, too.

My Tio and my Dad had the same homeroom class together when they were in high school. It's pretty cool and funny how life turns out. Friends back in the day, brothers-in-law in the end. It was fun to see him and my Dad joke around and laugh.

We're missing a few (my handsome husband and my other sister.) It was a great weekend though. I'm not sure when I will see my Tio again, but I hope it's sooner rather than later. Hopefully I will see him next year and make it a tradition to have fun.

I love my family.