Summer!

I always love summer; The sun, the freedom, the barbecues, the vacations, and the feeling of being done with school for a few months. Well this summer is a little bit different for both Natali and me. After being students for pretty much our whole lives, we are finished with school! We do not have just a 3 month break from school, but a break from school forever.

Natali just finished her last semester of law school at BYU. She graduated at the top of her class and has worked super hard the entire time she has been in school. She is actually pretty sad that law school is over because she loved it so much. She loved learning about law, being at school with her friends, and the whole law school experience. I don't know if you all know this but a law degree is the same as a doctorate degree so that is really impressive. 

I just finished my masters degree in structural engineering. I finished it in a year so that Natali and I could graduate at the same time. I think Natali's hard work and dedication rubbed off on me because ever since I married Natali my grades have been improving. I guess it makes it easier to study when my  wife is studying too. Oh, and because I received my masters degree, I will only respond to you if you call me Master Reed for the next year.

Graduation week was pretty crazy. I finished my finals before Natali and started packing up everything in the condo because Dan and Launa sold it and we had to be out by May 1. So we didn't ever really have time to breathe between packing, graduation, visitors, and cleaning. We graduated on Friday April 26 (we should have done just one ceremony but we didn't think about that until too late so we had mine at 11:00 and Natali's at 5:00). My parents came up from Arizona and Natali had a lot of family at her graduation. Dan and Launa flew back from Puerto Rico and were there for the final graduation festivities.

So we finally got all of our stuff packed into 3 U-haul U-boxes that were sent to Dallas to be stored and got moved out of the condo. The guy that bought the condo was in our ward and wanted to move in as soon as possible. And by as soon as possible I mean just that. Natali was still mopping the kitchen floor as they were bringing in boxes and other items. We learned that moving is not fun and we had much more stuff than we thought we did.

So  most of our earthly possessions went to Dallas and we came to St. George to live with Dan and Launa for the next 3 months. Natali will be studying for the bar exam that she takes at the very end of July. We will move out to Dallas before she starts work the first week of October. Between then and now we are  just enjoying life and ignoring the real world. We know it exists but we enjoy the little bubble we are in now and will enjoy it as long as we can.

Just so everyone can know what it is like in the "bubble" I will give you a little taste of it. The weather in St. George is great. I am able to go out to the pool and work on my tan and my cannon balls whenever I want. I can then come in and work on my basketball skills or go to the workout center to buff up my already buff arms ;). Then this last week we went to Disneyland to celebrate finishing up the semester. I will let Natali post more pictures and tell you more about that. Next week I am heading to Eagar to go to Black River with Ryne and Dad and will catch more fish in 3 days than most people dream about catching in a lifetime. To put the cherry on top, Dana and Jason just got a brand new Tige boat that is AMAZING. We have already been to the lake twice this summer and I am sure there will be much more lake-going this summer. Here is their boat that was featured in a Tige video promotion. No, their boat does not just look like the boat in the video, it is the actual boat they used in the video... Pretty cool. 

But just so you know, the bubble does burst every once in a while. We went to the lake last night and the very last run didn't end up so well for me. Here is a picture of my head.

                                    

                                                 In the car on the drive back to the house.

The first one is before 10 stitches, the second one is after. Natali says that it was deeper than it looked so that is  comforting ;). So here is the story; last run of the day and I was feeling good so I decided to try a flip. The flip was awesome, I got all the way around, hit my board, but was leaning too far forward. I faceplanted but luckily the water stopped my face. The board was still coming around but luckily my head stopped the board. Okay, I guess unluckily my head stopped the board. It was a late trip to the lake so we got back to the house at about 9:45 PM and Natali called her Aunt who is a midwife and we went over to her house and she stitched me up. This all happened after just a few days after I bragged to Natali that I had never had stitches. Lesson learned.