the first semester.

I have officially survived my first semester of grad school. But only just barely. And only just in time to start another one. Semester statistics:

- 2000+ pages of reading
- 50+ sources read
- 7 sets of tests graded
- 7 review sessions prepared and taught
- 2 sets of essays graded
- 1 set of AGONIZING research papers read and graded
- 65+ pages written
- 5+ hours of presentations given
- 3+ illnesses survived
- 100% sanity lost

So that was my semester. Hopefully you can begin to understand an appreciate why so few pictures survive from the last four months. But here is a (very) brief survey of the last few months of our lives anyway.

OCTOBER:

- First time proctoring student tests

- Booked tickets for an adventure in Chicago in February for an Art History conference

- Taught a craft for relief society. It was awful.

- Went to a wedding at the Salt Lake Temple.

- Bought candy for Halloween just in case, and had TWO trick-or-treaters. We were stoked.

While Mom and Dad remodeled their kitchen, Sunday dinners took place outside as long as the weather permitted. This particular day it was too cold under the gazebo, but too bright in the yard. Fortunately Dad had enough hats for all of us. The moment was too priceless to ignore.

David and I were fortunate to attend the sealing of my favorite cousin, Alesha, and her new husband, Daniel. They make such a great couple and we were so happy to get to witness our first temple sealing from the opposite perspective.

David and I took a chance on an adventure for Halloween and made our way up to the Sundance Halloween Lift Ride. Despite the blizzard that we were carried through as we crossed the peak of the mountains, the ride was lots of fun! Note the glasses - just a few days before I decided I had just about had it with my contacts and committed to getting LASIK. This was the beginning of nine weeks in my glasses prior to having my eyes adjusted once and for all.

We also got to carve pumpkins this year with our friendly neighbors, the Deckers. I'll let you guess which is mine and which is David's.

NOVEMBER:

- Panic sets in as my first project comes due...

- Set up our first Christmas tree.

- Spent Thanksgiving with the Rowe family.

- Black Friday shopping with the crew.

- Enjoyed the first snow storm of the year while the rest of Provo learned to drive.

Thanks to the hard work of Stacy and the organization of Matt, we had a really special experience with the Erdmann family participating in sealings for family names at the Provo Temple. It was really neat to be able to get (almost) everyone together in the temple and to do work for our ancestors.

Of course, it was such a beautiful morning, we had to snap a self-timer picture from the hood of our car.

DECEMBER:

- Finished my first semester of grad school.

- Celebrated our one year engagement date.

- Hosted a pizza party extravaganza to celebrate the end of the semester with my peers.

- Crammed Christmas preparations into half a week.

- Celebrated our six month anniversary by seeing the Hobbit.

- Got LASIK two days before Christmas. Most terrifying thing I've ever experienced, but I started to cry when I woke up and discovered I could see.

- Spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day back and forth between two houses, but reserved Christmas morning for ourselves. It was great.

The only picture we managed from our first Christmas together. We did manage to sleep in until about 7:15. Featured in this image is our first tree - yes, artificial (due to time constraints) and borrowed, but we loved it and managed to fill it just with ornaments the two of us have received since childhood. Additionally, you can see the stockings I made in about two days once my finals were finally graded - I was pleased with them. Lastly, you may notice that I finally hung some pictures up on the wall. One day I procrastinated all my schoolwork with reckless abandon and determination to get the massive pile of frames in our second bedroom hung SOMEWHERE. It definitely makes the room feel a little cozier.

And that sums up the last of the year. Four years ago tomorrow David and I spent New Year's Eve in a car in a park playing checkers, because we wanted to spend time together, but nobody was home at either of our houses. Three years later he proposed in the same park with a checkerboard. Tomorrow we will spend our first New Year's as a married couple and then begin a year with many other firsts, and maybe some seconds and thirds. Hopefully in the coming months I'll have things a little more under control so that I can actually record some of those moments as they happen, though reflecting has been rather rewarding.

What a year. Happy 2014 everyone!