Adam and I graduated! (Well, I sort of did…read on.) Adam got a master’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Adam and I walked together in the College of Engineering convocation ceremony. (I will technically be done by Thanksgiving. I took two classes during spring term and have three online classes to finish before Thanksgiving. Then I’ll have a BA in Family History and Genealogy. I’m almost there! Hooray!)

Winter semester was crazy. Adam wrote and defended his master’s thesis. He worked so hard on his thesis! That was about all he did for three weeks straight. He really had enough information to make it a doctoral dissertation, but we felt like he should just finish his master’s degree for right now. Adam’s angel mother is an excellent editor, and she edited Adam’s thesis several times. I am so proud of Adam for working so hard and for finishing that 148-page work!

I did oodles of research during winter semester. (It’s what family historians do!) I was in a seminar in professional family history research class (like a practicum for family history majors involving four 25-hour research projects), an advanced German research class (where I got to learn some awesome things about my own immigrant ancestor), and a beginning Hispanic research class. (I have no Hispanic ancestors. Germanic and U.S. Midwest family history are my emphases, but since I knew we were going to move to Texas, I figured it would be helpful to know at least a little bit about Hispanic family history research.) On top of these classes, I also had a German language class and Concert Choir. I traveled to the Family History Library usually once or twice a week. By the end of the semester, I logged over 200 hours of research. Honestly, it was a miracle that I survived and somehow got it all done. Adam supported me in everything that I did, and I am so grateful for his patience with me while I was running around all the time.

Anyway, the graduation ceremony was wonderful. Elder Richard G. Scott spoke to the graduates. He gave some wonderful advice. I love how sensitive and sweet Elder Scott is. 🙂

After the ceremony, Adam and I rang the BYU victory bell together! It was so cool (and loud)! I got a picture with Dr. Minert. He mentored me through most of my undergraduate work and is the only professor who teaches Germanic Family History in the United States. I was also able to work for him for two years. I feel so blessed to have gone to the same university where he teaches! (What are the chances of that?? I had no idea that I would focus so much on Germanic family history when I declared my major.)

After all our picture-taking, Adam and I were starving. We didn’t want to try to find a restaurant that didn’t have a long wait, so we went to the Wendy’s drive-through and got dinner. Then we went to the Malt Shop drive-through for delicious shakes. Mmmm. We went home and ate dinner while watching a movie.

Studying at BYU has been a great blessing in our lives. The time passed so quickly! We’re grateful that we were able to spend so much time learning and improving ourselves there. We know that the things we learned and the experiences we had will bless us for the rest of our lives and that they have prepared us for the mission we have ahead of us.