oh mama!

This past week was a whirl wind of events.

Let’s elaborate. My husband graduated from the college of Mechanical Engineering at Utah State University. Now, it’s always a great thing to earn a degree no matter the field. But it’s even better when that degree brings the “added benefit of personal enrichment” because according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (naceweb.org), engineering students are being offered the highest entry-level salaries of any profession (http://education-portal.com/articles/College_Degrees_Worth_the_Most_Money.html).

Double. Fist. Pump.

But on a serious note, I was a very proud wife last Saturday. Ben’s mom (my mother in law who I call “mama”) flew all the way out from Kentucky, and we both sat in the audience doe-eyed as the male link in our lives strutted across the stage. Ah, 5 years of hard work rewarded with a slip of paper and a single line to put in your resume. All the while I thought “Bah, I should’ve bought him a lei.”

The rest of the week was equally celebratory with Mother’s Day on Sunday and mama’s birthday on Monday! Her Mother’s Day request was that we pick up art supplies at Michael’s and sketch together (perhaps the cutest birthday wish ever). Low and behold, the coffee shop Citrus & Sage was open, so we bought a round of toasty drinks (to complement the pitter-patter of rain outside) and drew the hour away. Mama sketched a flower, Ben sketched mama, and I sketched a mob of fat ceramic birds.

I wasn’t happy with the under-saturation of colors, so I took this picture (before giving the artwork to mama) and added color digitally on Photoshop. Alas, my infatuation with chubby birds continues.

Just to rewind a little, on Saturday night we visited Hastings and mama found this awesome book of sock creatures. Look at those piggies!

As if to emphasize the sock-iness of the night, Ben and I ran into this guy. We all know him…Sock Monkey! Much to our horror though, his smile can be found on other surfaces.

Anyways, Monday followed too quickly and we found ourselves slurping up delicious tikka masala at Tandoori Oven. I think mama called it the “Aladdin” restaurant. The night closed with our very own sock animals (Curie had her heart set on mama’s pikachu-look-alike). I think mine was a pig/bear, but when I asked him what he was he just looked at me. Probably because I never gave him a mouth :)