Dental School Graduation
Happy Wednesday!
I know I'm a couple weeks late, but I wanted share all about our super fun road trip we took to Canada and Upstate New York!
To celebrate Shawn's graduation from dental school, we decided to take a trip north up to Canada to see Toronto and Niagara Falls before we moved to Texas. Neither of us had been there and it sounded like a good way to end our time here on the east coast.
Shawn's parents and grandparents decided to join us so they flew into Toronto and we met them there! We went out to dinner that first night at a BBQ place and man, Canada does NOT have good BBQ! It was awful. We waited an hour for our food. When it finally arrived, it was cold. They were out of cornbread, ribs, wings, and beans. This is a BBQ place at 8:00 on a Saturday night. We were shocked and disappointed to say the least, but we weren't going to let it ruin our trip!
Sunday was Mother's Day and we all went to church together. After church we drove to the Toronto Ontario LDS Temple and spent some time on the grounds. It was so pretty! And the weather was amazing that day! Being the tourists we are, we headed downtown to see the sites. On the list were The Distillery District, Nathan Phillips Square and Sugar Beach. Toronto is such a pretty city, and a lot bigger than I thought!
Monday morning we made the hour long drive down to Niagara Falls. This was seriously one of the neatest experiences of my life! I put it right up there with climbing to the crown of the Statue of Liberty. If you get the chance to see Niagara Falls (from both sides), do it!! We walked along the top of the Canadian falls and looked out across at the U.S. falls. Then we ziplined along the Canadian side and got an up close view of the falls. It was so amazing!
We made our way over to the U.S. side and rode the Maid of the Mist ferry. Another great experience. Good thing they give you a poncho because you get SOAKED! It was so windy and wet, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world!
On Tuesday we got to see all of the LDS Church Historical sites in Palmyra and Fayette, New York. We saw the grove where Joseph Smith prayed, the hill where the plates were buried, the press where the first Book of Mormon was printed and the land where the church was first organized. The Spirit was so strong at all of these sites and it helped strengthen my testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel so much. If you're interested in learning more about these sites and their significance to the LDS (Mormon) people, click here.
Tuesday night and Wednesday were spent in Cooperstown, New York. I had no idea this place was even here or that it was a huge baseball mekka! Such a cute little town. We ate dinner at a yummy place called Upstate Bar & Grill Tuesday night then spent our time Wednesday at the Baseball Hall of Fame. If you're a baseball lover and in the area you should definitely check it out! After the Hall of Fame we started our drive back to Boston.
My parents flew in late Wednesday night which meant the whole gang was finally all here! Thursday morning we went to the Boston LDS Temple together then headed downtown for lunch at Union Oyster House. If you live in Boston or visit Boston....you have to eat here! It's the oldest restaurant in the nation located in the historical part of downtown and they have amazing seafood (or other food if you're not a seafood person)! Knowing that my time in Boston was winding down, I knew I had to get in one more Primark shopping trip. If you haven't heard me rave about this place, check out this post! Such a great store, I'm definitely going to miss it. After some shopping we headed back to our apartment to eat dinner and go to mine and Shawn's indoor soccer championship games. Long story short, we played two games in a row with no girl subs and one guy sub so I played 90 minutes straight (which I haven't done in forever!). We won the first game and advanced from semi-finals into the championship game, but unfortunately with no subs and being exhausted we barely lost. Rough night, but I'm always just happy to play!
Friday...GRADUATION DAY! This day was crazy! We had waited so long and worked so hard for it. And before we knew it it was here! Four years of school, no money, living far from family, and being pounded by Nor'Easters was finally coming to an end. We had grown together as well as individually. We strengthened our marriage and our appreciation for our families. Dental school is a good test of your relationship and really puts you threw the metaphorical ringer (check out this post to see how I survived being a dental student's wife!). But as Shawn's name was called and he walked across that stage to receive his diploma, I knew we had made it. We crossed the finish line together; stronger, a little wiser and ready to go put down some roots!
I know every woman has "proud wifey" moments, and I don't want to diminish anyone else's by writing about mine, but the way I felt at that ceremony was indescribable. So many emotions were running through me all at once; joy, happiness, pride, relief, love, gratitude, and a few hundred more. Definitely one of the best days of my life! And it got a bit better that night when we went to our last Red Sox game! We froze, but had a blast!
Since we had our entire apartment packed up already, we were able to just load up the truck early Saturday morning then do some cleaning and say our goodbyes. Goodbyes suck, but I'm confident that we'll see all our friends again! And maybe even Boston. Cheers to a happy Wednesday and a great rest of the week!
To celebrate Shawn's graduation from dental school, we decided to take a trip north up to Canada to see Toronto and Niagara Falls before we moved to Texas. Neither of us had been there and it sounded like a good way to end our time here on the east coast.
Shawn's parents and grandparents decided to join us so they flew into Toronto and we met them there! We went out to dinner that first night at a BBQ place and man, Canada does NOT have good BBQ! It was awful. We waited an hour for our food. When it finally arrived, it was cold. They were out of cornbread, ribs, wings, and beans. This is a BBQ place at 8:00 on a Saturday night. We were shocked and disappointed to say the least, but we weren't going to let it ruin our trip!
Sunday was Mother's Day and we all went to church together. After church we drove to the Toronto Ontario LDS Temple and spent some time on the grounds. It was so pretty! And the weather was amazing that day! Being the tourists we are, we headed downtown to see the sites. On the list were The Distillery District, Nathan Phillips Square and Sugar Beach. Toronto is such a pretty city, and a lot bigger than I thought!
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| Toronto LDS Temple |
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| Sugar Beach in Toronto...right on a pier! |
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| The Distillery District in Toronto is so cool! The art is amazing...like this one. The Incredibles anyone? |
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| Another neat piece of art in The Distillery District |
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| This sign in Nathan Phillips Square was probably my favorite part! How cool is that?! |
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| Looking down at the beautiful Canadian falls! It amazes me how much water is there and how powerful it is! |
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| Shawn's cute grandparents |
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| Looking across at the US Falls |
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| Right before we ziplined across the falls! A little scary, but totally worth it! |
We made our way over to the U.S. side and rode the Maid of the Mist ferry. Another great experience. Good thing they give you a poncho because you get SOAKED! It was so windy and wet, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world!
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| Riding the Maid of the Mist right up to the falls! |
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| Like I said, good thing we had ponchos! |
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| That view though! |
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| Smith Family Farm - Palmyra, NY |
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| The Sacred Grove - Palmyra, NY |
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| Hill Cumorah - Palmyra, NY |
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| The Hill Cumorah - Palmyra, NY |
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| Book of Mormon Publication Site (Grandin Press) - Palmyra, NY |
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| Church Organization Site (Peter Whitmer Farm) - Fayette, NY |
Tuesday night and Wednesday were spent in Cooperstown, New York. I had no idea this place was even here or that it was a huge baseball mekka! Such a cute little town. We ate dinner at a yummy place called Upstate Bar & Grill Tuesday night then spent our time Wednesday at the Baseball Hall of Fame. If you're a baseball lover and in the area you should definitely check it out! After the Hall of Fame we started our drive back to Boston.
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| My cute in-laws outside the Baseball Hall of Fame |
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| Awesome 3D Artwork of Fenway Park |
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| The Red Sox "Locker Room" |
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| This is the huge hall where every single player in the Hall of Fame has a plaque like this. So cool! |
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| I grew up watching Ichiro play and cheering for the Mariners so I had to throw this picture in there! |
Friday...GRADUATION DAY! This day was crazy! We had waited so long and worked so hard for it. And before we knew it it was here! Four years of school, no money, living far from family, and being pounded by Nor'Easters was finally coming to an end. We had grown together as well as individually. We strengthened our marriage and our appreciation for our families. Dental school is a good test of your relationship and really puts you threw the metaphorical ringer (check out this post to see how I survived being a dental student's wife!). But as Shawn's name was called and he walked across that stage to receive his diploma, I knew we had made it. We crossed the finish line together; stronger, a little wiser and ready to go put down some roots!
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| The whole gang there to support Shawn! |
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| Shawn and I made some amazing friends during dental school! Friendships that will last a lifetime. |
I know every woman has "proud wifey" moments, and I don't want to diminish anyone else's by writing about mine, but the way I felt at that ceremony was indescribable. So many emotions were running through me all at once; joy, happiness, pride, relief, love, gratitude, and a few hundred more. Definitely one of the best days of my life! And it got a bit better that night when we went to our last Red Sox game! We froze, but had a blast!
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