Graduation

I was so happy to finally walk at graduation! I was surprised to see my name in the program, because they had told me that August graduates would not be listed, but they listed us in our own spot!!! I have heard so many stories this past few weeks about people only having 1 or 2 more classes to finish and not finishing! I am too determined not to finish, hopefully I will feel like a real graduate once I finish my 2 online classes!!!

Graduation day was so much fun. We picked up my Mom from the airport and went straight to get french toast from Kneaders! After that we got ready and went to take pictures at the duck pond on campus with my Mom and Dan. When we were leaving the pond, a man driving a tractor pulled over. I was confused for a moment and then realized it was our wonderful bishop, Bishop Engelhardt!!! It was so fun to see him and introduce him to my Mom!

We then got an amazing parking spot right near the Smith Field House and grabbed a Jamba Juice before the ceremony! We got there right when the School of Engineering was getting out so we got great seats that happened to be right behind our dear friends, the Shakespaeres! Dan had fun playing with Manix during Graduation!

Graduation was long but fun. There were 4 people from our BYU ward that were graduating, Emily Dixon, Dujuan Shakespaere, Allen Christensen and I. There were also 4 people from my home ward that were graduating, Sean Sitton, Josh Holm, Taryn Salmon and I. It was great.

After graduation we went to PF Changs and had delicous food and then we all crashed at the Calkins!

Tomorrow we are going through the Temple and I am soooo beyond excited!!!

Goodbye Epidemiology!

I just took the final for my online Epidemiology class that I needed to graduate! I was seriously worried that I wouldn't be able to get the passing grade I needed on my final in order to receive a grade in the class! With the help of everything good in the world, I somehow did better on the final than I did on the midterm and gloriously will take a C+ in this course. I have never been so happy about a C... I don't think I have ever been happy about a C!!!!

I will never open this book EVER again!

Last Day of Class

I am so happy today was the last day of class!! I turned in my internship notebook after finishing 300 hours at the Health Department! I never thought this day would come.

I also found out today that my gerontology internship only requires 75 hours when I thought it required 150! I will have enough time to finish up my online classes, oh joy....

We are still looking forward to moving to Arizona and are still not sure when we will move down! I am thinking it will be mid June, but we will have to wait and see!

OK my finals start tomorrow and my last final is next Wednesday! Wish me luck!

Then my Momma will get here next Friday for my Graduation and our Endowments at Draper on Saturday!!!!

July 1st - No More Texting while Driving!!!

I am so excited for Utah and this ban coming July 1st! I hope that this law will sweep the nation. I am currently writing a research paper on this subject and this is something I feel strongly about. Texting while driving must have consequences. Sadly enough we need more laws passed in order to limit cell phone use and other distractions in order to reduce the number of distracted driving fatalities.

"The first text messaging law of the legislative season comes from Utah, whose governor signed HB 290 on March 25. The Utah ban on texting while driving goes into effect July 1.

Utah and Virginia will be the eighth and ninth states with laws that restrict text messaging while driving. California joined the club Jan. 1.

Under the legislation signed by Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., text messaging infractions begin as class C misdemeanors, but become class B misdemeanors if the driver has been convicted of texting while driving in the past three years. The class B infraction also applies if the texting is linked to a serious injury.

(FYI Class B misdemeanors are punishable by up to 6 months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. The punishment for Class C misdemeanors is up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $750.)

Numerous other state bills regarding texting and driving remain alive for 2009. Almost all limits on cell phone use by drivers are dead or dying.

Legislatures this year gave serious consideration to text messaging bans for drivers, but little to handheld cell phone sanctions."

Internship Projects

I have been working on these two projects for the past week. The first is a 4 page strength training manual for beginners and the second is a 2 page healthy option guide for the local restaurants that Utah County Health Department employees get discounts at.

Finals are OVER!

I just walked out of my last final about 30 minutes ago! I was so relieved to be done, and a little irritated that I remembered a part to one of the questions a minute after I turned my test in. Oh well. My scantron score showed up on the TV screen downstairs and it was my best grade out of the 3 exams I had to take in that class, so I am hoping to hold onto my A- status in that class!

I was also pleased to see that one of teachers already posted grades! It happens to be the class that my group presented for yesterday (30 minute presentation on Asthma Incidences amongst Hispanics in Utah County). Its not one of the grades I have been watching out for but was very happy to see that I received an A- in that class. It was such a long semester of weekly presentations along with the 30 page final report and 30 minute presentation! I am eagerly awaiting to see what my grade are in my other courses! I am dying to know, well all of them, but especially Health and Aging, I never once saw a grade in that class the entire semester, not even on the exams... for all I know I could have an F and not know it!

HLTH 438 001 Social Marketing 3.00
HLTH 439 001 Program Planning & Evaluation 3.00 A-
HLTH 450 001 Women's Health Issues 3.00
HLTH 466 002 Hlth & Aging Proc 2.00

Finals are going to be the end of me

I am so exhausted... I have been sitting on a hard wooden chair in front of my computer for more hours than I can count... OH PLEASE LET THIS BE OVER!

I should be happy with my 11 credit hour schedule plus 25 hour work week this semester... Because next semester... I get to live this fun little schedule! Thats right... 20 hours at the Health Department unpaid, 17 hours paid at the University Accessibility Center and 15 Credits of classes!!!!!!! (6 are my internship credit hours)

I cannot wait for the day I GRADUATE! I walk April 23rd however will still need to complete my Gerontology internship in spring... so I will OFFICIALLY be done with BYU the end of June!

May We So live

At the beginning of the semester I was assigned to present a 15 minute presentation about death and dying in my Health and Aging course.

Today I attempted to muster through it. My heart was full of emotions on this topic.

I read today President Monson's Ensign article entitled May We So Live. It helped me have a greater peace with the subject and reflect on what death means to me.

Whats your Ecological Footprint

It would take 3.3 worlds to sustain themselves if EVERYONE lived like me....

Whats your footprint?

Healthy Lifestyles Internship

I GOT AN INTERNSHIP!!!! Okay I had to do that! I am so excited!

A little background information:

I have been looking into internships for the past few weeks. I have 2 internships I have to complete 1) for Public health and 2) for Gerontology. I was going to do my Public Health internship at Jamestown Assisted living for elderly and continue and do my Gerontology internship there but I decided I would prefer to do the 2 internships in differing fields.

I started my search out with the idea that I probably would just end up doing my Public Health internship at Jamestown anyway. I had received a few emails from my adviser about some internship opportunities and sent in my resume and set up some interviews. I really wanted to do an internship at the Utah County Public Health department but from what I knew it was hard to find an internship there.

I had talked to someone at the Health Department and she let me know that she was unaware of any opportunities and some of the programs only had openings for Spring and Summer. I interviewed yesterday for a health literacy program and didn't feel really confident that it was what I wanted to do with my internship. I didn't feel like it best utilized my skills or interests. I made a list yesterday of all the new agencies I would call and started making calls.

I don't even know how I got the number for Eric, the director of the Health Promotion department within the Health Department, because I looked back and he wasn't on my list and I couldn't find his number later to cancel my interview. I got a call from a girl named Emilee who said she was over a work wellness program and wanted me to come in to interview. I accepted but once I was home I really wanted to call back and cancel. I just thought that they wouldn't like me that they wouldn't hire me. I thought, how can they hire a fat person to promote health!?

Dan told me just to go and if I really wanted to cancel to wait until the morning. I re thought it and went in. Emilee was really nice and I felt more comfortable once I was there. I was really happy to see that Emilee had a list of exactly what she expected of her intern and she herself had graduated from the Public Health Education program at BYU. I really liked the kind of activities I would be working on like promotion and research!

Emilee called me when I was at lunch with Dan and told me she had spoken with her boss and that they would love to have me as their intern! I was really surprised!

The Healthy Lifestyles program is a work incentive program offered to all the Utah County employees. Participates can earn 500$ a year for meeting specific criteria and if their spouse meets the same criteria they can earn 250$. They use the Apple Program to track the employees health and my job would be to work on activity lists, competitions, newsletters, and brown bag lunch presentations!

None the less I am super excited!

Breast is Best

I am in a wonderful Womens Health class this semester taught by Stephanie Fugal! She is such an amazing teacher filled with so much passion! On Thursday we were discussing Breastfeeding! Seeing as three of my friends became new Mommy's (or for the 3rd time!) and I have quite a few pregnant ones still out there, I found this interesting and important.

There are many reasons why people don't and can't breastfeed and I understand that however I found this lecture enlightening and made me a little less fearful for breastfeeding my children (once I have them!)

"By breastfeeding your babies, you will give them the very best that money cannot buy."
Breastfeeding is however under attack in our nation. People see a breastfeeding mother and can feel uncomfortable and at times may question her or ask her to stop or leave. Something our professor asked us was "Is breastfeeding a Right or a Choice?" Do breastfeeding mothers have rights? Well they do! Currently, 25 states have laws protecting the right to breastfeed in public (including Utah). No one has the right to tell a mother how to feed or where to feed her child!

Another problem mothers are being faced with is "the bag" that they are often given at the hospital upon leaving... the one thats full of formula to last them a few weeks! Breast milk is the best because it offers your baby immunity that they won't otherwise receive. Hospitals honestly feel like they are doing new mom's a favor by giving them these bags but with the high cost of formula, even just doing a few supplemental feedings can cost hundreds if not thousands in a year. There is a new program called Ban the Bag, they found that in Utah 97% of the hospitals are giving out these bags!

Our class is trying to create nursing stations on BYU's campus so that nursing mothers can feed their babies and store milk if needed for husbands to come pick up and feed babies between classes. Utah County is the baby center of the United States and BYU does not have nursing stations. Utah State has upwards to 6 or 7 nursing stations! We are trying to fix this problem!

Breast is best! I also had no idea that giving a baby cows milk within the first year can help them develop allergies to milk! I am so not ready to have a baby, I have lots to learn!

Turn Cans into Keys

For my Health 438 course this semester we are doing a social marketing project with Habitat for Humanities in regards to recycling in Provo. We are trying to raise awareness of the needs for recycling in the communities around BYU as well as help Habitat for Humanities raise money to build new homes for families in our community!

Relationship Violence can happen even at BYU

This semester in my Womens Health Issues class our group is researching Domestic Violence at BYU. In speaking with different people just in our class it was evident that this is a re-occurring problem at our campus even though it is not often talked about. Wymount Terrace on its own gets the BYU police called most often for domestic violence. The masters student that assists our class was telling us that in the two and a half years her husband and her have lived their they have had to call the police over 2 dozen times on different neighbors. 2 times alone last week for one couple.

Many times the police show up and offer the women a safe place to go and they offer the man the chance to go with them to the police station. After so many times the man no longer gets the choice to go, they get escorted in hand cuffs to the station.

At BYU Domestic Violence is not restricted to those whose who have made sacred vows to one another. Many girls have abusive boyfriends (or just men in their lives), that may be it physically or emotionally abusive to them and some may not even realize that it is happening to them. Having lived through this myself in both aspects of physical and emotional violence from a previous boyfriend I understand the need for advocacy in this area especially amongst the girls here at BYU.

Domestic Violence:

Abuse is a means to gain power and control. A behavior is abusive if it is hurtful, occurs in a pattern, and does not stop. Domestic violence is the single most common source of injury to women. Physical violence is estimated to occur in 4 to 6 million intimate relationships each year in the United States.

“How tragic and utterly disgusting a phenomenon is wife abuse. Any man in this Church who abuses his wife, who demeans her, who insults her, who exercises unrighteous dominion over her is unworthy to hold the priesthood. Though he may have been ordained, the heavens will withdraw, the Spirit of the Lord will be grieved, and it will be amen to the authority of the priesthood of that man.” President Gordon B. Hinckley

For more information visit BYU's Women Services.

Other Resources:
Where Home isn't a Haven by Kent Harrison
Coping with the aftermath of Abuse by Jane Lawson
Healing from abuse through the power of the Atonement by Daniel Judd
Not to People Like Us by Susan Weitzman
To Heal the Shattering Consequences of Abuse by Richard G. Scott
Church Program Helps Victims of Domestic Violence
Utah Dating Violence Task Force

Who to call for help:
Women's Services and Resources 422-4887
BYU Police 422-2222
Center for Women & Children in Crisis/Rape Crisis Center 377-5500
National 24-hour Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE

Dinner at the Seville

If you don't already know this semester I have fell in love with gerontology. Strange as it may be I am very interested in this field. Tonight for my health and aging class we went to one of the local retirement homes to have dinner with the residents. Each student was to pick a table and talk to the residents through dinner and then write a 3 page paper on what they talked about. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to remember enough to write the paper but upon arriving home I was able to write 3 pages easy on what we had talked about.

The three women I sat with were all in their 80's. One was 88! She had been married for 63 years when her husband passed away 7 years ago and she was married at 18 years old! She told me of the years that she grew up in Minnesota and her many years as a seamstress, raising four children and eventually running a fabric store. She was very sweet and she currently spends most of her time working on humanitarian projects for children around the world.

The other 2 women were not as talkative as the first but they were also kind and enjoyed living at the Seville. One was married at 17 and a half and the other at 22. There marriages both lasted about 30-40 years before their husbands passed. They all had great senses of humor, joking back and forth and telling me about their friends that they had their. The most common phrase said amongst the three was "I can't hear you!"

They were so excited about my recent marriage and my upcoming graduation. One of them told me to never get old because its the pits and just started laughing. They were so fun. To say the least I see getting old as an honor. My mom scoffed at me when I told her I am excited to get old. I guess what I was trying to say is that you either die young or grow old and I want to be able to have a full long life with my dear Dan!

Anyway I am excited to get involved at Jamestown Assisted living for my internship and to be able to interact with the residence their everyday!

Fall is here!

So far I am 3 weeks into school and everything is going well! I haven't missed a class yet which is quite a success for me. My classes aren't too bad and this is my last semester with a full class load. I have already started doing some research into what I would like to do for my internship. So far I have decided that I am minoring in Gerontology and that I want to do my 9 credits of internship at Jamestown Assisted Living in Provo. Its just 3 miles away and I would be planning activities for the seniors that live there. I am looking forward to walking during the April graduation and finishing up with my internship in June!

We celebrated Dans 22nd birthday this past week! His birthday was on the 18th but we started celebrating the Saturday before! He had a great birthday and I want to thank everyone who made it a great week for him even though he had finals!We also celebrated my sister in law Kandace's birthday and my father in law Mark's birthday this last week!

I have to say that I am so proud of Dan. He has just finished his 5th quarter at Neumont University and got amazing grades!! He has 3 quarters left and I am so excited for him to start his career. We have discussed our post grad plans and are hoping that Dan has a job lined up before he graduates. I am hoping that we can move to either Las Vegas or Phoenix. Those would be my top two places to live! Either way I am looking forward to finding a full time job at a senior center or assisted living home as well as becoming a Certified Nurses Assistant.

Yesterday we went car shopping (not for now but hopefully the near future)! I officially hate shopping at dealerships but we drove some cool cars! We are looking at getting a Hybrid and so we looked at the Toyota Prius, Camry, and Highlander! Dan and I agreed that the Prius (although gets about 45 mpg) is very small and has an obstructed rear visual field. Dan loved the Camry, it was tons more roomy and has a sleek design. I loved the Highlander for its 3 rows of seats and SUV style while still getting almost 30 mpg! For now we don't have to worry about it but I look forward to getting a new car in the future!

Anyway, Fall is here which means winter is around the corner. I truly hope that next winter we will be living somewhere a little warmer!!

Staying up with Grandpa Rex

This week has been an interesting start of school for me. It involved its usual struggles over financial aid, shuffling between work and classes, and forgetting to do homework assignments that were already due. But this week was interesting because I started working with my acedemic adviser on how to get me outta here in a year with a diploma! We discussed internships and I have to go back to make sure I have all the classes I need.

I am taking a class on "Health and the Aging process," upon attending that class I decided to pick up the Gerontology minor/certificate to my to do list to graduate. I only have to take 1 (maybe 2) more classes to fulfill the requirement, they will give me 200-500 dollars just for doing it and it will bump me just up to 120 credit hours I need in order to graduate. I would like to complete my internship working with the elderly as well!

I have extensive experience in working with people with disabilities and I figure I really enjoy doing what most people wouldn't want to do. Seeing as I didn't even realize until this last year (blind and ignorant I am) that people would dislike people with disabilities, be scared of them, judge and be prejudice against them.

I really enjoy elderly people. I have always found such an honor and beauty in the fact that they have had the privilege to live a long life. It is something I want to have and in my own personal opinion, those newly born and those close to death are the two closest things to God that I have found on this earth. I have been around newborns and have felt their peace and spirit and this week I have been around Daniels grandfather, Rex, as he is transitioning to pass.

He is 95 years old. He has always been a kind, good humored man with a big heart.

Spring Classes

Although they are only approximately 7 weeks they are especially hard (for me) because it means I am sitting in class till almost 8:30 on Tuesday and Thursday.

Today was especially hard after slamming my head (accidentally) into a door. It hurt a lot. It was very loud. My manager that I don't like was sitting about 15 feet away in his cubicle and failed to acknowledge or ask what the very loud crash was. I picked my self up, got through the door and doubled over in the hallway in pain. It was fun.

I am starting to visualize how the rest of my life will be

I have enjoyed finishing up finals this semester. Looking forward to all A's and only one B landing this semester at number one on my best grades list for my time at BYU. I however am exhausted. I have been working a lot and am going to start working on campus 40 hours a week plus another 10 at my 2nd job as well as doing 3 credits of classes which actual ends up being 6 hours a week of classes. I will pretty much be up every day from 7 to at least 8 going straight without breaks... Is this the life of a DIVA? I think not, but its my life for right now.

I love working with my boss Sherene and my co-worker Mary! I hate working with one of my managers Scott but I pretty much keep my mouth shut when I am around him. I love feeling like I am helping my and Daniels future. I don't dislike working, I just disliking not getting to be with Dan as much as I would like. He is working hard too but I want his focus to be on getting through school. I am so proud of his last term at Neumont! It was his best term by far and I am so happy I am marrying such a bright intelligent person who teaches me so much. I also appreciate that he comes from very smart parents.

Anyway I am tired and excited and anxious for the future! As for this weekend I get to move in with my old roommate and current co-worker Mary! Mary is by far one of my favorite people I have lived with while attending BYU and I am really happy that I get to spend my last 2 months with roommates with Mary!!!

Thats all for now!