ITALY!!

For all those Italy lovers out there - check out my new travel blog: www.ciaoitalyciao.wordpress.com

Leave a comment and share it with all your friends!

The end and beginning of another adventure

Well it has been too long since I updated my blog. A lot of things have been keeping me busy - including an amazing and long awaited month in Italy and a few days in New York City with some of my favorite people: The Crandall Family. It was great to finally get away from Rexburg with Dane and my sister and experience another adventure. Something I will never grow tired of.

I have started a blog for my senior project that will talk about our experiences in Italy as well as giving insightful tips, dos and don'ts and even some stories that should make you laugh, cry and probably want to visit Italy yourself. Everyone has been asking me, so was it worth it? The answer is: OF COURSE! Why on earth would visiting Italy not be worth it. If you want to know, book a flight and head on over to the Mediterranean for the experience of a lifetime. If you are interested in checking out the blog, please do: http://ciaoitalyciao.wordpress.com/ 

More news is that Dane and I finally arrived in sunny San Jose, California, where we will spend the next three and a half years of our life. We were definitely ready to get settled into our new apartment after traveling the globe for over a month. The best part of it all was seeing our families in Canada and Utah and not having to pay rent for the months of August and most of September!

Dane started chiropractic school on the 1st of October and is still getting used to the instructors, textbooks and expectations of the school after being graduated for almost 2 years. While he is at school, I have been spending my days as a digital media intern with the San Jose Sharks NHL hockey team. It really is the internship opportunity of a lifetime and I am grateful to have it.

While I hear it is getting cold up North, Dane and I frequently spend some time at the pools in our apartment complex and I am proud to say that I still have the glow of a tan on October 3, 2012. That has never happened to me before. It is beautiful here with the warmth, the palm trees and the green trees and grass. I am enjoying it so far. We are working out each day and trying to change our lifestyle. It has been so much fun so far and I am happy to share this time with Dane. It is another adventure for us to be here for these next three and half years. In the meantime I am looking for a job and enjoying as much sun as possible!

Graduation and Goodbyes

I never thought this week would come, but alas it is here. I am already packing boxes, selling textbooks back and preparing last minute graduation details.

With family on the way for this weekend's graduation ceremony and goodbyes with fellow classmates, professors and faculty, I am feeling a little nostalgic about all those that have influenced my life and made it possible to be where I am.

My first thank-you goes to Dane. You've been my rock through the last year and a half. You have encouraged me, strengthened me and lifted me when I was physically and emotionally tired. You always know just what to say or do to put a smile on my face and make me feel important. Most of all, you take care of me the way I need and love. I couldn't be happier. I love you. x.

Mom and Dad. You have given me one of the greatest gifts anyone could give: an education. You pushed me and had high hopes for who I could become and never judged me when I wanted to try something new or different. As a teenager I may not have vocalized how much you mean to me, but that is probably because I didn't know it until now. Thank you for bringing me up right.

My siblings. Steve, Todd, Tim, Heather, Lindsay, David, Rebecca and Scotty.  Thank you for being patient with me as I matured. My memories of our childhoods, Christmas holidays, vacations, family home evenings and dinners always bring a smile to my face. I grew up on laughter, tears and hand me down clothes, but most of all love. Thank you for being my best friends, advocates and advisors.

To those along the way. Thank you for your examples, your advice, your lifestyles and your perspectives. It has been a privilege to rub shoulders with you. I have learned some of life's greatest lessons with you, because of you and for you.

Next week Dane and I will be packing up the moving truck and heading south. We have loved our first year of marriage together in Idaho. This is where it all began for us. We hope to find joy in the next phase of our life as Dane begins chiropractic school and I look for a job. We are blessed and it's because of all of you. Goodbye Rexburg.

Breast Cancer awareness

I made this for my multimedia journalism class:

Ryan Skidmore lost his mother to breast cancer at age 14. Since that time, his life has taken some unexpected turns and he struggled to understand why God took his mother away. After years of inactivity in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ryan missed the opportunity to serve a mission and experience the joy that comes from living the gospel.  Now, 27 years old, Ryan is engaged to married in the temple to his sweetheart Alex and has come back into full activity within the Church. His testimony of families and the gospel has grown and he has come to understand that this experience has made him who he is today – stronger and better.  Even though the loss of his mother is still close to his heart, he does all he can to talk about her and promote breast cancer awareness through the life he lives each day.

While filming this short video on Ryan and his experience with losing his mother through breast cancer, I was able to find out that his aunt died shortly after his mother from the same diagnosis.  His grandma is also a victim of breast cancer.  Ryan is a collector of Air Jordan shoes. Perhaps his favorite shoes are those that he bought for the breast cancer foundation. They are pink and symbolize his love for his mother and other family members that were victims of breast cancer.  Each year, Ryan participates in a run for cancer and donates to causes whenever possible.

Please donate to the National Breast Cancer Foundation Inc. today : You could save a life.

https://nbcf.stayclassy.org/checkout/donation?eid=15489

Scroll advisor touches the lives of students

A movie I made for a class assignment:

Brother Ryan Hales has been a part of Scroll since he was a student at Ricks College. Now, years later, he advises students in a portion of I-Comm, known as the Scroll newspaper. With his unique talents, personality and love for people, he is able to share a piece of his life with students during their development and education at BYU-Idaho.
Students share how he has touched their lives, inspired their goals and shaped their education during his time as a Scroll advisor.
The one thing everyone had to say about him: His laugh fills the room and he's fun to be around.

Illegal Immigration

My most recent article on immigration:

http://www.byuicomm.net/immigration-policy-rewards-illegals/

What do you think?

Government Program Abuse

This is an article I wrote for Brigham Young University-Idaho's campus newspaper: Scroll


Just click on the link below to read.

Government Program Abuse

What do you think?