Graduation Shin-dig

Yesterday was my last Saturday in the state of Wisconsin and I won't lie, I am not too sad about that. It was also my graduation/farewell party. It was great to see my family and friends who have been a part of my life for a long time. It was sad, however, to say goodbye to some individuals who I know I won't see again until Christmas time. Here are the few pictures I took of the whole afternoon... whoops, my bad that I didn't take more!



This is the cake that I had. As you can see, it was half Everest and half Utah State. It had a minor accident in the car but other than that, was delicious. The Utah State side was better in my opinion though!
This is the only picture I took with people in it. Whoops! This is Pat, my camp director, his son, Michael who I babysit for a lot, and Boomer (Jackie) our nature director this summer. In the background is Hollis. I will miss these people a lot and can't wait until Christmas to see them again! All in all, it was fun time with family and friends. It is weird to think it will be four months before I see them again!

First Time to Nauvoo

On Friday and Saturday, I was able to visit Nauvoo, Illinois. For those who are unaware of why that place is so cool to visit, let me explain to you. Joseph Smith and the other Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints travelled across the United States with Salt Lake as the final destination. Nauvoo, IL was one of the stopping points for the entire group of members. While there, a lot of events occurred. The Nauvoo Temple was built, the city was built up with homes for the Saints even though they left a few short months later, and the death of Hyrum and Joseph Smith.

I was very excited to go and it was a lot of fun. I went with the Young Single Adult group from the Wausau Area. We arrived Friday afternoon after an eight hour drive. We watched a performance, "High Hopes and River Boats," which portrayed the time period and the mentalities of the Saints in the 1830's and 40's. Then we walked around Historic Nauvoo and saw the burial place of Hyrum and Joseph Smith. It was an eerie feeling to be in the place where the Lord's Prophet is buried. Then we went to the Joseph Smith Pageant, which is a production put on by many people from the country who serve in Nauvoo. It tells the story of the pioneers in Nauvoo and the challenges and happiness they had. It was really cool to see the story unfold. On Saturday, I went to the Nauvoo Temple and did baptisms for the dead. This was the second time I went to a temple and it was a very cool experience. Being in the temple is such a good feeling and the temples are a great blessing. After that, we had some down time to walk about the historical sites in Nauvoo. I went to the Blacksmith Ship and the Brickyard and learned all about building up the city in the 1800's. Then we went to Carthage Jail where Joseph Smith was killed. There was a weird feeling there, thinking that the Prophet died there. It was, however, educational to hear about the events that took place there.

Due to time restraints, we didn't get to see a whole lot or experience parts of the city. I am really excited to go back some year and take my time going throughout all the buildings and sites. However, for the first time, it was nice and overwhelming. The city is full of Church history and I tried so hard to remember it all. It is a place where a person can always learn something new about the Church.

Turning the Page

Coming off of Brandon and Bonnie's wedding last weekend, this week has been a catch-up week. I leave for Utah in four weeks, which brings both harmony and chaos to my mind. This week served as a page turn and transition. The only thing I was waiting for from high school was my AP grades. The only thing in the academic area at Utah State that I was waiting for was my class schedule. Those both got finalized this week.

In May of this year I took four AP tests. AP tests are the "final test" for a year long course that is close to the level of rigor of Freshman College classes. If an individual scores high enough, college credit is given and most times the person can test out of general degree requirements. This past year I took AP Government, AP English, AP Psychology and AP Calculus. The tests are scored from 1-5, 5 being the best. I received 3's in AP English, AP Calculus, and AP Government and a 5 in AP Psychology. Combining those scores with my scores from last year, I already have 27 credits theoretically for college. It was well worth the costs of the tests and the amount of time put into the classes.

With that, I have finalized my schedule for my first semester at Utah State University. Official classes begin August 25th. Here is my schedule

Monday/Wednesday/Friday
Creative Arts 9:30-10:20
Sociology 11:30-12:20
Life Science 2:30-3:20
Intro to Elementary Education 7:15-9:45 pm (Only Wednesdays)

Tuesday/Thursday
Physics 10:30-11:45 am plus lab from 8:30-10:20 on Thursdays
Religion Class 1:30-2:20

All in all, I am super duper excited for classes to begin and find out what college classes feel like. I am sure after a few weeks, I will be sick of them and start counting down the days until graduation.

Conquered Fear

July 5th will always hold a special spot in my heart now. It was the day that I finally barefooted. That day has been in the making since I started to ski five years ago over Memorial Day weekend in 2003. It has been well worth the wait, let me tell you. This Fourth of July, I celebrated it up north with the Stefonik's on the lake. Despite the harsh and choppy conditions on the lake, we gave the water a run for its money and managed to ski a little. Michael and John helped me get ready for barefooting. While I have no bruises to show for the challenge I overcame, I do have a neck brace now. I managed, on the last fall, to tear the muscles in my neck. It is a lovely brace. I can't run for a few weeks and can't ski the rest of the season. So even though I conquered my fear of barefooting, I will have to wait until next summer to try it again. I have no pictures of barefooting but there is video and will be here soon. I will miss water-skiing, that is for sure this school year. I plan to buddy up with some family that has a nice boat and some skis.


This week I was also able to go to Noah's Ark for a day with some friends from Wausau. It was a lot of fun and a fairly nice day. Towards the end of the day, rain and storms arrived that put a little crinkle in our fun. All in all, we got sunburn and a stomach full of water but had an awesome time. I will miss being able to get together with friends from high school immensely as I leave in five weeks!

Temple Trip

Yesterday I went to the Church of Jesus Christ for Latter-Day Saints temple in St. Paul for the first time. It was amazing! I was able to be baptized for my great-grandma, which was an awesome moment for me. I know that she appreciates what I did and I cannot wait to go to Heaven and see her again. I know she is thankful for what I am able to do on Earth. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to allow people to choose in Heaven. The experience was something I will never forget. It was so peaceful and I could feel the Spirit there. The Temple President spoke about how Jesus Christ suffered and died for our sins vicariously as well. It made me think about forgiveness and the atonement in a different way. All in all, it was a really cool experience and I look forward to going to the Logan Temple out in Utah more.

Less than Two Months

So as you can probably see in the title, I leave Wisconsin in less than two months. It is actually exactly 56 days until I depart my life here and face Utah head on! I am a little excited... just a little. My roommates and I have been talking much more lately as far as what each of us are bringing and all that jazz. We are going to be a very musical room because I have one roommate studying band, another who loves to sing and then me with orchestra. I hope we have music playing constantly. Two of the girls we had in our room initially have switched rooms so now we are done to only 4. Three of us are from out of state but we're not sure if more girls are coming into our room.

Week two is done at camp and it was a rough week. All of the program staff sat down and we felt things were going too well. We knew something would happen. And stuff happened this week. We had a few discipline issues with campers and staff. I discovered that confronting staff is really hard. It is the most difficult part of my job, bottom line. But, there are moments that I love camp. One moment in particular these past few weeks was through our progression program. Campers progress through activities as they age. When a camper is six, they can only go in a row boat. When they turn eight, they can go in a canoe for the first time. I was able to see a few campers canoe for the first time. It is awesome. It feels like seeing a baby take their first step. I love those moments at camp.

A friend and I took a road trip around Wausau one night this past week and we found a huge gorilla thing. I hope you like the picture.

Graduation and more

This week has been filled with a lot of great stuff. On Sunday, it was Senior Sunday at church. Here are all of my friends who go to the same church. It was a great morning.

On Tuesday I graduated from good old D.C. Everest High School. The ceremony was fun but I must say the party afterwards was better. I graduated in the top 10% of my class, which was wonderful! I am happy with that. I just got my final report card and I graduated with a 3.93 GPA technically. Now I have to go on and keep that in college.

This is Grandma, Trescha, Mom and I at graduation. The white cords that I am wearing is for National Honor Society. The red, white and blue cords are for a national scholarship that I received. I was the only one in my class to wear them, which was really cool.

Post-graduation, I am working at the YMCA camp in Wausau again. It is an amazing time there. I got promoted yet again this summer and I serve as the Program Director now. I have a lot of responsibilities and also must be ready for an emergency that comes along. With one week in, I feel ready to face any challenges. Our staff this summer is great and learning something new each day. It is great to see the campers and see how they have changed both physically and emotionally. This summer will be my last one at the YMCA camp simply because of my need to gain residency in Utah next year. It is quite sad but I am excited for the new adventures I will have in the upcoming years.