Life in Atlanta, GA!

I wonder if there is a way to show these pictures in a smaller entry, but not a slide show. Anyway, this is where we live, we love our neighborhood, our apartment complex and our ward. As you can tell we are house poor, but we don't mind really.

Our little kitchen

That's my baby bump at 17 weeks

Our first Sunday meal in our apartment. I attempted meatloaf. We have a nice dinning room, don't we?

My adorable husband ready to go to church

My friend the squirrel, I love going outside and watch them for hours

The sun room. Those door go to the complex's gardens

This is what we see if we go outside from the sun room

We figured that since we have a breakfast bar we just needed two barstools

When we have furniture this should be our living room

Laundry space

Storage room that will eventually become the baby's room

Front door

Sun room doors

The gardens

Mike is already sick of me taking pictures!

This is an office building that is outside of our complex, we love the landscape there 

No more pictures please!!

The beautiful temple, we can walk up to it. A great blessing!

The entrance of the apartment complex

20 Weeks and a new calling

Today I was set apart as the assistant camp director for my ward and the other family ward that comes to our building. I have no idea what I am going to be doing since I don't know anything about camping and I don't really enjoy it, but I know I will learn to love it. Most importantly, I will try my best to serve and to do the things that the lord wants me to do. Not for nothing one of my favorite hymns is "I'll go where you want me to go".

This is my baby bump at 20 weeks!
I didn't realize how hard it is to take a picture like this since you actually try not to show any belly in pictures, and then my photographer lacks aunt Karen's experience.

Life without Taj! or Life since Taj!

My parents getting out of church

 Well, this is the first day after 18 weeks that I feel normal enough to do normal people stuff, I have also run out of my morning sickness medication (which makes me sleep all day), I don’t need it anyway. My last post was on November when we lost our dear kitty Taj, and a lot of things have happened since then. Before that, in October, my mom was in a horrible situation, some of you know that my parents did not go to school and have always had to struggle in order to provide for me and my siblings. In April of last year they were told by the bank that they needed to pay certain amount to keep their home, and of course being a family that have always lived pay check by pay check it was a shocking and impossible amount for them to obtain without going into terrible debt. The week before conference I was talking to my mother on the phone and she was crying, she said that had lost all hope and she did not know where to turn. I had invited my parent to church but they were never interested and I always try to give them their space, I try not to be pushy but teaching by example. That day I felt so strong the need to decide something for her for the very first time in my life, I told her that the following day I would have somebody pick her up and take her to my church for general conference. She was so sad and concerned that she did not say anything. I made phone calls and sent emails and Facebook messages as quickly as I could and manage to find a sister who would go get my mom and take her to church. I was so scared and worried, but I told her that the only way I could help her was by sharing what the gospel brings to my life. We had prayed so hard for that moment to come! And that Saturday night we knelt down and asked Heavenly Father to touch their hearts (My dad went with my mom to support her, I really think she forced him though). Elder Hales delivered what my mother and father were hoping for. After that and thanks to our precious angels as they like to call them, my parents were able to keep their home. They still struggle since my dad lost his job in December, but they keep investigating the church and trying to deal with their problems differently. Things are hard for them, but I cannot be happier. I just hope they soon make the decision to join the church, I keep praying, hoping, and being an example for them.

Golden Key Honour Society's Member of the Year

 During the Fall semester I made a commitment to myself that I would use any free time to give service. When I started studying I felt horrible that nobody would give me a scholarship no matter how high my GPA was because I did not spend enough time at school activities, and after receiving a scholarship for academic excellence I decided that then was time to do something more. Spending all night studying makes you a good student, but there is more that you can do, not only to gain experience but to help other. I spent A LOT of hours helping in youth conferences, book drives, translating manuals for the church into Spanish (19 of them are now part of the Teachings of the Prophets manual in Spanish), I also spent hours in the mediation center for parent and teens as an Spanish interpreter among other activities, all this while keeping my 4.0 GPA. I made myself know in the Spanish department at UVU and was invited to be the official interpreter for a talk that was going to be given by the First Lady of Honduras, I ended up not doing it because the people who were coming with her was not comfortable with the interpreter being a student, but at least I know what I am capable of. Anyway, because of all this service I was given the “Golden Key Member of the Year Scholarship”, which is a big deal since members of this society are the top 15% of their classes.

Mike works for UGL Services in the Clark Atlanta University account 

 In December we also had to make a decision about Mike’s first job after graduating from BYU. This was one of the biggest tests for me. Thank Goodness he got a lot of offers; we could have gone to New Mexico, Washington D.C., Nebraska, Atlanta, or even Hawaii. He felt that the best opportunity was in Washington D.C. and I knew that I was going to be miserable because I am not used to the cold at all (I sleep with an electric blanket all year long!), but I knew that I needed to support my husband, so I told him I did not want to go there but that I would if he thought it was the best for our family. I remember myself crying myself to sleep because I thought I would be so far, so cold, and so alone, and then it all changed. I was a missing something very important for women that month and had not even realized because I was so caught up with finals and job decisions, I took a pregnancy test and it was positive. Before I told Mike I told him I was willing to go wherever he decided to go and that I would do it happily, I knew I wasn’t going to be alone and that I was going to be busy to even think about it. At the end we decided to take the job in Atlanta because he wants to get a master’s degree at Georgia Tech, because the benefits were the best of all offers, and because he loves me enough to choose a warm place for me to be. And he is having fun being one of the few white people in his office. I have had the hardest 18 weeks of my life, I have lost more than 10 pounds and I have been in urgent care once for dehydration, but at the same time I have blessed with a husband that loves me and takes care of me, we live in a beautiful place, we live two blocks from our chapel AND the Atlanta GA Temple, I wake up every morning and I see squirrels and all kinds of birds, and most importantly our baby is healthy and strong I am feeling normal again. I tried to handle online classes but as hard as it is for me I had to take a break and take it easy, classes are very stressful when you have to do it in a second language and not even seeing your professor.

My parents Luis and Queta, my brother Erick and my sister Ligia

 I feel good, since the day I came to this country I have had high expectations for myself. I realize that in order to change the stereotype in which Mexicans (and Latinos in general) have fallen I have to be an over achiever. I have felt love and hatred from people that I would never expected to make nasty remarks about my people, one day a Pepsi guy refused to do what I told him to do and told my boss that I was only a Mexican and that he would not work with me, my boss then told him he had to report to me every time he went to the school. Or when somebody said that Mexicans were scary looking, or when people give their opinion about how horrible Mexican music is. I take it personally because when I hear or read things like that I think of my honest, loving parents, I think of my brother who is working his way to school, I think of my sister who is a loving sister, wife and daughter who doesn’t have to work but does it to help my parents, and I think of my ancestors and my posterity. I want people to think twice before they say or write hurtful thinks about Mexicans because even though I know that there are a lot of them making horrible choices in this country that doesn’t speak for all of us. I use to think that Americans were blond people who liked guns and beer. I used to think that every American I saw was a criminal escaping justice or a Spring Breaker going to Mexico to get drunk at 18, and that all changed when I met my dear husband. I have learn that what I see is not all and my hope is that my children might always cherish their heritage, I want them to know that their mom always tried to be a better mother, sister, daughter and wife. I am not perfect, but I know that through the gospel one day I will be. I guess I am sharing this because all the thing I do I do thinking that it will make my family, my country and my people proud, and ultimately and hopefully is going to make people who know me think twice before trying to define how Mexicans are.

By the way, DON'T SHOP, ADOPT! ;)

 I miss everyone, my family in Mexico and my family in Utah, I miss Dave and Sherrie, Mike’s brothers and sisters, and I absolutely miss our nephews and nieces, but I know is time for us to be on our own and start our little family. I also miss everybody’s pets. I grew up with a mom that encouraged us to help animals; I never had a problem bringing a cat or a dog home, we all love animals deeply and until now I have always been around animals, call me crazy but when nobody is listening I love speaking to them like they were people, especially when I am sad, I know they understand, and unlike people they don’t care who you are, what you are wearing, or what you’ve done, they just love and I love that. I have had the hardest time finding our first dog, first of all we live in an apartment and they have breed and weight regulations, I didn’t know chow chows are considered “aggressive” that’s ridiculous, then we have gone to several shelters and every time I came out crying because it kills me the way they have to live, they are scared and they don’t know what is going on, then I get mad because most of them are owner surrenders. So I can only take one home and it kills me to think that there are millions that have to stay in cold, stinky and noisy shelters. I guess I just don’t know how to choose one since I love each and every one (I know I sound crazy) Anyway, that is what’s going on here in Georgia, I am 18 weeks pregnant, we are supposed to know the sex of our baby in two weeks but my appointment is at the end of March so we will have to wait until the 30th, at the beginning I wanted a girl, I still do, then I started having dreams in which my baby always appears to be a boy, right now I don’t really care, I am just grateful that even though I had such a horrible first trimester the baby is doing just fine, I just want a healthy baby that gets to be as good as his or her wonderful daddy.

Baby Anthony at 12 weeks!!

 Lots of love from Georgia!!

My name is Taj Bert Anthony

My name is Taj Bert Anthony, I don’t know my birthday, but I think I might be two or three years old. I was living in a small quaint kingdom when I enchanted Servants Mom and Dad. They originally went to visit one of my lesser siblings. The one I call Dad had lost a kitty and wanted to fill that space of his heart with a powerful ruler like myself. My brother was not very nice to them nor as charismatic or as handsome as I, so mom negotiated the ransom for my presence to reign as king of their house. My first days were so confusing because everything was so new. They didn’t let me explore the outer confines of my kingdom for weeks, but when they did I got lost in a dungeon also known as the neighbor’s barn the whole night! My loyal servants looked for me and I had to yell as loud as my little lungs could. They heard me and I allowed them to escort me back to the safety of my palace. I occasionally explore the palaces around mine also known as, the neighbor’s houses, and because they do not recognize my grace nor can they comprehend the blessings of my presences they are forced to call my loyal servants mom and dad to escort me back to my kingdom My other servant Mike is nice. He occupies one of the sleeping chambers in the basement of MY house. Months after I first graced my kingdom I acquired a new subject, her name is Diana, I could tell she liked me (well who doesn’t?) she would pick me up and hug me so hard, and then she would give me kisses. I am nice that way, I never complain, but I do lick her kisses off my fur….human kisses….disgusting!

Diana Does not know how to respect my personal space!! I am a fair and generous ruler when well served, I disdain servants who are not aware when my food is out, and when that happens I rule with an iron fist, razor sharps claws and my ferocious meow. I like ham, but not any kind of ham, of course, the ham I like is smoked. One of my servants (whom I call mom when I am in a good mood) tried to give my delicate palate some type of honey ham… What was she thinking? I immediately rejected that atrocity and demanded my other ham. These humans needed a lot of training to meet my needs. I did the same with the male servant (dad) when he tried to put me on diet food. I am a full figured specimen, I am not fat. However, I do love them very much. I like to be around them, of course I don’t tell them this, rather I pretend to be supervising the day-to-day activities of my kingdom when I want to be near. In my kingdom I have a multitude of sleeping chambers to choose from. When I am not sleeping I like to go outside to entertain myself. There are these little insignificant creatures called mice that I enjoy playing with. Apparently my humans subjects do not like them either so I receive extra praise when I kill those mice things. Unfortunately, the new servant Diana DOES NOT like any living creature to be hurt, I found this out the hard way after one particular successful hunting excursion. On the return home with my trophy in my mouth, Diana saw me and oh boy she went crazy. She even dared to take MY mouse away from me, she picked me up and took me inside the house. That is dangerous behavior to be exhibited in front of king.

This is the mouse that got away, first time ever because because of servant Diana! They brought another cat into the house, her name is Molly. She was never a problem and could never match my extraordinary power; I've had her under my control since the day she arrived. Every once in a while I will chase her to remind her who is the master. However, she seems to be more cunning than my human subjects in her attacks on my kingdom. She likes to pretend that she likes me by giving me warm kisses and when I least expect it she slaps me on the face (I do not understand females). Molly belongs to Diana and Mike; thank goodness she came and redirected the suffocating grasp of servant Diana. Servant Diana still manages to capture me once in a while. She picks me up and hugs and kisses me, but this is understandable considering how beautiful and attractive my personality is.

I have to say that Molly(a.k.a Moller Fredette)is very pretty! Diana and Mike went to California (I am amazed they did not ask for my authorization) for an internship and I think the older servant saw an opportunity to get rid of me because I got sick and they took me to the vet, but the vet could not figure what was wrong with me and they sent me home. I was getting better but still had a fever when the female servant then tried to poison me with Ibuprofen. It was a deliberate assassination mission I am sure. But I survived. I do have to say that I have had a good life. I feel sorry for other kitties like me that do not even have a home to stay warm, and the other who live in cold shelters. I love my humans so much. On November 18th I got hurt. My most faithful servant Dave found my little body and respectfully picked me up. I heard him saying how much he loved me. I love him too, and I am sorry I could not tell him thank you, and how much I do love him in human words. I was having fun outside and suddenly I was out of my body. I got angel wings though (way cool, now not even the birds can escape me). I am currently in kitty heaven waiting for them to serve me here too. While I have begun to formulating strategies to accumulate servants here, I don't ever expect to be served as well and as faithfully as my servants Sherrie, Dave, Mike, and Diana served me. I miss their petting my belly, but I rejoice in the fact that I would never be shaved again.

Please DO NOT share the last sentences on facebook.. it would be very debilitating to my royal status if other subject were to find out how I felt about my servants. P.S I love my humans! See you when you get here!

The story of Rudy

I follow this lady's blog and rescue group and I loved this story, it is hard to put into words the way I feel about animals because a realize that not a lot of people are like I am. I see a lot more that pets in them, I see souls and divine creatures of our Heavenly Father. I just want you to know how much I love ALL of them. I hope you like the story. ***I see a dog, and my heart breaks into a million tiny pieces that fall at my feet as teardrops. The dog is skin and bones, and his spirit is completely shattered. The dog has been beaten, tortured, and starved. The dog has been subjected to the bone-chilling cold, the scorching heat. The dog knows all too well the feeling of hunger, pain, and suffering.

This dog has lived his entire existence on a 3-foot chain. Never touched by a caring hand. Never hearing the words, “Good boy.” Never free to run or play. Never able to escape the abuse… This dog has been beaten every single day, for as long as he can remember. This dog has lived his entire life in a state of sheer terror… never knowing when the next blow would come. Never knowing what he would do to trigger the next beating… This dog watched… as his family packed up all of their belongings, and moved away… without him. This dog waited… for weeks on a chain… for them to return for him. They would never return for him. This dog waited… with hopes, dreams, and love… he waited… This dog ends up at the pound… where he is immediately placed on death row. He is again restricted from running and playing, this time by a cage. He is again terrified for his life… as he should be… he doesn’t have much time… This dog waits, as day after day, no one stops at his cage. He sees the children run for the cages with the cute little puppies, and then watches the pups leave with their new families. He sees a family pass him by, to visit the dog in the next cage over. At first, he thinks they are stopping for him, and he goes to greet them, tail wagging. As they play with the neighboring dog, he sits… watching… waiting… longing for his turn. And then, he watches, as the other dog joyfully prances past him, on her way to a new home. For days, this boy gets up to greet every family that comes past his cage. He waits eagerly by the gate for his turn to show that he’s special. And no one ever stops for him… Eventually, he stops getting up. Day after day, this dog waits. He sees the others, one-by-one, heading out the door… but it’s never his turn. He watches each person pass him by, but he doesn’t understand… He doesn’t know that his emaciated frame makes others look away. He doesn’t know that his eyes don’t shine due to the years of torture. He doesn’t know that his coat is dull from improper care, or that he smells because he’s never had a bath. He doesn’t know that he is of a breed that doesn’t stand a chance. And of a color that is all too common. He just knows that he wants to go home, and he is beginning to understand that it will never happen for him. And so… he waits… with shattered hopes, dreams, and love… he waits… to die. On the day his time runs out, I arrive for him. As I approach his cage, he doesn’t even lift his head. What’s the use? No one is here for me. No one wants me. Why doesn’t anyone want me? When I stop at his kennel, he barely looks up at me. He is certain that I couldn’t be there for him. No one has ever been there for him. I look into his cage. I see a dog, and my heart breaks into a million tiny pieces that fall at my feet as teardrops. I see a soul so wounded, so broken, that he has given up all hope. On this day, I am there for no other reason than to save his life. I know that I am there to take him, but he doesn’t know that. He waits for me to keep walking on to the next dog, but I’m not going anywhere without him. I open the gate, and say, “Come on, buddy. Let’s go home.” He has no idea what this means. He is unsure, afraid, and heartbroken. For days, he has waited for someone to come for him, and no one ever did. Now, he is waiting to die… he assumes that’s why I’m here. So, I bend down. I gently touch his head. And I say, “It’s your turn, buddy. Let’s break outta this joint.” As I loop the leash around his head, his tail slowly begins to wag. He follows me, timidly, with uncertainty of where I will lead him… On death row, you walk one way to die, and the other way to live. He and I, headed down the path of the living. And I watched the smile spread across his face, as we stepped out into the sunlight… This dog… was my Rudy. The dog who would eventually steal my heart more than any other pup I have ever known. This dog, was the most special boy that ever lived. And he was sitting on death row, waiting to die. Until that day, Rudy had only known abuse and heartbreak. From that moment on, he never knew pain again. Rudy’s time with me was so full of happiness, that he never stopped smiling. Every day, he thanked me, with a love so powerful, it will stay with me forever. On July 8, 2010, Rudy died of a sudden, unexpected heart attack. It was the worst day of my life. But on that day, I stood over Rudy’s lifeless body, and I didn’t see a dog. I saw my son. I saw my child, my heart, my life. I saw a once-forgotten soul, who will be remembered forever. I saw the reason for everything I am, and everything I do. I saw a boy who didn’t die in the pound, but rather lived in my heart. And so, on every trip to the pound, I look for him. Another Rudy, is waiting to die. Another broken spirit has given up. Another lost soul will become yet another statistic. Unless… we save them.

Prepare for a long entry!!

Ok. The last thing I wrote on my blog was concerning my horrific experience with English 2020 online. After I finished that journey I had enough time to do whatever I wanted; luckily, an old couple from the Webb Schools (the place where Mike did his internship) was looking for someone who could take care of their dog Gracie. When Mike asked me I could not believe someone would let me play with their dog limitless hours, I said yes without even asking what kind of dog, where, when or anything. If you know me you would know that I would have done it for free, but the couple offered to pay me. So, it was even better, I got to live in a beautiful home, play with a dog all day and I got paid to do it. That was the beginning of my career as a dog sitter for the rest of the summer. Her name was Gracie and it was a lot of fun, I would say she is fat, but her owners like to call her a full-figure girl. I loved her and I miss her a lot.

She is a mix of Chow and Golden Retriever; she loves bacon treats, chase squirrels, and run through her mom bushes.

While we were taking care of Gracie Mike got an email from a French teacher who was also looking for someone to take care of her dog while she was on vacations in Europe. I immediately instructed Mike to say I would do it, but somebody else wrote her first..;( We left Gracie’s house on a Sunday, the same Sunday I lost my wallet with the money her parents had given me in advance!! Oh well, didn’t I say I would have done it for free? The next morning Mike woke me up saying that the people who were going to take care of the French teacher’s dog could not do it anymore and she needed to drop off the dog that same morning. I was so happy!! That is how we met Luna, our favorite dog of all time; we believe she is a mix between cocker spaniel and a golden retriever. She went to obedience school so she was almost the perfect dog, I said almost perfect because she doesn’t chase balls, other than that we absolutely love her, she was a loving, fun and obedient dog. I miss her too.

Luna looks like a puppy but in reality she is 9 years old, every time I would take her for walks people would compliment my beautiful puppy, then I would tell them the real age. One day we forgot to take her out to the bathroom and she peed on the floor and mike yelled at her, she was so sad that she went to hide behind the toilet. I felt so bad, she was a sensitive doggie.

She would sleep in between mike and me, she has nightmares and she also snores a little bit.

Luna is needy, but not too much

As some of you may imply, somebody else heard about me and Mike. Another family asked us to take care of their black Labrador. This time we had to take care of Luna and the new doggie Raven at the same time for one week, but they were really nice to each other. Moreover, Raven is so old that she can barely walk and she didn’t care about Luna at all. Raven is a black lab, she is 12 years old and she has problems with her hips and her skin. I thought I was going to be bored if I could not play with her, but after a couple of days I decided that I was going to make her life better no matter at least for two weeks. Because her hips were so bad, she constantly uses her elbows to stand up or to lay down. I noticed that she was leaving blood marks on her deck so I decided to wrap her elbows with flexible wrap and using women’s pads as cushion (Mike thinks this is disgusting, but they were new). Her family had a big container in the back of their house for her to drink water, but as I was observing her I realized that she had a hard time walking up to it, so I decided to fill a little bowl with water every day right next to her, she drunk the whole bowl every day. Her owners told me that she liked one egg on top of her dog food every day, and that she probably would not eat the first days. They had some wet food for her in case she didn’t eat enough. After the first day I started feeding her wet food, dry food, AND her daily egg and she would devour everything. I know some of you are going to think I am one of those people who is a little bit too over the top with animals, but I really enjoyed serving this doggie and meking her feel a little better.They, too, have age pains and loneliness. By the time we left I knew she was grateful, she would walk up to my window every morning and stared at me, and when I would change her bandages she would give me kisses, or maybe I am just crazy. I miss Raven too.

Raven likes people to talk to her, she listens carefully ;)
After we finished taking care of Raven we only had one more week in California. On our last day with Raven Mike got ANOTHER call from someone needing dog sitters, I could not be happier. This was a very wealthy family with two old dogs. Scottie and Katie

These doggies came with super specific instructions, they had special food and each of them eats different amounts, they take medicine twice a day. I really enjoyed taking care of them because I realized that there are a lot of people like me that sees their pets as members of their families and treats them with respect and consideration. Scottie has a bad shoulder but he loves chasing the ball, so I would throw the ball at him five times and then we would swim in the pool so his shoulder would not hurt. Katie is the pack leader, she is very serious and she like her food a little wet, she does not like her medicine in the bowl of her food because she likes her medicine dry. Scottie doesn’t mind, I would put his stuff all in the same bowl. I miss playing with Scottie in the pool.

I had a great summer, it was very difficult at the beginning and as you know I had a hard time taking a class online, but after I got done with that I enjoyed spending all day with all these wonderful friends.

Almost at the end of the summer I received an email saying that I was the recipient of the College of Humanities Language Dean’s Merit Scholarship. This is very important for me because when I first got into UVU every time I wanted to apply for scholarships people would tell me that scholarships are given to people who are actively “involved” in the college community. However, the people I knew had scholarships were people who were always at the parties and social events and they did not have good grades, they were only social people. I was discouraged because for me it was most important to spend time studying. You all know English is not my first language, thus I have to spend more time studying than a regular student. That is why I am so happy I was given this scholarship. I do think that it is important to be ivolved in the community so you can gain experience, but at the end the most important thing for me is studying (you have no idea how nerd I am). This scholarships was given to me because my academic standing and it will cover half tuition this fall semester and also spring 2012. I am so grateful.Now that I ot the scholarships I feel more confortable with my grades and my progress so I decided to spend some hours volunteering, I am currently working in a certification to be a spanish translator-interpreter and so I will be volunteering at parent-teacher conferences,parent-teen mediation sesions, and small court claims. I am excited to serve.

Mike did a great job this past summer, his boss and the people he worked with loved him. They would come up to me and say, “Is Mike your husband? Because he is a great boss, we love him; he is very nice to us” I am so proud of him. He would probably hate this so don’t tell him this but I am going to share with you pieces of the letter of recommendation his boss wrote for him.
“”Mike Anthony has finished his 14 week internship with us here at The Webb Schools. After understanding one another’s goals and expectations, I put together a meaningful packet listing goals and other opportunities. I do have to say that Mike did an amazing job and is a great problem solver!
After Mike presented a plan of action for each of these goals, I released him to move forward with the problem solving process. One of these problems was our custodial crew’s lack of willingness and overall understanding of team cleaning. Mike created forms and systems while working with our custodial supervisor to ensure she was the owner of this change. He called and held meetings to ensure the custodial crew was being communicated with. He let them provide advice and helped them feel that they were part of the process. He found videos on the internet that helped explain the process and even found videos of crews who went through the exact same thing, experiencing the exact same growing pains.
He taught them about engineering standards and the importance of why. When the crew was in disbelief about some of the standards, he setup mock bathroom cleaning sessions and showed them it was possible. He also played their advocate and was able to get the crew some more efficient cleaning tools and other resources in order for them to meet the engineering standards.
Having gone through the process, he was finally able to create laminated schedules for each of the custodians and went through a practice session. We will finally start team cleaning next week!
Mike’s accomplishment was reported to many of the board members and they couldn’t have been happier with our progress! I reported being able to save approx. 200hrs. / year using this program.
Another one of Mike’s projects was to design and bid the front entrance to one of our dorms which sits towards the front of our entrance. He was able to work with our CFO on the project and even get a little advice from our campus architect and campus landscape architect. He did a great job and came away with a project that has been approved. We weren’t able to get approval quick enough for it to go out to bid so we plan on starting this project during Christmas break (see attached).
There were a few other things that he did for us but it was easy to see that Mike had many strengths. He was hard working, he kept on task and met the deadlines he was required to meet. He was willing to try just about anything and wanted to learn. Mike was an innovator and figured out how to make it work.
All in all, Mike was a great hire and he proved himself well. The client appreciated yet again, another great BYU intern. Our campus loved having Mike and his wife on campus as they made a very good impression.
I would definitely recommend Mike for hire in the near future. Mike will make an excellent manager and may have been my best intern yet!
Mike left here to go to one more semester at BYU but he enjoyed SDX and hopes that Sodexo will have a position available where he can continue to grow and build a solid foundation.””

Mike is busy with school and work and he is also being a teacher assistant to the director if the facilities management program at BYU. He has had several talks with at least five companies and most of them have expressed interest on hiring him. I pray to our heavenly father that we may use wisdom when choosing Mike’s first job. He wants to get a master’s degree from Georgia Tech, so we will be watching for jobs there. Wish us luck!!

In March of 2010 I went to the UVU health center to get a physical exam in order to get insurance. While the doctor was conducting the study she felt a large mass in the right side of my neck. She sent me to get an ultrasound which results said it was an enlarged thyroid gland. I was sent to an endocrinologist and she told me that it was a MASIVE goiter and that it needed to come out. At that time I did not have insurance of course and I could not have the surgery done. I was already engaged to my beloved husband and after we got married we both enrolled in the BYU student health plan. To our disappointment they told me that they could not cover my thyroid treatment because it was a pre-existent condition, so we had to put it on hold one more time. Months went by and Mike decided to try again before we left to California, they said I could be covered (why? I do not know)so we decided to get a second opinion since I was concerned about paying for surgery. The second endocrinologist did ultrasounds and a needle biopsy, which I do not wish for anybody, she also recommended surgery. Uncle John told us about a doctor who is an expert in thyroid surgery and we decided to try with him. I went into surgery the 26th of August, it was one of the hardest things I have been through but I am almost 100% recovered. I am so grateful for my husband who took care of me, he would feed me, hold my head, give my medicines, help me shower, comb my hair, he even cooked me soup. I had no idea how often I use my neck muscles.Three week after my surgery I got the pathology result and the enlarges thyroid was not an enlarged thyroid, IT WAS A 5 cm. TUMOR!!! It was benign, so no cancer!! I feel good that all that is behind me now. After four days I felt ready to go back to school and work. The first day I went to school I decided to ride the bus back home and I was ready to cry and get off in the next stop, every time it stopped I had to hold my head back and every time it started going I had to hold my head again. It was very painful. It is amazing all the little details that we ignore about our bodies.