Colorado 2026 Trip

My dad and I visited Katie in Denver over the weekend. We got to meet sweet baby Heath for the first time. He was adorable and loved to smile. We did not really do any touristy things this trip. We mostly went to Katie and John's favorite restaurants and the farmer's market. I'm so happy to be Heath's aunt and see him as he grows up!

Applied Research Project

I finished the coursework portion of my doctoral program! I am now in the applied research project class. I've had some struggles getting my topic approved but I hope to have it done by early next week. I basically have 3 weeks to write 35 pages. It will be the introduction and literature review. I'll be a busy bee! I will update.

Cancer Scare

It has been a stressful past couple of weeks. Let's just say a couple of weeks ago, I discovered a breast lump! Given my mom's history with breast cancer, I was worried to say the least. I thought it felt like a skin thing, so I first went to the dermatologist. The PA didn't know what it was, prompting me to call my OBGYN office. The nurse practioner there was more certain it was a skin cyst but ordered a mammogram just in case. I couldn't get in for two weeks so I ended up booking a private ultrasound last week due to anxiety. They confirmed it was a skin cyst and the mammogram today confirmed that as well. I am so happy I don't have cancer but it was a stressful two weeks. I don't know why the dermatology PA couldn't diagnose a skin cyst. The yearly mammograms start now.

Utah Activities Spring 2026

We have done a lot of fun things this spring. In March, we went to Family Discovery Day at Rootstech, Hunchback of Notre Dame at Hale Center Theatre, and the Lindon Temple open house. In April, Wesley and I saw the Phantom of the Opera national tour. In May, we saw Come from Away at Pioneer Theatre. We are also going to a Salt Lake Bees Game tomorrow and seeing Princess Bride at Desert Star next Saturday. My favorite was definitely Hunchback! I love the music.

California 2026 Trip

Since I talked about Jessica's wedding last week, I thought I'd do a separate post about what we did in California. We flew in on the 9th. While we waited to check in at our hotel, we went to Glendale Galleria and had lunch at Din Tai Fung. On Friday, we took William to Kidspace Children's Museum and had lunch at Eggslut. On Saturday, we drove up to Great Wolf Lodge in Anaheim. On Sunday, we hung out for a few hours at the waterpark. We had dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. William did not care about the characters at all. We then went to Disney Channel Night at Disneyland! They were definitely catering to the milennial audience with lots of High School Musical, Cheetah Girls, and Camp Rock. We hardly had to wait to go on any rides. It was a blast! I'm happy I wasn't sick and I could walk this time. On Monday, we had lunch at Guy's Burger Joint and flew home! I love going to California!

Jessica’s Wedding

Jessica got married on April 11th! Leanna and I were bridesmaids and got to walk down the aisle together. We traveled to Los Angeles for the wedding. It was a beautiful week. The Thursday before was the bachelorette party and we got to meet her other friends/bridesmaids. On Friday, we had the wedding rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. The wedding was Saturday. Jessica's new husband is great and works in film post-production. I loved celebrating our 14 years of friendship. Sometimes I reminisce about our freshman year at college. Our lives have changed a lot since then!

Creativity, Innovation, and Intrapreneurship in Education

I started a new class on Wednesday: Creativity, Innovation, and Intrapreneurship in Education. I learned that intrapreneurship means to foster entrepreneurship from within an organization. This is the last class in the coursework portion of my doctoral program. I then have 40 weeks of the dissertation. I am finally making progress and am nearing the finish line. Also, Katie's baby boy's name is Heath!