Kim's Graduation, 2008

Graduation, 2008!! I did it!

Norm, Sue, Me, Steve and Mykie

My Family after graduation

SMILE!
This lady won the outstanding student award for

the undergraduate program for 2008.

Waiting to switch over the tassel, officially a graduate!

Doesn't he look handsome?

My mom and grandma after graduating.

Being a little sassy for the camera.

That's right, I am graduating from college!

Waving to the camera....

That's right, I graduated college this last Saturday, June 21, 2008. Most of you know this has been a long road and I never thought this day would actually come. In fact, when I graduated high school I never really had intentions of graduating college. It has taken me 5 years to finally get my bachelors degree. I started my journey with school at Weber State University in Utah. I was working toware a degree in general studies. I lived on my own, worked full time, and went to school. Now, if that is not exhausting I am not sure what is. It was a struggle at times and I would have to drop credits at times and only go part time but I still stayed dedicated. When I was a junior at Weber State, I decided I needed a changed in my life and picked up and moved to Seattle, Washington. After living in Seattle for a few months, I really wanted to go back to school. I came to the realization that I needed a school that would allow me to work full time and go to school full time. Another realization was if I was going to buckle down and do this I would need to take out a student loan. I had paid for all my schooling up to this point on my own. Not sure how I did all that with no help from my familybut I set a goal for myself. I weighed out my options and started look at schools. I had a friend that was an enrollment counselor at the University of Phoenix. He told me about the different programs and about the school. I prayed a lot about it and chose to start at the University of Phoenix in Feb., 2006. Two and a half years later I graduate! I could not be more excited, I had lots of emotions at the graduation because I have worked so hard for that moment. Going to college was not a goal I had but it is a goal I set for myself. This experience has shown me that I can do anything I set my mind to.

I must add that getting to graduation this past week did not come without its challenges. My husband Steve had a work related accident about an month ago, he strapped his leg really bad. Well, long story short he had surgery last Tuesday and was in the hospital until Friday. Not to mention I had family coming into town that week at the same time all this was going on. It was a wild ride to say the least but we made it through and graduation was a great day. Oh, Steve is healing slowly but doing much better.

Date in Denver

Steve surprised me this weekend with reservations to a restraunt in Denver called Tables. Before we ate dinner we walked around Denver's capital and took some pictures.

Steve and I at the State Capital of Denver

Veterans War Monument

Colorado Federal Building. This building is across from the State Capital.

Pretty Roses!

The State Capital

Statue in the front to the Capital

Liberty Bell

CALIFORNIA

This Memorial Day, Steve, Mykie, and I went to San Diego, California. The trip was a Christmas present from Steve's parents. They decided for Christmas, they would give all the kids money to use for tickets at Southwest airlines. We decided to go to California for our trip, plus see some of Steve family while we were there. I attached some pictures of our trip. We had a great time! Check out the videos below of Mykie.

Downtown San Diego, in the far distance :)

Downtown

Steve's grandpa was a Marine and on Memorial Day we went up with Steve's family to visit his grave on the army base. This was such a neat experience and it was so peaceful.

San Diego Temple

I think this is the prettiest temple I have ever seen!

Me and Mykie

Steve's favorite fast food restraints. I think we ate here as least 4 times while we were in California. They have the best hamburgers.

Grandma Sparks (Steve's grandma)

Mykie boggy boarding. Me and Mykie tried boggy boarding for the first time.

It was so much fun.

Steve and I buried Mykie in the sand

The dodge caliber

(I love this car! We always rent one when we travel)

Walking to the beach

We miss the water

The Ocean!!!

Cool rock formations



Aunt Shelly and Mykie

Steve and Mykie (I love this picture)

Everything is made of Lego's, even batman

Aunt Shelly and Mykie mined for "fools" gold and got 5 nuggets!




So cute.....!




HI Grandma!!

We decided to bury Mykie in the sand.




Mykie playing in the water waves

New Job!

I applied last week for a position in my field of study. The position I applied for is child care case worker. I interviewed for the position last week and heard today that I got the job! I am so excited. I just decided to try and apply early for positions in human services and had decided I wanted to go into case management. The agency is called Aspen Family Services. They are a privately owned organization but works with 3 different counties in Colorado. Basically, Aspen Family Services is an child assistance program for parents trying to get help with their child care. Every time we have a new client, I will go to that county and meet with them to fill out all the paperwork. As a case manager, I basically will make sure they meet the state requirements and oversee their child's care. The rest of the details I will let you know when I start working. That is just a brief overview of what I will be doing. I am just so excited for this stepping stone into my career before I graduate. I feel so lucky and can not wait to get started.

Good and Bad News

Today I talked with my doctor about the results from the kidney stone analysis. I found out that I have too much calcium in my urine and that is what is causing my kidney stones. My type of stone is called calcium oxlate stone. Oh and I still have a little peice of the kidney stone still in my kidney. Sometimes small peices stay in your kidney after you have surgery. I have heard it is not a abnormal thing to happen. The doctor was looking again at my last x-ray and said the peice is very small and should not drop. My type of kidney stone is treatable but the treatment would be taking a pill TWICE a day for the rest of my life. Well, the doctor and I decided to try the second option which is changing my diet. In six months I am going to go into the doctor for an x-ray and urine test to see how it is working and to keep an eye on the small stone. Well, I can tell you I was pretty bummed. I can only have 2 servings of calcium a day. Taking all calcium out of your diet is not good. I love dairy food like milk, cheese, and ice cream. Then there is foods high in oxlate likenpeanut butter, CHOLOCLATE, wheat brain, and nuts. So the good news is they were able to determine what kind of stone I have and how to prevent them. The bad news is having to monitor it and cut out a lot of food I enjoy to eat. :( I guess, all things in monderation right. I have always been a healthy person, never had any health problems tell now. It is not very fun but I guess you don't appreciate your health until you don't have it. So it looks like from now on I will become more of a healthy eater. Bring on the veggies!!

Kidney Stone FREE!

Today marks the end of a long journal for me. For those who do not know, I found out 2 months ago I had a kidney stone the size of a peanut inside my kidney. The last few months have been full of x-rays, CT scans, and surgery. I had minor surgery at the beginning of April called Lithotripsy. This procedure consist of a shock way to break the stone up into pieces making it easier for me to pass the kidney stone. Surgery went well, in fact I did not have a lot of pain. Today I had my follow up appointment after surgery. They wanted to take another x-ray to see if I had passed all the stone. Just a side note, when you start to recognize most of the hospital staff you know you have spent way too much time at the hospital. After looking at the x-ray with the doctor, he said I am STONE FREE!!! I cannot even say how excited to hear that. I have a few things left I have to do but I am almost done. I have to wait a few weeks for them to analyze the stones and then I will know what the stone is made of and hopefully know how to prevent them in the future.
I just want to say thank you to all my friends and family who have supported me through these last few months.

Double Date in Boulder

This weekend we went on a double date with our friends Luke and Karra. Steve planned this date all by himself. If any of you know Steve, he is very creative when it comes to dates. We played photo scavenger hunt in Boulder, Colorado. There is street in Boulder called "Pear Street", it is basically a long walkway with different shopping stores. We split up in teams and each had a list of photos to take. The list consist of pictures with a bathroom sign, VW Bug, bonus points if with an older model, anything rainbow, ice cream, concert poster,

sign with Boulders name on it, walking in an alley, street vendor, holding a post card, ect. We had a blast! We set the time for one hour for each couple to get as many pictures as they could off the list and if both people where in the picture, you got double points. Well, we got every picture but one and we won!! After we played photo scavenger hunt, we went to a near by park and had dinner. It was a fun night out.