White Water Rafting with the MBA program

(I'll post about Hawaii soon. I want to get some more pictures from Heidi before I do that!)

Each year before school starts the OB/HR track in the MBA program goes on a rafting trip. The purpose of the trip is to introduce first years to recruiters from many different companies and jump start the internship/job search. There are generally lots of recruiters that come and everyone has a good time. GE, P&G, Dell, General Mills, Honeywell, HP, and lots of other companies were represented. Since Western Union didn't send a recruiter this year, they asked Jake and I to come. I had a blast. I flew from Honolulu directly in to Boise and they picked me up at the airport and took me to our campsite. We camped Thursday night and then rafted Friday and Saturday and came back to Utah on Saturday night. We have some really cool first years and it was great to meet the recruiters from all of the different companies and talk to them about their experiences. I wish I had come last year when I was looking for an internship- what a great way to get to know more about the companies and start networking. Here are a few pictures from our rafting trip!

Mac did a pretty good job holding on to the raft!

I was next to "ride the bull".

Once we hit this rapid there was no hope for me up on the front.

If you look closely you can see my feet sticking up in the air!

Couldn't get back up once I fell off!

SO MUCH FUN!!!

NAUVOO!

Well, yesterday was the last day of my internship. It was really sad to go, but I most likely will be coming back next summer to work full-time, so that is a good thing. Jake and I both got offers!!! I couldn't be happier! It completely changes my mindset to come out of this internship with a full-time offer when I knew coming into it that WU doesn't ever give full-time offers to interns. Jake and I are very lucky. They want to create a new rotational program for HR and asked us to be the first participants. So, it looks like this might not be the end of my relationship with Denver!

It was hard to say goodbye to everyone, but at least I knew it wasn't goodbye forever! Luckily, I was able to finish all of my projects and I even made it home last night before 8!

With the internship over, now begins my 2-week whirlwind vacation adventure. Tomorrow I am off to Provo to move back into my apartment. Tuesday morning I fly from SLC to PHX to spend 2 days with my parents and family in AZ. Thursday morning I fly from PHX to Honolulu. SO EXCITED!!! I haven't been back to Hawaii since I spent time at BYU-H before my mission. I honestly can't wait for this trip- I have been looking forward to it for months! I'll spend a week there. Then, next Wednesday night I fly from HNL-Boise for a river rafting trip with new OB/HR students from the MBA program and recruiters from lots of different companies. That will be a blast as well. Next Saturday we will drive from Idaho to SLC and I'll spend some time with Stevie, Spence,and most importantly JAMES! and then I'm back to Provo to start school. So- with all of these great adventures coming up that I'll have to blog about, I figured that I better post pics from my INCREDIBLE Nauvoo trip!

My roommate Kayce, My friend Michelle, and I decided to take a trip to Nauvoo this summer because Michelle ad I had never been there and Kayce had spent a semester there and wanted to go back. We flew into Kansas City, rented a sweet red convertible mustang and drove. We went to Liberty, Adam-Ondi-Ahman, Far West, Independence, Carthage, and pretty much everywhere else that was on our route. It seems like we made friends/caused a riot everywhere we went. I guess we are just loud and obnoxious like that. Our first night in Nauvoo we ate a Dotties Family Dining aka the bar in town. We met a nice old drunk man named Jim who knew that we would be instant friends because he liked our car. He had a blue mustang- it was mean to be! That was definitely an interesting night! We went and saw the pageant- twice- you got it- twice. Nauvoo just has such a lively night life that we had to forego lots of other things, but it was definitely worth it. My friend Jeff played Joseph in the pageant. He did such an incredible job, as usual! We went and saw Carthage Jail where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred. We went to the Nauvoo temple, which was an incredible experience. It was so humbling to know that those people sacrificed everything for a temple that they would barely see completed. We wet on a midnight drive with the top down through the cornfields, ate custard at the custard shop, met a man whose brother invented the bike radio, lost Kayce's luggage, mooed at cows, and overall had a fantastic vacation. I can't believe that I'd never been there before. Nauvoo is such a special place! I am so glad that we went and can't wait to go back and see everything that we missed!

our fun rental!!

ballet in front of the mansion house

Joseph, Emma & Hyrum's graves

So Beautiful!

Nauvoo Temple

Kayce as King Kong

At the Pageant

Love this little thing that we found in Nauvoo

Carthage Jail

Carthage

Found my Great-Great-Great Grandma Julia Hills Johnson's name at the pioneer memorial.

Kayce and Michelle enjoying snowcones at the pageant

My friend Jeff as Joseph

Kayce

The cornerstones of the temple at Far West

Liberty Jail

Disneyland

Well, I still have lots to write about Haiti, but obviously I haven't done that yet. So I'll catch up with it over time. I have been living in Denver for the summer doing my internship for business school at Western Union corporate headquarters in the global talent management group. I have loved my experience so far and it's hard to believe that there are only 2 weeks left! I have had some great adventures and met some great people while I've been here. I got really lucky and found an awesome roommate who I have a blast with. I keep trying to convince her that she needs to move to Provo so we can hang out when I go back to school- but she won't!

The weekend before my Mom's birthday in July, the whole family flew out to LA and we spent the weekend at Disneyland! I hadn't been to Disneyland for such a long time and it was the kids' first time there ever. We had such a good time and it was great to be with my whole family for a change. After the weekend, Derek and the kids flew back to AZ with my parents and spent the rest of the week there. I had to come back to Denver for work. Here are a few pictures from our weekend!

My Mom and I on the Ferris Wheel at California Adventure

Gage, Derek & Sierra on the Ferris Wheel

The whole crew in front of Disneyland- obviously the people who took the picture for us weren't professional

Dad and I at the beach

Mom & Dad at the beach

Gage got mad after this picture that I thought I was taller than him- he wanted to take another one and switch places with me

Family

I was holding on to Gage's arm because he was super scared on this ride- but it looks more like I'm the one that needs someone to hold onto my arm!

Sierra's favorite- Tinkerbell

Our favorite ride- Indiana Jones! The kids wanted to go on it over and over

happy to be at Disneyland!

Name Change

When I got to Haiti and handed my passport to the people at customs, I was pretty sure that the name printed on it read "Brittany". I soon came to find out that I was sorely mistaken. It seems that once we arrived in Haiti, our names were changed to "Hey You" and "Blanc".

Some children who greeted us with the traditional "Hey You" and "Blanc" as we worked on demolishing a house

One of the things that you can expect- particularly in the smaller towns like Leogane- is for people- especially the children- to be fascinated by you and what you are doing. As we would walk down the rubble-ridden streets, children would run out of their tents and yell "Hey you, hey you, blanc!!!" until we acknowledged them and smiled and waved. Usually there were groups of children that would gather to wave at us. I thought it was absolutely adorable. Sometimes the children would run up behind us and just grab our hands and want to walk with us. Many of the children were fascinated with arm hair and were entertained Zach's arm hair for extended periods of time. One time in particular, we were out by Ca Ira looking at an orphanage on the coast and as we walked back through the town to find some moto taxis, three children latched on to me- one on each arm and one in front and just started walking with us. They stayed with us for quite a while- as we walked along the beach, through the town, by a little restaurant, and back trough the town. By the time we got on our moto taxis we had become the best of friends.

Zach and I walked to the other end of Leogane to find a hospital one day and on our way back I saw one of the biggest smiles that I have ever seen in my life on the face of a little girl. She was standing on the side of the road with her father. She couldn't have been more than 2 years old and she had the chubbiest little cheeks. As Zach and I passed, she got an enormous grin on her face and just smiled and waved at us with such enthusiasm until we passed. It wasn't possible to overlook an opportunity to connect with that angelic little girl through such simple things as a smile and a wave. It was a moment not to be forgotten. I only wish I had had my camera with me!!

Real Caribbean Beauty

One thing that I miss about Haiti is the beauty of the island. Since we were constantly surrounded by rubble it was easy to forget that we were working in a tropical Caribbean paradise! Near the end of my trip, we decided to take one day to enjoy the tropical beauty and go to the beach. We visited a few beaches near Leogane......

...but finally decided to travel to a beach resort north of Port-au-Prince for the afternoon. Rony, Zarry (a great friend of ours from Port-au-Prince), Paul (Zarry's brother), and I headed up the highway to the famous "Club Indigo". On our way we passed some of the tent cities out in the country where the government is trying to relocate people who were made homeless by the earthquake.

When we finally got to the resort, I felt like I had arrived in a completely different place...

The Beach at Club Indigo (Formerly Club Med)

The resort was beautiful, the beaches were pristine, the water was warm and I was in heaven. We swam in the clear blue water, walked along the white sand beach, and just lounged around.

Paul, Rony, Britt, Zarry

Rony diving into the pool right next to the beach

As the sun began to set I found myself sitting on a lounge chair underneath a coconut tree gazing out across the water...

I kept thinking that although this was one of the most beautiful places that I had ever seen in my life, this wasn't the beauty that I would always remember when I thought about my experiences in Haiti. I knew that the true beauty of Haiti was found in the faces of the people that we saw everywhere we went. It was the beauty of their faith, kindness, and strength. No sunset or tropical beach could ever compare. Few moments in my life have affected me as strongly as that one. I will always remember my visit to a "real Caribbean beach" and how I came to understand the meaning of true beauty.

Cerises, Cerises!!!!

One of the things that I miss about being in Haiti are the early mornings. The sun began to rise at about 5:00AM and the people in Leogane were on the move shortly thereafter. From the rooms in the church that we stayed in and eventually the balcony of our home, where we slept, the sounds of motorcycles, schoolchildren and street vendors soon filled the air. I enjoyed laying on my little (usually deflated) air mattress and just listening to everything. I think that I accurately represent all of the volunteers that I was there with when I say that the most distinct sound of our morning was always the "Cherry Lady".

We could always count on this woman to come down our street yelling, "Cerises, Cerises!!!!" I wish that I had an audio recording of her because she had a very distinct sound. One day as I was laying on my little air mattress I heard a woman coming down the street selling cherries, BUT she was definitely not OUR "Cherry Lady"- you could tell without even looking at her. The Cherry Lady soon became an expected part of our morning ritual. The day before I left, I was finally able to capture a photo of our dear friend.

Is this a random, perhaps unimportant memory of my unforgettable visit to Haiti? Maybe. But, for me, this is one of those memories that I will always carry with me. Who knows, maybe someday I will be walking down the street and hear a faintly familiar voice...... it may be the Cherry Lady, or it may not. But either way, it will be another key that will unlock this great memory as well as the floodgate of incredible memories that I will carry with me and cherish forever.

First Post from Haiti

Well, we made it!!!

The internet connection has not been the most reliable so I don't know that I will be able to blog as often as I would like to. We have had some incredible adventures this past week!! Things are coming together and we are preparing to have our first volunteers arrive in about a week. We are finalizing housing arrangements and in the meantime we are grateful to be able to stay at the church. There are some families there who were displaces by the quake and we have gotten to know them pretty well. I have made lots of new friends- mostly the little kids!! In the evenings I play lots of Uno with the little girls. I think that the reason that I have made friends with so many children is that they are the only ones who can understand me!! My French is not all that great! It has definitely been 6 years since I studied French. Luckily I can understand most of what people are saying, but when I try to speak it all comes out in Russian. Oh well, it is getting better and I am sure that it will get better throughout my stay.

I am going to post a few pictures. I am keeping a journal on my computer so I will be able to do more posts in a few weeks when I am back in the states and have more time and a more reliable internet connection. But, here are a few of our photos from the first week:

Well, they won't load so check out my facebook page.... I'll try again later!!

Things are great and we are keeping busy.

:)