White Coat Ceremony

Chad had his White Coat Ceremony! The ceremony is a traditional formality when becoming a doctor. The dean, the chairman of the board of regents and the president of UNLV spoke along with other professors and presidents of different classes. It made me even more proud of Chad and helped me to realize his hard work. Chad's parents flew in from Utah and stayed with us for the weekend. After the ceremony his parents took us to an upscale buffet at the Paris and it was delish!




The dean speaking and the dental faculty.













Chad and his parents.













Getting his white coat...













...and his pin.

Reiki

I did it! I have completed my certification in Reiki I & II. If you don't know what Reiki is, here is a brief definition - Reiki teachings state that there is a universal "life force" energy which can be accessed by practitioners to induce a healing effect. It is a form of spriritual practice used as therapy for the treatment of physical, emotional, and mental disease. It's a technique which they say will channel "healing energy". Energy flows through the palms to bring about healing. It is becoming increasingly popular with doctors for use on thier patients because they are seeing the amazing effects it's having. Energy healing has always been an interest to me and I love to help others in need of alternative therapy. The wonderful Reiki Master who has taught me her amazing talents learned from "the" Mrs. Takata and if you know the history of Reiki, you know that's a big deal - only because it's cool. So, I feel very honoured to have learned from her. She's interested in those she teaches Reiki to become Reiki Masters (sensei's) so I will hopefully do it this summer. That basically means I can teach and certify Reiki to others but with this being a "hobby", I'm not sure how far I'll go with it.
I've also attempted EFT which is Emotional Freedom Technique. It is a psychotherapeutic tool based on a theory that negative emotions are caused by disturbances in the body's energy field and that tapping on the meridians while thinking of a negative emotion alters the body's energy field, restoring it to "balance." I've tried it on myself and it works.
This isn't much of a "how we're doing" blog but I'm so excited about the amazing possibilities that Heavenly Father has created for us to discover and the ability He has given us to heal ourselves without using harmful medications (not all but definitely most). I am very grateful to have the knowledge to help myself and others and the thing that's neat is that anyone can do it!

Presidential "ONE Campaign" Nevada Caucus

I know this is old news but I'm still going to post to show my support for the ONE Campaign. We had the opportunity to go to a 2008 Nevada Presidential Caucus and wear our "ONE gear". Chad and I are republican but we went to the Caucus mainly to show our support for the ONE Campaign so that no matter who wins, republican or democrat, that they keep in mind to reach ONE's goal of making poverty history. This also includes global poverty, hunger, disease and efforts to fight such problems in the world's poorest countries. ONE believes that allocating more of the U.S. budget toward providing basic needs like health, education, clean water and food would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the world's poorest countries. So that is my ONE story... and I'm sticking to it.
I'm so sad Romney lost but hopefully we'll see him in the Vice-President's chair!

Best Valentine's Day Ever!!!

My husband is so wonderful. He must be sensing my desperation for attention from him because he went all out this Valentine's Day! He always does something very romantic but I will have to say that this one was the most thoughtful! He started off with taking me to an amazing restaurant called Zefferino's in the Venetian overlooking the canals (just like in Italy!). This restaurant started in Italy and is very famous for their pesto sauce... it was pretty dang good! This was also one of Frank Sinatra's favourite restaurants - there is so much neat history in Vegas!

After dinner, we walked around the Venetian and I got my picture taken with a statue... just kidding, he's actually a real guy! What a job that would be... hope he's paid well!

Then we went over to the Bellagio where they always have a fabulous festive display. We had a bet whether it would be decorated in Valentine's Day stuff or Chinese New Year... I won but unfortunately for me, we didn't bet anything!














This was the ultimate best... when we got home he surprised me with quite a display. Here are a few of my favourite things.








One of my favourite romance movies City of Angels. Chocolate covered strawberry fondue, box of chocolate and a tall, dark handsome man... mabe not dark but still very handsome!

My first blog!

I'm going to give this blogging thing a shot. It's fun to read other blogs so I figure I'll contribute to the entertainment of blog viewing! It will also be a great way to share what's going on in mine and Chad's lives. We are so far away from friends and family so hopefully this will be a way to keep you all a part of our lives while living in this fabulous city of Vegas, baby (and getting through dental school).

I can't believe Chad is already halfway through his first year of school! Time is going so fast and we've been having so much fun! We've met lots of great friends and we are going to the best ward (church) ever! I'm the second councelor in Young Women's and loving every minute of it! I have so much fun planning activities with the girls and they are such sweet, beautiful spirits. I can't believe it's been a year already since I've had my calling! I've also picked up an account so I am officially a freelance accountant. It's great because I get to work from home and not have to fight with the awful drivers and crazy traffic here! I plan on eventually picking up more accounts which will keep me even busier which is really good... only because my sanity has thus far been tested with Chad being so busy with school and I have a feeling that's not going to end anytime soon! Speaking of Chad he has been really happy here too. I really hate to brag about him but I just have to because I love him so much and I'm so proud of him. He is so dedicated to dental school and his hard work has really paid off because he is at the top of his class! He's thinking about mabe specializing in endodontics but so far that is just a thought for now. He still has quite a while to decide but in the meantime he is doing volunteer work for the school which is required for specializing. Much more has gone on since we've been here and I'll try to remember to keep up to the events by posting on my blog. I'll see if I can get Chad to post his side of the story as well... no promises though!