MBASA Summer Internships

Texas (Anna Fowler)

2009-08-07T09:14:00.000-07:00

The summer has come to an end, and I have yet to post an update on our Dallas adventures. I hope this isn't too lazy, but I'm going to just refer people to our family blog if they want to hear more about Dallas. Here are some interesting internship posts:

Internship Intro
Playing
Perks and Quirks of Internship life
More playing
And more playing
Remember Andrea Jessop?
Everyone swims here
Wankiers and Jacksons

Excited to see you all (or should I say y'all) soon!

Happenings in Boise ID (Jamie Harper)

2009-07-21T13:11:00.000-07:00

Lots of pictures, you were warned!

First off, we have a new potato dish in honor of living in Idaho every week. check out my blog if you really want to know details (boring!) Also, seen above, I have been diligently scrapbooking digitally one page a day . . .Thanks to MBASA for showing me how!

Strawberry picking in the local fields led to an unfortunate event, but provided lots of jam.

Dave's work party- it was HUGE! I swear the whole city of Boise was there and they gave out free food galore! We even got to take this amazing center piece home and make a delicious tropical fruit salad. It was nice to be in a company that treats its employees so well!

Golfing in our backyard course on Dave's birthday.Zoo Boise . . . exciting!

The local beach . . . and you though Boise was inland . . . and yes, we did touch the fountain, yep, we're cool.

We have loved being close enough to have a few visitors from home

Trying out local restaurants like Big Jud's, flying pie, etc Here is the one pounder- luckily for our health, we split it. (no, not me and Jackson! . . .how much weight do you think I am gaining here!)

Hitting the local museums and sites.

Bike rides on the greenbelt river trail . . . ok so this background is the only part of the trail that ISN'T gorgeous. I am not sure WHY we took it here! (yes, I bought a new bike trailer and use it daily with even more appreciation for it)

Lots of games with Dave. Ticket to ride, online settlers, game nights with ward friends . . . we love games.Jackson learned to walk in our tiny apartment.

Jackson turned one! He absolutely hates cake (watch him throw it away here)

Still to come,

Float the Boise River

Enjoy the 24th in Utah (we have to go home for some of my work meetings)

Camping in McCall
Running a 10K

Biking to the dam

Shshone falls

Golden Spike

We are really enjoying our time here and feel like it is passing too quickly. We have made some great friends we will be sad to leave here. I love having Dave home nightly and on the weekend. I can't believe how quickly school is starting for me (August 17) which means my summer will be over! I am loving your updates. Keep 'em coming!

Question- Have any of you had the opportunity to share the gospel? I mean I know we all are sharing just by our examples, but I wondered if there were any specific stories. I have been praying for opportunities to share the joy I feel, so far I have made friends, but haven't had the opportunity to share. This upcoming weekend, we are hosting a family I met here in Boise, at my house in Utah. I am hoping they will want to see some church sites and ask more questions. Any advice?

Where do you think you're going? (Amber Brady)

2009-07-12T12:27:00.000-07:00

My husband and I were talking the other night about how we have really enjoyed being here in Wisconsin and what a blast it is to go on day trips every Saturday. This made us realize how we squandered the previous school year. We barely went anywhere and we have decided that we will continue day trippin' when we get back to Utah since we never lived there before and we most likely will not live in Utah after school is over.
Now for the part where I tell you where we've been lately. Mike had July 3rd off so we went to the Houdini/Appleton area museum. It was a nice little place and it was very interesting to learn about the greatest magician/illusionist. It also grossed me out when I saw the very large lock picks and read about where he hid them. Ick! We also enjoyed the exhibit of local sports and the girls really liked the Curling section. We also saw Independence Day fireworks a day early on a bridge over a freeway where we were eaten alive by mosquitoes so you can bet we loaded up on OFF! bug spray after that.
On Independence Day we drove up to Green Bay and went to Heritage Hills which has several buildings from Wisconsin's frontier era. There were volunteers dressed up in costumes from ~1830s telling us about daily life of the early settlers. We were especially excited about the Moravian church since my husband served his mission in the Czech Republic and you don't see any Moravian things in CA or UT. We also took a little class about espionage during the Revolution and there was even a little Belgian farm there along with chickens, sheep, and cows. At one point we took a tour of an officer's home. It was rather nice and in the kitchen there was even a cradle and high chair. My toddler came over to the cradle and wanted to take the blankets off but when I told her a baby was sleeping there so she decided to rock the cradle and told everyone to be quiet for the "baby sleeping."

This past weekend we became very ambitious. We drove east to Manitowoc on the shores of Lake Michigan. The largest maritime museum on the great lakes is there so we just had to go and take a tour on the U.S.S. Cobia, a WWII sub that was rather successful in battle, had only one casualty during the war, and the crew even made friends with the Japanese sailors that they rescued. This photo of us was taken in the torpedo room where people slept in bunks above where the torpedoes were stored. We then went over to Two Rivers beach just to take a love at Lake Michigan and dip our toes in the water. I just talked with Kristen MacRory yesterday and found out that they were there at the same time but we weren't really close enough to realize it. My husband and I didn't bring towels or swimsuits since we weren't certain if the girls would like it and we had one more place to go. Our final stop was at the Maribel Caves. This place was very cool and the caves were just a short walk from the parking lot. I think my toddler thought the seven dwarfs would come out at any moment and sing Hi Ho to her. It was a wonderful Saturday since the girls also took long naps when we got home. I can't wait to hear more about everyone's adventures!

Oahu (Heather Hatch)

2009-06-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

Finding an internship for this summer was a bit of a rollercoaster. Especially starting in May, when one opportunity after another would present itself, and then fall apart at the last minute. Just when we had gotten used to the idea that perhaps an internship just wasn't in the cards for us, on June 19, my husband got a call at about 9pm with an offer. One week later, we found ourselves in the Honolulu airport being picked up by the President of BYU-Hawaii to start our summer adventure.

James will be working with BYU-Hawaii, doing several projects for the University (most of them finance). It's an unpaid internship, but the university paid to fly our whole family out and back, and have also paid for our apartment...so it's not so bad!

We've never been to Hawaii before, and are so, so excited to be here. We don't have a car here, but we can rent a car for the day from the university, which we plan to do every weekend. President Wheelwright rented a minivan for us for our first Saturday here, and told us to go explore the island...which we did!

Our first stop was Waikiki to walk around some of the touristy shops. We were acutally trying to get to the USS Arizona Memorial, but we were having troubles with our GPS. So, we ended up in Waikiki and decided to walk around.

Finally, we realized we had to change the zone on the GPS, and we headed over to the memorial.

Ethan is manning one of the artillary guns, and loves it!

The boys in front of the USS Bowfish. Justin is apparently camera-shy.

We took a boatride out to the memorial (free!), and there really is a special feeling there. The wall of names on the memorial was pretty sobering.

The memorial is built over the wreckage of the USS Arizona. Several decades later, oil is still spilling to the surface of the water.

Justin throwing a huge temper tantrum on the boat...apparently he didn't get the memo that children are supposed to remain orderly and quiet so as not to disrupt the reverent atmosphere for others.

The little trouble-maker trying to remove the safety signs.

It was an incredible place to visit, though someday we'd like to go back so that we could visit all the exhibits (they have age-limits that our boys didn't meet).

We're really excited to be here, and love reading about everyone else's adventures, so keep the posts coming!

Chicago [ Christie Coombs ]

2009-06-29T08:48:00.001-07:00

Well I am finally getting around to a quick post on here about our summer adventures. We are in Chicago, or just outside of Chicago, for the summer and we are LOVING it. We have seen a ton of fun things and really like all the people around here. Cody is also liking his internship with United Stationers.

Here are just a few pictures of some of the places we have been. I also put the first two pictures because most of you left before we had our baby and I thought you might like to see him.

[ This is Devon ]

[ He is already getting bigger! ]

[ The Children's Museum - it was GREAT! ]

[ The Navy Pier ]

[ We do a lot of swimming ]

[ The Taste of Chicago - yummy stuffed pizza & cheesecake ]

[ The Sear Tower ]

[ Chicago! ]

The Mackrory Family Finally Checking In From...

2009-06-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

Take your guess...

Did you guess...

Wisconsin!?!

I know, Wisconsin would not have been my first guess either. But, you can imagine our excitement when we found out that we live just 90 miles south of Door County, "The Cape Cod of the Midwest." We have spent two weekends up there thus far and have reveled in its beauty, its shopping, its fun, and its beaches. Granted, it is no Hawaii (lucky you Heather!!!), but it is still a lot of fun.

More specifically, we are living in Appleton, Wisconsin while my husband completes his brand management internship with Kimberly-Clark. He is working on a new product for the Depends Brand (Hey, no laughing!! Well, okay, I guess a little chuckle is understandable. I mean, after all, it is adult underwear!). He is loving this opportunity to work on a great brand and is very happy with his project, the company, and his experience...and so are the kids and I. This part of Wisconsin is very religious and family friendly. The people are very welcoming and kind. We love the "country feel." Another of our favorite destinations thusfar have been a couple of farms where they let visitors feed, hold, and ride their animals:

The weather out here has been interesting. We spent the first 3 weeks seriously wishing we had brought more than 1 or 2 winter outfits due to the wind, rain, and cold temperatures. This last week has been spent baking in the heat and humidity (95+ degrees). I grew up in St. George where 100+ weather isn't at all uncommon, but the humidity adds in a whole different factor! We are still adjusting to that aspect. But all in all, we are enjoying our time in the "America's Dairyland." I absolutely love driving along the country roads (or the highway for that matter), surrounded by lush green fields and trees and seeing the quaint, classic, red barns dotting the landscape.

LOVE it!! It is refreshing and beautiful.

As a part of our "Wisconsin experience" we are trying a new cheese each week and writing a "review" on our family blog. Feel free to check it out at mackroryfamilyfun.blogspot.com. Here is our recent encounter with Blue Cheese:

Let's just say, even though my daughter liked it, next time (if there is a next time) we will not eat it just on crackers. We will try making a dressing or some other such recipe.

We moved out here in our Camry...no roof bags or anything...and it has been nice to live a little more simply. (Thank heavens for cheap toys at rummage sales though!) We took about 3 weeks, visiting family, many church history sites, and the Lincoln Presidential Museum on our way. I was worried about doing such a long car trip with the kids, but they did great and we loved our adventures.

Happy summer to you all and please keep posting! I am enjoying reading about "our combined MBASA adventures" all across the U.S.

Move Over Mr. Ed, Seabiscuit, Black Beauty, et al (Amber Brady)

2009-06-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went to Ripon, Wisconsin. The reason for the day trip was two fold.

The main reason we went is because months ago I was on the tourism website for Wisconsin and found that a Clydesdale farm was only an hour from where we'd be staying. Plus there was a guarantee that we would be able to see and maybe pet a baby Clydesdale. I booked our reservation a while ago and had been patiently waiting for our visit ever since.

On a side note I just have to say that as we drove down the country road a giant tractor was coming toward us but it didn't have any plows attached to it so it looked like a giant crab and I think we could have driven our car underneath it easily. Weird, huh?

When we arrived at Larson's Famous Clydesdales we were surprised that there weren't any flies. I thought for sure I would have to swat bugs off my babies faces but I never had to. I guess even the flies are friendly in Wisconsin. The owners told us about how their horses are champions on every level and how their small family run stable has beaten out the Budweiser team, and a team belonging to the family that owns Campbell's soup (hmm delicious). Of course being from Wisconsin they have two carriages painted in green and yellow for the Packers along with coordinating hair ties. We got to see one horse (Bud who was a total show boater) in action with a carriage. We even got to see a 5 day old male foal with his mom. The mama horse was okay with visitors but when we turned our backs to her for our photo she started to breath down my neck and chomped my ponytail. The baby was adorable and very Bambi-esque but he never got up when we were there. The owner also gave me a photo of another horse's ultrasound and I cannot figure out what I am looking at. It was a lovely day trip to take and now I just need to start figuring out some plans for the future since I have no idea what to do.

Less important was our stop at the birthplace of the Republican party to take some photos for my super GOP brother and my ultra Democrat sister. I don't really care for politics (I think both sides are no good) but I like to visit historical sites and museums so we went. There wasn't much to see. It is just an old school house and there wasn't much inside but my toddler did enjoy playing with the chalk and slate. Plus they had a decent display of election buttons.

Provo (Dawnia Walker)

2009-06-18T13:40:00.000-07:00

We are one of the lucky ones who are here in Provo for the summer. Brent is working for Beneficial Financial Group in Salt Lake doing investment research, which is exactly what he wants to do after graduation. He is really happy with the experience he is getting. On Monday, Brent came home with the news that 75% of the company was being laid off - yes, you read that right - 75%! Fortunately the interns get to keep their jobs. Unfortunately there most likely won't be any full time offers extended. Basically they decided the return they are receiving on their investments isn't worth the risk of the investments, so they aren't doing any new business. It was a pretty crazy day at the office. We're definitely grateful for the internship.

Brent got off early one afternoon so we were able to go visit a couple places in Salt Lake. We went to the This is the Place monument. We just walked around outside the village and saw all the statues. We'll have to visit the village another time.

We also discovered the Fort Douglas Museum. We didn't go inside the building, but they have an awesome display of cannons, tanks, and helicopters outside that have been used in the service. It was a really fun find. Of course, my camera battery died while we were there, so I only got one shot.

So far so good for our summer. We're having fun at the park and just hanging out. I'm actually enjoying all the rain we've been receiving. I'm taking the boys to Vegas next week to visit family where I'm sure we'll enjoy lots of heat and lots of time by the pool.

Cereal Festival (Winter Freebairn in Battle Creek, Michigan)

2009-06-14T19:46:00.001-07:00

Post and Kellogg's are both in Battle Creek, so every year they do a huge cereal festival. They have the longest breakfast table in the world. They close down all the streets downtown and set up a mile long breakfast table and everyone comes and eats together. It was really fun. We went with a family in our ward.

The kids got to meet Tony the Tiger and Toucan Sam. Owen loved them. It was the cutest thing ever!! Look at his face in these pictures. I couldn't believe how excited he was, it was so fun.

The festvial had all kinds of fun things, face paintings, balloons, music etc. I tied a balloon to Owen's stroller and he was loving it, it was adorable.

Kyle and Mary at the world's longest breakfast table.

Utah (Kricket Barnum)

2009-06-12T13:50:00.000-07:00

After Garrett finished school we had a small break before he would start working at BD medical this summer for his internship. He is still working on this thesis for the Engineering part of his degree and was asked to present his paper in Palm Springs California during the first week of May. Well this worked out nicely for us because it feel on our anniversary which was reason enough for me to come. So I flew out (with Ryder) to Palm Springs and got to spend almost a week in California with Garrett. We were in Palm Springs for 2 days and then head out to L.A. to meet up with family and the BEACH!

Garrett stared his internship on May 11th and is really enjoying it. He is getting to do both his engineering and marketing and that is exciting. We are having a great time here at home getting to know some of the new spouses that will be joining us next year.

Irish and Cheesy (Amber Brady)

2009-06-10T11:59:00.000-07:00

The last two Saturdays we've spent our time at some festivals. Festivals are really really popular here in Wisconsin. Even if the weather isn't all that great people still go to festivals. We started our festival adventure by going to the very first Irish Festival in Oshkosh, just 20 minutes south of where we are. They had some really cool Irish/Celtic bands including one that was featured in this little indy movie called Titanic. We were mostly excited to see the Irish dancers. It would be a dream come true if my little girls could take Irish dance classes when they get older so we were glad that they got a chance to check it out. We even got to hang out with an Irish Setter (the dog representin' for all Celtic canines). Mila was a little scared and Juliet was just surprised when it started licking her face. For some reason dogs have been really interested in licking her face while we've been on this internship. We also got the chance to learn more about the potato famine and what it was like to be an indentured servant (no fun). They also had the best corned beef I've ever had. I just wish we could stay to hear the bagpipes being played. I grew up with an Episcopalian church behind my house and I always loved it when they would have someone playing the bagpipes (usually for funerals or weddings).

On Saturday we went to Cheese Fest! It was very cold and it rained a little bit on us but I am glad we went. The first thing we saw there was some chainsaw artists. One was carving up a log to look like an eagle and the other a wolf. Mike and I believe this came about due to a lumber jack being an artist and wanting to combine his work and his passion and viola! Chain saw art! We also believe that cheese carving stemmed from a similar idea. We were very excited to check out a cheese carving contest. I think all the contestants started at the same time but this one guy who was carving a cow was almost done while the people carving the Brooklyn bridge and Mr. Potato head had barely made any progress. We also visited the magician/comedian tent and went to the petting zoo. This part was a little odd. The bunnies and two baby foxes were in a cage but the pygmy goats, baby chicks, and a 100lb TIGER were not caged. The tiger was in the middle of the fenced in area so you couldn't just reach over the low fence to pet it but I can't understand why the petting zoo would even have a tiger or foxes.

In the evening we decided to go to a nice Mexican restaurant (El Azteca) with the girls which is a pretty big deal since I don't remember the last time we took them to a sit and order place. I was really excited because we mostly just eat real Mexican food when we are in California or at Mike's Aunt Celia's house in Utah. The staff seemed really happy to have someone from Mexico in there restaurant and the service was awesome. I just wish Mila had eaten something besides chips and horchata and that the food wasn't bland. I am now determined to try and find a Mexican restaurant here that doesn't turn down the heat and flavor so I guess we'll be going to all of them in the area.

Washington D.C. (Rachel Young)

2009-06-10T10:07:00.000-07:00

This summer, Tim is interning with the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). It is a legal internship (JD/MBA) and SO much better than last summer in Korea (so he says...I didn't go). We took the long about way to get here. We stopped in Blanding, UT and Grand Junction, CO to visit family, then went on our way. We stopped for a couple days in Independence, MO and then went on to Morgantown, WV to visit more family. All of this took about 3 weeks and the best part was we didn't know Tim's starting date for the internship. It's government run...need I say more. Five years in the Air Force taught us to just go with our own plans and adjust when we finally get around to instructions. And it was a good thing we did. He got an email on May 21 that said he needed to be there on May 26. Good thing we didn't wait around Utah for notice.

I'm not sure we could've prepared for what we walked into for housing, but it's worked out in the end. At least I have a washer and dryer. For that I am grateful. The first week was rather difficult, including croup and ear infection, but all is well now. We live in Fairfax, VA and it is beautiful here. I grew up in Northern Ohio and am really excited to be back East this summer...humidity and all. There is a pool with a baby pool in our complex so on the days it's not raining, that's where you can find us. Saturday is our touring day and we have a laundry list of places we want to go.

So far we've been to the Mall (part of it), some museums, and the National Zoo. Ethan is 16 months old and really isn't that interested in anything, even the zoo. As long as he can get out, run around, play on something, and ride the escalator, he's happy. He and I have figured out the area and can manage to get about anywhere. Traffic is amazing but we've seen worse (Tokyo). Then again, Tim takes the metro into work (to Union Station) so we've never experienced rush hour.

If I were to do it all again there are some key things I'd change. Since we'll have another internship next summer, I guess I'll be able to put those lessons to good use. All in all, I'm glad we came but am looking forward to going home again.

Just had to include the Community of Christ Temple (RLDS Church).

Capital Building

Washington Monument

National Zoo

Johnson & Johnson (Mesia Kempton--Philadelphia

2009-06-09T06:26:00.000-07:00

Our family left on May 4th for our 10 day road trip across country. We first stayed the night in Lincoln, Nebraska, then Milwaukee, Chicago, Kentucky, Pittsburgh and then finally Philadelphia. Most of the stops with the exception for two were all visitations to relatives. We are so glad we chose to plan our trip this way as it made it much more bearable. Thank you to Winter who recommended the roof bag. This was a life saver for us! We were lucky to obtain corporate housing so all we needed was to bring clothes, toys and that was pretty much it...however; it's amazing how your car fills up! Well, we are now here! Matt started working on May 18th. He is performing finance responsibilities for one of the marketing teams. He seems to enjoy it; although, it took almost two weeks for him to get a computer....apparently they have a very involved requisition process...oh, corporate! Anyway, he is finally acclimated and on his way to making us some money for the summer...yeah!
While he is slaving away...he..he! Seni and I, and sometimes Matt are touring the area! It's a very beautiful place! I'm really trying to scope it out in case he ends up getting an offer. I do have to laugh because I was initially thinking...oh, I hope I can meet some people that live in our complex...blah..blah..blah...well, come to find out my complex is saturated with security sales people from Utah...so that was good...I guess? So our ward is heavily comprised of us summer folks and a few solid members that don't leave. Pretty funny! Well, here are some pictures of places we've visited. Please enjoy! Also, please feel free to check out our blog @ http://www.mattmesia.blogspot.com/

Doylestown

Duck tour of Philadelphia

Please Touch Museum

Intercourse, PA Why the Amish named their town this...I have know idea!

Pretzel Factory, Amish Country

William Penn on top of City Hall, Philadelphia

More pics on top of City Hall...

Seni & I

You know you're not in Utah anymore . . . (Jamie Harper)

2009-06-08T09:48:00.001-07:00

When your bike trailer/jogging stroller is stolen 3 days after you buy it. :( NOT FUN! I didn't even get a chance to get a picture yet and my summer fun is put on hold for a while . . .

Kelloggs (Winter Freebairn in Battle Creek, Michigan)

2009-06-08T06:25:00.000-07:00

This summer has been so crazy so far. The day school got out we drove to Arizona and Kyle flew out of Phoenix the day after we got there. He spent a month in Africa and I spent a month with our families. While we were in Arizona we got to spend two weekends at our friends resort in Rocky Point, Mexico. It was so fun. Mary loves the beach. When Kyle got back from Africa we had one day in Arizona before we started our three day drive to Michigan. We spent the evening with my family and then spent the day at the lake with his family. So with just our car and roof bag we started our drive to Michigan. The kids did surprisingly well on the drive and we made it. We had a very similar first couple weeks as the Blair’s. Kellogg’s suggested we stay in a furnished apartment that was ridiculously priced, but we decided to rent an unfurnished house for a third the price and furnish it ourselves. So, between Craigslist, Wal-Mart and some thrift store’s we are finally all settled and have a nice house with a fenced front and backyard which the kids love. Kyle absolutely loves Kellogg’s and we are only a few minutes away from his office, so we get to see a lot of him which is such a nice change. Things are starting to pick up with his projects and he’ll have to start working longer hours, but when he comes home he doesn’t have homework. Woohoo!! We spent this weekend in South Haven at Lake Michigan. It felt so much like the ocean it was hard to believe it was just a lake. The kids loved it. There was also a huge car show going on that Kyle was really excited about. He used to have a red convertible 67 Firebird, so he really enjoys old cars. We are having a great experience and meeting a lot of fun people. I was hoping for a warm summer after that cold year in Utah, but so far it’s been cold and rainy here, so I’m hoping it will warm up soon. Our first month in Arizona was very warm and relaxing.

Boise, Idaho (Jamie Harper)

2009-06-05T11:56:00.000-07:00

Unlike (or like) many of you, we didn't have an internship when school ended. Our many prayers and fasts were answered in one day with TWO offers and about 10 hours to decide. Dave chose Simplot and left 3 days later (May 3) for Boise, starting earlier than most MBA internships. I still had to teach school, so our first month was spent apart (except for the weekends we were together). I moved in with my parents so we could sublease our place. I actually really enjoyed living at home. I haven't lived with my litte sisters since they were 5 and 7, and of course they loved their nephew (and I had 4 free babysitters at my beck and call :) )

Jackson playing with Grandpa: Dave on the other hand found an unfurnished apartment (without even overhead lighting!) and lived without internet . . . basically it was like camping out :), only he had a cell phone (thank goodness)!

Buying a new car so we could live apart . . .Finally, school ended May 29th and I drove up to Idaho to meet Dave. We love our place with the river and biking/jogging trail right in our backyard. The city is beautiful-I especially love the river trail. Our ward has been really friendly and we even found someone to babysit so we could make it to ward temple night.

Simplot fries really are the best! Notice there are shoestring and crinkle. Dave has become a fry critic and is passionate about Simplot fries. It is fun to see him learn and love it. TIME with my husband is something I REALLY love about this internship!

Jackson sleeps in a closet that fits a pack and play perfectly. The first day we were here we found a table, chairs and a small dresser at a garage sell for $20 (plus come dishes). We are still sleeping on an air mattress because we can't figure out how to get a bed here (thanks for the tip on renting a truck!) Luckily, we had most things we needed because Dave had been living here for a month, but it is still funny the things you take for granted at home, that you don't have like a screwdriver, or scizzors or tape or nails or hot pads or enough dishes to eat more than 2 meals, etc. I am sure we are all finding the same things.

This may seem crazy to most of you, but neither Dave nor I have ever lived outside of Utah (except our missions). I was thinking that Idaho is pretty much like Utah, so I have been shocked at how few members there are here. In our complex of 400, there are only 3 member families- I know some of you are laughing at me right now, but I really am that surprised that not everyone I see is a member!

I am loving the updates! Keep 'em coming!

Dave, Jamie and Jackson Harper

Cummins (Suzanne Blair in Minneapolis, MN)

2009-06-03T12:59:00.001-07:00

Wow- I am having so much fun reading about everyone's adventures, literally all over the country! So keep the posts coming. :)We made it out here to Minneapolis about 3 weeks ago after making the 2 and half day drive. We borrowed my sister in laws car (a ford focus) and put a roof bag on top. The roof bag was extremely helpful, especially having such a small car. It was nice too because we could use it even without a rack on the car. I definitely would recommend it.

We stopped by Mt. Rushmore on our way out. It was cool to see, but a lot smaller in person than I thought it would be!

The first few days were a little rough after a few hard days of driving we got to our VERY empty apartment and blew up our air mattress to sleep. Corporate housing is pretty expensive around here and on the opposite side of the city from where Rand works, so we decided to take a regular apartment and fill it up ourselves. The first few days I was a little skeptical and sick of sleeping on an air mattress and eating on the floor, but after hitting up craigslist, IKEA, and garage sales that weekend we have pretty much everything we need and for under $500!!! Those few days of sacrifice were definitely worth the HUGE savings- plus we are only an 8 minute drive from Rand's office which means I have a car during the day- so worth it!!This was us eating dinner on day 2 on our make-shift table. Luckily the next day we scored a table for $10 at a garage sale. :)

So far we have really enjoyed Minneapolis. The weather here (at least right now) is fantastic! It's been in the 70s almost everyday. The weather has made it perfect for exploring the MANY parks they have around here. I think we have been to 8 different ones already. Cayden is loving it. We also had a chance Memorial Day weekend to check out a free zoo they have here. There's also a small amusement park attached to it for younger kids that Cayden loved.We also have gone to see Minnehaha Falls which is a waterfall right in the city- it was so beautiful.
Overall it's a very beautiful and fun place to be. We're trying to take advantage of everything the city has to offer. Our ward is VERY friendly and has taken us right in. We're even looking forward to having Elder L. Tom Perry speak at our Stake Conference next week! :)
There are few things that I have learned/figured out so far during this experience, and I thought I would share them here so Iwill remember them to tell next years class!
1. You can save a TON of money by finding things on Craigslist/garage sales
2. If you don't have a large vehicle to transport your garage sale finds you can rent a pick up truck at Home depot for like $20/hour or try renting a U-haul for the day.
3. I wish I would have brought more office supply type things like a pair of sissors, envelopes, tape etc. Also wish we would have brought some nails. (At least we brought a hammer!) These things aren't expensive to get, but they're not very big either and it would have saved some money to just bring them.
4. Putting spices into ziplock bags is a great space saving tip- but keep the spices that you use daily in their bottles to save your sanity- I am SO tired of getting garlic salt out of a ziploack bag! :)
5. I found this site that lists free activites in tons of cities: www.gocitykids.com check it out and see if your city is on there.

That's all for now, but as I think of things I will post them.
If anyone wants to keep up on the more day to day stuff you can check out my blog at http://suzanneblair.blogspot.com - it's set to private so send me an email at suzanne (dot) blair (at) gmail (dot) com and I will get you added.

Johnson & Johnson (Amelia Allred, Somerset NJ)

2009-06-03T12:15:00.001-07:00

Being in New Jersey is a new adventure for us, we have lived east coast but never so north. I was in North Carolina for a few weeks visiting family. Ryan started here in NJ on May 11Th. I was a single parent for two weeks. It was no fun on the kids or me, so one Memorial day weekend Ryan drove down to get us. I have been in NJ almost two weeks. There are few things that are different here... there are no towns just townships, terrible roads (even though they are mostly toll roads) and ton of people. We live about twenty minutes from Ryan's work in Skillman, NJ so with the one car most of our adventures are on the weekend. I spend most of my day at the pool with Emily Carpenter and another LDS girl from Wisconsin named Heidi and all of our kids. Johnson and Johnson put all of the interns together for housing. We have started our own click. :)

This past Saturday morning started by us picking strawberries at this really cute farm, here in New Jersey by the Princeton area. I think that Emma ate more strawberries than we picked. The farm had farm animals that we fed, the kids enjoyed feeding the goats and geese. (Logan and Emma did). There were also tractors and other activities for the kids to do. The farm was also doing a barn raising so the kids got to sign a beam on the barn. Nick got to milk a cow, not a real one thank goodness. After the farm we went to the Delaware River where George Washington crossed during the Revolutionary War. There wasn't much to see so the kids were pretty bored but we had a nice picnic there. After that we tried to go the the New Jersey State Museum, the kids hated that too. We stayed about 20 minutes and paid for two hours parking. While exploring the area we hit a pot hole in the road that damages the power steering system in our car so our car is the shop now. Fun huh? We are having a blast here and I am so grateful for our chance to have this opportunity to be here. We haven't decided if we will go to NYC this weekend or to the Jersey shore. Keep ya updated.

Provo (Briawna Hugh)

2009-06-01T11:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm posting about Provo. There are many pro's and con's about staying here in Provo. I've decided that since I didn't have to pack up and move out this summer, I'm going to do a huge purge and organization of my house. Hopefully that will mean that I don't have to move lots of junk next spring. It's also nice to stay here in Provo and meet some of the new people coming in. Kricket Barnum and I got together and let the kids play in the pool while we tried to plan the summer. It was a blast. Here are my favorites of the kids. **Warning: Most of my posts will be about my kids swimming somewhere in Provo. It's what we do in the summer. :-)

Jenna Barnum

Palmer isn't so sure about diving into freezing water. The water was cold but it was gorgeous outside.

Portia

Cooper Barnum

Seattle, Washington (Lacy Anderson)

2009-06-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

Both Brandon and I have quickly fallen in love with Seattle and it's probably because it hasn't been overcast or rained here since we arrived two and a half weeks ago. The weather is amazing! Elly and I go on a walk/jog almost everyday along the waterfront and it is beautiful.

We live downtown in Seattle, which is weird because Brandon is working at Microsoft in Redmond, WA (a 45 minute commute), but we are in corporate housing and they put us here. We aren't complaining however because our apartment is nice and we have a great view of Puget Sound. Plus, there are four other MBA interns living in our building who are LDS, too (including Oliver and Kristin Christensen).

Brandon is enjoying his project at Microsoft and the perks of working for such a huge company are great! Microsoft donates tons of money to places all around the city, so we get discounts everywhere.
This is a picture of Brandon and Elly at the front door of his building. We got to go see his office last week and even buy a little Microsoft swag.

Our ward is great and I know we'll be sad to leave it when August comes. (Although, I know we'll be happy to be coming back to Provo to see all the friends we miss so much!)
This is the best picture we could get of the three of us (we were staring into the sun) at a park by our ward building with a view of the city in the background. If you look closely, you can see the Space Needle on the left side of downtown:

My parents came for a visit last week as well and we took a ferry ride out to Bainbridge Island:

We live three blocks from the famous Pike Place Market and I really have to stop myself from going there everyday because they have the most amazing food. I do buy all my produce there, but it's the authentic french crepes, homemade doughtnuts, and pastries that I've got to keep away from!

We are having a great time here in Seattle and 12 weeks is already 10 and pretty soon the summer will be over. We do miss our Provo friends very much and I definitely miss MBASA!

The Big Apple (Monica Harrison in NYC)

2009-06-01T06:26:00.001-07:00

We arrived in NYC and the next day rented a car and headed on a family vaca to Palmyra and then to Philadelphia for Memorial Day weekend. We really enjoyed the Sacred Grove and the Spirit we felt there, it really is a special place. We also had a good time visiting all of the historical sites in Philadelphia! So far Mathew is enjoying his internship with AMEX (American Express), which is making the start of his summer more enjoyable.

Elle and I have stayed super busy and spend lots of time with Sharla Lovell (husband also with AMEX) and her two girls. So far we have made trips to Union Square, Central Park and a Peter Pan marionette puppet show, the Children's Museum of Manhattan, the Natural History Museum, lots of parks and enjoyed lots of delicious treats (since they seem to be on every corner). We even had Bruce Willis walk 3 ft. from us yesterday as we were enjoying shakes from the Shake Shack!view from our bedroom window

by the liberty bell in Philadelphia

And so it begins,,,, (Amber Brady)

2009-05-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

I'm a little leery of writing this post because I've never blogged before and I can't understand why no one else has. So let me just tell you that I am in Appleton, Wisconsin this summer and my husband is a marketing intern with Kimberly-Clark. He just started his second week on the job and is really enjoying the projects assigned to him. Now let me just back track to May 7th when our adventure began.
My parents told us months ago that they would be taking a vacation in early May and Mike and I convinced them to spend some time with us in the Midwest. We also managed to get my dad to drive for about 20 hours over two days (alone with Mike) while I flew with Mila, Juliet and my mom to Chicago (3 hours) and from there we drove to Appleton (3.5 hours). Luckily the girls were awesome on the plane thanks to super grandma, lots of snacks, new toys, and the laptop playing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Unfortunately I allowed my dad to print up directions for us and they were very misleading. My mom and I were getting very frustrated because we were going to stay at a house on Lake Winnebago but it was raining and we couldn't seem to find the place and the gas station employee wasn't helpful. We said a prayer and without a doubt the Holy Ghost guided us to the lake house. We had a nice time hanging out at the lake and strolling down downtown Neenah (think small town USA main street). We went to this cool little store for young children that mostly has toys made of wood and then connected to that store there is a little cafe that has a full kids menu and toys all over the place. After Mike and my dad arrived we went to Green Bay and went to the National Railroad Museum where we discovered that Mila is fond of trains. I really liked it because my grandpa used to work for the Santa Fe but he died when my dad was a boy so it was nice to learn about his line of work. We also stopped by the home of the Green Bay Packers. Mike's cousin is a huge fan so we just wanted check it out for him. I think Mike and I will go to one of their mini training camps and try to get some autographs and to get a feel for the devotion that 99.99% of Wisconsinites have for their team.
We did have one very unpleasant experience during our vacation time in Wisconsin. For two weeks out of the year the north side of Lake Winnebago is overrun by Lake Flies. They look like mosquitoes except they don't suck blood and they swarm like the locus did in Egypt. They cover everything within a quarter mile of the lake shore and when you drive down the road it sounds like rain drops are falling on the vehicle but in reality you are just hitting a lot of lake flies as you drive along. On the bright side they don't really follow you indoors and they don't move when you swat at them.
After staying on Lake Winnebago we headed down to Chicago. My dad used to have a guy in his ward who now lives there and he was able to hook us up with a RM BYU grad to babysit so Mike and I could go to a Cubs day game with my parents. I had so much fun even though I don't really like baseball. The brats/hot dogs were great, the seats were ridiculously close and the lovable Cubs won big time. Mike could have enjoyed himself but he decided to cheer for the San Diego Padres since he was born there. We also went to Millennium Park where they have some artwork on display from China. We also got to check out the Buckingham Fountain and the Field Museum where we posed with some cougars. Everything we did cost more than I am comfortable with including parking. The weather was also really weird. It was cold one day, then perfectly sunny, then ridiculously freezing for May, and then sunny and warm. We also went over to Navy Pier but there wasn't much to do there. We then said our goodbyes to my parents and went back up to Appleton and I don't think we'll make it down to Chicago again since the girls behaved sooo badly on the drive.
We are now settle into our furnished apartment and another BYU intern and his wife and son live in our complex (he is an engineering intern) so I had the mom and boy come over to hang out. We've gotten to know some of the other LDS-Kimberly Clark families and they are all fun and nice. I'm really trying to get into super outgoing mode so that I can make the most of our time here and I hope that everyone else is doing the same. As Mila would say "Bye-bye, love you, miss you."

The purpose of this blog

2009-04-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

In an effort to share our summer experiences, the communications committee has set up this BYU MBASA 2009 Summer Internship blog.

We would like for as many of you as possible to become "authors" and individually post experiences you are having throughout this summer.

Rules:
1. We are all very excited about your internships and want updates, but not necessarily daily updates.
2. Pictures are VERY MUCH WELCOME! Please share your pictures!
3. Please put your name in parenthesis in each blog title (ex. China Town (Monica Harrison).
4. ALWAYS label your post. e.g. Monica Harrison in NYC (name and location)

As soon as you would like to be added as an author, please email me at: monica.nichole@gmail.com and you will be ready to go.

Also, I am not sure if you are an author if you can add your personal blog to the side bar. If you can't and would like your blog listed, please let me know and I will add it.

I am really excited to be able to see what everyone is doing this summer and hear each of your stories!

Happy blogging.
Monica