Bear Lake Trip

After graduation, Carly and I took a trip to Bear Lake last week and stayed at the Creamery in St. Charles, Idaho. The Pedersen's have been going to the Creamery for many years and Carly's uncle was gracious enough to let us come this last weekend. Carly's parents and most of her siblings and their children were able to come, as well as my parents and K.C. We mostly hung out and relaxed, but we had a couple family meetings. One of the meetings was on Mother's Day and we shared what we liked about our moms. Another meeting was about our favorite scripture and we learned a lot of new insights.

Playing games with some of my new nieces and nephews was really fun. In fact, there happens to be a firepole that most of us went down and I'm proud to say I was the first Native American to go down it!

It was super fun for our families to get to know each other better and enjoy each others company. Some of the best parts were sitting on the couch and just chatting.

Carly and I went up a few days before to hang out in Utah and spend time with friends and family. The day after we arrived, I got to participate in my first baby blessing for our new nephew Andrew. We also got to see Carly's alma mater, Weber State AND we got to see the Avengers, which totally rocked!

We are looking forward to many more trips up there in the future!

Christmas Break

Christmas Break was a blast! Carly and I flew to UT and got to hang with her family, meet old friends, and just have some fun. The first night Carly had her bridal shower and so her Dad and I went to the "man party" with my future brother in laws and nephews. We played some X-box Kinnect and had some hot chocolate. Afterwards I was taken to the bridal shower since apparently the tradition is for the guy to come to the last five minutes. It was fun because I got to see all the presents and get some of the food!

The next day we went to Provo and met one of her good friends Christen at Kneaders Bakery and had all you can eat french toast. Then we saw one of my college buddies Neil. Finally we dropped by my to see my best friends from my childhood, Pace and his wife Joy, along with Stephanie. It was fun to catch up and have them meet Carly. Steph said they needed to approve before we tied the knot!

Saturday, Carly, her parents and I got to see the new Mission Impossible. It was killer! Later on that day we had a dinner with some of the extended family and had a nativity scene with some of the smaller children. Loved it!

Christmas day was great of course since we got to have a musical program for sacrament. It always a great day when we get to recognize the Savior and his influence on our lives. The next best part was opening the presents! It was fun, especially with all my future nieces and nephews!

One of the best parts of the trip was visting the Bountiful temple, where Carly and I will be married in just a few weeks time. It is a beautiful place and I can't wait to go back there and marry her. I'm so grateful for temples and the authority to make it possible for marriages to last in the eternities. I know the Priesthood and the sealing authority in that Priesthood is real. That is one of the greatest gifts the Lord has blessed his children with.

Best. Christmas Break. With My Fiance. Ever!

Bank of America MBA Leadership Development Program

I recently accepted an offer from Bank of America to begin their MBA Leadership Development Program (LDP) in their Consumer and Small Business Bank (CSBB) Division. The position starts at the end of June after I graduate from Arizona State. I will start with a class of 25 or so MBA grads, five of which will be from ASU. The program is designed to train incoming MBA's in general management to develop future leaders and executives in the bank.

The LDP consists of three rotations over two years. The first rotation is a corporate project in one of their divisions (Online, Mobile, ATM, Credit Cards, Demand Deposit Accounts, etc.). The second rotation consists of a two month mini-project with the other incoming MBAs and then a six month position where you work with a market manager and supervise more than 40 branch managers. The third rotation bring you back to a new corporate project for another eight months. Once the rotations are complete you move into a new full-time position such as product management or product development.

I'm super excited about this opportunity and thankful for the ASU alumni and Career Management Center staff that made it possible to land the internship last summer and the Bank of American associates that helped make it a great experience, ultimately resulting in this job offer.

I'm Engaged!

In case you haven't heard the news, I'm engaged to the beautiful Carly Pedersen! Just two nights ago I surprised her by having signs asking her to to marry me outside of the security gate at Sky Harbor Airport as she returned from her trip to Utah. With some help from my friends Meghan, Katie, Chantal, and Dane, we set up the best marriage proposal I've ever done!

As you watch the video, the reaction on her face is priceless. One of my friends said it gave him the same kind of goosebumps as he got when they let Rudy play for Notre Dame. This was a million times better!

I'm so grateful for Carly and the love we share. She has brought me a lot of happiness and joy. She has all the qualities I've been looking for in a girl and I told her that she was even better than my "list."

I look forward to the day we will be married in the Temple for time and eternity.

I love you Carly!

Six Minutes of the Dark Night Rises in Mission Impossible 4!

My roommate let me know today that select cities with IMAX theaters showing Mission Impossible 4 will  also show the first six minutes of the new Batman film coming out next summer! I CANNOT wait!

I'm super excited for Mission Impossible anyway, especially since it is a J.J. Abrhams film. For those who are unfamiliar, J.J. produced LOST and the most recent Star Trek.

The next Batman will be epic considering the last two were phenomenal. Chris Nolan, the director is a amazing. The first two Batman films he directed were some of my favorites of all time. He also did Inception, which was a remarkable film as well.

Anyways, I can't wait for this extra bonus in MI 4!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was great! Carly and I flew to Charlotte for six days and had an absolute blast with the fam. We came in the day of Thanksgiving and Carly got to know the 'Rents, as well as KC, Lauren, and Cameron. Carly happened to just get her iPhone before we left, so she got initiated well into the family culture by trying out her new toy.

We went to Grandma Wade's house for Thanksgiving dinner and went to Kerry's house for Breakfast on Saturday. Both activities were super fun and it was neat to have Carly meet my extended family.

We had a lot of free time as well to just hang out, realax, watch a few movies, and have a lot of fun.

It was a great trip and I can't wait to go to Utah to meet Carly's family for Christmas!

The PhD Project

Last week I attended the PhD Project conference in Chicago. It is a conference hosted by the KPMG Foundation that provides prospective PhD students from minority backgrounds to learn more about business doctoral programs. Since 1994, they have taken the number from only 200 business professors to over 1,000. I was happy to be invited with 300 prospective students.

We had several sessions that covered what the application process is like, the life a doctoral student, and the career path of business academia. They also had breakout sessions for each discipline. I attended both the Management/OB and Marketing panels.

This was a great opportunity to network with current Professors, Doctoral students, and prospective students. They also hosted a university fair and we got to meet with different doctoral program admins and professors.

Interestingly, there was another conference going on at the same time at the same hotel. The Mid-West Fur Fest. There were like 100 guys dressed up in full body animal costumes. Loved it!

I'm considering working for a few years and then going back to school. There were many people in that scenario and it was good to hear their stories.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about PhD programs and meet others with similar interests. The best part was all the free food!