Chris & Cassie: A Journey That Takes Two: UVU Graduation

Our Story

It all started in a seminary class in high school, with a "mop-headed boy" and a dancer/singer who sat behind him. As only friends in high school, and then reuniting after Christopher's mission, we were married in the LDS temple in Manti, Utah, and have now been married for over 7 years.

On January 16, 2013, Cassie was diagnosed with a stroke. As a result, many of our dreams and goals were delayed. But we were not to be deterred. Chris graduated in 2014 and currently works at Imagine Learning, and Cassie graduated in 2016 and now volunteers at the hospital while maintaining the apartment.

As we now commence on our journey to adopt, please spread the word! Comments are welcome as expressions of love and support. Most important is the faith and prayers offered in our behalf. So we invite you to share in our journey, as we look back in time to the beginning of the emergency and then update you to the joys and trials we face together. This is our story.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

UVU Graduation - May 1-2, 2014

Yesterday was a monumental day. It was commencement at Utah Valley University for me. I finally made it. There were so many ups and downs in me getting to this point. All of those struggles are not over yet, as Cassie and I have yet to embark on many more adventures in our life together.

It was such a blessed event. I could not believe that I was actually there, graduating with my bachelors in science degree in International Business. It was surreal and I had not realized how much I would actually miss walking the halls and participating in all of the student events. Who knew that after 5 years of going to school that I would become so attached to the place?

The commencement speaker was Wes Moore, who wrote a bestselling book called The Other Wes Moore. He thoughts were short and straightforward, and the biggest question that he raised was something similar to this: “How do you make it matter that you were here?” In other words, why did I attend UVU? He said that it would be a mistake had it only been for a degree, diploma or certificate. That is not the end game plan. Indeed, it is to do something with that. He said to appropriately represent the Wolverine spirit in the world and to fight for someone and some worthy cause. There were other noted guests. I thought to myself about how I would need to change in order to reciprocate their dedication to bettering others around them and focusing on the more important things.

So now Cassie has the goal of auditing a class this coming fall semester at UVU and, if she feels ready and capable, to actually take the class for credit next spring in 2015. We sure hope that she does well and continues to thrive and progress!