Mr. D and Mrs. M

This past weekend Mr. D and I ventured out of Seattle for our second camping trip of the summer. When Mr. D and I got married I remember explaining to him that I wasn't a camper (I was more of a shower everyday type of girl) and somehow we have managed to go twice this summer. At the end of the trip I even caught myself saying that I loved camping to one of our friends! Something that has been key for me in camping is being prepared for camping and bringing the right stuff. Thankfully we have a generous family in our ward at church that is happy to loan us some of their camping gear, which we've been incredibly grateful for. Mr. D and I had trouble finding a campsite, but got lucky and were able to find a beautiful space by a lake large enough for three tents for our group of six. Our neighbors we camped by were a little rowdy, but Mr. D had brought his earplugs so we were able to sleep well both nights we were there. On Saturday we hiked to Mirror Lake together where ...

This year I have the opportunity to volunteer again with the Girls Who Code program through my employer, Expedia. I love this program and hope when you learn about it you will share my enthusiasm for the program. When I share my involvement with Girls Who Code, a program that teaches high-school aged girls programming skills, with friends, I sometimes hear complaints about how unfair it is that this program that benefits “only women” exists. While I understand the complaint, I also disagree with it because I feel this type of advantage for young girls benefits our society made up of men and women as a whole. Our society greatly benefits from raising confident, capable women. Having come from a graduating class of 2 women (out of 60 students) for my Masters degree, I am acutely aware of some of the challenges of being part of a minority in the programming field and agree that programs such as this one are necessary. Last year was my first year volunteering with the Girls Who C...