Monday, November 11, 2013

Women in Technology

freedigitalphtotos.net
It is no secret that the number of men who are working in technology-based careers outweighs the number of women.  As the number of technology jobs continues to increase, women are still trailing behind their male counterparts in virtually all areas, including education in technology. Although women make just one-fourth of technology workforce (career staff), there are certain brilliant female minds that have brought some technological innovations and advances that define the progress in multimedia technology.

It is true that a career in technology can bring about a significant change in the economy if they embrace technology and multimedia to a flexible and greater work-life balance.  In the past, women have been a bit locked outside the economic gains that come with such education and job or career opportunities.

Improving a student's access to technology can spur their economic advancement and stimulate their economic growth significantly. By involving women in technological developments, countries will set off positive chains of reaction that would enable a female student to leverage technology to improve their general lives. This is because more women will have the opportunity to use the technology and increase their self-confidence in handling technological and digital media projects as a student.

Involving women in technological careers may be one of the most exciting technological transformations in the twenty-first century. When women are empowered, it gives them room to take part in the improvement of the economy and reduce poverty by a wider margin. Remember, women's ability to access income, multimedia technology, and digital media education and a related job can help improve the welfare of the society.

There are groups where girls and women can get involved that will increase their chances of success (see list below). There are scholarships, workshops, conferences and internships available in fields that are male-dominant such as Science, Math and Engineering. We are at a big turning point and it is exciting to see change and watch as women come forward with their natural gifts and talents to further advancements. 

Sites With Lists of Organizations:
tech.co 
Women Tech World 
National Center for Women & Information Technology

Interesting Article about shift in criticism away from women:
iDMAa 
Huffington Post Interview

Thursday, February 2, 2012

"How's the Married Life?"

I wish I had a quarter for every time someone asked us that.
Short answer? "Wonderful! Amazing! I would recommend it to anyone!"
Long answer...

You suddenly have lots of stuff! With nowhere to put it.




Dinner is much more fun! Popping grapes and tomatoes into each others' mouths is pretty entertaining.

You become very comfortable with each other.
Couples' Costumes!
PRANKS!  This was the day Todd attacked me with shaving cream. My favorites I've done to him include the day I parked my car at his work and took his home (heh) and the time I dumped a pitcher of cold water on him in the shower.


Meals with friends! We try to have someone over each week.
Your spouse can encourage you to enjoy more vegetables.

You can be temple workers! Coolest thing ever [Chicago, IL Temple].

You have a home together...for filling with crafts :) Yay for sisters and Pinterest!

Marriage is the best thing God ever thought of and let us participate in. 

Todd is my best friend, coach, partner in crime, mission companion, recipe guinea pig, morning motivator, roommate, my confidant and secret-keeper, gym buddy, ebelskiver chef, sentence-finisher, personal comedian, road trip pal, my inspiration to be better and definitely my better half.
You should know that I love him with all that I have. 

I'm grateful for the peace I feel, knowing that through the temple and the sealing power 
available because of Jesus Christ, we can be married for eternity.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Our Honeymoon

I've always felt a pull to Colorado. It's breathtakingly beautiful, the people there are super laid-back, everyone seems to have a lab, wear chacos and drive a Jeep. Love that! With Todd's knowledge of my random and special connection to CO +new, ultra cheap tickets from PROVO AIRPORT to Denver =dream vacation!

This is Todd's "It's 8AM and I'm tired" face. 
Behind him is our teeny airplane, which will take us to Denver.  


 Clockwise from top left: Our fancy schmancy hotel, the crazy bride and groom, 
ROOM SERVICE!! and a sunrise from our hotel window.


Todd with some sweet shades. On our way to have an adventure!

Downtown Boulder was so fun! They have a pedestrian mall--Pearl Street--, meaning you walk down the street to get to the next shop instead of being indoors. Most everything is locally-operated. It felt a lot like our similar State Street Mall here in Madison. Cool local artists, hippie/granola clothes and jewelry, and plenty of youngsters sporting University of Colorado shirts and hats.

Some highlights: Todd bought his first pair of Chacos!, we got some t-shirts, watched lots of fun street performers and musicians, bought some yummy Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory fudge adn dipped cookies, tried on silly hats, got some ice cream and enjoyed the dry hot weather.


Whitewater rafting. The guide asked our group at the beginning if we wanted to go easy or if we wanted to actually have fun. Let's just say that at the first rapid, called "50/50" (the chances of you falling out) had us all underwater. It was a total blast! No one could believe we went river rafting on our Honeymoon. One guy on our group turned to his wife: 
"Why didn't we do that on our honeymoon?"


We hiked the Flatirons [Wiki Page to learn more] near Boulder. So awesome!


 Matching Chacos!And an exhausted pair of hikers, madly in love.


Local wildlife. The one on the right is a large and growly bear, in case you can't tell.


We got to our Utah hotel room late the final night, after visiting family and frantically packing for home. Todd slides the key card in. Green. Unlocked. He pushes the door a few times, totally confused at why it's not opening all the way. It was stuck on the little metal bar that loops around for extra security. You know, the kind you can only lock from the inside. Bizarre!

I call down to the lobby to see what the plan is and he says, "Let me guess- you're in room 434. I told them to fix that!" After like 30 minutes of unsuccessful prying (wrenches, screwdrivers, magazines, pencils, car keys, fingers) and praying, Todd sighs and goes, "So... can we have a discount?" HiL-arious. He agreed and we got like half off! We gave up on the stubborn door and they assigned us to an extra room they had, promising we could get our suitcases and stuff 
out before our 8AM flight, back to Wisconsin.  

Long story short, it was a special handicap room. Like, built-in lights that flash when someone knocks on the door or calls, braille scattered around the room, giant shower...and it hadn't been cleaned very well since the last guest. Yikes. As pledged, a man woke us up early to get our stuff from our original room. It made for a very sleepy plane ride home.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Nice Day for a Wight Wedding!

We have so many pictures of our happy day. And they keep trickling in. Here are some of my top faves from family members' cameras. I will post again when we get our official photog.'s stuff. 


Click the links at the end to view my Facebook albums. Enjoy!

after the Wedding Ceremony
Mt Timpanogos Temple



















 at the Luncheon





at the Reception











Facebook Album Links





Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Roughing It Not So Rough

Todd's friend Josh from work got married recently. We were able to attend the ceremony in Illinois this Summer. It was so awesome! They're both so sweet and so dedicated to the Lord. They invited us to go camping with them last minute and though we were exhausted and had plenty to do, we accepted. Here are some fun moments we shared with them!

Hiking Balanced Rock trail at Devil's Lake
They are so in love!

Boys will be boys--going off the trail to do some bouldering.


"Here, now let's step just a bit closer to the edge and I will dip you again!"

Sometimes a girl just needs to be held
Todd couldn't let an opportunity for danger and romance go by!
Yes! We are right on the edge of our potential doom!
Balanced Rock. Nothing too captivating. Utah rocks can do ten times that.

I love this one! That's Devil's Lake State Park

Petrified wood?
Who knew I married my favorite superhero: Spider-Man?!

Nice. Maybe we can time it better next time!  :)
My favorite part about the trip was spending time with Josh and Julie, sitting around the campfire sharing uplifting stories and scriptures and testimony. We love you guys!!