GOLD in the Scroll

Thumbnail on the front page!

What a great feeling having my husband walk through the door with half a dozen freshly printed newspapers with a BE THE GOLD article inside!

Yesterday the BYU-I Scroll published an article about BE THE GOLD. (CLICK HERE to read the article)

It was during the Rexburg City Council Meeting Proclamation a few weeks ago that I was first approached by Scroll reporter, Keslee Kerby. She was interested in interviewing me for a story.



We chatted for a bit as I answered some questions she had. She also visited the face painting booth at the Farmer's Market later that week. She was great to work with and very thorough. I was impressed with her professionalism and overall enthusiasm.


Later the next week, I emailed her some more info as well as a few pictures to choose from, including some pictures from the City Counsel Meeting. What a surprise to see a huge picture of my recent headshot with the article! I thought if used, the headshot would be a thumbnail picture in the corner somewhere!

Thank you to the Scroll for featuring BE THE GOLD in such an awesome way!

BYU-I Scroll Newspaper article about BE THE GOLD

ON THE AIR @ NPR

Growing up, NPR was the symbol of truth, realness, big deals...
I would have never thought I would have ever been interviewed and be put on NPR air.

Photo from 94.3 website

This time the interview would be over the phone with our local NPR station, also known as BYU-Idaho Radio 94.3. I was home with all three of my children while my husband was at school. The baby was asleep but Dallin and his sister were awake, entertained watching a movie in our living room. I found a quiet place in my bedroom. This was so much less nerve-racking than my Classy 97 interview. No driving, no sitter-finding, no face-to-face with radio personalities, no giant microphone. Piece of cake, right?

It was to be prerecorded, so my stress level was definitely much lower. I did have the challenging task of giving clean audio while in a house full of usually loud children and two small dogs. They tested for sound and I found myself struggling to be loud enough for them to record me well, while being quiet enough so that my little ones would remain unaware of the interesting thing I was doing and not come investigate.... something a normal phone conversation would usually do. So, as I tired to find the balance with the volume of my voice, I also had to try to answer coherently. Towards the end of the interview, this was proving more difficult with Dallin realizing I was up to something and trying to figure out what exactly. Luckily, I think the audio was recorded cleanly and the interview went very well.

Handy little app called Super Note

The interview was to be played two days later (today) on the NPR news breaks throughout the day, one segment every 2 hours or so. I called to see if they could give me a copy of the completed interview but this proved to be difficult so I tried my hand at recording it myself. Armed with the news schedule and a handy recording app called Super Note and got ready to press record. My children and dogs once again made this task a little stressful. How do I keep 5 little noisemakers quiet during the 1 to 2 minute newscast to get a clear recording? I think I managed to get a pretty good recording of each segment though there is a bit of static and popping once in a while.


Hearing it played back sounds so strange to me. It's NPR. They cover serious stuff. I still can't believe I was on there. Thank you 94.3! I am in awe that you find BE THE GOLD NPR-worthy! It warms my heart to find others taking this as seriously as I do.

Loco for GOLD

I am so excited about this special event hosted by Rexburg Kiwi Loco! They generously donated 20% of sales between 6pm-9pm last night to CureSearch, a childhood cancer research foundation. Plus, people wearing a BE THE GOLD badge received a free cookie! They were delicious warm just-baked cookies too!

Images at the checkout stands. How cool is that!?!

The Standard Journal even wrote a piece about it. CLICK HERE to read.

It was so neat to walk in the store and find BE THE GOLD posters and signs everywhere. The Kiwi Loco employees even wore BE THE GOLD badges! What I thought was extra cool was the digital screens located at the check out presenting the BE THE GOLD badge image and the BE THE GOLD Night flyer! It was kind of surreal!

We all enjoyed some awesome frozen yogurt (Tip: Cake Batter flavor is amazing!). It was a fun time!


Today I called the manager at the Kiwi Loco to find out how the night went and to let him know I would be picking up the posters later today. I was so pleasantly surprised to hear him ask if they could wear the BE THE GOLD badges for the remainder of the month! How AWESOME! Thank you Rexburg Kiwi Loco for hosting this event, for your generous donation to CureSearch and for your overall enthusiasm for BE THE GOLD!

Thank you Rexburg Kiwi Loco for hosting this BE THE GOLD supporting event!

Care to Dance

Yesterday was such a fun day! The Rexburg Mommy and Me Dance Class hosted a BE THE GOLD day with a GOLDilock and the Three Bears Themed dance day. There was GOLDilock themed stretching and dancing, some cute games and story time. At the end, I was given time to talk to the parents briefly about what BE THE GOLD is all about. It was a fun morning! Thank you Kierstena for hosting!

Kiwi Loco BE THE GOLD Night

Rexburg Kiwi Loco BE THE GOLD Night!

So excited to share this Kiwi Loco Event!
If you are in the Rexburg area, come on out and join us!
See you there!


CLICK HERE to read about the event!

GOLDilocks can dance!

If you are in the Rexburg area, join us for this super fun FREE event!
Big thank you to Kierstena Rolfson of Rexburg Mommy & Me for hosting!
See you there!

UPDATE: Read about it here.

My Appointment with a Microphone

Left to right: Mike Nelson, myself and Liza Raley.

Last Wednesday was another big day for BE THE GOLD! I was invited by KLCE Classy 97 to come in for an interview! I have always been more of an introverted, private person but I knew that it was an amazing opportunity. So I enthusiastically accepted the invitation.

I was scheduled to come in at 9am Wednesday morning. I slept little the night before. That morning, I kept forcing my body to do the list of things in order to get ready for the event; shower, eat breakfast, get the kids ready for the sitter, not hyperventilate.... ya know, the usual.

The babysitter was a little late from getting lost but I was more worried about the drive to the radio station in Idaho Falls. Fortunately, the drive was much easier of a task than I made it out to be in my mind (I had never been to Idaho Falls before). I got there, parked my van, took a deep breath and made my way inside.

HUGE microphone!

I was greeted by the lovely Liza Raley, one half of "Mike and Liza In The Morning". She walked me back to the booth where we would be recording. One major comfort to me was knowing this would be prerecorded! I met Mike Nelson who had a voice, even in person, that made you think, "Wow, that guy should be on the radio." which makes sense because he is.

Then they showed me my mic... the biggest mic I had ever seen in my life. I wished the picture I took would do it better justice. It looked much bigger in person. Despite the hugeness of it, I was told I needed to get within a couple of inches of the mic for proper sound. I was intimidated, to say the least.

They wisely chatted me up for a few minutes to get me warmed up. This included Mike mentioning that Classy 97 is the most listened to station in East Idaho (gulp). Then it was time. They pressed record and started the intro.

I was more relaxed after chatting with Mike and Liza but as soon as Mike started his intro, I could feel such a surge of adrenaline, I wasn't sure if when I opened my mouth if any sound would come out. It was an intense feeling of, "How on Earth did I end up here? I can't do this!".

But I did do it. That's how I know how passionate I am about this movement. I have figured out how to override my brain and do scary things I would never normally do, all because I truly believe in this. When I say "Let's change the world." I really do believe that. I honestly feel it is my calling in life. Without that conviction I would never be able to power through the sleepless nights or the scary, intimidating moments. I let go of my fear and jumped in with both feet because at the end of the day, I want to know I did all I could to make this happen. Hopefully, I can motivate others to feel the same.

After we were done, Mike and Liza gave me a round of applause and I sheepishly accepted their compliments. I gave them some BE THE GOLD pins and we took some pictures. All and all, it was a wonderful experience. I am happy that it went so well, not only because it was great exposure for the movement but also because it will make the next scary thing seem a little more overcome-able. Thank you Mike and Liza for making this such a pleasant experience!

The recorded interview was to be played the next morning at 6:15am and 8:15am. Regrettably, I slept through the first airing after a night of baby-tending-to. At 8am, I was glued to my computer, listening online to the broadcast. 8:15am neared and I started getting nervous and clammy all over again. Then they cut to the weather report and immediately after I heard the familiar intro I heard from Mike the morning before. Oh, the mix of emotion listening to it! I was so excited. I was so nervous. I was plagued with the thought that my voice sounded horrible and my words were so not eloquent. I was just sitting there listening with my eyes open as wide as possible as if they would help me hear the interview better. It was surreal.

I look back at it now and it feels like a dream. If not for the recording, I would file it away in my mind as something too good to be true. Thank you Classy 97 for your generosity in inviting me for the interview and the air time it received!