Phoenix, Arizona

My parents and us had such a great time in Arizona!! It was the first time Papa has seen Delaney since she was born and my mom since her baptism in July. Papa wasted no time in giving Cody a hard time and introduced Delaney to the "Booga Booga" game. She took to them like she'd never been away from them at all. I'm sure you're wondering why there's a picture of Cody changing Delaney's diaper, but it was the first one so we had to get it on film! We all had so much fun and rather than go into details I will let these great pictures speak for themselves.

Denyse's Bachelors in science of psychology

Nineteen years ago (1991) I graduated from high school. From there, not too much went according to plan in terms of education. I started a full time job at Kinko's that was supposed to get me through college, but 12 years later it ended up being more of a career. I left an emotionally and verbally abusive relationship of 8 years in which I have a beautiful son. I worked 60 plus hours and sold partylite candles to get by as a single mom. I proudly owned my first home on my own and Cody and I had Sunny (a yellow lab) and Harley (a chocolate lab). I soon realized that I was as high up on the corporate ladder as I could go with Kinko's and had to take a long hard look at our future and my career. I knew that going back to college was a must, but I didn't know what I really wanted to do. I knew that I liked to help people and was looking for stability and so I decided that nursing would be good because at the time there was such a huge need. I went to night school and received my Certified Nursing Assistant license. Thanks to my parents who picked Cody up from day care and watched him at night for those 6 weeks so I could finish it. From there I made a critical decision to leave Kinko's for a job at Waukesha Memorial Hospital. I took a $5.00 an hour pay cut to get my foot in the door and thought it would be good for me to work there, gain experience and make sure that this was really a career I could do. My next step was to enroll at Alverno College where I began the weekend program part time while working full time. I had been out of school for so long so I had to take a lot of what I like to call "fluff" classes before my nursing program began.The pay cut hit me harder than I expected and financially I fell apart. I was scraping by to make ends meet and then Sunny (our yellow lab who was only 5yrs old)got sick, had surgery but went septic after surgery and died. Unfortunately, financially that was the last straw, now owing $3000 for a vet bill. I put our house up for sale and Cody and I moved to a town house. It was a really depressing time for me because I felt like a failure and moving backwards was not what I had in mind, but I knew that I would have to make some sacrafices in order to reach my higher goal. One week after moving into the town house, as you all know is when I found a lump in my breast and began my battle with breast cancer which forced me to take a leave of absence from Alverno. I did return to Alverno, but after my cancer my priorities changed and just before I was about to begin my nursing program, I decided to switch my major. I explored other schools and other options that would fit our life now that Joe was in our lives and we just bought a house and were planning our wedding. I discovered the University of Phoenix and decided to leave Alverno and try and do my education on line. I had no idea what I was in for!! On line classes are very demanding, fast paced, and a lot of self teaching. You have to be really well disciplined and organized in order to really succeed at this. I earned my Associate degree in Human Services and since have been working on my Bachelor degree in Psychology. During my educational journey I lost my beloved Sunny, sold my first home, battled breast cancer, bought our first home as a couple, married Joey, had a major car accident, was trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant, Joe had surgery, Cody had surgery and spent 2 days in the hospital from dehydration, I had emergency gall bladder surgery, went through another financial pit fall from the car accident, moved to Grafton and went back to renting, found out I was finally pregnant (Alleluhah), and gave birth to Delaney. Needless to say...19 years after high school and 8 years after taking the first step into Alverno college I finally reached my "short" term goal and earned my bachelor degree in the science of psychology. I am very proud to be the first in my family to receive this honor and am ever so thankful to my parents, my husband, and Cody for standing by me and allowing me to do this. I know that everyone of them had to make adjustments and sacrifices just as I did. After everything that it took to accomplish this, we decided to go to Phoenix, Arizona so that I could take part in the commencement ceremony and it was so amazing to be able to go with my family and have my parents be there to see it too. I hope that I can be an inspiration to my children and Mom, Dad...I hope you're proud. The bus isn't stopping here though....as I said, this was a "short" term goal, now I will begin planning for my long term goal in completing my Masters program for Psychology. No one can ever take your education away from you and never stop reaching!!

Stole of Gratitude

Every graduate has a special person who, through moral or financial support, made a big difference in his or her life. The Stole of Gratitude is an opportunity to say, "Thanks for helping me make it through, thanks for making it possible for me to succeed!"

After the ceremony, I presented the Stole of Gratitude to Joe who provided me with extraordinary support and words of encouragement. I took the stole from around my neck and placed it around his as a symobol of love, appreciation, and academic accomplishment. Thanks Joey...I love you!

Commencement Ceremony Photos