SPOTLIGHT: Danielle Floyd Olsen

After graduation, I went off to Rick's College, now BYU-I, where I studied Fashion Merchandising but was interrupted by the transition to the university because they were dissolving the program and by a marriage proposal:) I met my husband, John, while home for Thanksgiving, at a friend's house who was attending BSU. She was dating his best friend and introduced us because he was also attending Rick's. When we got back to campus we dated and were engaged by March and married in June of 2001. Rexburg was much smaller than it is now, so we decided to move back to Boise where John had a good job and was able to continue his education.

We lived in campus housing for 6 months before purchasing our first home in Nampa and have been there ever since! John is a master sales man and has sold everything from drainage systems to cell phones; he is currently employed by Camping World and selling RVs in Meridian. I have worked a couple of different jobs over the years but the best job is being a mother to my two beautiful miracles. Travis is 4 and is my best bud! I can't believe how fast my little man is growing up! He started Pre-School this year and is being so brave about it. He is kind of a "Momma's Boy" and I know he is as nervous as I am, but wants to be a "Big Boy". Naomi is 2 and is our little pistol. She is our Tasmanian Angel that keeps our day full of fun. She always has stories to tell and mischief to get in to. We have had our ups and downs with bringing our kids to our family, but every day we have together is a gift.

Memorials

I'd like to start a memorial column on the right side of the blog, to those who have passed away since graduation. If you know of someone that has passed, please let me know so I can add them. You can either respond under "comments" of this post, or you can email me at the above email. Also, if you happen to have a picture of that person, please send it to me so I can post it on the side. THANKS!

Sad News

For all of you who knew or had Mr. Mabey, he was in a serious car accident on Tues. July 22 with 3 of his students on their way up to a cross country camp. One of the students was killed and Mr. Mabey was taken to the hospital in critical condition. You can read the KTVB news story below. Keep him and the other students in your prayers.

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KTVB.COM - BOISE - One person is dead following a three-vehicle accident on Idaho 55 just before noon today near the Boise-Ada County line.

Idaho State Police say two of the cars crashed head-on.
ISP Sgt. John Stauffer says a southbound Dodge Durango was pulling a two-axle trailer when the driver lost control of the vehicle in heavy rain. The trailer began to jacknife, pulling the Durango into oncoming traffic where it stuck a silver Subaru head-on. The Durango also careened into a mini-van driven by Tiffany Ghighina of Boise.
A passenger in the Subaru was killed in the crash. The drivers of the Durango and Subaru were taken to the hospital. Their conditions are unknown.
The driver of the Subaru has been identified as Glenn Mabey. Mabey is the cross country coach at Centennial High School in Boise, and is in critical condition at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center.
Ghighina was taking her daughters and mother to visit her 10-year-old son at camp. They had stopped in Eagle because of the heavy rain. She described the impact of the Durango and Subaru as an "explosion," with car pieces flying everywhere. She swerved to avoid impact, but the Durango was coming at her so fast she could not. Her mother, who was riding in the passenger seat, was hurt in the crash and taken to the hospital.
Another witness, Delcy Crane, said Highway 55 looked like a river with about 6-inches or more of water flowing on it.
Air St. Luke's crews transported one person to a Boise hospital.
Idaho Highway 55 was closed for a time, and traffic backed up for several miles. Traffic is moving again at the scene.

Emails

Would anyone be interested in a side column with email addresses, so we can email people we want to keep in touch with? I would probably put your first/last name, and then email. Let me know if you like the idea or not. I don't want to breach anyone's privacy.

WEEKLY SPOTLIGHT: Shauna Galloway Charles

When I graduated high school I knew I wanted to be an EMT and that is just what I did. After I went to school for my EMT-Basic certification I went right back for my EMT-Advanced. Little did I know that in Idaho it is hard to be an EMT and get paid for it; so in 2001 I became a volunteer for Eagle Fire Department and loved it! I continued to work one last year as a head lifeguard at the YMCA and then started to work in dispatch at the Idaho State Communications Center. We dispatch ambulances for places in Idaho that do not have a 911 system yet such as Idaho City, Crouch and Lowman. We also dispatch and assist tracking every air-ambulance helicopter in Idaho, dispatch Idaho Search and Rescue, send out the Amber Alerts to the public, dispatch the Idaho Transportation Department to all the state highways, track every hazardous material situation in Idaho and much, much more.

While volunteering at Eagle Fire and working at dispatch I had wonderful opportunities to go on ride-alongs with Life Flight, Boise Fire Department, and an Ada County Sheriff’s deputy. I have also gone on a flight with Air St. Luke’s, in a Blackhawk over the Boise and surrounding area, and in a helicopter ride over the city at night during Christmas time (it was amazing!).

In 2004 I was hired on with North West Paramedics (NPA) part time and while I was finally getting paid to be an EMT it wasn’t my dream job and in 2005 I left NPA. That summer I started to volunteer with Ada County Paramedics and it was everything I had dreamed it would be and more. During that time I fell head-over-heels for the love of my life, Steve Charles. We met at work (he works with the Idaho State Police as a dispatcher Supervisor and they are in the same building as State Comm.) and were married in August of 2006. 2006 was a wonderful year for me because not only did I get married, but also I was hired full time at Ada County Paramedics. To me there is nothing better then helping people out in their time of need. There is also nothing more exciting then running lights and sirens to a call and not knowing what you were going to find until you got there.

Unfortunately working 24 hrs at a time and getting exposed to things TB and MRSA are not ideal for having a family. So when Steve and I started to talk about having a baby I had to make the hard choice of stepping down from my dream job and going back to dispatch. So that is where I am now and still happy as ever. We are currently living in Meridian, Idaho and just bought a house in a wonderful neighborhood. So far we have no kids but hope to soon. We have a cute Golden Retriever puppy named Molly and will be getting a second puppy, a lab, in July. Life is just good!

WEEKLY SPOTLIGHT: Amber McAllister Swensen

Alright, so I'm gonna start doing the WEEKLY SPOTLIGHTS because I think they'll be fun and it will give people more to look at when they get on here. So...send me an update on you and at least one or more pics to centennialclassof2000@gmail.com, and I'll make a post of it. I'll just go in order of what I receive, and hopefully everybody will get a chance to be SPOTLIGHTED! I'll start with me :) so everyone can see how it'll work.

My husband Rick and I have been married for 5 years now (yikes!). We are living in Boston while he works as a Pharma Rep for Eli Lilly. I finished my BS at BYU and am now a full-time mom, something school didn't fully prepare me for, but what does? Chase is almost 3 and loves anything that roars (dinosaurs, lions, bears), and Amelie is 16mo (yeah, her name came from the movie if you were wondering) and she loves to be mischievous and climbs on everything! We're feeling far away from home, but loving all the things we're learning and experiencing out here in New England.

Names Names Names

There's been another request to write full last names on the side links. Does anybody object? If yes, I'll just keep it like it is, if not, I'll change it in a week.

Weekly Spotlights

So, I just checked out the Class of 97's blog, and they post updates on people. I thought it would be fun to do a weekly spotlight of someone. You could send me some pics of yourself or your family, and a little paragraph of what you're up to, and I'll post it on here. I'm not sure how to decide who the spotlight should be, if I should just pick someone, or what. Any ideas?

Last Names?

What is your opinion on the "Fellow Patriots" link on the right side? Would you like me to include last names or just initials? I originally thought initials just for privacy reasons. My husband is always telling me not to put my full name on the internet, but then again, I guess people can click on my blog and find my full name anyway. What do you think? Would you feel comfortable if I added full last names? Or should I just title it with the name of your blog? Let me know.

Spread the Word!

Please email your friends, post this blog on your blog, and try to spread the word so people find this place. We have one year to contact EVERYONE for the reunion. Hopefully this will spread by word of mouth or word of email or word of blog or word of facebook or whatever else is out there, and eventually everyone will find us.

Mandi - I think the idea of doing a facebook page is a good idea also. I'll work on that next. I don't know how to navigate facebook as well as blogs, but I do know how to start one (I have one).

"Fellow Patriots" link - Some people have "private" blogs which means you have to be invited to look at them. You can email the address in parentheses next to their name to ask to be invited :)

What do you think?

Feel free to tell me what you think of the blog, and any ideas you might have about it. Just click on "comments" below and it will allow you to post your thoughts. Thanks!

"Fellow Patriots" sidebar

If you have a personal blog or facebook page or myspace page or whatever it may be that you would like to share, send me the address/link and I will post it on the side under "Fellow Patriots". I will title it with your first name and last name initial (I will use your maiden name for the sake of high school years) and people can click on it to see what you're up to. It should be fun to see who we can catch up with.

Email centennialclassof2000@gmail.com

Thanks! ~ Amber

Hello & Welcome

Hello everybody and welcome to the official Centennial Class of 2000 blog! This is Amber McAllister (now Swensen). I created this blog to be a place where we can all catch up and keep in touch! This will especially make it easier for us to find everybody when it comes time to have our reunion, and we can get input from you on ideas for planning it. Glad you found us and please keep in touch! ~Amber