Moved out!

We're out. This move kicked my butt. Jared and I have now moved eight times in our eight years of marriage (hey, we like change!), but this time by far was the hardest. I guess cause we have two kids and I'm pregnant this time! Anyway, we're still waiting to hear back about the job, but the interview went really well, so we'll see. Although it's really hard to wait, I'm confident that it will work out if that's what's best for our family right now.

Have a design deadline weighing on my mind, and am desperately trying to get out of tired packing mode and back into creativity mode. So I made a couple of layouts tonight...

And don't you just want to eat her up? I so love those curls!

What a week...

Our apartment is basically empty--except for an air mattress, some toys, and duffel bags with our clothes. Jared left this morning for the airport. He's flying out to Kentucky for the second interview! Crossing our fingers and saying extra prayers. It's SOOO far away, but if no one has noticed, jobs are kind of hard to find right now, so we'll take what we can get. He gets back on Thursday and then that night we leave for Washington for the summer!

I just have to brag a little on my husband. This morning as he was rushing around to do last minute packing and preparing for his trip, he stopped to hold my hair while I puked my guts out. We were late leaving because of it, but it meant a lot to me that he would try to support me with all that he had on his mind.

Packing, packing, packing

Trip to the Zoo

We took a day off from packing to take the kids to the zoo! My sister Chelsea came up from Provo and we had a great time. I think Ryan's favorite part of the whole day was planning out the route and following the map. This kid's going to be an architect one day!

While we were there Jared received a call from Lindsey Wilson College in Kentucky, wanting him to fly out for a second interview! (His first interview was over the phone.) He was so excited he was jumping up and down in front of the giraffes. It was especially exciting because the day before he had gotten a letter from BYU-I letting him know someone else had been selected for the position and he was feeling depressed. In some ways it's a blessing we didn't get that job though, because it was for a one year position with the expectation that you will go on for your PhD the next year, and he wasn't sure that's exactly what he wanted to do. So he flies out to Kentucky next week. We aren't necessarily thrilled about the location, but the job opportunity is amazing. If chosen, he will be the Writing Center Director as well as teaching two composition classes at the college, which as he says "marry his two academic loves." It's a lot of responsibility, but he is very passionate about both, and I know he will be up for the challenge. Say some extra prayers for us!

Growing

I'm not sure why I have been so hesitant to post this. Maybe because of the recent miscarriages, maybe because some of my friends' recent losses. Most likely because I have recently shared my story of infertility with several people, and in this case it just doesn't seem to apply. If there is anything I have learned over the past several years, it's that God is definitely in charge and has a plan for me that is greater than my own.

We weren't necessarily planning to have another baby anytime soon. In fact, I was completely fine with just Ryan and Emery, especially considering how difficult getting and staying pregnant has been for me. But, as mentioned above, my plan isn't always the best plan, and there is another little one that is supposed to join our family. It's been a rough pregnancy so far. Lots of sickness--more than with my other pregnancies--and lots of worry of miscarriage. But now at 20 weeks with a belly I can't hide anymore, it's time to "announce." We also just found out last week that we are going to have another little girl. We would have been happy with either, but we are excited to add some more pink to our family and to not squish Emery between two brothers. Before we found out, Ryan wanted to name the new baby "Google," "Gopher," or "Thomas" (Thomas the train). He was determined it would be a boy. But when we found out it was a girl, he immediately started thinking of all the girl trains from Thomas the train--Rosie, Annie, Molly, etc. Silly boy.

SOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are NO LONGER home owners!!

So that probably doesn't seem too exciting, but really it is. We moved from Las Vegas almost 3 years ago, and today we FINALLY closed on the condo. I loved that little condo and it was really perfect for us at that stage of our lives. It was the first home we bought, and the place Ryan was born. But it was time to move on. We rented it for as long as we could, but when we started having problems with our renter paying the rent, and the market taking a major dive, it was time to list it for sale. Unfortunately this is the worst time you could possibly try to sell in Las Vegas right now. It's been a long frustrating adventure, but we just got the call today that it finally CLOSED and is no longer in our name, and we couldn't be happier!!

Mmmwwaa to you little condo! We have some great memories.

Curly Girly

Just a few pictures I took of my baby girl last weekend while we were on campus for Jared's graduation. Emery is growing so quickly and is becoming such a sweet little girl. And I soooo hope her curls stay as she gets older!
Yes, that's a binkie. Grrr... We usually only let her have it at bedtime and naptime (and I'd really like her to be done with it then too), but it was a really long day and she didn't get a nap that day, so the binkie helped keep things under control.

Graduation Gift

Wanna see what I got Jared for graduation? I've been saving my design money for a while, and I was pretty excited about the purchase.

Jared was THRILLED. He's been wanting to learn to play cello since we discovered Yo-Yo Ma when we were in China (7 years ago!) I found a great deal on E-Bay, and decided to go for it! Can't wait to start hearing some music around here! Except we might have to wait until we move, cause it's REALLY loud and I'm not sure the neighbors are thrilled.

Post Graduation Vacation

It wasn't really a planned vacation, but Jared had to go to Boise and Rexburg, Idaho to visit colleges and for an interview, so we all went with him!! It was so nice to take a break for a few days, especially after the stress of the last few weeks of the semester. The kids and I spent most of our time shopping, hanging out in the hotel, and swimming. When Jared wasn't in meetings we ate out, did more shopping, and talked a lot about our near future.

Jared has applied to several colleges and universities for teaching positions this fall. We are still anxiously waiting (although we are currently packing and plan to leave Logan by the end of May). This past week he had a day-long interview at BYU-I. He had a teaching experience, plus five interviews (including one with a general authority). It went very well, and he felt really good about it, but we won't know if he got the job for a few weeks. While he was interviewing there, he received a call from a college in Kentucky. He will be interviewing with them next week. We are also looking into PhD programs, although we will probably take a break for a while since we are both pretty exhausted right now. Going to school is definitely harder now that we have kids. So many possibilities right now... We have no idea where we will be or what we will be doing over the next few months, so we are saying lots of prayers!!

Here is a picture of Ryan at one of the hotels we stayed at last week. Aren't hotel comforters the BEST? lol

Graduation!!!!

It finally came and we couldn't be more excited!!!!!

Congrats Jared! We are so proud of you and all your hard work!!!!