Many of you, including myself, have been wondering what our next step is going to be. It’s now the second week into May and we are still no closer to finding out.
Here are our options:
D.C. (The picture is of Ben the last time he flew back there to interview.) Ben has been offered a job at the Census Bureau. However, we don’t know when it starts. He has one more week to tell them yes or no. It pays pretty good and has great benefits, but it is working for the government.
New Jersey right across from Manhattan. Ben has also been offered a job with the Charles G. Koch Foundation. This job starts June 1st yet we don’t know the salary or benefits etc. This is the job that most interests Ben. He would be surrounded by people who share his passion for Liberty and the free market. He would be working with a research team and even holding press conferences to reveal his findings.
Phoenix with U.S. Airways. Ben just recently flew back there and interviewed so he hasn’t heard back from them yet. We did find out that this job has the best perk out of all of them. We can fly free where ever their airline flys. Plus discounts on all other flights and even cruises. Sounds soooo good! I’ve always wanted to travel and this would be my chance.
We are so excited for this next step in our lives-especially the baby! The sky is the limit and we plan to take advantage of it. It’s nerve racking to me to not know where we are going and when but I’m just grateful to have a husband who is qualified for so many neat jobs. He’s the man!
As soon as I know anything I promise to post an update. Until then…… we all wait!
Many of you, including myself, have been wondering what our next step is going to be. It’s now the second week into May and we are still no closer to finding out.
Here are our options:
D.C. (The picture is of Ben the last time he flew back there to interview.) Ben has been offered a job at the Census Bureau. However, we don’t know when it starts. He has one more week to tell them yes or no. It pays pretty good and has great benefits, but it is working for the government.
New Jersey right across from Manhattan. Ben has also been offered a job with the Charles G. Koch Foundation. This job starts June 1st yet we don’t know the salary or benefits etc. This is the job that most interests Ben. He would be surrounded by people who share his passion for Liberty and the free market. He would be working with a research team and even holding press conferences to reveal his findings.
Phoenix with U.S. Airways. Ben just recently flew back there and interviewed so he hasn’t heard back from them yet. We did find out that this job has the best perk out of all of them. We can fly free where ever their airline flys. Plus discounts on all other flights and even cruises. Sounds soooo good! I’ve always wanted to travel and this would be my chance.
We are so excited for this next step in our lives-especially the baby! The sky is the limit and we plan to take advantage of it. It’s nerve racking to me to not know where we are going and when but I’m just grateful to have a husband who is qualified for so many neat jobs. He’s the man!
As soon as I know anything I promise to post an update. Until then…… we all wait!
At my graduation Elder M. Russell Ballard spoke about using the Internet to share the gospel. He mentioned how influential blogging can be. He encouraged us to not be shy about posting gospel related topics or stories and he also suggested commenting on other people’s blogs and striking up conversations about the Church. He told us to defend the Church if we ever see anything that isn’t accurate and to download videos etc. from Church websites. Overall, I felt like it was something every Church member should read not just those graduating from BYU-Idaho. It’s called “Making your Influence Felt”
I challenge myself and everyone else to talk more openly about the Church on their blogs and with friends and neighbors. Just as an example of how I am going to do better- as I was looking over my past blog entries I saw that when I posted wedding pictures I could have shared my thoughts on the Temple etc. I love the Church and I am so grateful for my membership in it. It brings peace to my crazy life and provides purpose to all that I do. I know who I am and I know that God is real and that He loves me and knows everything about me. He is interested in our lives and cares very much what happens to us. Yes, there are a lot of bad things in the world but there are also so many good- we just need to re focus our attention.
This past weekend my beautiful mom and I went to Thanksgiving Point to see the famous Tulip Festival. I had seen pictures of the festival from past years and it looked amazing. I was so excited to go. Everything, including the weather, seemed perfect. We got there, paid the 10 dollars each and walked out to view the fields of tulips. There was just one problem. There weren’t any tulips!!! The fields were green without a spec of color. The place was packed with people and I was blown away that each one of us paid ten dollars a piece to see tulips and there weren’t any. My mom and I decided to take advantage of the chance to walk and talk. I love my mom so much! She is so much fun to hang out with and so patient with me as I rattle on with my nonsense. I wish we could spend more time together. But alas, life is so busy and the 45 min drive seems soooo long.
The moral of this blog post is that Thanksgiving point is a money making liar. That didn’t seem harsh did it? I’m not quite sure why they didn’t move back the dates of the festival because the bulbs hadn’t opened yet or why they didn’t mention anything to the thousands of people who paid. To me it is false advertisement and I was way disappointed!
With all that said I did get to spend time with my mom and so it wasn’t all bad.
I did it! I finally graduated from College with my Bachelors Degree. It is a great feeling to have time to relax, but it still feels like I’m just having a break and I’ll be back for more.
My parents and Ben were gracious enough to drive the four hours to watch me simply walk across a pulpit and shake a few hands. It was fun to see some of my classmates that had gone their separate ways for student teaching. I wish them all the best of luck and I’m a tiny bit jealous that they actually get to teach. (I’ll be staying home with Hallie.)
The commencement was perfect. President Clark spoke about letting the light of Christ shine through us where ever we may be and what ever we may be doing. Then Elder Ballard spoke about how Jesus Christ was the master teacher and that nothing will be more important than teaching others whatever profession we chose. He also mentioned the fact that we need to always be improving. He said that after conference the quorum of the twelve and the first presigdency got together and discussed what they all thought about conference. He said they saw room for improvement and discussed what needs to change.
Going to college was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I will never regret choosing Idaho or my Elementary Education major. Softball, church callings, roommates, crazy activities, service counsel-kid connection, devotionals and so much more made college an amazing experience for me. The Lord has led me every step of the way and I will miss the college scene.
So here’s to the next chapter of my life. Raising a family.
This was my companion Jill Evans’ wedding. We were companions in the MTC and in the mission field. We hit it off right away and haven’t stopped laughing ever since. I owe much of my mission sanity to her. She is one friend I defiantly can’t go without.
This was my companion Jill Evans’ wedding. We were companions in the MTC and in the mission field. We hit it off right away and haven’t stopped laughing ever since. I owe much of my mission sanity to her. She is one friend I defiantly can’t go without.
Thanks to an invite from Ben’s friends, Trent and Kara, and my parents flipping the bill, we took the last weekend in March and went down to Moab. It was a Blast! Ben and I went to Moab for part of our honeymoon and love it there. My parents rented a four door jeep and we took it wheelin’. The sights were breath taking and the obstacles in the jeep were fun. Moab is defiantly one of my favorite places to go and we hope to one day own an off road vehicle.
Yesterday Ben and I went to the doctors to get an ultrasound. The reason for the ultrasound is not to find out the sex of the baby however they gladly point it out if you want to know. And boy did I want to know!! I’ve felt for quite a while that the baby was a girl. I’ve always wanted a boy first so my girls could all have the older brother I’ve always wanted. However, immediately after I got pregnant the Lord began softening my heart towards the possibility of having a girl. I remember even feeling the urgency to pick a girl name. (Ben and I already had a boy name picked out before I even got pregnant.)
Yesterday the ultrasound revealed that the feature that every boy needs to be a boy was missing. I was elated! I was having a girl!
She already acts like a Crane. She was soooo stubborn!! The doctor kept calling her a stinker because she was so hard to work with. She kept her face down in my spine and her legs crossed. The poor doctor had to piece all of the pictures together in order to find what he needed. Every now and then she would pop her face up and then right back down like she was teasing us. She’s already so much like her parents!! She kept her hands rolled up into fists and over her face for the most part. She did do a couple cute things like yawn and interlock her little fingers to hold her hands together. Even with all of her natural biological stubborness we were able to see that she is a healthy, growing baby. She has all five fingers and five toes, her kidneys and heart look great and she even has her mom’s gut! Poor thing! The doctor copied several pictures for us (he gave us so many because none are super great) and even made us a video.
After seeing her growth the doctor gave me the due date of August 11 at 7 am. (My mom’s birthday!) That is the exact date that the health center gave me when I first found out I was pregnant. Everything is on track!
I couldn’t believe how happy I was after I found out. I was finally able to see MY baby and connect with her. Yesterday I had one of the happiest moments of my life and I will never forget it. Little Halle Marie is on her way!
