Summing up January 2013 to Now

January 2013:
After our fun trip to CA, we returned to Provo to start our last semesters at BYU. January 7th marked our last first day of school ever! Provo got bucket loads of snow, the middle of the month was a icy, cold, blur. Michael was busy applying for jobs and slowly the interviews started coming in. The end of the month Michael headed to San Antonio, TX for a career trip with a few students from his program. I was bummed he was going to be gone for my birthday, but he made up for it when he got back. While he was in Texas he and another student had the opportunity to have a last minute interview with the City's budget department. Little did we know how much that interview would change our lives! Now back to my birthday. It was a very mellow day, but I got to talk to lots of family and friends on the phone. Michael arranged with his friend, Ryan, to pickup and deliver some beautiful flowers. It was such a fun surprise. We celebrated the following weekend, once Michael got back by going to see BYU's production of Phantom of the Opera. We ended up having front row seats and it was AMAZING! I was in awe during the whole performance. Then we went for an early dinner at Red Robin and shopping for a nice winter coat for Michael. It was a wonderful day and I was so happy to have Michael back!

Birthday Flowers from Michael

Phantom of the Opera Birthday Date

February 2013:
February was a month of big changes! As I mentioned previously, Michael had an interview with the San Antonio Budget Office. After his trip out there he had a 2nd interview, this time over Skype. It was sounding very hopeful for a job offer and looking like a great opportunity (minus the location). This 2nd interview was probably around the 10th or 11th of the month and they said it would be about a week before they made a decision. Meanwhile, Michael had a few other video conference interviews lined up.
On the morning of the 13th, after Michael had left for class, I took a home pregnancy test and it was positive! We had been trying since August and I was beyond excited to finally see those 2 pink lines. I told Michael that evening with a little jar of 10 things I love about him (All this month I had been giving him a little surprise/gift each day for 14 days of Valentines). I didn't get quite the reaction that I was suspecting, since I caught him a little off guard by telling him on the 13th (he figured I would have waited till Valentine's day) and since I put it as slip number 5 instead of 10. Either way we were both super excited and had lots of things to ponder at our Ward Temple night that evening- a possible job/move, and a baby coming in October!

February 13th Finding out he is going to be a Daddy! 

The next morning, Valentine's day (Thursday), Michael and I both slept in and skipped our morning classes. We were both coming down with colds and Michael had another interview with a different city to prep for. He had the interview mid-morning and then 30 minutes or so after that interview he received a call from the SA Budget Office, with a job offer!! He had a few days decide, and since I had never been to Texas, and was feeling a little uneasy about moving there we decided to fly out for President's weekend. We bought tickets, made arrangements to stay with a BYU alumni/former Budget office employee, and flew out early Saturday morning. We were there from Saturday-Tuesday, we did some sight seeing, talked with this BYU Alumni and his wife a lot about the area, looked at apartments, and Monday afternoon we decided to accept the offer! The only downfall of this offer was that Michael would need to start March 4th!

Getting the Job Offer! 

Sight Seeing in San Antonio! Nice and warm in February! 

We got back to Provo late the night of the 19th. And the next morning started figuring out everything we need to do before Michael moved out there. Thankfully, Camden Bird (a fellow MPA student and friend of Michael's) had also accepted a job offer with the budget department. I had met him and his wife, Becca, once before, but we decided to all go to dinner to coordinate plans and get to know each other better. It was decided that the guys would drive our new car out to Texas, leaving March 1st (thankfully we hadn't sold our 2nd car yet!). Becca and I would both stay in Provo until after Graduation, so I could finish up school and she could finish working as a Hall Advisor on campus. Then they guys would return for graduation, walk, we would share a moving truck, they guys would drive it to Texas, towing their car, while Becca and I flew with their 2 young kids. It was all a bit crazy and I will admit being an emotional wreck during those last couple weeks (the increasing hormones didn't help much either, thankfully I could just blame it on stress, and nobody knew the difference!)
March 2013:
The 1st of the month Michael and Camden hit the road for a long, 2 day journey to San Antonio, TX! They arrived safely and both started work on Monday the 4th. Thankfully they were able to both stay with a friend of Camden and Becca's for a few weeks while they found apartments for us to live in come April. With Michael gone I kept busy with school and work and somehow survived morning sickness on my own without anyone becoming too suspicious of our little secret :) We would skype every night and text throughout the day. The first week was the hardest, with many tears, but gradually it got easier and just became routine. Thankfully I was working multiple late night shifts at the Law Library, which helped fill the normally loneliest time of the day.
April 2013:
April was when I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel! Lindsay and her kids visited April 1st-2nd. That's when I told the kids they were going to have a new cousin, they didn't believe me for a long time and thought it was an April Fool's joke. It was so nice to see family after a long month of being by myself!

Walking around Campus, Tyler and Ashley made some new friends. 

Ice Cream at the Creamery on 9th, always a favorite! Tyler and Eric got some fun blue wigs from the bookstore. They wore them all over Provo and got so many compliments! 

After 5 weeks of being apart from our husbands, Becca and I flew to SA over Conference weekend (April 5th-9th). By then Michael and Camden were living, very modestly, in what would be our apartment (The Bird's was going to be ready later that month). We had a fun few days relaxing, sight seeing, shopping, eating and savoring the time with our husbands. Then it was back to Provo for the final 2 weeks of being apart. Thankfully they sped by! I was super busy finishing up the semester, packing, working, getting over morning sickness (finally), and mostly just trying to stay motivated! Michael came back the night of 23rd, just in time to finish up the packing, graduate! Lots more to tell about Graduation and moving, but I will give that its own post!

College Graduates!! 

Becca and I flew into SA on April 30th, and the guys arrived with the truck a few hours later. Thanks to many helping hands from our new ward we were able to get everything unloaded that night and even got washers and dryers hooked up and running.

May 2013:
Which brings us to May! Now we are settling into this new place called home and learning our way around the area. Michael is working hard and loving his new job. I think it is going to be a good fit for us for the next few years!

Since my Last Post- Wrapping up 2012

Well, its been a while since I have updated the blog. I have high hopes for getting a little more regular with the posts. Lots of things have happened since October! How about a little recap?

Before October:
Michael and I got back from St. Louis mid-August, just in time for me to start my new campus job in the Howard W. Hunter Law Library. We moved into a more spacious apartment a couple blocks south of Center St. We loved the split-level layout of this apartment, the only downfall was not having a dishwasher. I would joke that Michael was my new dishwasher :) I started my senior year of college and Michael started his 2nd and last year of his MPA. Michael started working for one his professors as a TA/Research Assistant. Life was busy but we tried to savor our last few months of living in Provo, before heading off to who knows where.
October 2012:
This was the middle of fall semester, I can't remember too much of what was happening. I do remember that we made the switch from the family ward to the married student ward (or it could have been September). Either way, it was a much better fit for us and where we were in life. We really loved our time in the Provo Married Student 33rd ward. Just wish we could have been in it longer than 7 months! The first activity we went to was the Halloween party. Michael and I had threw together some last minute costumes and had fun dressing up as Shawn and Juliet from the TV show Psych.

We were also able to spend a couple days in Huntsville. Michael's niece came with us for a night- she helped us decorate the house for Christmas, we made cookies, played lots of Candyland and called vegetables by their Spanish name to trick her into eating them (it kind of worked). 

November 2012:
We bought a new car this month! We found a great deal on a dark gray, 2008 Hyundai Elantra. In true Michael fashion, it needed a name, we settled on Glinda (like in Wicked). 6 month's later we are still happy with our purchase! Later that afternoon I headed to Salt Lake City to go shopping at the City Creek Mall with Courtney and Jessica. Love these girls, and our monthly girls days!!

Can't remember much more that we did this month except enjoy a few days off for Thanksgiving. We spent a few days in Huntsville, and enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at Michael's sister's house in Ogden. My one request for Black Friday shopping was an artificial Christmas tree (our first real tree since being married). Michael and I shopped around and found a great deal at K-Mart and they were even open Thursday night so we didn't even have to get up early and brave the crowds on Friday. Score! Misty and Kiara came up on Friday and helped us rake leaves at the house. It was definitely nice to have the extra hands...there were lots of leaves!

December 2012:
December brought the end of another semester at BYU. We also celebrated our 2nd Anniversary on the 18th. We didn't do much, just both took work off and spent the whole day together! It was quiet and simple, the way we like it. Michael thought it would be fun to go out to eat for every meal. It ended up being just lunch and dinner since we decided to sleep in, but it was nice not to have to cook at all! We went to a favorite Chinese restaurant of ours on Center St. for lunch. Then spent some time walking the mall, getting my wedding ring cleaned, and enjoyed a redbox movie at home. We had hoped to try a new sandwich place for dinner, but of course it was also the night of their work Christmas party and so they had closed early. We settled for some yummy burgers and fries from Burger Supreme. A few days later we headed to Logan for Michael's younger brother's wedding. We headed up to Huntsville the night before right after, and then traveled the rest of the way the next morning. It was nice to be able to spend some time with Tanna and the kids and my Grandma before the wedding festivities began that evening.

2nd Anniversary...it was a snowy day! 

Huntsville Patio...we made a big pot of soup for the wedding, but need it to cool down before putting it in the fridge for the night. It was plenty cold outside so Michael decided to surround it with snow. It worked! 

Evan joined us to go visit my Grandma, we also took a trip to the Pepperidge Farm outlet store and got some snacks for our upcoming roadtrip to CA. He picked out some cookies for his family and decided on the plainest ones they sell- Chessmen. Michael and I were totally expecting him to pick something with chocolate. He also prefers just vanilla ice cream...I think he takes after my Dad :) 

 That night after the wedding we drove back to Provo, finished up some last minute packing, hit the sack around 1 am and then woke up around 6 the next morning to drive to CA for the rest of our Christmas break. I am disappointed that I didn't take more pictures of our trip. Some highlights were: Bowling with Spencer, Anie, and their kiddos and Bailey, Christmas Eve shopping with my Dad and Corinne, Japanese dinner with the Tao's, going to the Rose parade on New Year's morning, Downton Abbey marathons with Mom and Corinne, testing out my new sewing machine, meeting the family for lunch at 5 Guys, hiking the overlook hike at Sycamore Canyon with Michael, Chloe and my Mom, one last trip to the Sand Hill along Hwy 1 the night before we left to head back to UT.

CA Tournament of Roses Parade! Nearly front row seats and a great view!  

This is turning into a REALLY long post. This wraps up 2012- I think I will save the first few months of 2013 for another post :)