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!