May Update

 Our first month in Idaho!! Besides Adam and I getting a horrible stomach bug early on, the month has been good :)

Adam: started his new job as an Online Curriculum Designer at BYU-Idaho! He is loving it so far :) He has a nice office to himself (that I have yet to decorate haha). He enjoys his coworkers and could see him working in this job for awhile. He loves not being in school as well haha (as do I).

Ashley: I have spent this month mostly getting us settled into our home. We're nearly there but still have some stuff to unpack. All of the main areas are set up so we actually had family over for Memorial Day which was fun :) Recently I also have done a lot of family history which has been really fun! Now we need to find time/babysitters so that we can do all the temple work I've collected. I've also had fun connecting with some old friends who happen to live in the area as well as get together with my family quite a bit. It makes a new place a little less lonely. It is hard not having two cars but we are coping :)

Eli: is 21 months old and definitely getting towards the terrible twos. He is an emotional roller coaster sometimes. One moment he'll be playing quietly by himself, the next he'll be screaming at me to go outside and hitting me, and the next he'll be cute and silly playing with me haha. It can be a bit exhausting. He rode a horse for the first time thanks to a friend of a friend and he's enjoyed interactions with more animals in country life haha. He is learning more words every day and currently his favorite phrase is "thank you" which I don't mind ;) he says it after I give him a snack, change his diaper, and once after I vacuumed haha and that was without prompting! His fine motor skills have developed a lot as he can now do a puzzle super easily (even turning the pieces to fit) and stacking legos into a tall tower. He loves going outside and hates when we come back in. He likes to try to help with household chores like laundry, dishes, sweeping, and putting things away. Even though he can be difficult, it just makes the sweet times sweeter haha.

Cute smiley boy, enjoying his new slide, and being a cute whiner haha

April update

Cheering on Dada

Holy crap!!! This month has been NUTS so I'll try to keep this brief. So here it goes!

Adam: graduated!!!! Last week he finally finished school with a Master''s of Science degree in Instructional Psychology and Technology. It was a hard last leg to the finish line but he did it! He even got a better grade than he thought in his last class especially taking into account him finishing his project and job searching. I'm so proud of him :)

at the Great Cloth Diaper Change world record event :)

Ashley: I spent the month preparing for the move mostly so lots of setting up and canceling utilities, reserving a uhaul, changing banks, and packing. Oh and trying to take care of Eli :)

Eli: is 20 months old! He is learning lots of new words and some of them are distinguishable haha. He enjoys "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" and gets so proud of himself when he gets it right. He has taken up high pitch screaming which has not been enjoyable but we're working on it. He has also started a slight fear of nursery which has been strange because he has always loved it but hopefully that is just a phase. He does enjoy praying and will fold his arms and bow his head (sometimes randomly). If we do family prayer, I'll peek and often he'll put a finger to his mouth and go "shh" hahaha. He still loves people and when anyone leaves, he gets very sad. He has 16 teeth broken through as well. He can be a little rascal sometimes but we love him :)

cousin Easter egg hunt; getting into trouble at church while Daddy does some clerking; playing with toys brought by grandparents; giving Brad some Uncle training haha

Graduation and Moving

These people... <3

So the week started off with my parents coming to visit starting on Sunday :) We were able to do lots of fun stuff with them as well as Stephanie and Eli loved the extra time with Anders. On Thursday, Adam's parents came and right off the bat helped us finish our packing. Often I would take Eli away and spend time with my family while they and Adam would pack. They were complete life-savers. Then Friday was graduation and we got to see my sister Jessica and her fiance, Brad! Afterwards, we went out shopping to look for bridesmaids dresses and then everyone went to dinner at Wallaby's (our favorite local place). We were a big group haha :) I'm so glad all of them were able to come celebrate Adam graduating! Next, Saturday came. My parents said a brief goodbye before heading off and we finished packing and loading the truck. After that, we said a very tear-filled goodbye to our best friends, Kayla and Steven, and then headed out of Provo. We made, in my opinion, one of the smartest decisions in hiring cleaners to come after we left. It was SOO nice not to stress about that! If we can afford it, I think we'll do that every time haha. On the way north, we stopped at Ikea to eat lunch and pick up our new sectional. Adam's brother Jared who had helped us all day Friday and Saturday morning met us up there to help us load that into the truck. The trip up to Idaho Falls went well, and thankfully Eli did great on the drive! Then when we got to the house, we were met by my aunts Amber and Linsy as well as their kids (and my cousin Calvin's kids), and some neighbors and church members. So much help from so many amazing people! Adam's parents stayed with us until this morning. I seriously CAN'T imagine what we would've done without them. They were AMAZING help :) We also got to go to the Idaho Falls temple open house (although it was built in the 40s, it just underwent extensive renovations so it will be rededicated).

On our own now!

All in all, we are so excited for this new adventure and can't wait until we're all settled into our new home. I will try to do a facebook live tour of it once that's done!

<3

March Update

This was a very VERY exciting month so I will attempt to be brief haha...

Adam: is completely and utterly done with his Master's project!!!!! I know I've said something like this before but then he was just finished writing it before submitting. This month he defended his thesis (which the committee said was probably the shortest defense ever haha), passed with revisions, and completed those revisions! Besides some PTSD with our desktop computer we have come out of this experience with minimal scarring and much relief haha. He also applied for more jobs and even got 4 interviews in one week! He skype interviewed for a position at Utah State University, did two phone interviews for two different positions at Oregon State University (one of which he actually was asked to do a final in person interview but that was after we had accepted another offer), and of course did a phone and in person interview for the job he accepted at Brigham Young University-Idaho!! We were both so excited about this because that was surprisingly the position we felt best about throughout the process even though we both wanted to move to the Northwest. So now with those things done, all Adam has to do is his one class and his current jobs!! He is quite a bit burnt out and especially now that the job offer is taken and everything, he is mostly focusing on just passing that class haha. I am so proud of all the hard work he has done this past month and I am so grateful for the blessings that have come from it.

Ashley: I also had quite a busy month with looking for jobs for Adam and then looking for houses in Idaho Falls! Even though such a big move is stressful, I am grateful that we know now where we will be going after graduation. I am a super planner with something I'm stressed about so I have lists upon lists and I am slowly knocking things off. Although there is only so early you can start packing ;) We got to go up to IF Eli-less (thanks to everyone that helped!) and look at some rental properties we had seen online. The online favorite turned out not to be as great so I am very glad we made the trip. There were a few houses that we really liked but didn't end up seeing. After some discussion and calls to the rental agency, we didn't have too many options left (a lot had just signed leases) but there was one we saw in person that we really liked and that was the one we got! Now we have that set up, we are SO beyond ready to finish the semester and move on to our next step in our life!

Eli: is 19 months old! He has developed so much especially with language! He has added the words poop (which he points to his diaper so I am not sure if he thinks diaper=poop haha), five (referring to high fives), "boom" (or fist bump), and shoe to his repertoire. His main growth is in how much he understands us. He can follow simple directions and his favorite new game is sitting on my lap with his First 100 Words book and I say "Where is the...?" and he points to the item. He actually understands way more than we thought! Now comes the stage of spelling out words that we don't want him to understand haha. He now has 12 teeth and two canines that just barely broke but he's still working on those :( hopefully that won't take too much longer. Eli loves to go outside, read, play with his puzzles, and lead us around the room holding our hand. Other than the introduction of toddler tantrums, this stage is fun :)

In keeping with our personal mantra...ONE MORE MONTH, ONE MORE MONTH!!!!!

Blessings in Disguise

Throughout our marriage, Adam and I have found so many blessings in times of anxiety and fear or directly coming from unfortunate times. I wanted to compile a list for my memory and for posterity as well as share about our most current blessing. These examples show how our Heavenly Father finds unlikely ways to bless us and how times of trial can turn around.

- After we got married in December 2011, Adam immediately found a TA job in January 2012
- In April 2012, I was prompted and followed through with quitting my job at Subway without another job opportunity. A week or so later, I got a job as a secretary in the Office of Digital Humanities.
- At that same time, Adam got his position as a TA for the new BYU Online pilot program which paid nearly double what he was making before.
- Skip ahead to fall of 2013, Adam applies to the Instructional Psychology and Technology graduate program at BYU directly because of his positive experience with BYU Online.
- February 2014, I get in a car accident.
- Adam gets into the IPT program.
- I get a full-time job in a group home that turned out to be a complete failure.
- Because of the secretary job I had, I had the idea that Adam could teach a new intro course in the Digital Humanities minor while a graduate student. After both Adam and I talking to the coordinator, Adam gets offered a position as an instructor.
- After graduation in April 2014, not knowing what to do after the previous experience, I get a part time job as a secretary at a mental health clinic.
- Because of the identity crisis from the above, I go to the temple to seek help. We get prompted to have a baby.
- December 2014, we get a substantial financial settlement from the car accident in February which was more than enough to pay for starting our family.
- A couple weeks after the above, I find out I'm pregnant.
- The part-time secretary job turned out wonderfully, allowing me to self-care while pregnant as well as make priceless friendships.
- August 2015, we have Eli right before a new semester for Adam.
- Adam's BYU Online position (which he continued through graduate school) allows him ample time to work from home while I struggled with postpartum depression.
- Skip ahead to fall of 2016, we decide that since Adam was finished with his coursework, he would try applying to full-time jobs.
- He gets zero interviews or job offers after already giving notice of leave for his current jobs.
- November 2016, we get prompted to stay here for another semester even without jobs.
- December 2016, Adam finds out they need him to teach DigHT 215 again.
- Also in December, Adam gets offered a position from a professor he worked with previously in BYU Online. This position would be to manage over a bunch of TAs as well as redesign a major GE course to incorporate blended aspects (mix of online and traditional class) using a learning management system most jobs are asking for experience in.
- Winter 2017, Adam applies to jobs again
- Last week, Adam had 4 job interviews.
- Yesterday, Adam gets offered a fantastic full-time position as an Online Curriculum Designer with BYU-Idaho for after graduation in April 2017. This position works with BYU-Idaho's program as well as the worldwide BYU Pathway online degree program. It also offers an amazing salary and stellar benefits.
- Today, he accepted the offer!!!!

So in conclusion, we will be moving to Idaho Falls, Idaho in about six weeks!! We feel so incredibly blessed and grateful for the guidance of Heavenly Father that led us to where we are today. It was a rough road at times but we have definitely felt His hand in our life.

February Update

Here is how our month has gone!

Rare park time with Daddy

Adam: finished his thesis project!!!! Well the write up at least. He still has his oral presentation and defense on the 10th but the 55 page long paper he needed to write is done!!! *insert hallelujah chorus* He has been killing himself this month working on it which meant a lot of late nights and not too much of a Valentine's day celebration. And with all of that, he still found time to apply to jobs! I'm so proud of him. At the end of the month, he got a preliminary phone interview with a job and then a few days later, they asked him to come for a final in person interview next week! They're even taking care of travel expenses which really shows this is a big boy job ;) We are super excited and really hope that he gets it. We have felt very good about this prospect so we think this is where God is leading us. Can you guess where in the world the Lloyds will go? ;)

Fun with snapchat

Ashley: I have spent most of the month trying to support Adam so he could finish his paper. So lots of taking care of the house (including some of the things he usually does) and of course taking care of Eli. I have also been helping by being the job searcher for him. I created a handy spreadsheet with info on postings I think he's qualified for and when the applications are due. I also undertook a big task to help with his project. He had an audio recording of an interview with the professor of the course he designed and he needed it transcribed. So that was my job and it was tedious. But I finished it and it felt really good to be able to help relieve some of his stress besides taking care of the home stuff. And honestly, I don't know how he would've found time to do it without me. He paid me handsomely for the assistance by letting me get a new wrap which I was very happy about ;)

Eli: is 18 months old! And boy is this kid growing!!! He is now a little over 22 pounds and is 32 inches tall, so still kind of small for his age but he seems huge to us. Adam declares he is hobbit sized haha. He broke yet another molar which gets us to 12 teeth! He still doesn't say a ton but he is starting to add words. He won't say anything when prompted but we have caught him saying "baby", banana or "nana", and cracker or "cack cack". Then there is this odd babbling thing he's been doing lately which we refer to as him speaking Alien. We're not quite sure what he means by it but he does it a lot when he wants us to give him something. He understands a lot more than he can say and we can definitely see him trying to copy words we say even if they don't come out quite right. We have also enjoyed a lot of nice weather this month so we frequented the park. Eli is super fearless (perhaps a little too much) and enjoys climbing up to the top and going down the slide by himself. He had a rough time with Adam being so busy because he loves his daddy so much. There were many days where Adam had to go straight back in our bedroom to the computer after being on campus and then after dinner as well. Eli would get so excited when he came home and would grab his hand and wanted up. Then, he would cry and bang at the door after Adam had to go back to work. I know Eli will be so happy when Daddy is done with school.

Those little lips <3; playing with Daddy at the park; eating a "cack cack"

Well hopefully next month we will have some big news to share of where we will be heading after graduation in April!

January Update

Here's how our month has been!

Adam: started a new semester and his LAST semester! He is taking one class on E-product development (programming for instructional design). He is also taking some internship credit for the work he is doing with Dr. Kramer. That is the new position where he is doing blended instructional design for the big in person IHum 202 course as well as managing the other TAs. He is kept very busy with all of that plus teaching DigHT 215 and finishing up his project. He's hoping to do his final project defense the end of February or beginning of March!

Ashley: started off the month sick which wasn't fun but the rest of the month was good :) just doing the usual mom stuff, babywearing, cooking, playing with Eli.

Eli: is 17 months old now! He got his first experience in nursery at church this month. Since Adam serves as ward clerk, it's usually just me taking care of Eli which has been really difficult lately because he gets into everything. So Bishop was nice enough to let him go to nursery a little early and he LOVES it. He ignores me after we go in haha. Eli has also learned a new word this month, "ball"! He broke two more molars which has not been fun and he got sick in the middle of the month. Thankfully that lasted less than a week. He is such a smart kid that it makes us both annoyed and impressed that he figured out how to push the coffee table to reach the TV haha. So our furniture is ever-arranging to fit his fresh attempts to get into trouble. He has gotten more clingy lately so he often follows me around the house and hugs my legs which is adorable but makes it difficult to do things like exercise or laundry haha. It is so fun to see him grow and develop right before our eyes :)

December Update

Here is how last month went for us:

Adam: finished off the semester and got a well deserved THREE WEEKS off from school! It has been glorious for all of us :) He got an A in his one class even with being sick right before finals week. So last update left us at staying in Utah for another semester and Adam teaching next semester. That would only take up 8-10 of his 25ish available hours to work. Adam checked with BYU Online to see if they had any available TA hours to spare but there were none. Then out of the blue, the Humanities professor he had worked with for the first three semesters of BYU Online emailed him with a job offer. The position would be as kind of an overseeing TA for the big on-campus Humanities GE course and would also include instructional design with making the course more blended (more online elements than just lectures) and converting the current Learning Management System (LMS) to Canvas. An LMS is the digital platform the course material is on. This is HUGE! Most of the job openings we had looked at asked for experience with LMS, particularly Canvas. All I can say is that Heavenly Father knows what he is doing. We didn't know what to do, he told me that we should stay, so we said ok, then jobs line up for Adam like THAT *virtually snaps fingers*! So beyond grateful :)

Ashley: I've spent most of the last month preparing for Christmas and being a mom to Eli. Within that I've also worked on some of my favorite hobbies. I've explored and tried new nail art, hosted traveling baby carriers, and cooked lots of new made up recipes. Actually this month has been pretty great :) I am glad that I do monthly updates even if no one but me reads them. After Christmas, I got in a bit of post-holiday doldrums and within that I looked back at each day with gray glasses. I sometimes feel that because I don't have tangible evidence of substantial things accomplished or progress towards a greater goal, that means I am doing nothing (a very common thought for stay-at-home moms). But Eli is growing and developing (maybe a little too fast for me to catch up haha), I get to spend time with my wonderful husband, dear friends, and my older sister who lives close by. I have a handful of hobbies that I enjoy continually expanding. And I have loads of evidence this month to help grow my testimony that God loves me and directs my little family. Life is good :)

Eli: is 16 months old! He cut his first molar this month which was difficult at times but surprisingly nowhere as bad as when his two front teeth came in. This brings his total to 9 teeth! The only words he says are "mama", "dada", "yah", and "tickle" haha but he does understand a lot and occasionally signs "more". Now when we say things like "go get the ball" or "do you want more water" or "its prayer time", he will respond correctly (except for "don't touch that" which we're still working on...) He has officially transitioned to one nap (mom is still adjusting to that). He experienced his first time playing in the snow as well as a Christmas that he could get semi-excited for. He has also learned that he can climb on more things than the couch, like the coffee table or the rocking chair. That sure has been an adventure haha. As for play time, he has enjoyed all his new presents and is deep within the organizing and sorting stage of toddlerhood. He loves blocks the most and putting things inside other things or putting things in piles. Our laps are usually filled with an assortment of toys as well as random magpie-like places around the house. We are so grateful for our smart, healthy, loving little boy :)

Christmas and our Anniversary

Enjoying a beautiful white Christmas

Christmas Eve we spent with my sister Stephanie and her family going into Salt Lake City. This year wasn't quite as fun because it started raining a ton. But we went back to Steph's house, ate dinner, and watched a The Snowman. Then, we came back home and excitedly put Eli to bed. Nothing brings back the magic of Christmas from your own childhood like creating the magic for your child. I was SO excited to see Eli come out Christmas morning and after being distracted by 3-4 random things, he finally noticed the tree. Then he promptly took off as many bows as he could haha. He showed joy with every gift that he opened, spending a bit of time playing with everything. One of his favorite new gifts however was not given by Adam or me. His fellow toddler cousin gave him a little remote control car that he is obsessed with and he can actually make it move! That I was surprised about haha. We got a fresh blanket of snow overnight and Eli did not want to stop playing in it. Then we had dinner with Steph's family that night. We also celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on the 29th going to do sealings at the Provo City Center Temple and then going to eat at Station 22. We hope that maybe after Adam graduates we can do additional celebrating by going on a night away somewhere. New Year's Eve we spent playing all of our new games from Christmas with our friends the Shepherd's. We stayed up as late as we could now all of us are parents haha which is much earlier than past years.

Eli and his best bud, Elliot Shepherd, just chilling with their sippies on New Year's Eve

We can't wait to see what 2017 has to bring us :)