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

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.