Two weeks of time and half a country covered

When I last posted two weeks ago everything was on hold. Bill was interviewing at a firm in Seattle that I felt was a total impossibility, we had received several not very good job offers that would have been hard to live on in cities we weren't in love with. I was at a really low point because hello, this job hunting process is incredibly stressful! And now two weeks later everything has changed. Bill flew out to Seattle two Sundays ago. He interviewed for six hours on Monday and met just about everyone he could imagine at this company. He flew home on Tuesday and before he landed in Greenville he had an offer letter in his email. It was a great offer, particularly compared to the others! It was comprehensive and thoughtful. It addressed parts of the total package that the other firms hadn't even thought of and when we asked about they had been chintzy in their offers. Basically it's a dream come true. We're at a sort of weird place in our career where we're just starting out but we have a big family, so whatever we picked was going to feel tight, but we feel so great about moving to Seattle. The firm is fabulous. Everyone who knows them has great things to say, which is very gratifying. It's nice to know we're going to a great place to work.

Seattle is awesome. Bill's sister and family lives there. We've never lived near family and I'm so excited about that. The outdoor stuff there is a wonderland for us. The schools are good. The location is beautiful. It also happens to be incredibly expensive and housing is jaw droppingly pricey. Haha! Nine percent sales tax. It's going to be an adjustment for sure. But after looking at every possibility in housing available at the time, one opened up that we jumped on and have an application in at that is only nine miles from work, six miles from Bill's sister, and closer than we had possibly hoped to live. We were looking at houses with commutes of over an hour each way or parts of the city that were pretty sketchy feeling. But this location is great. So hopefully we'll have it secured in a day or two once the screening process goes through.

When the offer came in and we decided to accept I threw out the idea of hey, there's nothing keeping us in South Carolina, what if we did something totally crazy and wrapped up things there, packed up, and moved in time to get to Utah in time for Christmas. This was December 19th at the time. The next week was insane. My sister and her family came to visit. It poured the entire time she was there, so we did approximately two things while they were there. We went to Bill's lab, where my nieces and nephews had a great time experiencing the wind tunnel, and we packed up my house and then the truck. Not quite the vacation they expected, but I loved seeing them and was so grateful for their help! I said goodbye to everyone I possibly could at church because hello, we love South Carolina and our friends of the last six years. I still have this giant hole in my heart for all my friends there. And then on Friday night the 21st we got on the road. We drove all of 30 minutes that first night, at like 9:30 PM, lol, just to get on the road and out of our house. And then we blazed trails for three full days. We had the most amazing weather the entire time. I couldn't believe it. Not a speck of weather hit us. We rolled into Salt Lake at 10:45 PM on Christmas Eve. Ha! We did it!

We've had an awesome week here in Utah. I can't say we've done a lot, but being with family is just heavenly. Christmas was wonderful. We've spent time with Bill's parents, his sister and her adorable kids, his other sister and girlfriend, my sister, two brothers, two nieces. We went and saw the lights at Temple Square. We've played in the snow that fell exactly one day after we'd had the most perfect weather driving across the entire country. I feel like I'm gushing, but I can't emphasize enough how wonderful it is to be with family. We loved our South Carolina life, but it was distinctly lacking in family time. And now we've had a week of complete immersion, and it's good for my soul.

I can't wait to get on the road and get our last day and a bit of traveling done and settle into our new life, but this time here in Utah has been good, really good. Here's to all the ways I've felt so blessed through this process, even when it felt like nothing was working out.

Still Waiting

We're still puttering along, interviewing, negotiating, but haven't made any decisions yet on where we're going come January. It's trying on my psyche, but whatever. It is what it is. Life keeps going despite the stress. We are excited for Christmas around here, so that's a bright spot. My sister and her family are coming this week and I can't wait to meet my newest nephew and see all of them. It's been two or three years since I last saw them.

 Got Aaron a new coat today. He modeled it for me. He is so good looking!

 Touched up an old spool holder my friend gave me with a bunch of fabric. Now it's pretty and silver and if I ever have a dedicated sewing spot I'll use it to store my thread.

 It was so warm today we sat outside without jackets on and Chloe played in the dirt. It's been so rainy or cold for weeks and weeks and it finally has dried out in my yard and it's so nice.

 Chloe wanted to snuggle and Aaron wanted in on the party.

 My friend gave Chloe a nightgown she had just made. It is beyond adorable. Chloe loves it. She wears it to bed, which is saying something. My kids aren't big on wearing clothes to bed.

 Chloe's hair is just long enough to put the tiniest ponytail in the back or on top. Or both this day. And bling it out with clips and bows that barely stay in, haha!

 I need to take better pictures of my projects because this frame turned out awesome. It's a distressed white over dark and it really looks cool in person. I did it for a friend of mine.

Still Waiting

We're still waiting on job options to run the course of the hiring process. Sigh...it's such a stressful phase of life. I had hoped this week would be the one where we had a great option that was good for us, but not yet. So in the meantime, we're just chugging along and trying to be prudent. Here's a few pictures from the week.

 Genevieve accidentally dropped an ornament she made in preschool. I super glued it back together. It worked out pretty well!

 I finally got my new reading glasses. We'll see how they help out. It definitely makes staring at the computer feel less painful on my eyes.

 Chloe has been sick the last couple days. She fell asleep on me multiple times, which is not normal.

But she also still had some big smiles to share. 

 It snowed a bit. The kids love it. We're on day two of no school as a result. Ah, the South. Live it up. If we move back out west we'll probably never see a snow day again.

 I took the two oldest to our ward's Christmas party on Friday. Aaron had mouth surgery that morning, so he stayed home with Bill and Chloe wanted to hang out with daddy too.

 Aaron getting his "bonus" tooth removed. It was hard on my heart, but he rocked it and has been completely back to normal for two days. Kids are so resilient, it's amazing.

My annual date nut bread tradition. 

 And a stocking post I'm quite proud of. It turned out just how I wanted.

That's a wrap for the week. I keep hoping next time I post I'll have exciting job news. So here's hoping next week will be the week.

The waiting game

We're in waiting mode this week, hoping for some job offers to come through after lots of interviewing the last few weeks. Hopefully I'll have good things to report in another week.

 I spent a goodly amount of time this week doing this quilt. It was very stress relieving, and job interviewing is stressful, so there you go. I'm not even the one interviewing. Ha!

 Genevieve got a new dress from grandma and some new dangly earrings and it kind of took my breath away to take this picture. She is growing up so fast and she looked so beautiful and so much older yesterday.

 I took her to Claire's to get some earrings for her newly released from the bondage of her first pair of earrings ears. She was enthralled with the mall and all the stores and Claire's in particular. She's never been to a mall, since we don't live close to one. It was a fun trip with her.

 Genevieve discovered the delight of jeans this week. We gave her a pair of Spencer's that he grew out of and she was so suspicious of them and then she put them on and wore them every day since. I got her a couple new pairs yesterday and she loves them. She's been a leggings girl up to this point, but stretchy jeans are her new favorite.

 Bill was doing fast flips for the kids and much to Spencer's dismay he is entirely too tall for them. He's so funny. He doesn't like getting bigger because he hates not being able to do stuff like this anymore.

 Chloe always sleeps like a ghost, her words, as she covers herself with her blankie and goes to sleep that way. It's adorable.

Bill's mom sent us a new Christmas quilt and it is gorgeous. The kids fight over using it because it's so soft and cuddly and wonderful.