Excellent News!

Here are some pictures from the shower my church friends threw for me.

I love children's books!  

It was such a fun time!

So, these last few weeks have been very exciting! Here are four fabulous events that have occurred in the last few weeks:

1. I got the Resident Manager job for the Family Housing.  We paid rent for the last time in April!

I decided in November that I was going to apply to be a Resident Manager in the family housing units that we live in. This would allow me to leave my incredibly stressful and frustrating job, be able to stay home with the baby, and allow me to be the kind of mom I want to be.  Also, the perks are pretty fabulous!  The job is about 20 hours a week and the university waives our rent (which includes our utilities, cable, and high speed internet).  So, basically, getting the job would immediately eliminate our biggest expenses and we could save the rent money for a down payment on a house someday!

The applications were due at the end of February and I found out that a huge number of girls from church were applying along with everyone else in the complex.  I was up against some stiff competition and there were only three openings in all of the family housing areas. The application was pretty ridiculous!  It felt like applying for college; I had to write three huge essays and then the interviews started.  

I thought I had had some pretty bad interviews before, but these definitely took the cake.  During my first interview, the current RMs all had their kids in the room (which is pretty cool that the job is so kid friendly) but it was the end of the day so the kids were screaming, knocking VHS tapes off shelves, crying, and one kid nearly killed himself by trying to swallow his mom's keys. The RMs were yelling questions over the din of screaming and crying and I was yelling my answers back.  I had absolutely no idea what I said and the interview only lasted 15 minutes. I thought for sure I wouldn't get a second interview.

Luckily, I did get a second interview, but so did nearly everyone else.  They interviewed 14 people originally and 12 people the second time around. It wasn't even a down selection! The second interview was the second week of April (so keep in mind this process had been going on since the beginning of February when I got the materials/essay questions, etc. to start the application.  It was such a long time to wait on pins and needles!). The second interview went better as I decided to take the first slot in hopes that the kids wouldn't be so exhausted.  I still had one kid banging on the table leg the whole time while a couple others tried to smash each other between two dollies. Going first was a good decision; I actually could hear what I was saying and I felt pretty good about the way I answered the questions.

Finally, after another week and a half, I got an email letting me know I got the job! This was such a huge relief!  I had been having the worst time trying to work out what I would do if I had to work at my current job, so this was such a blessing.  I didn't think I could take the stress of being a new mom and trying to work part time at my job.

As a RM, I will be responsible for helping plan activities for the family housing complexes (like a Christmas party, Easter egg hunt, etc.) and for helping residents when they move in and move out.  I will also respond to residents' needs like giving out extra parking passes, checking out vacuums, and taking care of noise complaints, etc. I am excited to get to know people, be involved, and be a resource to the people who move in.  Most of the residents are international, so that adds an extra challenge/excitement to the job.

2. Don got an amazing four year fellowship from the National Science Foundation that will pay his tuition, health insurance, and provide us with an excellent stipend (as stipends go) until he finishes his PhD.

The same day that I got the Resident Manager job, Don found out he got the four year fellowship that he had worked so hard to apply for. This fellowship makes him incredibly desirable for any professor (usually professors have to find funding for their students, but Don has outside funding, so he is free work) so he can work on any research project he wants and we have stability!  We don't have to worry every year about how he will be funded or what grant will cover his stipend, insurance, tuition, etc. It was a very good day for us!  We went out to dinner to celebrate.

3. I quit my job!

I have been wanting to quit my job for several months now because of political issues within the company.  I haven't been treated very well and the company was just unhealthy in general.  The majority of people were underpaid, overworked, and we weren't able to hire people fast enough to make the growing workload manageable. As the HR Manager, I had to defend the company, even when what they were doing was not ethical or logical.  My last day was last Thursday, April 30!  Even though it would have been nice to have insurance coverage a little longer so I wouldn't have to pay for COBRA quite as long, it is well worth the money to not have to put up with all the junk anymore! Also, my new job is definitely a better fit for me and my life goals right now.

Even though the situation at my job was not ideal, I still really liked the people, so it was sad to leave them.  They were so nice to me.  They threw me a surprise baby shower the day before I left and gave me some amazingly generous gifts.  They also gave me a collage of pictures of my time with the company and all signed the mat around it.  

4. Friends from church threw me a baby shower.

On the 22nd of April, my friend Maryann threw me a baby shower with people in the ward.  Even though I haven't lived here very long and don't know people very well, 29 people came!  It was amazing!  People were so generous and it meant so much to me that they came to support me, especially because I am new.

Also, tonight the Young Women are having a shower for me instead of having an activity.  I have been amazed and so grateful for how caring and loving the people around me have been. I feel so loved!