Milestones

• 3rd Trimester: Baby girl and I are almost to the 3rd trimester. I've been blessed with good health and have felt good throughout my pregnancy. But some of the typical pregnancy things are starting to catch up with me. 1. Back-ache. As my belly grows, my back is aching more and more. Some of the normal things I used to do make my back ache if I'm not careful. 2. Cankles. This is one I didn't expect, but I can't see my ankles sometimes these days! My hands and feet swell sometimes, which has been going on for a while, but hasn't been too bad. But lately, especially on days where I'm on my feet a lot (almost everyday), it's not just my feet that swell--it's from the knee down. Yesterday at church I looked down and couldn't find my ankle at all. So I officially have cankles. Not my favorite. 3. Turkey Timer. No, I haven't popped out like a turkey timer. However, my belly button is getting more and more stretched out, and it wouldn't surprise me if that's my fate. I really hope it isn't, but right now it's looking inevitable. 4. Emotions. I don't break down and cry for no reason. And I don't have big ups and downs throughout the day. But I have noticed a change. When I do feel an emotion, it's definitely magnified and takes longer to get over. I'm really working hard on my patience. I think that was the first thing to go. 5. Forgetfulness and Clumsiness. I can't seem to remember anything unless I write it down, and I am always dropping things. Poor Todd. I'll ask him the same question ten times and still not remember the answer in five minutes. Poor 5th graders. I mix up my words which confuses the kids a lot, but they're good sports. They tease me about it. "Are you sure that's the page you want us to be on?" And lately when I drop something it's a race between a few of the boys to see who can get there first to pick it up. I guess it's more fun to wait for me to drop something than to actually be paying attention. :)



• 6th Block: In the school district where I work, we have blocks and trimesters rather than quarters and semesters. This Friday is the last day of the 5th block, meaning only 6 weeks left of the school year. Yikes! My first year is already over! I can't believe how fast it has gone and how much fun I have had. But I think I will be just as excited as the kids to get out. It's not that I hate coming to school--not in the least. But getting up to go is getting harder and harder. I'm contracted to be at school from 8:00-4:00 each day. Luckily, our principal is relaxed with that policy. Knowing that it takes lots of outside time to make a class run successfully, his theory is that, as long as you are here generally on time and don't skip out everyday, you're fine. It will be obvious who puts in the work and effort and who doesn't spend enough time. At the beginning of the year I was at school at 7:30 everyday and stayed until 4:30 usually. Now I get here at like 8:15 and leave at 4:00. I'm usually an early riser, but 7:00 seems early lately. I've learned to work more efficiently at school so I can get away with being here less.


• Summer Semester: Todd has finished another semester of school! That means only a couple more to go! The summer semester starts soon, and he'll be taking an online religion class and (hopefully) doing an internship. (More on that in a minute.) Then he'll do one more semester of classes and be done in December. Oh, happy day! He has worked very hard and is very anxious to be done. We're both very anxious for him to be done, actually, because that means we'll be outa here! Yes, there are things about Rexburg that we'll miss. But let's be real--there is nothing here! No people, no stores, no options, no jobs, no future for us. We are ready to be in a place where you can go to the store after 11 pm if you need to buy medicine, where you have a variety of stores and you don't have to plan life around going to Idaho Falls, where there are jobs that pay more than minimum wage, and where we can raise our family. I've been here so long that it's like my home, but not one I want to make permanent. By the time we leave, I will have been here 6 1/2 years. That's long enough. And Todd feels just as ready as I am to get out.

• Spring Planting: The weather is finally consistently warm enough that we could do our spring planting! We have some problems with growing things where we live. First of all, you can't plant very early in Rexburg due to all of the late freezes. Secondly, we have to plant in pots outside of our apartment instead of in the ground. But most of all, we have full shade. The way our building faces makes it impossible to grow any sort of food. We tried tomatoes the first year. (No good.) Last year we tried some shady flowers, but even those didn't do well. We started them from seed inside the house, and they just never made it to blooms. But this year we found an assorted pack of bulbs especially for shade and containers. So we planted those and I think it will be better this year. We'll see, I guess. But even if they don't work out the way we hope they will, the happy news is that spring is finally here, all the snow is gone (almost, except big piles in the shade), and we can give growing a try.



• Internship: This is one milestone to which we don't know the ending quite yet. If you haven't noticed, getting a job isn't so easy these days, especially in the construction field. Getting an internship is even harder, since companies are having a hard enough time keeping the employees they already have busy. So, let's just say it has been somewhat nerve-racking trying to find Todd and internship so he can graduate and start his career off right. Only a couple of years ago, 100% of the graduates in the construction program here had jobs waiting for them when they graduated. This year, only a handful do. Job fairs have been a joke. Each company says the same thing, "We're not hiring or doing internships right now." (So remind me why you're here again?) Out of the countless resumes Todd has sent out, only one company has replied that they are actually hiring and doing internships. The company is Lease Crutcher Lewis in Seattle, and it is looking very hopeful. Todd had a phone interview with them almost two months ago, and got a second interview which was last Tuesday. We are expecting to hear back this week on whether he got the internship. Todd feels very good about the interviews and I don't worry. Who knows if we'll get it with the way things are right now, but we both feel good. We're crossing our fingers and saying lots and lots and lots of prayers. Please feel free to help us out by doing the same! This is pretty much the only opportunity out there, which makes it even more competitive. It would be the biggest blessing in the world to get it. While there are lots of uncertainties, we're optimistic with knowing that as long as we are faithful, it will work out for the best in the end. It would be nice to know the end, but then, what would be the fun in that?