My friend Andi is an amazing singer/songwriter. I always secretly hoped that she would sing at my wedding reception, but since I eloped it didn't really pan out. Anyway, she wrote a song pertaining to the previous blog and if you are interested:

A Serious One

I feel compelled to write on a more serious note today for a number of reasons. First, I use this blog to communicate goings on with family and friends, but I also write as sort of a penance for not keeping up with my journal writing. I want my children to have something to read of their mother and father when they are grown, but I am horrible at writing in my journal. So much that I don't even attempt it because I don't know where to begin. I didn't write anything of the first two years of my marriage to Matt and I don't know how long before that either. How do you catch up on years and years of events?

So today, I write on the passing of the Prophet of my church, Gordon B. Hinckley. It is amazing to me how heartbreaking the loss of someone I didn't even know has been. I welled up with tears the moment I heard, but was comforted by the sweet reunion he must have had with his lifelong sweetheart. Today, his funeral was broadcast on television and I cried all over again. What a self-less, kind, and loving individual. Perhaps my grief was heightened in that I was reminded of my own grandmother's funeral. She was the most self-less person that I have ever personally met and I missed her all over again. I remembered how devestating it was for us when they closed the casket and how my heart broke again. As I listed to the speakers and the choir singing, I remembered the kind words that my father spoke at Grandma's funeral service. I assume they asked him to speak because they knew that genetically he was the least likely to cry uncontrollably during his talk. But even this strong man, whom I had never seen cry before, became tearful as he spoke of the kindness of this woman. He concluded by saying that she has always treated him as a son, not a son-in-law, and whenever he left from a visit, she would hug him and cry because she would genuinely miss him. And he said, "Now we are crying as we say good-bye because we genuinely miss her." And we do.
I am grateful for the faith that I have and the hope that our family will be reunited again soon enough. And I am grateful for Gordon B. Hinckley and all that he has done in the service of his people. (And I complain when I have to go out with the missionaries on occasion!)

I was impressed too with a note that one of his grandson's left for him:
We will
Be grateful.
Be smart.
Be clean.
Be true.
Be humble.
Be prayerful.
Be-cause we love you.

And another quote that I should live by more fully:
"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just like people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

A Job at Last!!!

After 4 intensive months of applications, literally hundreds of resumes sent, dozens of phone interviews, 4 in-person interviews (3 of which involved flying out of state), we have finally found a job! I guess that isn't entirely true, I was offered a few positions between 21 and 24K, which was slightly discouraging since 1. I made that much with a high school diploma and 2. I currently make that much as a graduate student. Matt was pretty disappointed and wondered, "Why are you making me go to school again???" I understand that sometimes you just have to get your foot in the door, but seriously?
Despite the "incident" at MD Anderson, they did offer me the position. I would have been honored to have worked there; however, Epic offered literally twice as much. So for the sake of supporting our family while Matt finishes school, it would be completely illogical to move to Houston. Especially since Epic covers all moving expenses and housing while you find a place to live. So Madison here we come.
A few things to note about Madison, WI. First, they serve fried cheese curds. I haven't yet partook of these delicious sounding treats, but look forward to anything fried. In fact, one of the things I miss about Texas is the fried pickles you can get at BlackEyed Pea. Second, you must, MUST be a Packers fan. If not, you may end up in restraints as this kid did. And finally, be careful or you may end up talking like Drop Dead Gorgeous or the mom from Bobby's World. Dontcha know?

Samoa

We are excited to announce that baby Andrew Salt will be reporting for missionary duty to....SAMOA!! I guess I didn't have to put the "..." since the title of the blog gave it away. In any case, we are very excited for him, but mostly we are excited to go pick him up in 2010.
Now for the job situation, I had a second interview at MD Anderson yesterday. Overall, I feel that it went well. They said they were interested in me, and hopefully they weren't just blowing smoke up my skirt because I was sitting right in front of them. There was a slightly uncomfortable moment, however. Leave it to me to do the most clumsy and/or awkward thing at a potentially life changing interview. When the Dr. I interviewed with came down to the lobby to pick me up, she stuck her hand out as most people do. But the level of the hand was higher than normal. I panicked. She approached. I didn't want to hesitate because that makes the moment even more awkward and before I knew it, there was a hug involved. As soon as it happened, I thought, "Oh crap. That was probably the wrong thing to do. You don't hug at a job interview. I'm not even a huggy person. What just happened! Oh no. I just blew it. Ahhhhh..." After all that praying that I wouldn't make an idiot of myself, and then I go and do that. But she didn't act like it was an awkward thing to do. She didn't pause or make a surprised comment or even an "Uuhh, OK," just said it was good to see me again, so maybe she did mean to give a hug. I don't know if I'll ever know, but hopefully this won't affect my job status. "Well, she has the dedication and drive for the position, but she's a hugger and that's just weird."

Wisconsin

I just got back from an interview in Madison, WI. I thought I would hate the weather, but the area was actually really nice. I kept having visions of Ally playing in the snow and having family snowball fights. Matt would be able to break out the old snowboard again. I don't want to jinx it by elaborating tooooo much, but the company has an amazing facility and some very interesting perks. I should know more in a week and I also have another interview in Houston on Tuesday. Seems like things are progressing finally. Here's to growing up and getting a real job!

Walking. Finally.

Last week I took Ally to the doctor for her cold. Since her 18th month "birthday" was in a week, I asked if he needed to see her back so soon for a checkup. To which he responded that it wasn't necessary to see her. Then he asked if I had any other concerns. I said, "Well, she's still not walking." "Oh," he said, "in that case, I DO want to see her in a week." He continued that they get concerned at 17-18 months if they still aren't walking and may need to put her in physical therapy. She was walking along the furniture and would walk ifyou were holding her hand, but the second you let go, she dropped to her butt. So we've been praciticing with her this past week, and on Wednesday, she walked all the way across our living room. She still needs a little practice (and I'm not going to put her in nursery if she can't defend herself...one of the little girls likes to sit on her and ride her like a pony), but she's on her way! And on Friday, the doctor said he didn't think physical therapy would be necessary. Silly Ally.

Welcome Home

Yesterday was a day from hell. Of course, maladies make for better blogging anyway. Our day went smoothly enough, beginning with an interview at MD Anderson, followed by a riotous game of croquet. Sadly, we then left Texas to go back to Arizona. Ally did OK on the plane, despite the fact that she has a cold and desperately needed a nap. (The stewardess came over and gave her some things to play with because she was crying. Then I felt bad because we were one of those people who can't get their kids to behave on the plane). When we arrived in Phoenix, the pilot announced that there was an unscheduled plane change, that instead of staying put we needed to gather up all our crap, put our shoes back on, wait for the stroller to come back off the gate check, wait with a crying baby in the terminal before loading onto a different plane. Luckily, there were only a handful of people going the rest of the way to Tucson, so we got to spread out on the plane and didn't have to worry about Ally kicking the seat in front of us. We arrived in Tucson at 11:30 PM and waited for our luggage at the courosel. And waited. And waited. Now, luggage gets misplaced all of the time. But at midnight with an ornery child it seems worse than it is. Not to mention the fact that the entire plane was in the same situation, so we had to stand in a longer than usual line to report our luggage and get a loner booster seat so we could legally drive Ally home.
Next we trudged outside in the cold and waited for the shuttle. And waited. And waited. Finally, we called and they sent over one shuttle. One. Shuttle. For about 30+ people waiting in the cold. We didn't make it on the first bus. We decided that one of us should go back inside the airport with the baby and the other wait for the shuttle, get the truck, and come back for the other one. So I walked Ally back to the airport. She played with my phone while we waited. And waited. And waited. I called Matt. He said that he was taking so long because he was the last person let off of the shuttle. Well, second to last if you count the guy who got all the way to his car and realized that his wife (whom he left at the airport) had the keys. At least we weren't that guy. By the time he got there, it was 1:30 in the morning. Not bad for us, but horrible for a 1 1/2 year old with a cold and no nap. (The picture below is me trying to keep her happy by playing with my camera phone at the airport at 1 am).
When we got home, the cats had gotten into the toilet paper and cotton balls and there was white crap all over the floor. The backyard light was on, blaring into our neighbors bedroom window, which I'm sure he didn't appreciate, and the kid we paid to take care of our animals had left the backdoor unlocked and partially open.
I don't know if it was the cold, the cough, the change of location, or maybe just the fact that she was tired beyond all reason, but poor Ally was up crying until 4 am. And then she woke up at 8:30 and cried even more. She was exhausted, but didn't want to sleep, she just wanted to be held and rocked. She finally fell back to sleep at 9:45, so we called and had to reschedule her doctor's appointment at 10:15. And so, after a night with very little sleep, I had to go to work without any makeup on because our luggage still hadn't arrived, and of course, you can't take makeup on the plane because your mascara might blow up. Oh yeah, and this morning our landlady called and informed us that she didn't want to go month-to-month like we talked about last month, so coming February we either needed to sign a 7 month lease or find somewhere else to live. So, depending on the job situation, we may be homeless come February. What a welcome home.