BIG Changes (Not So Big Too)

Where do I start? We've got lots of changes happening in the next month and we're pretty dang excited!

Chad is graduating with a Technology Management degree from UVU in about three weeks! There isn't any official ceremony, but he'll be done with classes and get his diploma early September. Yay! So. Excited. Like really. It's hard to believe that he will be done. I've been dreaming of the end of school for what seems like years and even after I graduated from school I still felt like I was going. A long anticipated dream is finally here and I don't know what to do with myself! I am so proud of him and all his hard work. It can't be easy balancing 50 hours of work a week on top of full time school/homework. Not to mention spending time with your family and church callings/activities. Despite how hard it has been I am so proud and grateful for all he has done for our family.

Grad school... Chad got accepted to one school, but decided it wasn't where he wanted to go. The other two schools wanted him to have post-degree work experience. So, Chad is going to work for a few years and get some experience and then go back and get his masters. At first we were somewhat disappointed, but I honestly think it has been a blessing in disguise. Chad is so burned out. He has had so much on his plate since we got married (so, almost five years) and needs a break. It will be nice for him to just work and not have to worry about anything else. When it is time for school again in a few years, Chad will be ready for it. Plus, there is always a chance that the company he works for will pay for him to go back to school. I know several people who have had this happen. We'll cross our fingers that it works out that way because it would sure be nice to not have to pay for it!

Chad put in his two weeks at Radio Shack last Monday. His last day is Friday, August 5th. He is just a little bit excited! While he learned some great things working there, he has been ready for quite some time to move on to something new and more challenging. So... on Monday, August 8th Chad is starting work as a Continuous Improvement Coordinator at a branch of JCPenney's corporate office in Salt Lake. I don't fully understand the lingo of what he does (if you want more details you'll have to ask him), but I do know that he is so excited! Not only because it's a 'real job' and pays more, but because it is directly in line with his career goals. His excitement makes me so happy! Officially getting this job was quite the adventure; if you want more details you'll have to ask in person. Let's just say that after seven months of job searching, lots of prayers, frustration, and almost giving up we finally have a job! What a huge blessing and answer to lots and lots of prayers.

With this job change we originally were going to move closer to Salt Lake - somewhere on the other point of the mountain. But honestly, I can't bring myself to leave our ward and friends. We love where we are living. We finally feel like we belong in this ward. We finally have good friends. So after much debate, we aren't moving. Not yet anyway. Chad's work provides him with a bus/TRAX pass and we have decided that he is going to ride the bus to work each day. This will save us a lot of money on gas as well as wear and tear on his older car. My friend's husband does the same thing (commutes to work in Salt Lake each day via the bus) and if they can do it so can we. I'm sure we'll get tired of it eventually, but for the next year or so that is our plan. In the meantime we'll enjoy our ward and friends a little while longer and we'll enjoy all the money we're putting in savings because our rent won't go up. (One of the reasons we decided against moving is that rent is much more expensive where we were looking to live. Commuting via the bus saves not only gas money, but also several hundred dollars in rent each month.)

There you have it. All the changes going on in our life currently summed up in a blog post. Yes, we are a little stressed with all the change, but we are just as excited. :)

And just because he is cute...
My little 'cheese'-er man!