Our long update

I know that for this year, most of my posts begin with "This past week has been pretty hectic" and it is true.  So please believe me when I say, again, that these past few weeks have been frantic.  I know that is no excuse but it is the truth.  

Bottom line-it's been a while. And I'm sorry.

Even though the past couple of weeks have been busy as usual, a lot of big changes happened in our lives.

It started when Peter went on the job board that's in our school's website.  There, he noticed a job opening for a manager trainee position with Nestle/Purina.  He applied for the job, then turned to me and said, "How would you feel about moving to Davenport, Iowa?"  

To be honest, at first we didn't really think much about him applying for the job.  He was stressed with school and, with watching his friends succeed both in school and with jobs outside of school, he was feeling a bit discouraged about what his future was going to look like.  He applied with the full expectation that he was going to get an email a week later from the company saying, "Thanks, but no thanks."

A couple of days later, they called him asking if he was interested in scheduling a time for a phone interview.  We were both pleased but again, we didn't get our hopes up.  The interview went well and a few more days after that, they called him and told him that they wanted to fly him out to Davenport for another interview.

At this point, we were getting pretty excited but, again, we weren't trying to get our hopes up.  I couldn't go with him on this fun little trip, so I decided that while Peter was in Davenport, I would spend time in Utah.  When we got there, we spent some time at Christie's and took them to an authentic Chilean restaurant that we discovered called Pantrucas (I'm guessing on the spelling).  It was fun talking to Tyler and Christie and seeing those sweet munchkins.

We had a last minute shopping emergency.  Peter didn't have a business casual outfit but we found the perfect one to send with him on his interview.

Christie and Peter had a fun time talking about childhood memories.  

After that fun outing, Peter hopped on a plane and went to his first big-boy interview!

While he played in Davenport, I played with Lucy and Lil' Mike!

Yes, I embroidered that onesie she's wearing, and yes, she loves it.

Lil' Mike wanted some attention too.

Lil' Mike loves his new backyard!

These are ones my sister sent me.  Still cute!

Dreaming sweet baby dreams:)

When Peter flew back, we headed back to Rexburg.  He told me that the interview went well but he wasn't going to know for sure if he got the job until they call him back which, they said, would be in a week or two.

Two days later, I'm at work when I get a call from Peter.  He got the job!  We are both so excited/nervous/relieved about it! Davenport is the first place that I felt totally at peace with when Peter first brought it up and I couldn't be more proud of him.
This made Halloween a much more celebratory holiday.

Let me be clear that of all the holidays, Halloween is at the very bottom of the list.  I'll even go so far to say that I hate it.  I hate being scared, I hate the spooky/gory aspect of it, I just hate it.  But, just because I hate it, doesn't mean that I couldn't join everyone else in dressing up and Peter and I had a fun get together with some of the people we love! (This was one of Brynn's first experiences with a ton of sugar in her system.  So it was really entertaining to watch her as well.)

A hunter and his "fox"-y lady.  Get it?

Young Frankenstein-awesome Halloween movie!

Every year, Peter likes to experiment with dry ice.

Watching her climb on her mom's face was definitely a first.

A couple of days later, after officially accepting the job, Purina sent both of us to St. Louis for us to be able to meet the people at Purina headquarters and we had what was called a VIPurina day where we toured the offices and get to see what the company was really about.  The trip was scheduled around the same time that one of our closest friends, Bobby and his wife Lisa were getting sealed in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all eternity.  So, of course we had to go!

Being in the Salt Lake Temple always reminds me of when Peter and I got married over three years ago.  So that place always holds a bit of a sentimental spot in my heart.  But it was fun watching Bobby and Lisa go through the same thing that we did years before.

Right after their ceremony, we rushed to the airport to catch our flight to St. Louis.  We only spent one day there but it was a fun little adventure and we managed to sneak some pictures in that short amount of time.

Our lovely views from our hotel room.

Peter by the arch.

Me by the arch.

Shortly after this picture was taken, a lady kindly told me that I couldn't take any pictures in Purina headquarters.  So this is all I got from our VIPurina day.  The stud with the backpack leaning against his leg is Peter.

We had a lot of fun looking around and it really helped me get an idea of what kind of company Purina is and how they are going to treat Peter as an employee.  I'm really excited for Peter and I can't wait for our next big adventure in Davenport!

When we flew back to Utah, we met up with Bobby and Lisa again, went to see the major motion picture Interstellar,  then went to a shooting range to spray some bullets!

After getting some food, we ended the evening back at the Blind's place cuddling up with Bobby's brother's dog, Trigger, who is the largest dog that I have ever seen.

After that week, it's been nothing but work for me and school for him.  But I look forward to the next couple of weeks where we can sit with family and relax for a bit.  I have put in my notice with McDonald's (hallelujah!) and Peter lightened his load of schoolwork for the semester (dropping an unnecessary class) so now I get to see him more and he doesn't seem so exhausted when I spend time with him either!  We're just grateful that this chapter of our lives is coming to a close and we can start onto the next one soon.