some news to share.

From quite a few recent conversations I realized that I have not done a good job of spreading the word about our family's exciting news. I say exciting news... but I'm just as nervous, sad, and anxious as I am excited for various legitimate reasons.

"Just tell us the news!!" you say. Right okay, so...

We have accepted an offer from the Marriott School of Management at BYU where Todd will be getting his MBA starting this fall! Woohoo! This has been a big goal for Todd and I'm so proud of him and all of the hard work that he has put into getting into this program. I kind of always thought I'd be back at the Marriott School eventually after being a receptionist there for 3 years... it just seemed like it was in my cards. I'm so. so. so glad that Todd is the one that is taking me there. I'm a lucky one, I really am.

Honestly, it still doesn't seem that real to me that we're even leaving Wisconsin but it's totally happening and we only have five more short months left. That's the sad part. I love Wisconsin. Yes the feel-like temperature right now is -30, which I am absolutely sick of, but I still love it here. We have made so many great friends and we really feel needed. We love the sense of community, we love the little village that we live in, we just love pretty much everything about this place minus that it's a 23 hour drive from Idaho. It's hard to believe that we'll find a village that we enjoy as much anywhere else in the world but I'm doing my best to keep my head up and to take with me as much as I can from this wonderful little place.

And that is the only con of going to BYU, it means we have to leave what we have here. The pros of going to BYU? Well those are near endless. First off we'll be a ton closer to all of our family in the west. Seriously, I have one uncle and Todd has one cousin that live this side of the Mississippi, everyone else is more-or-less in Book of Mormon belt. Not only will we be comparatively much closer to our family as a whole, we'll also have potentially FOUR entire siblings with us in Provo! Just today we found out that both Emily and Richard got into BYU! Woohoo! So both of them and Callie and Marysa could all be right there... that is if the first two mentioned accept BYU's offer. (Do it guys, just do it. I'm not bias at all when I say BYU is wonderful and you won't get the same experience anywhere else.) No seriously though, I was thinking about this the other day and it really is such an awesome and unique place to get an education. I'm very excited that Todd get's to get even more education from such a classy school. Next to the family and going-to-the-best-school-out-there factor we'll also get to eat at our favorite joints, go to cougar football games, see old friends, enjoy the mountains, enjoy better weather (good heavens -30 weather, you have seriously over stayed your welcome), and so on and so forth.

And so... even though I am going to dearly miss going to the Chocolate House with my mommy friends on cold days, and getting sweaty in Erika's basement doing Insanity on Friday mornings, and teaching my primary kids music each Sunday, and being so close to the missionaries, and attending institute where I have learned so much about the gospel, and getting to run on the trail and feel safe doing it... I am still looking forward to the new experiences that we will have back in Provo. Because it's definitely going to be a new experience... getting a masters, with a kid? That we have not done. 

As you can tell I'm torn in a way because I just love so many things... is it possible to love too many things? Part of me is saying, "Live on campus again?? Didn't I get over those two semesters of my life like five years ago?" but the other part of me is so excited to be back in a place where I feel like my life was shaped and directed in such positive ways. I'm really looking forward to all of the new things that I will get to discover about living in Provo area like I have out here in Mount Horeb. Last time we were there my roll was really a pretty selfish one... I was mostly a student, intern, and employee that had a lot to do a lot of the time. Just as many married students know, it's hard to juggle everything and still nurture your relationship with your spouse. Fortunately this time around I get to be more of a wife, supporter, mother, friend, member missionary, and anything else to help those around me. Just think of the possibilities! I feel like this picture really embodies this transition... 5 months pregnant and graduating from college. In the spring. Going from one huge stage of my life to the next.

So here's to you, Mount Horeb. You've been irreplaceable. You've provided a place that we can call home and you will always hold a close little place in our hearts. You've been so unique and beautiful and perfect for our first couple of "grown up" years. Let's make the last 5 months that we have together a handful of awesome ones.

p.s. here are Todd's feelings on the big news. He's a much better writer than I am haha...