Attempt at Redemption

Apparently I do have a few faithful readers. Thanks for being interested in my ridiculous life!

As we all know, 2009 has not been exactly kind to me. It did start out well with a trip to Italy, and I must say it hasn't been all bad. The last 6 months have been particularly taxing, unfortunately. The good news is apparently 2009 is trying to redeem itself! I can no longer refer to the year as a rotting cesspool of unexpected trials and disappointment. Well, I could, but it would not be an accurate description.

So here's the update. Returning to work was actually must less traumatic than I had anticipated (thank heaven). I had the good fortune of being placed on a really good team with some of the kindest people I have ever known. It really was like family from the very first day. This put me in a great position to be applying for other opportunities within the company because there was no pressure. I knew if I ended up staying where I was that I would be perfectly happy, at least for a while. I decided to just take opportunities as they came.

I applied for an interesting position with Campus Employee Development and they hired me. That is definitely the short version of the story, but I won't bore you with unnecessary details. Basically I now work for a project team that services training for all of our academic positions. I'm on the curriculum side, so we develop web tutorials for academic counselors, as well as managing and editing all training materials. So I get to be a complete grammar nerd and they love me for it! It's really exciting for me because I get to work on developing my writing and editing skills which is a passion that has been on the backburner for quite some time. One of my quarterly goals is actually to study a different grammar aspect each week. I'm so excited!

In other news, my brother, Greg, has decided to go through the temple. He will be receiving his endowments tomorrow morning in the Mesa, Arizona temple. We are all very excited. This will be the first time the entire family can be in the temple together. It also means that someday when I get married I know that everyone will be able to be there.

Another noteworthy event: my mom finally finished her Masters of Community Counseling. No more school! It's so great to see her getting her life back. Her graduation was wonderful and a lot of people came to her open house.

Last, but not least, my beautiful niece, Emma, was born last month and I love her so much! She is beautiful and so sweet, and we are all excited to have another wonderful girl in the family.

So, to summarize, the year is finishing out quite well. I'm thankful for the many blessings I have been given even amongst so many difficulties. More updates to come. I'm going to need more writing practice!

***CORRECTION*** Ok, a shout-out to a few other people: Cortney had her baby, Robert, and I got to go to SLC to visit and help take care of him when he was just teeny tiny! And Celeste is pregnant and due in January!