It’s been 5 weeks since we’ve returned from St. George/Vegas. I’ll do a quick recap of the highlights.
Jules is rocking her job at Qualtrics. She’s made it through 3 weeks and is setting a high bar for anyone who comes after her. Jules works as a technical recruiter and helps schedule the interviews for all of the hires. Soon, she’ll be finding people for them to hire. She’s able to work from home, but went in every day last week as the lure of catered lunch was too much. There have been one or two duds but most of the meals are high-quality and I’ve been the blessed beneficiary of many of the leftovers.
Three weeks ago though, we hit up some of the case lots sales and stocked up on more food storage. Our target this time was non-essential items - things to make our food storage more usable and palatable. Our food storage will keep us alive, but probably not too happy so we added fruits, soups, diced peppers, chiles, salt, sugar, etc. And water. We didn’t have any water stored up and now have the recommended two weeks. We also did get a second fridge. We got it moved in and it’s been nice as it allows us to meal plan and freeze leftovers. Hopefully it doesn’t make our energy bill go up too much.
Meal planning has been nice especially since March was a month of hosting.
We had over:
1. My ministering people (6 other people)
2. Julie’s ministering people (6)
3. Some of my old friends (3)
4. Some of Julie’s old friends (6)
5. Derek+Shannon+Violet (3)
6. Kayla+Ryan+Scout+Hudson (4)
7. Cousins (6)
8. Ward friends (4)
9. Babysitting nieces+nephews (4)
10. Siblings Porter and Rachel numerous times (2x5?)
11. And I think some others I’m forgetting at the moment
Babysitting was especially fun. I came up with this really fun game where when everybody closes their eyes, I give them a bite of an unknown food and they tried to guess it. Some of the guesses were impressive and some of the faces were hilarious as they tried the food.
We celebrated St. Patrick’s Day on the 16th, being invited over by some neighbors for a fun Irish dinner. It was surprisingly yummy and we just felt lucky for everything the last year has brought us as it was a year ago (on March 13, 2021) that we started dating again and pretty much knew that we’d be getting married, with the ‘official’ dating announcement .
The real St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th, we dressed up fancy and went to the law school dance, the Barrister’s Ball. We had such a great time. Dinner was ok, but it was fun to be with friends, and I danced more than I ever have in my life, mostly just trying to keep up with Jules.
The Barrister’s Ball served as a nice reminder that this semester is quickly wrapping up. This is the last week of classes and then two weeks of finals await me. A lot is up in the air right now. I’ve decided I won’t be staying at Sumsion Business Law for the summer. I’m going to try and see if I can get an internship at Qualtrics and work with my wife. If not, then I’m hoping to land a position at a real estate development company. Friday I had my MBA interview and the interviewer all but guaranteed I’d be admitted, so I’m hoping the official good news will happen this coming week and that will help me in my search.
In March I ran for two positions. First, I ran for state delegate. I was very hopeful and optimistic, but unfortunately didn’t come out in front. I thought I acquitted myself well, speaking articulately and answering questions intelligently and sincerely. Oh well. Jules was with me on election night and she got really into it which was fun to see, and overall I'm glad I gave it a shot and loved the experience. It was good to get out of my comfort zone and try something new.
The following week I ran for Vice-President of the Federalist Society. John Lee is the son of Senator Mike Lee, and is the president. I thought about going up against him, but didn’t think I’d have the time necessary to do a good job in the position and knew it would be tough to usurp the family tradition of being Federalist Society President.
The last two months at the law firm have been pretty negative. I’m flabbergasted by some of the decisions that are made. That said, I’ve made some good friends and am grateful for what I’ve learned and the opportunities working there has provided me. And it hasn’t all been sour. Last week, we had a 30 person ping-pong tournament and I survived some close calls to come out on top, including my finals match against the state tennis champ. That victory compensates somewhat for my last-place finish in the family March Madness Tournament. The girls just about swept the podium for that one. Annemarie won first, Breyer (with the absolute classic bracket name of Guinea Pig Dunk) came in second, and Dad slipped in at the end to take 3rd, beating Jules in 4th.
Last items:
1. Jules gave me a great haircut. Artistic ability seems to carry over in unexpected ways.
2. We played catch for the first time
3. We spoke in church. Our topic was “Making the exercise of faith your first priority.” It was a good experience and we both learned a lot as we prepared our talks.
4. We took Sawyer’s friend Tyler, and his parents out for ice cream at the Creamery. Tyler is considering going to BYU, and we were trying to convince him that he should. Not only do we think he’d love it, but it might mean Sawyer will come out for a year before his mission. Regardless, it was fun to get ice cream and meet someone from Granbury.
Conference this weekend was wonderful. We stayed home for most of it, but did go to Wallsburg to see John and Lenita + fam Sunday morning. We were greeted with hugs and cinnamon rolls which is my preferred way of being greeted. Pres. Nelson’s talk that session was my favorite of the entire conference. This week, I’ve been praying to know how I can be more spiritually invigorated and when he spoke it seemed like he was personally addressing my question. If you missed it, go back and listen to what the Prophet said. Here’s the five specific points he mentioned:
1. Get on the covenant path and stay there
2. Experience the joy of repenting daily
3. Learn about God and how He works
4. Seek and expect miracles
5. Strive to end conflict in your life
I remember attending the funeral for Pres. Monson in January 2018. I went to pay my respects to Pres. Monson but the defining moment that day happened when Pres. Nelson walked in. I KNEW, undeniably, as the spirit of the Lord bore powerful witness to me, that he is the Prophet of God today, appointed to convey God’s message for the church. And I know the same thing today: Russel M. Nelson is the Lord’s anointed. Follow the Prophet!
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