Over the river and through the bridge...

to the Grandparents house we go! Danielle and Chad joined us on a visit to Grandpa and Grandma Portela's house in Idaho. They live a few hours away from us. We had lots of fun and Patrick was able to see their house and their little town of 2,500 people for the first time.We:
-played cards
-took a driving tour of all of the houses they have lived in
-rode in Grandma's Gem car
-took a tour of their house
-met the rumba vaccum Susie
-ate at the truck stop
-the boys did some yard work
-wandered around downtown
-visited Aunt Peggy and Uncle Stephen
-played munchkins late into the night
We'll go back to visit in August on our way to Provo!

Learning how to sew?

Before Patrick and I got married my mom helped me sew a few things. We didn't do it often and I wasn't very good. Then after we got married I decided that it would be nice to be able to sew a few basic items. Like  aprons, pillowcases, pajama pants,  just a few easy things. That way I would be able to make gifts for bridal/baby showers and because it might be fun to try another craft. So a few summers ago I bought a sewing machine on sale at walmart. Then I didn't touch it for a while.

I got brave since being in Utah and thought I'd try. I made some binkie clips for gifts after I found the idea on pinterest.  I got smart and realized instead of buying suspender clips at the craft store I could buy ironing board cover clips for a lot cheaper. And realized I should make them shorter so they don't choke my friends babys.

For Valenine's Day I made pillowcases that turned out pretty good.

 Then I decided we needed a grocery bag holder.

A few weeks ago a girl in my ward found out she had to have emergency surgery. So another girl in the ward decided we should make her a quilt since she would be in the hospital for a few weeks and would be in and out of the hospital for a while after that. That way she could have the quilt with her and it would be like a big hug from everyone in the ward. I decided I should participate. So with some help I made a quilt square. 

 Then I even helped to tie the quilt. 

Even though I didn't really help very much it made me think that I should try tackling more sewing projects.

Today I made little rice warmers.

I decided to really go for it and make some baby burp cloths out of cloth diapers for baby showers since my ward is reproducing faster than bunnies.

I think they turned out pretty good. Now for the next baby shower I can give a couple of burp cloths with a binkie clip and be set.

I'm by no means good at sewing but I'm learning and liking it. Patrick is nice about it and gets excited with me over the new little things I sew. 

Saturday morning...

we went to the session of General Conference. It was our first time going to a session together at the conference center. We listened, sang, and then hung around Salt Lake City for a little while after. We of course got lunch at one of our favorites, Tony Caputo's. We spent the whole weekend together and were able to listen to almost all of conference.

Weekend getaway...

to St. George to see Danielle and Chad of course! We did what is now our new normal together consisting of staying up late, eating a lot, eating lots of desserts, dressing up and going out to a fancy dinner, and playing munchkins! There was also rock climbing and a day trip to Vegas thrown in the mix. We had so much fun with them.

Danielle wrote a little more about our visit here. Can't wait for the next time we get to see them!

This past weekend...

Danielle and Chad came to visit and we had a blast with them!

We went to BYU's Preference Hoedown were we played carnival games and danced.

Went to the mall in Salt Lake for some shopping after Patrick made us coconut french toast for breakfast.

  Ate at Patrick's favorite sandwich shop.

Did  karaoke at the modern art museum. We sang MMMBop, You Raise Me Up, The Thong Song, Piano Man, My Humps, Mr. Brightside, and all sorts of other fun ones. 

Went back to the mall and ate some Godiva chocolate.

Went out for a fancy dinner.

 We went to an Asian restaurant and ate way too much food.

We were all impressed with our dishes. They were tasty and Danielle and Chad were happy to get some good sushi.

Learned how to play the card game Munchkin and played for hours!

We can't wait to see them again!

More Internship Stats...

Running the numbers was kind of fun so I calculated the stats for my entire internship search since the MBA program began:

Number of interviews: 25
Number of hours spent in interviews: 18*
Number of miles driven: ~4,700
Number of planes boarded of which only two were connections: 16
Number of miles flown: ~10,100

*This number only includes formal interviews. I did not include time spent conducting informational interviews. Yes I know this is nerdy.

The journey...

Before Ashley and I returned to BYU I looked at what companies recruit there and decide to focus on Intel. The company has a great history, they play in a fascinating space, and their approach to business / problem solving is fascinating. I put a lot of work back in August and September learning about the company, networking with current and past employees, and I even flew to Portland to meet with some of the people I had been talking with and to show them just how much I wanted an internship. The interviews came and I ended up without an offer.

While in Portland, the main person I was there visiting was a friend of Devin and Bridget's who has a child Ryan's age. She works in Accounting within the Finance organization at Intel. She was very nice and we came up with a plan for me. If I did not make it into Intel through BYU into the finance side that I want to be in, which is extremely competitive, then I would apply to the accounting side of finance which recruits later and not at BYU.

As time passed, I didn't really believe that would pan out and was not counting on it. I began looking elsewhere. As many of you know I worked extremely hard and made it to final round interviews with Amazon, Symantec, Boeing, and Amgen, besides Intel. Of those only Boeing made me an offer. I was discouraged. I had put in so much time, energy, and sacrifice to get those interviews and to only get an offer from Boeing, which was just a back-up in my mind, was very disheartening. I was mentally and emotionally exhausted and my faith was tested. In the end, I was grateful to have the Boeing offer and was just awaiting the official offer with all the details. Then I would accept.

In a manifestation of the Divine, I received a call the same day I found out about Boeing from a manager at Intel who wanted to conduct a screening interview that afternoon. I accepted. Three hours later I was struggling to keep my head above water in an accounting interview; accounting not being one of my strengths. Too my absolute shock I receive a request for an final round interview. This time no accounting questions were asked and I felt I did well. I know getting the first interview came only because of Devin's and Bridget's friend. But to my knowledge that was the extent of her influence.

It is curious the way things work out. I began with determination to be at Intel. To the best I can calculate since I heard the official "no" from Intel back in October I have had 23 formal interviews, I have spent 17 hrs being interviewed, I have traveled by car 2,850 miles, I have been on 10 direct flights, and I have traveled by plane 6,301 miles all directly in the pursuit of an internship. Then two days ago, Thursday, I got a call from Intel with an offer!

Ashley and I did have to really think if doing an accounting internship would be best. I made a number of phone calls and we decide it's worth the risk, which I won't go into here.

So there it is! Ashley and I will be in Portland for the summer and I'll be working for Intel!

Incredible is the journey!