I turned 30 yesterday, 30 weeks pregnant that is!

Here's a picture of me yesterday at 30 weeks pregnant.  Just ten more weeks to go!

The baby is kicking more than ever and my large belly is evidence that she is growing big and healthy. We are getting closer to picking a name and are finding people's reactions to our name options quite amusing.  I actually think it's fun to tell people and see their response, but I can totally understand why many people opt to keep names a secret until they have actually had the baby (at which point everyone has to accept the name and say they like it, even if they don't ;)).

In addition to showing a belly bump, this picture is telling of life lately on multiple levels...

1) Don't let my clothes deceive you, San Jose is just as warm as ever.  I woke up to overcast weather and started dressing like it was really fall here (aka boots, tights, sweater, scarf), but soon enough we were back to 70's as usual and I was sweating.  Oh and that whole overheating pregnancy thing has definitely kicked in this last week! It is real.

2) Also, don't let this picture deceive you into thinking that I actually get dressed up like this regularly (or really at all).  I actually blow dried my hair this morning (which was big for me) and got dressed in a skirt because I went to submit my substitute teaching application (finally)!  The whole application process was delayed due to an ever elusive TB test.  However, I finally found a place 30 minutes away that actually had the solution needed for the test (my county has been out of the solution for months now) and got the test done this week.  Now just pray that I can be hired on with enough time to actually sub a few days before the baby comes.  I can't wait to see the eyes of those middle schoolers when such a big belly makes its way in to their classroom for the day :)

3) I took this photo on self-timer (as if the world didn't already have enough cheesy selfies) because Aaron doesn't get home til nighttime and I wanted to actually document that I had gotten completely dressed for the day while it was still light out.  And, self-timer=off center picture.

4) My mom and I recently found that desk/console table thingy on the right at a consignment store and I'm in love with it and its brass lion pulls.  We have been all unpacked for some time now but it is such a process to feel like your home is fully put together/decorated.  Part of me wants to go out and buy everything on my wish list now (new curtains, tons of area rugs, art, etc. etc.) but I know there is value in being patient.

So that is what this picture means to me right now, from the size of my belly to my job status to the weather to my husband's work hours to the state of my house.  A good snapshot of life.

Progress and our new place

Luckily, our place is looking a little more put together than the above photo shows, but it's still not all the way done.  We are still in progress, and probably will be until this little child of ours arrives in January.

We found our apartment after two days of crazy apartment hunting.  We happened to hit the San Jose apartment market just as it was picking up (along with the change in interest rates and home prices...it's all connected) so finding a place was competitive and a tad stressful, but we made it!

We feel very fortunate to have found our place, and it has almost everything we had on our "list of wants."  We were able to find a 2 bedroom 1.5 bathroom apartment, which will make having the baby and future visitors that much easier.  The best thing of all though is that we are just 10 minutes away from Aaron's work and within 10-15 minutes of everything we need (airport, grocery stores, great malls, parks, etc.)!   I've been driving Aaron to work every morning this week (he will eventually drive himself but we thought we would save on the parking this week while I am not working yet), and we seem to avoid traffic on the way to work in the morning and on the drive home at night.

Our original moving plan was to move in to our place about a week before Aaron started working so we would have plenty of time to get all settled and explore the area.

Oh the plans we make that don't turn out!

Turns out Uhaul lost our paperwork and didn't ship the Uboxes.  When we finally got it all figured out and got our Uboxes here, it was Friday and Aaron started work on Monday.  Thanks to my mom and Emily and Richard Bean, we were able to get all of our stuff in to our place by Friday night, spend most of the day Saturday unpacking the essentials (our bedroom, the kitchen and the bathroom) and then leave the rest of things to slowly chip away at.  (I am currently sitting in our second bedroom--future baby room!!--to try to motivate myself to tackle the miscellaneous boxes we've discarded here.)

In hindsight, moving in all worked out and having our Uboxes delayed meant that we were able to enjoy extra time hanging out with my family in Walnut Creek, which was definitely a plus.    

So that's where we are at.  And now I will force myself to close the computer and figure out this second bedroom madness before running some errands.

Happy Thursday!
(speaking of Thursday, baby girl McKell is 24 weeks along today!)

and it begins! Aaron's first day on the job and some thoughts to go along with it

After years of anticipating the "big day," the big day finally arrived--Aaron began his job on Monday at PriceWaterhouse Coopers in the Transactional Services Department.  We have known for the past year that Aaron would be working for PwC so it's crazy to think the time finally is here to get started.

Aaron's first two days were spent at PwC's San Francisco office receiving training with the other new hires. Today, he started going to his San Jose office to do even more training.  PwC actually has a full two weeks worth of training for their new hires before PwC gives them their "real work."  Hopefully I can convince Aaron to write a post in the next couple of weeks about what life on the job is like (hint, hint Aaron :)).

The picture above was taken early in our apartment in poor lighting (surrounded by some of our random unpacked things) just before I took Aaron to the Caltrain Station (the South Bay's transportation system--so much nicer than bart, who knew!) and sent him on his first day of work.

I was a proud wife.  It was a little bittersweet for me though.

On the one hand, I felt like I was losing my husband for good to the business world.   I will miss our carefree days of having flexible school schedules.  We've had it pretty easy these past two and a half years of marriage and have been able to spend a lot of our days together.  I am incredibly grateful for that time and for the even stronger bond that it gave us.  For this, I was sad to wave goodbye to the lifestyle we had going.

Despite being a little sad and nostalgic though, I am also incredibly grateful that Aaron has worked so hard to find a job that will provide for our growing family and that he is willing to sacrifice some of his interests or desires to work a 9-5 job.

And, in the end, I am not really losing him.  Luckily, we only live ten minutes from Aaron's San Jose office so this morning we got to wake up at 7:30, eat breakfast and enjoy a little bit of the morning together before he headed to work.  And tonight Aaron will get home from work around 5:15 pm and we will have plenty of time to eat dinner, unpack some more boxes and maybe even have a night on the town.  Now if only busy season and traveling never surfaced to rear their ugly faces at us.  We shall see how that goes but for now we don't have to worry about it :)

Yay for a new job and a new phase of life!  It'll be an adventure for sure.



**If you want to see the accounting/job hunt journey unfold: click here for Aaron getting into the MAcc program, here for choosing Aaron's internship, here for Aaron breaking his arm during a recruiting event, here for starting his internship,  here for Aaron's trip to Belize, here for accepting a his full time Transactional Services job and here for graduating from the Accounting program.  It's been a long journey but we are so blessed for all that has happened. 

Sending in my notice.

I love when Aaron writes posts, especially when they include such exciting news!  I can totally hear is voice through his writing.  I am so proud of the hard work he put in to getting a job and also feeling so blessed at the same time that we have job opportunities in such a difficult economic period.  

We told friends and family about his job earlier but wanted to hold off from sharing with the world wide web until I notified my school that I would be leaving.  So here is my tale of telling my school that I would not be teaching here next year and my thoughts about it all...

They announced over the PA system mid-January, "This is for all teachers: you must submit your notice of employment by February 1st notifying the school if you will continue working here next year or if you would like to terminate your employment.  There is a form in your box."  Click.

I had students in my room at the time so I couldn't really react to the voice over the intercom, but this was it.  I had known for a little while now that Aaron and I would not be living in Provo after my first year of teaching.  I had known that I would need to tell my school that I would be leaving.  Even though I had known these things and was happy for what the future holds, I still didn't want to have to notify my school.  I didn't want to be that teacher that fulfills all stereotypes: just out of BYU, husband still in school, will most likely only teach for a year before moving out of state.  I have heard people talk about those teachers since I started my student teaching at BYU.  Granted, I had also been reassured by my department chair and administration that they would rather hire an excellent teacher for one year than a mediocre teacher for 5 years.  But still, being in Provo at Timpview where this happens so often, I hated being the one to yet again teach a year or two and then leave.

Aside from fulfilling stereotypes or not, the idea of turning in my notice presented a whole different kind of mental dilemma.  When everyone else knew that this would be my only year, then I would have to come to terms with it as well.

This means a lot of different things for me.  This also means that I will have to say goodbye to great co-workers and kind students.  This means that I won't get to coach soccer next year, which although I won't miss the responsibilities of coaching too much, I will be sad to say goodbye to my girls. This means that when students come and ask if they can be my TA or visit my classroom next year that I will have to say, "No I won't be here."  This means that the hard earned foundation I have been laying here for my classes will need to be handed over for other teachers to complete in the coming years.

The scariest of all, this means that I would have to go out on the job hunt again and this time in a world unknown to me.  Even though I grew up in California, I have next to no real teaching connections there.  My recommendations don't have nearly as much sway there, and let's be honest, the reason I got my job was entirely based off of recommendations and networking.  Additionally, my silly/painful Utah Praxis has no sway there--I will have to take THREE California tests to match my ONE Utah test.  Ugh.  So, that will be a new hurdle to tackle and I don't know how I feel about it.  It's a little bit of a bummer to start completely over with a process I just got out of.

So all of this is not to say that I am not excited for what the future holds--because I so am.  I have been so proud of Aaron and we have always known that we would move to where he would get a job.  We made all of the decisions together and he was so considerate of me throughout the whole process.

I have been ready to see what California brings.  Ready to have a start fresh, where people know me and Aaron as one unit, "The McKells."  Start fresh where we discover a new area just for us.  Start fresh where we make new traditions, put together a new home, start a family and have new experiences just for us.  When I think this way, I want to pack the bags and let the adventure begin without hesitation.

But for now, I have my two feet in two different worlds.  A world where I am a teacher at Timpview, will always be a Timpview teacher/soccer coach/MUN leader, and forever a Provo-ite.  And another world where I am the South Bay adventurer, striking out into a world of who knows what occupation and who knows what experiences.

I am two people and can't wait to be one.  Not excited to leave Provo behind, but excited to welcome San Jose into my life officially.

*These pictures were taken at the change of the semester, where my textbooks were stacked waiting for my new (not so) little students to claim them and their pages of knowledge :)  They were my leaning towers of Pisa. My classroom has become another home.  It will always be mine I think. 

Announcement {In Aaron's words}

It's another round of hear about the McKell’s life from the mouth of Aaron! Caroline asked me to write about an important change that will be happening in about 7 months from now. I've been putting this post off for a couple weeks because of random school assignments and my carnal desire to sit on the couch and do nothing. But that time has passed!

It's been a couple months since this happened but at the end of last year we decided to change our direction and focus on something different. Now before we continue I need to settle some questions you may have. We are not pregnant. If you skipped down from the beginning this is no shock, but if not I hope you have learned your lesson for assuming things.

Now that I have let down hopes and dreams of quickly becoming grandparents and uncles/aunts (whether through relation or not) I am going to talk about another part of my life that I feel is very exciting: accounting!

Yep, while many of you who read this may already know, I am an accounting major and I am finishing up my masters degree this April. That means that job hunting has been a major part of my life during the past couple years. I talked to countless recruiters and staff from many of the big accounting firms. Most of my t-shirts, pens and notebooks have the logo of some accounting firm. Everyone can tell I'm an accounting student. It's almost like I'm walking around campus with a pocket protector and calculator, I think that comes after your second year on the job :).

 Caroline and I spent lots of time analyzing and praying about where we should go (I must have made 7 different excel spreadsheets trying to determine the strengths and weaknesses of each decision). Ultimately, we decided that PwC was the place for us. I spent this last summer working there as an intern in audit and I enjoyed being wined (well, I drank 7-up) and dined by going to dinners and even participating in a service outreach program in Belize.

 However, after the internship where I worked on two exciting companies, I was worried that the subject of audit wouldn't keep me as engaged as I had hoped. Even so, I accepted a full time offer in audit to begin the following year (this coming fall).

I thought that after accepting a job offer I would be "über excited" but sadly I had more of an "eh" attitude (how ungrateful of me when you really think about it). I decided to put out some feelers to recruiters to let them know I was interested in some other areas of the firm, but I felt that the ship had sailed and I would just need to apply for others departments after I begin full time employment (which would be more difficult).

Several weeks after accepting a full time position in audit, my recruiter called me and asked if I would be interested in applying for a group called "transactional services." I said yes emphatically, and was flown out for another quick trip to San Jose.

The position is more of a consulting role in which I will be helping companies with mergers and acquisitions. The accounting world can become quite complex and I look forward to providing a valuable and interesting service to hopefully many different companies in the Silicon Valley.

To be honest, I'm not sure entirely what I'll be doing but I am excited to learn. I got the job and will be starting this September as an associate in a group called CMAAS (Capital Markets & Accounting Advisory Services), which is a part of Transactional Services.

Through this experience, I learned the importance of building good relationships with everyone we meet. I had several people that I barely knew help me get the position I was interested in. Good thing my curly hair helps me be memorable :).

You're all the best, thanks for reading!
Aaron

*If you want to see the accounting/job hunt journey unfold: click here for Aaron getting into the MAcc program, here for choosing Aaron's internship, here for Aaron breaking his arm during a recruiting event, here for starting his internship, and here for Aaron's trip to Belize.  It's been a long journey but we  finally know our future and are more excited than ever!

The not so little tale.

Once upon a time I wrote a really long account of my quest for a teaching job.  What follows is the not so little tale.
First, you must know that I love sushi.  I recognize that not everyone loves sushi.  So for you sushi-despisers out there to appreciate this post you must first picture the food you just crave above all else.  That's sushi for me but that might be fried chicken for you.  From here on out, when you hear "sushi" insert your own delectable, coma-inducing food of choice: "fried chicken."

Now jump back to March.  The end of my student teaching was in sight and the big push for jobs was beginning.  In the midst of preparing resumes, letters of rec, applications, (etc. etc.), Aaron and I struck a deal: When I get a job we will go to sushi to celebrate.  Not that I didn't already want a teaching job, but this made me want a teaching job even more and want it immediately.

So the job hunt went and went and went.

I applied to twenty-one teaching positions, dropped resumes off with seven schools and networked like crazy.  March turned into April and I started interviewing with schools.  Oh how I just wanted a job by the time I graduated!  I didn't want to be that statistic that flashes all around the Internet, you know the one that says "70% of college students are graduating without a job."

There was a little wrench in the whole job application process for me though.

I didn't want to accept just any teaching job. I wanted to work at Timpview High School.  I wanted to work with the same teachers I had come to trust and admire at Timpview.   I wanted to continue working on the topics, assignments, activities, projects and assessments that I had begun in those three months of sweat and guts during my student teaching.  I wanted to work at Timpview.
What was the wrench then, you wonder?

The wrench: Timpview probably wouldn't post their teaching position until late April/early May.

The wrench: Statistics (darn statistics) show that if you get offered a Social Studies teaching job, you should probably take it because it will most likely be your only one.

The wrench: If I waited around till late April/early May and then didn't get the Timpview job there was a good chance I might not get another teaching job.

The wrench: If you are offered a teaching job at a school, they will most likely ask you to respond within 24 hours to let them know if you accept the position.

Thus, the wrench: I needed to interview everywhere and throw my heart into it in the event that I didn't get that Timpview job.

And the wrench: I would potentially be offered a job position at a school and need to make the huge decision of accepting/rejecting that job within 24 hours...while still having a far away hope of getting a job at Timpview way at the end of the month (Oh how I hated that 24 hour period!).
So I did my best to interview and throw myself into wanting to work for a middle school, a high school, an AP US History class, a financial literacy class, a Utah Studies class (oh please no!), a world civilizations class and so on.

I would interview and on my way home from the interview that bittersweet call would come: "We were so impressed.  We would like to extend you a job position to work at our school.  Are you prepared to accept the offer now?"  

Then my himming and hawwing would start, "Can I have a little more time to think about it?"  (Translation: can I have until the end of April/beginning of May so I can just know if I could have that blessed Timpview job).  

Then their himming and hawwing would start, "Well, um, we really need to know as soon as possible. What if you let me know in the next 24 hours?"

Gulp.

"Okay, thank you for the extra time.  I'm honored, but just need a little more time to consider.  I will let you know in 24 hours."

Oh how I wished for a crystal ball, that ball that would tell me what to do.

The crystal ball doesn't exist people, but the Spirit does and I learned that intimately over the past months.

So Aaron and I prayed hard.  We fasted, we gave talks on receiving personal revelation (although I needed to be hearing that talk!), and we researched.  But that little nudging feeling kept coming: Just wait patiently.

So despite all the wrenches, the little nudges always won over.

I would call the school that I interviewed with, and as much as I could I would try to keep the door open with them while still turning down the job offer.
This went on for the entire month of April.

April 20th came, the day of graduation, and I became that statistic, you know the one that says "70% of college students are graduating without a job."

And in the midst of the crazy April month, I realized that mine and Aaron's pack for sushi could only be fulfilled by accepting a job offer, not merely receiving a job offer.  That darn fine print.

So the month of April came and went with no sushi fulfillment.  Oh it was a dark month.

Then a little ray of hope entered.  I logged on to the job postings website and there I saw it: Timpview had posted a Social Studies teaching position for Fall 2012.  My fingers couldn't fly fast enough.  I whipped through that application/cover letter like nobody's business.  It was done. Signed, sealed, delivered.

The phone call came though, and I my interview was set for May 2nd.

Thoughts of sushi flooded my mind and I thought that I could almost taste it.

My nerves were at an all time high during the interview.

After an hour and a half, 2 part interview (with a writing assignment!), I walked my exhausted self out to the car, exhaled and called Aaron.  I, in my very womanly ways, told Aaron every little detail, down to the Vice Principal's facial expressions.  I listed all the reasons that they should've loved me and all the reasons why they could've hated me.

I decided to push the interview out of my mind though and try to continue on with the day.  Aaron and I would be seating on the couch talking about nonsense and then I would kind of seize up, grab his arm and exclaim, "Ah I just want to know!"
Two days later, while I was driving home from my West Jordan sub job, I saw the Timpview principal's number flash in big, bold print across my iPhone screen.  This was it.  I took a deep breath, answered the phone and braced myself a little.

Now, I was driving at the time, which is important to keep in mind.  I am never at my full phone chatting capabilities while driving (especially in crazy Utah construction).  Multi-tasking is not my strong suit.  Hopefully that skill kicks in one day with those other motherly, domestic skills I'm praying for.

Anyways, I digress.

The principal did the small chat niceties for a minute or so (How am I doing? How do you think I'm doing...I haven't been able to move for the past 48 hours).  

And then those glorious words transpired: "Well, Caroline, we were very impressed with you during your student teaching and throughout the interview process.  We would like to extend you a full time job offer."

Then in a very mature, professional-like way, I kind of shrieked.

You know that kind-of-shriek that you hear reverberate through your mind as you melt a little, praying that you really didn't just make that noise.  But the shriek came.  (Remember, I can't be held accountable...my mind was focused on navigating the horrendous orange cones of construction).  The shameful shriek was thankfully followed by an understanding chuckle from the principal.

So, I formally accepted the position.  After going through some of the technicalities, we ended the call.

And the delighted shriek came again.  This time there wasn't any worried reverberations bouncing around in my head.  Just pure bliss and happiness.

I proceeded to call Aaron and do a little over-the-phone happy dance. If waiting had been difficult for me, then I can't imagine what he went through waiting for me waiting all the time.  He really is the best.

Oh and that sushi dinner?

It was aaaa-mazing.

Sushi has never tasted so sweet.

So here's a new job at Timpview--teaching Geography and World Civ, enlightening young minds, staying up to shameful hours planning lessons, and driving only 5 minutes to work every day (hallelujah).