I have just been WAITING for this day to tell everyone about this new adventure we are about to embark on!
After endless job applications everywhere, interviews, two trips to the Midwest and some big decisions, Austin has finally landed a job. Not just any job...his DREAM job!!
Austin will be a Design Engineer for The Boeing Company working in the military/defense division.
We are beyond excited and it has been a long journey to get here. He has been so diligent and patient with this whole looking for a job process and has done a lot of preparation to make sure he is the best of the best. With the help of his grandpa, he was able to refine his interviewing skills and be able to not only have the experience and knowledge they are looking for but also good communication skills and interpreting all of that to potential employers.
There are several reasons we are SO excited for this:
1. Austin is working for BOEING! Boeing has amazing benefits. It is a huge company and they treat their employees well. Austin says they have really nice facilities and that the people seem enjoyable to work with. If you don't know what Boeing is, it is an aerospace company that has all sorts of divisions. One reason I am familiar with Boeing is because my dad works for Southwest Airlines and I fly on Boeing aircraft all the time! They also d a lot of work with NASA and the military. As a Boeing wife, ;) I am excited for the benefits! Seriously, I cannot wait to go to the dentist. It was a hard hit to me to lose my dad's awesome military benefits and insurance when we got married but I am excited to get some good benefits and insurance back again.
2. Many of you might think that because he is working for Boeing, we are for sure staying here in Washington. Well, we're not! We are moving all the way out to the Midwest! Where exactly in the Midwest you ask? St. Louis, Missouri! Here is a nice little map to show you where that is in relation to some other familiar cities like Chicago.
And here are two more pictures of Missouri:
So, we are going quite a bit away from our homes. This is exciting for us though because we have heard good things about St. Louis. It is hard to believe that we will be living in the Midwest! I never thought that I'd end up there ever! I actually had a nice trip to that area two years ago after I graduated. My mom, my cousins and my aunts took a nice mother-daughter trip there in the summer and it was a lot of fun. The humidity was yucky but I enjoyed everything we did there like the famous Gateway Arch, seeing the Mississippi River, and going to Mark Twain's hometown, eating Steak N' Shake, eating Sonic, and of course, going to Nauvoo, Illinois for the pageant and the church historical sites. And yes! Nauvoo is only 3 1/2 hours away from St. Louis! That will be a fun place to have nearby. St. Louis also has a free zoo. Oh and this picture might help you familiarize yourself with the city:
Recognize it? Well, you should because it is pretty famous :) Anyways, we will probably living more specifically in St. Charles, Missouri. That is just right across the river and very close to the airport (which is right next to Boeing). That fact is really nice because my family can visit and we won't live too far away! Only 20 minutes. So if any of you ever come to St. Louis, hit us up because we will be in close proximity :)
3. I am so excited to have our own place! I have been dying to use all of the great gifts we got from our wedding. I am talking about all of the fun kitchen appliances and sheets and other fun house things. I am also very excited to decorate our own place and call it home! Seriously, Pinterest just doesn't satisfy that need! Now I can actually use the ideas I've pinned in the past and make our future apartment nice and pretty. Along with owning our own apartment, I am excited to take on responsibilities like grocery shopping, running errands, going to appointments, making lunches for Austin when he goes to work, and preparing dinner for when he comes home. I am so ready to be that kind of wife! All of this is great but I will certainly miss living with his family here in Washington. It has been so nice and so much fun being around so much family.
4. Well since Austin will be at work with the only car we have (which I can't even drive because it is a manual), what the heck am I supposed to do all day? Well we have figured out a nice little solution for that! We are getting myself a car! More specifically a crossover/mini-SUV type of car. I think we've narrowed it down to either the Honda CR-V or the Toyota RAV4. We are also still deciding on new vs. used. We are leaning more towards new. We have been busy the last week researching and visiting dealerships to test drive lots of crossovers and out of all the ones we tried we liked the CR-V and the RAV4 the best. It will also be a nice car to have for when we start our family!
5. Austin loves design engineering. He is loves math and art so what better career than to be a design engineer? I am so excited and so proud of him for landing this awesome job. He is excited for what he will be working on and to be able to work with such a big company! I am also happy that he will finally be able to start getting busy again. We have been married for about four months now and haven't done too much. I've been busy with my online classes and Austin has been busy finding a job.
6. We can't wait to make some friends in St. Louis! Hopefully some other young couples. We are still new to the whole married life thing and have yet to experience so many typical newlywed things! I am excited about that. I also think it is going to be fun getting to explore St. Louis and the surrounding area. Austin actually lived there when he was a little kid for about a year and a half so obviously he doesn't remember much. I am excited to go on adventures with him and find out all that Missouri has to offer!
7. A great thing is that the St. Louis Missouri temple is only about 20 minutes away from where we will be living! I love that and I am so glad we can be close to one. I am anxious to meet our new ward and to have all of these new experiences! We are so blessed to have the temple so close!
8. Currently, I am finishing up my associate's degree and will be done next week! I am not certain as to what I want to do to finish my bachelor's degree. I still need to look at my options and whether I want to change my major and stick with online classes through BYU-Idaho or find a school in St. Louis to attend to. Anyways, I plan on taking the Winter semester off so I can work and settle into our new place. I am just so glad to be done with school for the semester! It had been a tough one doing all online classes but I have amazing grades and I am very happy with that :) I have learned so much from the classes I have been taking and I know that all that knowledge will be very useful!
I am so excited for the things to come. This is our "something better" and it is going to be quite the adventure!
P.S. We are planning on moving to St. Louis at the beginning of January :)
