Well, it has been 3 very busy months since I have had a chance to
add to the blog. Since the wedding, we have had a whirlwind
of a time. Konrad, unfortunately, did not receive tenure at the
University of Utah even after a successful appeal of the
tenure decision.
The appeals committee was unananimous in support of his
tenure and stated they had never read such exceptional letters
of recommendations in their entire careers. The President of the
University, though, reckoned otherwise, and so Konrad was
ultimately denied. He immediately begin applying for jobs and
almost as quickly was offered a great job with Rockwell Collins
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. There is an excellent group there that
was interested in his expertise.
Moving away from SLC was not our first choice, but in this
economic climate we are just feeling very blessed that Konrad
got a job, and a good one at that!
We knew moving away from the girls was going to be traumatic
for all of us, but we have chosen to be very upbeat and accepting
of the changes in our life. The girls have actually taken our lead
and have been great about all of it. We are starting out in Cedar Rapids
for Konrad to integrate into the company, then in the fall moving
to Minneapolis/St. Paul where Konrad will work out of the Rockwell
Collins branch office.
There are frequent daily nonstop flights to SLC (and Calgary!) from
there. This will make it much easier to get the girls to us and for
Konrad to make frequent trips to them. On the other hand, the
move has been a huge effort so we are not
looking forward to packing up again.
In any case, this spring has been busy with trips to Cedar Rapids for
interviews and apartment hunting, mixed in with a trip to Calgary for
baby baptisms and a trip to Florida for my stepdad Bob's 80th birthday
celebration.
Konrad's company has been very generous in moving us, including
having a moving company come and do all the packing, driving, and
unpacking. We had so much stuff (all mine,of course!) that they had to
bring another truck! It has been quite an experience. We had my
car shipped and drove Konrad's car, with the cats, to Cedar Rapids, on
the first of June. We have moved into a little apartment for the summer.
It has a great big swimming pool to help ease the pain of the Midwest
humidity. Already the girls have been in it nearly every day. They will
be with us for half the summer, divided into 2 three week segments.
They arrived last week and just settled right in. Kids really do keep
things simple and adapt so much better than us adults. Zoe is taking
swimming lessons, and Hannah is teaching herself to type and hopefully
will begin work on her first novel soon.
I have been fortunate to get a job also. Nursing jobs for the first time
in my entire 27 years in the field are scarce. I am working in the Recovery
Room here at a local hospital. I started last week and it has been great.
The group of nurses who work there are just wonderful and I felt right
at home quickly. Cedar Rapids is actually a nice town, very family
oriented and a fine place to spend the summer. Konrad is enjoying
his job also, so we are feeling good about our decision.
I have posted some pics from our trip to Calgary over Easter weekend
and the trip to Florida. We are so behind on the blog, that everything is
getting tossed in all at once! Konrad and I were asked by his brother
Chris and his wife, Patti, to be the godparents for their 1 1/2 year old girl
Natalie. They also scheduled the baptism of their 4 month old twin girls
the same weekend. We drove up SLC-->Calgary with the girls as we
had them over spring break. It was a wonderful weekend.
Memorial weekend was spent in Florida on Siesta Key for a big surprise
80th birthday celebration for Bob. We were all able to make it...the 4
girls, (me, Dee, Bobbi and Andra), our husbands, and all of our
children. The kids all told us it was the best vacation they had ever
had! We stayed at condos on the beach, and everyone had their own
space (which always contributes to a successful vacation!!!) The weather
was great. Bob was very surprised and thrilled! We did the traditional
family pic on the beach with everyone in white and khaki, per my
mother's request. Everyone was as cooperative as could be expected
and we did get some great shots. It was a memorable weekend.
Pictures to follow. The first slideshow is of the Easter baptism in
Calgary. The second slideshow is of Bob's birthday. The best way
to view the pics is to double click on the slideshow, this will take
you to the web album and click on full screen or slideshow - this will
really show the pictures well.
