A New Year, a New Start

Hello Friends. I have wanted for some time now to start a blog for our family, but the excuses have piled high, so as a new year has begun I've decided that I can make some time.

First a small introduction to us:

Matt and I (Kara) met in our singles ward approximately 3 and 1/2 years ago. We became good friends and a year later began to date. We were married in the Las Vegas Temple on March 15th, 2008, so we are nearing our 2nd Anniversary.

Matthew is a highly organized goof. I have described him as OCD in the past, but I have been corrected due to the fact that he is really only OC because the D indicates disorder and his life has not been disrupted by his obsessive tendencies. The goof portion comes into play in the following example of his OC tendencies:

On Christmas Eve we were at Matthew's parent's house playing a game called Cross-Boards. It is a game closely related to Sorry. When Matthew's turn came and he finally rolled the number needed to release his marble from home, Matthew proceeded to move the first marble out and then systematically moved the other three marbles from their previous places in the home section to new spots, thus moving them closer to leaving their home.

I know this example may be hard to visualize or even understand...maybe you had to be there, but I can say for certain that his parents, well entire family, would agree that he is one big goof. That's why I love him! There are many other reasons why, but that's one.

As for me, I am a very much so a less organized goof, although I do have those freak-out moments of an overwhelming sort. You know those moments where what is happening around you can not be tolerated anymore? Let me explain by another example:

One day Matthew, my sister Elisa and I were in our lovely apartment and I went into our study and observed the "organized" mess and I could stand it no longer, I started taking things and throwing them away while making such statements as "I haven't touched this in months...I don't need it...it's just taking up space."

Fortunately I believe I usually have more control than that in normal more important situations, but it is needless to say one of my many quirks. Others include making funny, interesting faces, rhyming and dancing in ways that may embarrass, but surprisingly find compliments.

Hmmm...what else? Oh, well I suppose I can tell you want Matthew and I want to be when we grow up!

Matthew, just finished his Bachelor's Degree (Hooray!!!) in Communication Technology at the University of Utah. He has decided that he wants to be a teacher. A teacher of what you ask? Matthew wants to be a Seminary Teacher for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And now you are saying to yourself, "That's perfect!" Or at least that was my thought. It is actually not an easy career to get into. There are many hoops to jump through, but Matthew has been up to the challenge and has already jumped through several.

1. Has to be Married (well, men have to be married in order to be qualified women do not) (check)

2. Must have Bachelor's degree (Check)

3. Graduate from institute (Check)

4. Take Doctrines of the Gospel 1 and 2 (check)

5. Take two Pre-Service classes (these classes teach people how to teach!) (Check)

6. Participate in a 10 day teaching experience with 9th graders (check)

7. Be invited and participate in a year of student teaching (still waiting to get an invite)

8. Do well in student teaching and get an interview for a full-time position

9. Get a full-time teaching position

So, as you can see we are in the waiting phase of the hoops. Matthew participated in the 10-day experience and loved it. It was hard, but he enjoyed it and by what we can tell he did well in his evaluations. Most of the time people get invited to student teach in June so there is a possibility we will be waiting a few months before we hear the news. The is also a slight possibility that they will invite one or two people to student teach in the next few weeks, but that is much less likely, so we wait! While we wait Matthew will continue to work with the company Fastenal. Right now he is part-time, but they do want to bring him on full-time, so if he has to wait until June then at least he will be busy.

As for me, I am in graduate school trying to earn my doctorate in physical therapy. I am now officially half-way through!! I have two more semesters of book work and 3 more internships. My next internship is this summer and I will be in Pittsburgh for 10 weeks. Matthew will be staying here, so it will be interesting being apart for that long. But we have already started to make some provisions. We purchased a new laptop in November and plan to Skype for the summer. We have also planned on Matthew making a visit once for a weekend and at the end of my internship we are planning a cross-country road trip!

Well, that's a bit about us! Hope you enjoy our adventure!