Going Full Circle

I don't know why it's taken me so long to do this post.  We are 20 days away from saying goodbye to South Carolina for good.  Back in December, Steve interviewed at BYU.  While he was there and learned more about the position he was applying for, he realized it was his dream job.  It was the perfect balance of research and teaching.  BYU was getting an MRI in a few weeks, which is the holy grail of research equipment for him.  The benefits were outstanding and internal research support was excellent so Steven wouldn't be pressured to chase external grants all the time.  But if he wanted to get external funding, there was support for that too.  Aside from a very nervous conversation I had with Elder Eduardo Gavarret about why I thought Steve would be a good fit for BYU, things went great for Steve while he was there.  Actually the first thing Elder Gavarret asked me was if Steve opened the door for me or bought me flowers (I wasn't going to lie!).  Anyways, I laughed and said no, but he gives me his time, which is something I appreciate much more.   There were several more awkward questions, but we made our way through it.  

We had heard they had at least 5 other interviews to go and that we probably wouldn't hear until the end of February what their decision was.  February came and went.  We figured we didn't get it, which was fine as we had another year of funding here and Steve had a lot of good projects in the works.  But I'd be lying if I didn't say there was some disappointment there.

Then on the same day the Pope was chosen (March 13th) some of the smoke from the Vatican must of wafted over to BYU and they finally got back to us.  The department chair told Steve he was losing sleep at night because the process was taking so long and he thought he had missed his chance at snapping up Steve.  Other professors wrote Steve and gave similar compliments- one told him his interview and job talk had been a "slam dunk".  After going through a really bad job market, it was so refreshing to finally have some positive feedback. 

It took several more weeks (months?) to hash out all the details, but we are thrilled with the offer we received and with the opportunities before us.  We have a great house lined up that is right by the Provo temple and I am so excited for a shorter commute for Steve.  Nadia is already enrolled in the preschool on campus and she is excited to be going to school near Daddy's work.  Everything has come together really well and I know that this is what the Lord intends for our family. 

After leaving Provo when Steve and I were newly married, I never wanted to go back.  Quite often whenever someone would ask "where do you guys want to end up?"  I would reply "anywhere but Utah!"  I didn't love living there and I didn't love my experiences there, with the exception of the time I was with Steve.  Much of that is based in who I was as a person at that time and I didn't want to revisit that part of my life.  But here we are going full circle and I am seeing this as an opportunity to have a second chance and to do it right this time.  There are so many things I wished I could have gone back and changed and now I can.  As a spouse of faculty, I get free tuition and I fully intend to utilize that.  There are also so many hiking trails and camping spots that I never got to experience.  And after living away from family for 10 years, we are thrilled to be able to have our children grow up with their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents who are all not too far away. 

I am so proud of Steve for his perseverance and happy for him in finding the kind of position where he will be most content.  It's been a long road and even if I didn't expect to wind up back where we started, I am grateful for the opportunity and excited for our future.