Byron's first blog

Well we finally received word last Tuesday that we will be transferring in June to San Diego, California.  I will be working as an Operations Supervisor for Solar Turbines.  The news came as a relief to us as we had been fearing another year in central Illinois.  Not that Illinois is a bad place, just a very, very cold one with lots of deer that want to wreck your car.  After spending last week in LA visiting Ashley's parents, we decided that we could get used to perfectly sunny 75 degree weather all year round.  Ashley flew home on Saturday and as we were driving home from the airport a deer charged full speed into our car.  I see $3500 of damage and all the hassle as the perfect finish to a long, frozen winter.  It was especially disappointing because we had successfully been driving on ice since October with no incident.  I guess that's life.  Fortunately the news of the transfer has greatly improved my mood since the deer hit us.  Right now we are trying to decide between living in La Jolla or Rancho Bernardo.  We will probably fly out in a few weeks to see some of the places we have been looking at online.  Also, in other big news, we find out on April 10th whether we are having a boy or a girl.  I will write the blog again with that news.  

The past 10 months: The condensed version

Well, we've had a few complaints that this blog hasn't been updated in about 10 months, but I have to say we have been a little busy.  And how much can happen in ten months anyway?  Well here's an update and we'll see how we do at adding to this a little more regularly in the future. 

Byron's still enjoying his job at Caterpillar and we're expecting to receive a new assignment and be moving out of state in June.  We just sent in our top five choices and should be finding out where we'll be moving by March 18th.  Our top choice is San Diego, followed by North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.  You may think we have some sort of affinity for the coasts (which seems natural since we grew up in the far west and the far east respectively) but the real rationale for our choices was the fact that we're sick of freezing our tushies off and we want to go somewhere warm.  Unfortunately, Cat doesn't have any plants in Hawaii or the Carribbean.

I've been busy taking paralegal classes and working as a bank teller since the fall.  I'm going to the local community college to get a paralegal certificate, which I'll finish this May.  This semester I've added an internship with a legal aid services organization to my schedule.  Prairie State provides free legal services to low income and elderly people.  It's great to work for an organization with so many good-hearted people who sincerely want to help those who are less fortunate.  

In other big news, we're also working on growing a baby.  Well, I'm doing most of the work actually.  We're expecting a little guy or gal to arrive somewhere around August 21st, another reason why it would be so nice to move to San Diego and be near my family.  Anyone have any crazy old wives tales that predict the sex of a baby that we could try out?  I've heard about the ring on a chain, but I'd love to try some others.  I'm so excited to be a mom and I can't wait until this baby really starts growing.  

Well that's just a brief overview of the time that's passed since we were engaged and I created this blog.  Thanks to all you who do keep up your blogs; we love reading 'em!