Our old apartment from Heritage Halls was destroyed. Turns out, BYU had other plans for this housing area. Yes, the bottom level, front two windows that stick out on the left, completed the extent of our little place.
Yet, what an answer to prayers for us! I was just starting my second trimester of pregnancy, still wanted to keep my job as a hall advisor, and we knew we needed a place that at least had walls around the bedroom. The sliding door just wasn't blocking the noise. My bosses explained we could move to a 2-bedroom apartment in Wyview! We were thrilled and moved 3 weeks later, just in time for James to start Spring semester. Turns out, I miscarried with that baby. I'll never forget the people who reached out in love. I had gone to the doctor's by myself and left sobbing after the ultrasound. I picked up James from class and he went to get Jackson from my friend Lindsay's. JaNae showed up with flowers and dinner. Bishop Acheson even came over with a balloon (how he found our apartment, I'll never know!). A girl I worked with even came over with a plate of cookies. It took me a while to tell people I had miscarried, but so many people stepped up instantly to help. I'll always be greatful for their fast support and help.
Jackson got to visit family in Mesa while James and I took my brother Matt to the Dominican Republic. What an awesome trip that was. I swear I had an anxiety attack while trying to learn to scuba dive. My goggles kept filling with tears, and all the boys laughed at me. I'd do it again in a heart beat though. I learned so much about other's cultures and got to see my father-in-law's great ability to help the church grow there.
Life returned to normal after our trip and James became so busy. Athletic training allowed him to work under Bronco Mendenhall for the BYU football team. I'm not sure I've ever seen James more excited about life! :) Truth be told the newness wore off real fast and he would often go days without seeing Jackson. He was so busy, traveled a few times with the team, and even worked a few sundays. I know I realized that come weekend nights, when he was off till 3 in the morning with games, that he really was my best friend and I was getting way too lonely! We missed him! That fall semester went by really slow and my work seemed really crazy. I hated that Jackson was always having a babysitter. But looking back, fall really helped us realize that 1) James loves football, but likes it even better when it's not part of his everyday life! 2) Athletic training may not be the best career choice for him 3) It was getting time for me to quit work.
James did carve a sweet pumpkin for the carving contest though. He lost! (ok, I think he got 3rd, but to James, not winning = losing).
All of a sudden Jackson seemed to be growing up way too fast.
I became another success story of Utah Fertility Clinic as I became pregnant with what is now, baby Tommie. And, all thanks to the famous "herb lady" Harriet, I was not so sick. I was able to work and carry on normal life without barfing SO many times. In fact, there were days I would throw up 3 times and wonder what was wrong with me! What a blessing!
We spent a lot of time with James' brother Matt who came home from his mission and was in Salt Lake at LDS business college. I really think he is one of the most genuinely NICE people I have ever met. I am glad we got to spend so much time with him. I miss him already.
We spent our first Christmas together as a family, in our 2 bedroom apartment and NO we did not eat at the cannon center! Christmas was on a Sunday and James made us a great ham and potatoes, we visited JaNae and went to bed early. The next morning, we left for Arizona for a week. We even spent some time at Shaela and Jared's new cabin in Prescott.
Winter semester came and we knew it was James' last semester of BYU. We kept trying to figure out what we wanted to do. James was interviewing at different places in Utah and sports medicine still seemed to be the way to go for us. It wasn't till we made a spur-of-the-moment trip to AZ that I received the prompting we needed to move. James' parents' house was going to be empty and for some reason, Mesa just felt right. It took a while for James to feel the same, but once it did, we started trying to make plans to move. In the meantime, we had a scare with James' grandpa Bennion in the hospital and enjoyed out talks with him in his rehab center. James had his moments to shine as he helped Grandpa through a few physical therapy exercises.
Jackson became potty trained! He hadn't shown any signs he was ready...I just decided "now would be a good time! :) " And, three LONG days later...we were done! To this day, he still has only wet the bed twice.
I got a new hair cut and went back blonde. Though I still love doing my hair curly, James always prefers straight. As he often reminds me "straight is so good...down straight, up straight, I don't care how your hair is, as long as it's straight! :)". This may be the only pregnancy picture I have where you can't really tell I'm pregnant! Ha!
Jackson took a little gymnastics class at the rec. center and made a lot of new little friends. Mostly, it just allowed him lots of time to run and jump, get me out of the house on sick days, and fuel Jackson's competitive desire to just be the best. Not trying to brag, but he really was the best one in that class. By far the most athletic and coordinated.
Well, April finally came around, which meant GRADUATION! I'm embarrassed that I hardly have any pictures of it. In fact, this was the only picture on my phone and everyone looks SO bored! James isn't even in it! We were all in the marriot center, Jax barely made it through the opening talk. My parents, Mansi and Brianna came up from AZ and we loved having their support. Neil and Megan and Matt came and spent the long day with us, and Grandma and Grandpa Matthews came for a big BYU party at night. I was so busy with check outs for work. Those were peak weeks for me where I worked a lot of overtime. I was so pregnant, so tired, and so busy. Yet, there were a lot of parties to go to to celebrate with James. James did his best to act like he didn't even care. Really, we were so excited! He finally did it! We really felt like we still had our whole lives ahead of us. We still knew we needed to move, but James hadn't gotten a job offer yet. But, inspiration came that James was done with athletic training and needed to pursue a job in business. Wow! What a change for us! He had taken a few business classes that last semester, but didn't really have a strong resume, nor did we even know where to begin. For a while, he seriosuly entertained the idea of opening up a Little Ceaser's Pizza franchise with his work buddies at "Sports Acceleration" he spent so many hours learning how to start a franchise, what training was needed, etc. I was so impressed to watch his ability to figure out how to start a business, and then his dedication to just stick with it, no matter what anybody said.
However, he heard about a property management company from Shaela and Jared, and met with them. From day one, it just seemed to work with them and when the Little Ceaser's idea fell through, the job with COBE real estate just seemed right. It didn't offer a lot of motivation to join them. Pay was low, no insurance, and no real idea of what he would be doing. But, the bosses (Steve Beck and Dave Collins) felt that James could bring a lot to their company, and could boost their ability to bring on new properties for management. They said they'd take him as soon as he could start. We prayed hard, made a quick weekend trip to Arizona and decided on May 14th that I would quit work by May 25. And, we did! My co-workers were so sweet and threw a little goodbye party for me. Of course, I don't have pictures from that either. We packed quick and said goodbye to all our friends and ward. It seems such a blur now and didn't hit me till we were actually driving to Arizona. I will always be grateful for the good friends I made in Provo and for the great job that really prepared me for life to come. Yet, I was so excited to quit and just be a mom!
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