Introducing Samuel Travis Betenson. :)
Monday, March 14, 2011
Sam
Can I really call this a blog anymore? Do 4 posts a year really qualify this as an active blog? I don't know. But I feel it is important to note that we have a new addition to the fam!
Introducing Samuel Travis Betenson. :)
Introducing Samuel Travis Betenson. :)
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Christmas
Long time no post, I know. I haven't thought much of a blog in the last couple months. But tonight I need to tell someone how wonderful it is to be Santa on this Christmas Eve. It is every bit as magical as being on the receiving end. I can hardly wait to see her face!
Merry Christmas to all our dear friends and family!
Merry Christmas to all our dear friends and family!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Smarty pants
This morning Shelby was eating her toast, and yelled: "Look, Mommy! A nummer free!"
Shelby- you are one creative little 2 year old. :)
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Job Offer
We have had a recent answer to some long-awaited prayers. Travis got a job!! AHH!!! He called me with the news. He was so happy, he even skipped all of his usual cleverly disguised ways to spill good news. (You know, like: "Hey I've got some bad news...I just got the job." OR "Hey, what are you doing? Uh hu...uh hu....that's awesome. Well I don't have a lot of time, I just wanted to say I got the job. Nope! Not this time--as soon as I picked up the phone, he blurted out: "I GOT A JOB OFFER!!"
You may not understand the significance of this incredible news. Travis graduated in Psychology because he once had a psychology professor he really admired. (How many of us are guilty of this...) Upon receiving his diploma, he quickly learned that this field in no way matches his particular interests and talents. After a good bit of introspection (and help from his wise and loving wife), he realized he wouldn't make the best therapist--conversely, he realized how much he loves crunching numbers. And not just crunching numbers for the sake of crunching (whatever that expression is supposed to mean), but for the purpose of making something big run more efficiently and effectively. It's his favorite thing to do in his personal life...why not transfer those interests into a profession? You know....skills to pay the bills!
And so, I buckled down in my final semester of nursing school and got to work for the both of us. I researched a few good graduate schools, conjured up Trav's first real resume, wrote several application essays, and a few months later he was sitting in MBA school at the U. Bam! I thought my work was done.
Wrong.
This subject matter was some hard crap! Not to mention the exhausting hours of the PMBA program on top of a full time job--it was really getting to him. Every day, I said goodbye to him at 8:00am and he would return at 11:00pm...absolutely exhausted. I felt bad for him. I realized that all of his hard work was for me and unborn Shelby.
One particular semester was an especially hard one to complete, so I decided I would step in and help him with a paper. This got me in a bit of trouble, however, when my nurse walked in the hospital room and saw me working away on a laptop in my hospital bed where I would soon GIVE BIRTH....while Trav was snoring on the window bed beside me. He would interrupt about now and give his defense--the nurse didn't know he hadn't slept in 2 days trying to finish this project before the baby came. Still....it was funny to watch her get so mad and snap that laptop shut!
That year only got harder, as he would come home half dead. I, on the contrary, was quite happy about my day at home with baby Shelby....doing absolutely nothing but giggling at every "coo" that came out of her mouth. I continued to help him, here and there, becoming quite educated on all the finance jargon that's out there. But it eventually got the point where this stuff was so foreign sounding, I needed a Finance version of Rosetta Stone for me to continue to be of any help.
Finally: graduation. Along with graduation came our BIG expectations: 10 guys in fancy business suits racing up our driveway, in hopes of being the first to knock on our door and BEG for Mr. Betenson's finance-packed brain and all it's glory....
Then we woke up.
It took us a while to realize that this job was not going to be handed to us. It took even longer to realize that this was going to require more than minimal effort. Longer to realize that it would take a great deal of effort. But the thing that took us the longest to realize: that we couldn't do this on our own.
Last May--a who year after graduation--while sitting in the temple, I got a very strong spiritual confirmation. I knew that we would be getting a job soon. I knew He had something in mind for us. I also knew that this was going to require way more than hard work....it was going to require faith. Faith like I've never displayed before. As soon as I left there, my faith became my motivation. It was a weird feeling: because I knew there was a job for us, all I had to do now was FIND it.
In the 12 months of prior job-searching, nothing had motivated me more than this new-found faith. I was applying for more than 30 jobs a week, for companies all over the country (even a few in Ireland...that one might've been a little selfish). We've had what seems like hundreds of rejection emails, if they were kind enough to respond at all! We were lucky to get a couple interviews, neither went well at all. But hey-- we were getting response! Our faith was definitely strong. A couple weeks ago Trav checked his phone from the boat at Lake Powell, and found an emails requesting an interview with him. We knew very little about it then, but that phone interview led to an in-person interview, which led to a couple more phone conversations, which led to today....THE JOB OFFER! Travis remembered to thank them for taking the risk on him--after all, he was the only candidate with zero finance experience.
And me...I remembered to thank my Creator. After his phone call, all I could do was get on my knees and thank Him for caring about us enough to let us know He was here with us on this roller-coaster journey, and for giving me a little reassurance that He had something wonderful in mind for us. And all He asked is that we trust Him. I know I have fallen short of this so many times in my life, but I am so glad that this once--I truly did trust Him.
That trust got Trav and I through a few very emotional nights when we felt absolutely drained by rejection.
AND SO, THE VERDICT IS: we are not jobless. We are jobful. ?
You may not understand the significance of this incredible news. Travis graduated in Psychology because he once had a psychology professor he really admired. (How many of us are guilty of this...) Upon receiving his diploma, he quickly learned that this field in no way matches his particular interests and talents. After a good bit of introspection (and help from his wise and loving wife), he realized he wouldn't make the best therapist--conversely, he realized how much he loves crunching numbers. And not just crunching numbers for the sake of crunching (whatever that expression is supposed to mean), but for the purpose of making something big run more efficiently and effectively. It's his favorite thing to do in his personal life...why not transfer those interests into a profession? You know....skills to pay the bills!
And so, I buckled down in my final semester of nursing school and got to work for the both of us. I researched a few good graduate schools, conjured up Trav's first real resume, wrote several application essays, and a few months later he was sitting in MBA school at the U. Bam! I thought my work was done.
Wrong.
This subject matter was some hard crap! Not to mention the exhausting hours of the PMBA program on top of a full time job--it was really getting to him. Every day, I said goodbye to him at 8:00am and he would return at 11:00pm...absolutely exhausted. I felt bad for him. I realized that all of his hard work was for me and unborn Shelby.
One particular semester was an especially hard one to complete, so I decided I would step in and help him with a paper. This got me in a bit of trouble, however, when my nurse walked in the hospital room and saw me working away on a laptop in my hospital bed where I would soon GIVE BIRTH....while Trav was snoring on the window bed beside me. He would interrupt about now and give his defense--the nurse didn't know he hadn't slept in 2 days trying to finish this project before the baby came. Still....it was funny to watch her get so mad and snap that laptop shut!
That year only got harder, as he would come home half dead. I, on the contrary, was quite happy about my day at home with baby Shelby....doing absolutely nothing but giggling at every "coo" that came out of her mouth. I continued to help him, here and there, becoming quite educated on all the finance jargon that's out there. But it eventually got the point where this stuff was so foreign sounding, I needed a Finance version of Rosetta Stone for me to continue to be of any help.
Finally: graduation. Along with graduation came our BIG expectations: 10 guys in fancy business suits racing up our driveway, in hopes of being the first to knock on our door and BEG for Mr. Betenson's finance-packed brain and all it's glory....
Then we woke up.
It took us a while to realize that this job was not going to be handed to us. It took even longer to realize that this was going to require more than minimal effort. Longer to realize that it would take a great deal of effort. But the thing that took us the longest to realize: that we couldn't do this on our own.
Last May--a who year after graduation--while sitting in the temple, I got a very strong spiritual confirmation. I knew that we would be getting a job soon. I knew He had something in mind for us. I also knew that this was going to require way more than hard work....it was going to require faith. Faith like I've never displayed before. As soon as I left there, my faith became my motivation. It was a weird feeling: because I knew there was a job for us, all I had to do now was FIND it.
In the 12 months of prior job-searching, nothing had motivated me more than this new-found faith. I was applying for more than 30 jobs a week, for companies all over the country (even a few in Ireland...that one might've been a little selfish). We've had what seems like hundreds of rejection emails, if they were kind enough to respond at all! We were lucky to get a couple interviews, neither went well at all. But hey-- we were getting response! Our faith was definitely strong. A couple weeks ago Trav checked his phone from the boat at Lake Powell, and found an emails requesting an interview with him. We knew very little about it then, but that phone interview led to an in-person interview, which led to a couple more phone conversations, which led to today....THE JOB OFFER! Travis remembered to thank them for taking the risk on him--after all, he was the only candidate with zero finance experience.
And me...I remembered to thank my Creator. After his phone call, all I could do was get on my knees and thank Him for caring about us enough to let us know He was here with us on this roller-coaster journey, and for giving me a little reassurance that He had something wonderful in mind for us. And all He asked is that we trust Him. I know I have fallen short of this so many times in my life, but I am so glad that this once--I truly did trust Him.
That trust got Trav and I through a few very emotional nights when we felt absolutely drained by rejection.
AND SO, THE VERDICT IS: we are not jobless. We are jobful. ?
Raising Mommies
My sisters and I are close. Every time we have a girls night, we end up leaving after midnight, with no make up, and with a deep sense of encouragement. Now that we are not in close proximity, we decided we needed to keep encouraging each other in our struggles with life and mommyhood. So we started a blog to share our recent "ah ha's."
RaisingMommies.blogspot.com
We all need a little help with this mom stuff, so feel free to lend us your tips!
RaisingMommies.blogspot.com
We all need a little help with this mom stuff, so feel free to lend us your tips!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
She knows.
Secret's out: I'm not the best housewife in the world. I tend leave my kitchen floors a mess until Friday, as we often have family over during the weekend (including my mom).
Today I pulled out the mop and broom and Shelby jumped up and shouted:
"Yay!! Nanna's coming! Nanna's coming!"
Ouch.
Ah well...I guess I'm ok that she's learning at an early age some of the things we do
for our mothers. I'm pretty sure I'll laugh one day if I see that
she does the same for me.
Today I pulled out the mop and broom and Shelby jumped up and shouted:
"Yay!! Nanna's coming! Nanna's coming!"
Ouch.
Ah well...I guess I'm ok that she's learning at an early age some of the things we do
for our mothers. I'm pretty sure I'll laugh one day if I see that
she does the same for me.
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