Much has happened. Like when I say "much has happened" I mean, 3 moves, 2 college graduates and 1 seven month old baby.
My first post 3 years ago, we were newly weds, living in Rexburg, in an apartment that was 560 square feet, both in college.
Since then, we've moved out of Rexburg 10 months after being married to Idaho Falls. We thought we were livin' large. We had a 2 bedroom town house. WHOA! There we both went to school, still at BYU-I. Ben worked at Sam's Club. I was a nanny. After just over a year, we graduated. I with my associates in science, Ben with his bachelors in communications (Advertising/Marketing).
Our adventures in Idaho Falls soon came to a close after graduation. We headed to Denver, home of the Rockies, beautiful sunset and breath taking mountains.
Ben had an internship with World Trade Center Denver for their advertising department. Though their advertising department consisted solely of him. The whole company was just 4 employees and a hand full of interns. It was a good 6 months of experience and a cool name to put on his resume.
I worked at Pennington Elementary School as a computer teacher. It was hard, to say the least. The kids were pretty scary at times. A 4th grader was put in jail. A 5th grader, who was at least 6 inches taller than me and about 100 lbs heavier, could probably snap me light a twig if he wanted to. Can definitely say I am glad to not be there any more.
We had a little heart ache in Denver. Soon after we moved there we learned we had miscarried our first sweet angel. Harper Ryland Allen. A forever family we will be!
Soon after the devastating news, we found out we were once again pregnant! Little Miss Ellison Grace. Our little Ellie was set to be due on April 25, 2015. We had hit a little road bump with Ben getting a job in Boise 10 weeks before the due date.
In Denver we lived with my in laws. It sure was fun to be with family and really get to know them a whole lot better. Denver does hold a special place in my heart: one because it awesome, and two because that's where the love of my life came from. Colorado is a great state!
Though I do have to say it doesn't hold a candle to my home state. Idahome! Boise IDAHO! I was so excited to be back in Boise. My whole family lives in the Boise area so it was nice to be back!
We quickly got everything figured out. We found an apartment that would fit our soon to be family of three up a mountain of stairs, we found me a new doctor, got insurance moved over, our car registered and all moved over to Boise from Denver (863 miles) all in under a week. You could say we were exhausted. Ben says we may never move again. If we do, I have to do all the moving.
Ben landed his first job in his career at Inbound Systems Marketing. He loved learning all about marketing and how it all plays into growing a business. Though at Inbound he learned that his job was quickly turning into something he didn't want to do, a professional assistant.
During this time we were dealing with a whole other set of problems. I was just diagnosed with Cholestasis, a liver disease created by my pregnancy. It can be pretty dangerous if it isn't carefully watched. This meant going in every Tuesday and Thursday for NST and other tests. Due to having this Ellie was set to be induced 3 weeks early.
I endured 17 hours of crazy painful labor before I finally couldn't take it any more and got an epidural.
After another 5 hours of easy labor, Ellison Grace Allen came into the world.6 lbs 7 oz and 19.75 inches long of pure perfectness. Our precious Ellie was here. Couldn't imagine anything more perfect than her. We were in love. Still are, in case anyone is wondering.
After 3 months of working at Inbound, and a few major employees leaving, the company was not going anywhere. Ben was laid off and once again on the treacherous journey of job searching again.
Only a month of unemployment Ben landed a part time job as Boise Speech and Hearing Clinic as their sole marketer. He couldn't have been happier. He was creating content, doing graphic design and loving every second of his job. Did I mention he did it almost all from home! Oh how I wish that was his full time job. But alas...
Page One Power. He found full time work at a local marketing firm doing link building. Yes he get paid to write. No he isn't signing autographs at the moment. But check back later.
He loves Page One Power. They are the number one link building company in the nation. Pretty big deal. If any of you know Ben, you know he has a knack for writing, once even dreamed of becoming an author. Now he kind of is. He may not enjoying getting up at 6am to get ready for work and be there by 7am but when he gets to have every weekend be a 3 day weekend I know he doesn't mind it as much.
Ben still gets to work for Boise Speech and Hearing Clinic for about 10 hours a week, and still enjoys all the work he does there and hopes to continue working there far into the future.
I can't believe I have a seven month old. Time sure does fly when your baby is growing in front of your eyes versus inside of your belly. Sometimes I just want her to slow down, but other times I find my self waiting for the next step. First it was holding up her own neck, then rolling over and sitting up. She could be crawling any day now.
She is honestly the cutest thing on this earth. She spreads smiles like a wild fire. Her personality is so bright and happy. She may have her zero to sixty moments, but the tears and screaming, the restless night, and messes are always worth it. She is our life.
And that is our life. Rexburg mini apartment to the present.
