HELLO AGAIN / AN ANNOUNCEMENT

What a blog drought . . .

because the busy-ness did not stop after finals.
After all that came the busy-ness of graduation celebration,
and now the busy-ness of all Ben's family in town!

It's all been good busy-ness (what is the real word I'm looking for?),
but amid all the bustle, there's been another busy-ness going on in our heads:

—Ben's Master's in Landscape Architecture—

It's actually been in our heads for longer than just these past weeks. It started years ago, and came full-on over Christmas Break and into this semester. I've kept blog-quiet about it mostly so Ben wouldn't feel any pressure. But now it is time.
Maybe now I'll go back and re-cap it all in several posts. :)

THE DETAILS (for posterity's sake? scroll to the bottom if you're impatient) :

He applied to 6 schools. A couple "long-shots," a couple "for-sures," and a few in the middle.

We heard back from LSU (Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge)
in early February, just weeks after submitting the portfolio and application.
They are the #3 program in the nation, with a big emphasis on design and several faculty graduates from the #1 program at Harvard. Also home to my dear friend MJ, who I met in my early Graphic Design classes, and adored when we lived together at 27 Palace Court, London.

And then weeks passed with silence.
No letters—for months even!
A pair of rejections, but still nothing from the main LSU contender:
NC State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

LSU said "OK, we've already extended your deadline. We need to know now."

So we said "OK."

But they didn't ask for a deposit so we crossed fingers that meant no financial consequence for backing out. Then came phone calls and emails to the poor graduate admissions office in NC.
We finally got a faculty ally, and on Monday (19 April) he sent an email saying "You're in."
(Really! That's how it was worded!) And we'd need to accept or decline by May 1.

But then it was decision time. You see, we didn't favor NC over LSU;
they were equally good decisions for different reasons.

NC's program is #14, more expensive than LSU, but also, o-so-importantly close to family.
Jordan and hoodlums in Durham, and Kurt & Becky in Chapel Hill.

Monday, with Kurt and Becky close, just 3 days off the plane from Korea, we were feeling NC.
Tuesday, as we pondered LSU's credentials and the fact that they eagerly called Ben to accept him soon after applying (as opposed to being next off the waiting list at NC), we felt LSU.
Wednesday was back to NC after I had a dream about Jordan's kids not knowing me and a visit with a counselor who emphasized the art/craft and design culture in North Carolina.
Thursday I was invited to apply for a full-time designer position at a big stable company (where MJ works) meaning benefits, bonuses, and stability. Oh how we'll need that to get us through the jump in tuition from our cozy in-state private tuition here at BYU! Ben was also feeling LSU,

but he told me that day he didn't want to wait til May 1st. I asked when he wanted to decide.

"Tomorrow."

I asked if he knew that would be an NC day according to our pattern... ;)
Friday morning, Ben got a reply from a professor at NCSU that graduated from LSU answering Ben's questions about the differences and strengths of each program. He forwarded the reply to me at work and an hour or two later popped up on the chat asking,


I didn't see it for a while because I was working on something...
but when I read it, I smiled. It was so crazy, because I really was feeling it too.


I didn't feel anxious after, or worried, or lost. It was just right. Awesome.

He starts July 1st.

. . .

(When I told my family, Josie went to grab an heirloom that's been looming upstairs— GO FIG: Sean and I both did our 5th grade reports on THE TAR HEEL STATE.)

Sean's State Report poster. Maybe as I pack away my life this summer, I'll find my poster.


PHEW! NO MORE BLOG DROUGHTS OR ELSE I JUST BLAH BLAH BLAHG.