A Month Into My First Real Job

People ask me what I do, and the simple answer is that I'm tech support, tech support for other engineers. Doesn't sound very glamorous, does it? The first day of work, I was talking to a new R&D guy and his comment was something to this effect "Yeah, another company offered me a job like that, but I took this one because it was actual engineering work. I'm sure they'll let you apply for a new job here soon."

Sometimes, I'm feeling a little in agreement with this guy, a little sad that my job isn't more technical, more glamorous, that I can't say I'm designing boards to [insert cool application here: control robots, diagnose the flu, help premature infants to oral feed, make planes fly autonomously]. Plus, let's be honest. Dealing with people that are confused/frustrated/upset can be confusing/frustrating/upsetting/difficult.

But, mostly, I love my job. It's definitely challenging - when engineers can't solve their own problems, they call us to solve them. The day flies by because I get so involved with all the people I'm trying to help and all the problems I'm trying to solve. The company won't let me get bored, either. In another week, I'll be back in training so I can support hardware and in another month I'll move into a specialty team where I'll be supporting more complicated, specialized issues. Soon after that, I'll start collecting projects from other departments to work on. My 'mentor' has been working 8 months and she's already the lead of her specialty team and flying around the country teaching customer education classes and recruiting from college campuses and working on outside projects.

I've been thinking about why the company does it this way? Why do they advertise this as the best way to become a leader in the company and recruit all these newly graduated, super ambitious engineers? Then, I think about the perspective this position is giving me. It's kind of like how the gospel makes you better at whatever else you do in life. The gospel makes you understand that there are things that matter this week and then there are things that matter in the eternities. This week, you might really like buying that [insert your dream buy here] and playing with it, but in a few years you're going to be grateful for family time and service given and knowledge gained. I think this position will make me better at whatever other engineering (and maybe more domestic) positions I have in life. Engineers tend to want to add whatever they think is cool to an item -- they might make a remote control airplane that's super accurate and fast but only if you press the dozens of buttons in the right order -- not very user friendly. This job forces me to think about the people using the products, to make sure they're satisfied and understand their needs. And, I mean, if you want to make products that will actually help people (and make money) and build a company that people keep depending on, then that's pretty important.

(sometimes, this is me but hopefully not too often)

Of Family and Football games and First days

For Labor Day weekend, we celebrated our new proximity to my family and drove down to Lake Jackson for an entirely lovely weekend. Friday night, I revisited high school by going to a high school football game. I agree with my dad: It’s so nice to visit and know that you don’t have to go back. It’s funny, though, how going to a football games completes my feeling that I’ve come home to Texas. We also hung out and watched the BYU game, played Settlers of Catan (classic), shopped with Mom and Cheristy (Alisha), and did law homework (Stephen).

 

The beach was probably the most exciting though. The weather was great for sailing; the waves weren’t huge and the wind was blowing pretty hard. Maybe too great.

 

The wind urged our little sailboat through wave after wave, each one crashing right through the little sailboat. As we came out of a particularly powerful one, something snapped and the mast tipped a little. Whoops. Luckily, my dad has a cool head and we turned around immediately and started tacking toward shore. Right as we pulled the sailboat up onto the shore, another support snapped and the whole thing toppled over almost onto Stephen’s head. I don’t think Stephen even noticed that he almost died but I was a little freaked out.

 

This last weekend involved a lot of football. The BYU football team gave a fireside at our church building on Friday night and then we went to the game with some friends from our ward on Saturday night. The UT stadium is incredibly huge – there was 100,000+ people there. Our group was made up of three UT grad students and their wives, all just graduated from BYU. I think we were mostly convinced that our loyalties had split; the Williams even wore apparel for both schools. However, I think we were all rooting pretty hard for BYU and so were disappointed when things collapsed in the second half. Oh well. Good thing Stephen’s and my happiness aren’t based too much around football.

 

Today was my first day of work! I am now an employee of National Instruments, which I heard described today as the Home Depot for engineers.  I even liked my ID badge picture which seems like a good omen. Mostly, today was just training and orientations so nothing too exciting to report.

Gone to Texas :)

Enjoy the Utah summer with family and nice temperatures and green mountains. Check.

Pack up and leave our first apartment together. Check.

24 hour drive through red, brown, yellow, and greenish deserts. Check.

Move into our new apartment in Austin. Mostly checked.

Start law school (Stephen). Check

Melt into a puddle of mush due to heat. Mostly checked.

Actually, I think I’m getting used to the heat. I’m remembering now that mostly avoiding and sometimes enduring over 105 degree temperatures is just a part of life. It’s good to remember that instead of vaguely thinking that I must have wandered into somebody’s oven.

I’ll quit complaining about the heat though. We’re really quite enjoying Austin. Stephen’s busy with being a super thorough law student and I’m busy with…well, I’m not actually busy. I did unpack almost all of the boxes last week though. I still haven’t been able to figure out what to do with our 12 boxes of books though. I’m not quite sure where they all came from and I’m completely clueless as to where they all should go. We’ll figure out places for everything though. And I’ll start my job with National Instruments on September 12. Then I really will be busy. I’m pretty excited for that.

Our apartment complex is set on a huge hill with lots of trees and rocks instead of grass. Somehow this lends to kind of wild feel to the place. Stephen said that he feels like we’re staying in a cabin in a National Park when he looks out the window. There's even wildlife in the form of multitudes of squirrels. There’s always a couple squirrels running up and down the tree in front of our door. I think maybe they’re provided for free entertainment. Our apartment itself feels spacious to us after Wymount. We don’t have a ton of furniture so our apartment is still pretty ideal if you’re looking to hold a dance party.

We’re enjoying diversity of the area ( although I mean, really, anywhere is diverse after BYU). Our ward at church has a substantial African population (mostly refugees, I think). The sacrament prayer was in an accent I’ve never heard before. There’s a corner in Relief Society where the French speakers discuss the lesson. Also, I think there’s quite a large Jewish population in our neighborhood. There’s a Jewish school, a large kosher section at the local grocery store, and we saw some Jews on their way to the synagogue on Saturday. At the neighborhood library (a tiny one-room branch), there’s a whole little section completely in Korean. It’s all kind of fun. Stephen also sat on the bus by a pharmacology major who “loves drugs.” She was shocked that Stephen had never smoked marijuana before (and that he believed in any kind of organized religion). Definitely wouldn’t have run into her at BYU

Anyway, we’re excited about our lives and excited to get to know the people around us.

Summer Journeys

It’s been an exciting month:

-Hiking Squaw Peak with Kyra and Kevin

-Grand Canyon with Mary Li and her family

-Thanksgiving Point with Alisha’s family

-California with the Pulsipher family

-BYU’s Paleontology Museum

-Anne’s Birthday Party part 2

-Seven Peaks

And we worked…a little.

Our pictures are a little sporadic and scattered due to the fact that sometimes we forget to take them. Here’s a few we did take.

Alisha: The hike to Squaw Peak was mostly shady, quite steep, and ended with a beautiful view and shaky legs. Stephen even survived being the only non-electrical engineer among the four of us.

Stephen: The next day we began our journey to the Grand Canyon to join Mary Li and her mom and uncle. The journey was stressful due to a lack of maps. It looked so simple on Google Maps that I didn’t bother to print it out and decided to rely on memory. Of course, I know my memory is not that great, but in this case I, well, forgot. Anyway, we made it there and enjoyed a couple beautiful days in one of God’s wonders, the Grand Canyon.

We enjoyed talking with Mary’s mom and uncle and were a little surprised sometimes. Americans love sugar a lot more than Chinese do, but Mary’s uncle love s’mores. And the media gives the impression that anyone outside the US hates Bush, but Chinese people (in Mary’s hometown at least) loved President Bush.

Alisha: We got back to Provo in time to spend a day with my family before Stephen’s family reunion. We all went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. If you know Stephen, you know this was perfect since learning about dinosaurs is one of his favorite things. I have to admit that it was a really cool museum plus it was just so nice to spend the day with my family. I like hanging out with them.

Stephen: I can’t move on without commenting. The Dinosaur Museum was one of the coolest places I have ever been. After walking through a room talking about the age of the earth, how fossils are formed, and describing a dig, all with hands-on exhibits for kids and lots of stuff to read for adults, you walk through a dark tunnel with stars around you and come out to a mural describing how scientists believe the world came to be. Then you go through the different epochs of geologic time, with fossils and dioramas everywhere. There are few things more fascinating that seeing all these remnants of ancient life – fossil upon fossil. If I make enough money, I would love to retire early and become a paleontologist.

Ok, on to what I’m supposed to talk about – California. Due to the lure of Bethany and Brandon driving with us, we got up quite early to drive down. The drive was much easier than the one to the Grand Canyon, though we still managed to miss the exit to the Pearblossom. Alisha’s not going to let us travel anywhere without a map again, though. We loved the trip. I enjoyed introducing Alisha to the Pulsipher tradition of beach camping. It brought back lots of memories and was a lot of fun despite the quite painful burns we both received.

One of our favorite moments was on the second day at the beach when we walked down the coast to a little bay. Here the waves were calmer and we could see bits of kelp floating out in the water. Then the sleek grey backs of dolphins broke the water. We sat on a wind and water sculpted piece of driftwood and watched for the next 20 minutes or so as the dolphins passed by, spouting and occasionally flipping their tails out of the water.

Alisha: Another thing we’ve enjoyed, both on our California trip and scattered throughout the weeks, is the opportunity to be aunt and uncle to some really adorable kids. We love listening to them, and playing with them, and cuddling with them and watching them. We love watching their parents as well, picking up a lot of unsaid advice and trying to figure out how we want to be when we’re parents. We’re so excited for that day and glad to have so many examples to draw from.

Seeds

First of all: Happy Fathers Day to all the dads!

I was thinking today about why I’m grateful to my dad. I think that  I’m just realizing how many seeds he planted in me that have grown to make my life more beautiful. Because of him, I love hiking in beautiful places, doing crossword puzzles, and playing complicated board games for hours on end. He persisted in teaching me to drive (even after me almost hitting a mailbox without hitting the gas pedal at all), got more excited about my science fair projects than I did, and is mostly responsible for my highly competitive streak.

More importantly, though, my dad taught me to love people and to love my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He has always been an example to me of scripture study and good works.

This week, I also saw the seeds my parents have planted sprouting like crazy in my brother, Erik. He came to Provo this week to enter the MTC (LDS missionary training center). It was really great to spend a day with him and talk to him some. We went to all the Provo hot spots: Tucanos, J-dawgs, BYU campus.  I could tell he was a little nervous, telling me all sorts of things he had heard about the MTC (apparently, there’s something weird about the orange juice?). I could tell, though, that he was prepared and excited to serve the Lord.

It’s kind of weird to know he’s living a couple blocks away but have it seem more like hundreds of miles. At least I know if I make treats, I can have them to him same day delivery

Yesterday, our Relief Society had an activity centered on the Law of the Harvest. This topic took me back to the unit in Marriage Prep where we were graded on how well we could grow a plant of our own. The project was supposed teach us that in order for our marriage to bloom (sorry for the dumb pun), we needed to put in the appropriate work daily.  My plant sprouted once, but then it died. I think I went through about 10 seeds to no avail. So far, I think marriage is way easier than growing a plant in the middle of a Provo winter.

We’re hoping that growing plants is easier during the summer. At the Relief Society activity, they gave us each a pot full of dirt and a few starter plants. I ended up with 2 peppers, a tomato, and a squash. Since 4 plants do not fit in one pot, Stephen and I ended up buying several more pots, some potting soil and some basil and rosemary seeds (always having fresh herbs is one of my dreams in life). Never mind that we’re going out of town next week or that we’re moving to Texas in two months. I’m quite excited about our makeshift garden. Stephen keeps catching me peeking at it out the window just to see how things are going.

Sanctuary

Stephen: We delayed our first anniversary celebration to last weekend so we could stay at a Bed and Breakfast by Zion Canyon. I don’t regret that choice. The room was very nice (completely adorable, he means) and the breakfast was delicious (and beautiful) – there was even a jacuzzi tub to relax in after a strenuous day of hiking. The beauty of the canyon made the trip perfect. We covered quite a bit of ground: Angel’s Landing, Hidden Canyon, the river walk, Weeping Rock, Emerald Pools, and even a long hike in the Kolob Canyons section of the park.

Alisha: Our favorite hike was definitely Angels Landing. It began with a turkey sighting. Poor guy – he was all puffed up trying to catch the attention of a nearby female and she completely ignored him, didn’t even acknowledge his existence. We were expecting the hike to be rigorous so, in the end it wasn’t that bad. We were pretty surprised when we got to the top and we were already there.  The views were amazingly fantastic – the pictures don’t even begin to catch the majesty of it all. We didn’t even die or anything although the chipmunks did try to rid us of our food supplies. It started to rain while we were at the top. That made me a little freaked out; a five foot wide trail of slippery, wet sandstone and cliffs on either side is no joke.

Stephen: After hiking and attempting some artsy photos, only one or two of which turned out decently, we tried to find a picnic area to eat at. For a little bit we were scared we’d have to set up in the backyard of the bed and breakfast. Fortunately, we found a picnic table and enjoyed our camp food: sloppy joes, carrots, and ginger beer. The whole time we watched dark clouds mass on the horizon and prayed it didn’t rain on us again. Luckily, it didn’t. It felt a little funny, eating camp food then going and sleeping in a super soft pink bed, but I’ll admit I didn’t mind it all that much.

Wildlife sightings: 3 turkeys, 2 deer, millions of chipmunks and squirrels, lots of lizards and a clan of mating water bugs

Our First Year: Fall

My parents came up for some reason - I don't remember why. We went to a football game. BYU lost but it was still fun.

I don't think I'd ever carved a pumpkin this elaborate: a Welsh dragon. We decided afterwards that it was in honor of Stephen's Welsh heritage. There's also the Chinese character for dragon carved into the other side of the pumpkin.

Thanksgiving in California. I would have liked to post a picture that involved other people and us doing something cool. Apparently Stephen and I were too involved doing cool things to take pictures while doing them.

 Mary's birthday! Glad we could be there to celebrate!

 Our apartment decorated for Christmas. We were quite excited :)

Merry Christmas! Sporting really cute pajamas courtesy of Peggy.



Happy Mothers Day (Alisha's bit)

I ran into some old conference notes the other day and noticed some stars calling attention to a message from April 2010:

"Please look to your faithful mothers for a pattern to follow. Model yourselves after them, not after celebrities whose standards are not the Lord’s standards and whose values may not reflect an eternal perspective. Look to your mother. Learn from her strengths, her courage, and her faithfulness. Listen to her. She may not be a whiz at texting; she may not even have a Facebook page. But when it comes to matters of the heart and the things of the Lord, she has a wealth of knowledge. As you approach the time for marriage and young motherhood, she will be your greatest source of wisdom. No other person on earth loves you in the same way or is willing to sacrifice as much to encourage you and help you find happiness—in this life and forever."                     Elder Russell M Ballard

The other day, I made the mistake of telling my mom she was the 'coolest mom ever.' Based on the opinions of my younger siblings, 'coolest' is apparently not the correct word. That's ok. Cool is too general anyway. I love Elder Ballard's description of mothers because I think it fits mine so perfectly: my mom is truly courageous, faithful, sacrificing, and wise. She is the one I want to talk to when I'm troubled or excited because I know she will have wisdom and understanding to offer. Especially as I've been married and become that much closer to having children (still not too close -- don't get excited) I know I will be desperately in need of her guidance and I'm so grateful that it will be there!

Happy Mothers Day Mom! I love you so much!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to our mom's! We hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day, even though we're not there to help celebrate. Today in Sacrament, since our ward has a Primary that consists of 2, the men sang "I often go walking"

I often go walking in meadows of clover,
And I gather armfuls of blossoms of blue.
I gather the blossoms the whole meadow over;
Dear mother, all flowers remind me of you.

O mother, I give you my love with each flower
To give forth sweet fragrance a whole lifetime through;
For if I love blossoms and meadows and walking,
I learn how to love them, dear mother, from you.

When I think of the things I love - learning, reading, swimming and more - I know I learned to love them from my mother. Thanks Mom for teaching me how and what to love!

Graduation





After four years of fun and frolic and slaving away for hours in the Clyde building, graduating felt a little strange, a little unreal. It's fun to tell yourself there will never be another finals week but its much harder to believe it.

 Finals Week (notice the crazed look in our eyes)



   
     Of course, for me the unreal feeling may stem from the fact that I'm not officially done. I have to take a class this Spring so that I can keep my on-campus job. I walked on Friday and was back in class on Tuesday morning at 8am learning Chinese. (I couldn't possible have just taken racquetball or something)
    For Stephen, the anticlimatic-ness of it all probably comes from the fact that his education is not over. Still many more finals weeks to come.
    Still, it was so nice to have parents and family and friends gathered around us for a few days. Thanks to everyone who supported us!

    We're excited to move on with our lives come August. We're sad to leave the things that we love about Provo: the mountains, BYU, good rock climbing, friends. We're saddest to leave the family that is near by. But we've still got the whole summer ahead of us and, by golly, we plan to enjoy it.