job stuff and other news ...

I have to do some bragging on my husband ... 

We were really stoked that he got the job at Apple back in October. For many reasons, we saw a lot of career potential with Apple and it such a financial blessing for us. (and we are Apple fanatics). All that to say, after a month of training and 2 months on the job, Steve Jobs has asked Ethan to fill in for him while he's out on leave.  ... just kidding.  :) (nerdy Apple joke).

However, Ethan has really impresses his manager over the past couple of months. I have a hard time remember all the details, and Ethan will never brag about himself, but he's been at the top of his team and is the unofficial go-to-guy among his team members. A couple of weeks ago, his manager came to him and told him he had been selected to be part of Apple "Coach Intern" program that is being tested here in Austin and no where else. The coaches, from my understanding, are employees who are selected to train and "coach" other employees. His manager selected him and Ethan went through the training last week. Apparently, he was in a room full of people who had either been with Apple longer or were upper level employees. He was a little intimidated, but he managed to wow the trainer with one project in particular and she made copies of his work for all the other trainees and a copy for his manger. There was a Tier 2 manager in the class who Ethan made friends with and said he wanted to get Ethan up to Tier 2 pretty quick. (Most of the employees start out at Tier 1 unless they get hired as managers).

Also last week, his team was being broken down and moved to other teams and his teammates were moved to different locations on campus. However, Ethan's manger wanted to keep Ethan close so he could vogue for him in the near future and put him on a team in his building. Ethan was pretty stoked by all of this. He walked into a meeting with his new manager who had already heard an earful from Ethan's former manager who sung his praises.

All boring details to many of you I'm sure and I'm sure Ethan will correct me on a couple of specifics. But all that to say that Ethan is an Apple rock star and I'm so proud of him. I knew they would see his potential, I just had no idea it would be SO quickly. He's enjoying himself quite a bit and it's so great to be his wife and to see how awesome this year has been for him.

On a baby note ... today I've noticed that my stomach is feeling really hard. It hasn't pooched out too much more other than the fact that it's beginning to feel like a rock. Very strange ...

Planning baby showers is already starting. A few of us have been talking today about showers and trying to plan around each others so we don't miss out. It's so exciting to have so many pregnant friends going through this with us, but it's going to be a crazy Spring and Summer!

We had an amazing week of weather last week (it was 80 on Friday!) , but sadly a cold front moved through over the weekend and we were bummed. What we love about Austin is, we can look forward to it warming up again in a couple of days. Even though we are sad when it cools off, we always have the promise of a warm sunny day around the corner.