It All Started With 3 Little Pigs

A lot has happened since March. I've been so proud of Dan for how much he has accomplished since Ty's funeral. Recap: He jumped right into finals, while simultaneously moving us from our apartment and back into the condo with my dad. In June we drove to Arizona for 2 weeks and Dan underwent orientation with Lewis & Roca, then transferred to the Las Vegas firm, where he realized two years of law school hadn't really prepared him for reality! The first four weeks were tough. Dan had been under constant stress and pressure and had little time to process his grief. The combination of work and all these emotions was a bit brutal. However, he pulled through and has thoroughly enjoyed his final two weeks at the firm. It's been so satisfying to see his confidence grow. During Dan's exit interview, he received some encouraging feedback from many of the attorneys. I love seeing Dan smile, and know he's "left it all on the table". We should know by the end of August if Lewis & Roca will offer us a job for next year.

I'm also so happy that he loves the other two summer associates he worked with in Las Vegas: Ryan and Stephanie. Hopefully, they'll see each other again next year!

As for myself: I've had a really great time in Las Vegas. Its truly grown on me. When I've been in Las Vegas in the past, I haven't loved my jobs, and the fact that I'm a transient employee during the hottest time of the year hasn't helped. But this year, I got a sense of what it might feel like if I were a stay-at-home mom with a few hours of work responsibilities, and near enough to hang out with family and friends. We did some reasonable shopping, swam in the pool, watched movies, vacationed in Utah on numerous weekends, made delicious dinners together.... And Carrie and I haved rocked Jillian Michael's 30-Day-Shred! It's so nice to have a reliable partner...who also willingly indulges in the baked goods on the weekends!

I've also been proud of the publishing efforts I've made. I read the book Dan bought me and did tons of research on my own through the internet on how to write a query, make it better, find a literary agent, submit portions of my manuscript (or the whole thing) in different formats, accept rejections and most importantly: Continue trying. So far, I've had one agent intrigued and then ask and reject my first 50 pages; and more recently, submitted my entire manuscript to a different literary agency. I'm in the process of waiting this one out for the next couple months, but will continue searching in the mean time!

My most proud endeavor all started with the Three Little Pigs...and quickly escalated to this:

It's always a game between the aunts and uncles to see who Lila loves more. This summer, I was determined to make a positive dent in our relationship! However, after the first few weeks, I was pretty certain living with Jake, Carrie, and Lila was back-firing on me. She was 100% grumpy with me and seemed to resent my presence. My favorite lines from her came as recently as last week:

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  Getting into the truck, I helped her into her car seat. But when I sat beside her, she frowned and said, "I don't want you to sit by me."
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  Admiring her Disney princess dress, I asked, "Lila, who is your favorite Princess?" No one else was around to hear her murmur, "Don't talk to me." Talk about the ultimate shun from a 3 and a 1/2 year old!

But on Wednesday night, I made a break-through: Jake and Carrie were occupied with Young Mens/Young Womens so Lila came into my room with some magnetic puppets of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. We ensued in a wild game of re-enactment, filled with snarls and high-pitched voices, blown-over-houses and friendships. Then she watched Care bears on my laptop.

Since then, I have been showered with "Erica, play with me!" followed by barbies and piggies and dress-up. We've had so much fun in the pool together, too. Today, she climbed into bed with me and snuggled, while Dan and I watched a show on his laptop. I have been quietly thrilled all day at the smile it puts in my heart.

It feels so good to be loved like this.