89th percentile!

Warning: 2 Week update ahead :)

Two weeks ago, we received a bit of a blow as Matt's internship offer was rescinded due to some lower-than-average grades last semester. So Matt was not the happiest camper but we understand that things happen for a reason and are just trying to learn from this experience.

This does not mean that Matt will not be able to ever work for E&Y but he is just going to have to contact them after he graduates. He may go back to PwC and talk to them about taking him now.

Regardless, that put a little damper in our weekend. Thank goodness for the Olympics though, which helped cheer Matt up a bit.

Keri had Monday and Tuesday off from work and joined some co-workers at "When In Rome" which she loved. Then on Tuesday, she had the perfect day off - slept in and had breakfast with Matt, made a roast and veggies in the crock pot, spent an hour at the Draper temple, stopped at the Draper library to check out some books, hit up the craft store for curtain fabric, ate lunch and read one of her new books for an hour, took a nap, went running for an hour, came home and ate dinner then finished the night power-sanding and painting a shelf she bought at DI. It was like the perfect day for her (except for Matt not being a big part of it).

She looked a little funny sitting on our patio all bundled up in the dark and wearing sunglasses (since we don't have any safety goggles and she figured this was an acceptable alternative). But the shelf turned out pretty good.

Matt took the GMAT again this last Friday and blew his last score out of water! He has been going back to the GMAT prep class on Thursday nights and these efforts definitely paid off in the end.

He needed an overall score of 600 to get into the Masters program and he ended up besting his previous score by 150! He even got into the 89th percentile for verbal. He is just so amazing!

And to make the weekend even better, he played in 3 basketball games helping our ward to the 2nd place seed in the Stake championship (earning them a spot in the Regional Basketball Tournament next weekend).

Somehow Keri and another wife got suckered into managing the scoreboard and timer again...even though we know nothing about the game and tell them every time that we will not be doing it again. The whole thing is just too intense and nerve wracking - and we end up getting yelled by some of the players if we make any mistakes (which are many). Luckily though most of the men are understanding and patient...and they talk us into helping any chance they can.

Keri had her phone interview with the Alliance For A Healthier Generation on Tuesday and should find out this next week if she will be getting a second interview, which will actually be a face-to-face. Keep your fingers crossed my friends as we are really excited about this opportunity! Keri would not only be able to work from home but will also be able to transfer this job seamlessly if we end up moving.

We have definitely had our share of ups-and-downs the past few weeks but are really working on staying positive and moving forward. There is so much to be grateful for and so much that keeps us happy.

We hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,
   KerMatt

Love is in the air....

KerMatt is coming upon our 1 year anniversary of our engagement...and to celebrate we are going to probably purchase either Rockband or Band Hero for ourselves. I know, we are nerds :)

Matt also has ordered himself a new computer - a customized Dell Studio XPS - which should arrive at the end of the month. I guess since we are not popping out children yet, why not get Matt a new "tech" baby? :)

Keri recently interviewed for a special events position with Make A Wish Foundation of Utah. And though she did not get it, she was one of the top candidates out of more than 100 applicants. She has an interview next week for a fundraising position focused on lowering childhood obesity with the Alliance For A Healthier Generation, a joint venture between American Heart and the William J. Clinton Foundation. Because of the success of the Alliance, it is now becoming its own independent foundation. She is excited about this possibility but also open to whatever happens. She is also having some big successes at work right now which helps I think.

She put together a breakfast meeting of several top executives last week to help her brainstorm for a new executive volunteer chair for this year's Heart Walk. She worked hard to get the right people in the room and has much to celebrate after getting better names and contacts than the Utah office has been able to do in years. She asked the president and publisher of The Deseret News and the Salt Lake Chamber president to help her invite the executives to this breakfast and ended up getting the president of Questar (one of our only Fortune 500 companies based in Utah) and the president of the Utah Jazz to show up and help her. She also got the president of REAL Salt Lake (the 2009 world championship soccer team) to agree to help.

Matt is just tearing it up at school (he's in the Management Core right now which is 15 credits and 5 classes) and all his extras. He is also spending his extra time studying again for the GMAT. Since he didn't get a good enough score last time to get into his Masters Program, he will be re-taking the GMAT on February 26th. We decided it would be best for him to stop working this semester in an effort to really focus. It does help though that he gets paid weekly for being the ASM president. I am so proud of him and I know what a hard semester this is for him. We both just can not wait for him to be done with school!

His job interviews never cease though and in fact, he had an interview today with Microsoft.

Somehow Matt has found a way to play church basketball 2-3 times a week, which is really helping him relieve some of his stress.

Keri spent last Saturday fulfilling her wish kid, 15-year-old Marco's dream of getting a screen TV to watch Jazz games. My partner and I picked up Marco and his family in a limo and escorted them to Best Buy, where we spent 2 hours spending Marco's wish money. In his excitement and anticipation, Marco had already done his homework and made several previous trips to Best Buy beforehand so choosing the TV was not hard for him.

But after the TV, he still had about $2,000 to spend. We ended leaving not only with his TV, but also a cool TV stand, a home theater surround system, an Xbox 360 system and a Playstation 3 system along with about 6 games for each, 6 DVDs, an I POD and a digital camera. We then headed over to Chuck-A-Rama for lunch (Marco's fave) and then to the mall to spend his last $100 on a new pair of shoes Marco wanted to buy for his mom.

I am amazed by how much Marco got but I have never seen anyone so appreciative. Though he knew how much he had to spend, he still kept asking me if it was okay if he got something else. I'm not sure he needs all of his electronics but if any kid deserved them, he sure did and I hope it will help take his mind off of his unfortunate illness.

Matt and I are truly very fortunate to be having the experiences and opportunities that we have right now. Sometimes we can not believe how great life is and how much easier and enjoyable our life is together.

Life is good. The gospel is true. And we love you all and are hoping to see you all sometime this summer, or even sooner if possible.

- KerMatt