MICHIGAN

Michigan has been really good to us so far. It is gorgeous out here. Kellen started out working at Ford Motor Company as a financial analyst in June 2007. He really liked his job and the benefits were great for us. I was having a hard time finding a good job using my degree and decided it was a good time for me to go back to school and get my nursing degree. I started at Wayne State University, they have an accelerated 16 month program to get a Bachelor’s of Nursing if you already have a Bachelor’s degree. The perfect thing for my situation...then I got pregnant. It’s not that we weren’t trying to get pregnant, it is just that we had been trying for about 2 years and didn’t think we were going to get pregnant anytime soon. Boy were we wrong. I got incredibly sick and had to go on medication to make it through my semester at school. I missed a ton of school, and studying was incredibly difficult, but somehow managed to pull a 4.0 out of a hat. Only with God’s help, that is for sure!

THE LAYOFF
Then Ford started with the layoffs again in July 2008. They were going by seniority and Kellen was the bottom of the totem pole, so he got the boot. We were a bit nervous that we would have to leave Michigan. We were already situated, I had gotten accepted into the Nursing program (although I put it on hold for a year due to the baby), and I was due to actually have the baby in about 2 months. We did a lot of praying and started going to the temple once a week (even though I was sick, I always seemed to make it through a session). We received a lot of help from other people in the ward and our families. On our anniversary, we were trying to decide what to do to celebrate since our financial situation was unsure, when Kellen got a phone call…from Bosch. A job offer!! It was only 2 weeks after he got laid off. The job is amazing for us…it is actually only a 15 minute drive from our house rather than a 40 minute drive; the health insurance is cheaper and more comprehensive for the birth of our baby; the company is very versatile so there is no immediate threat of layoffs; the hours are better; his work environment is really good for him. We are especially glad we don’t have to move. We like the area we live in and really like our ward. The Livonia ward that we are in is awesome. They have been really helpful and supportive of our situation as well. We didn’t want to move.