Back in Lubbock, finally

After a long week. I made it home. I had a fun trip out to Philadelphia and New Jersey. It was really fun to see Becky and Garry. For those that are in the area, I highly recommend Hoboken, NJ. After a crazy finals week I left for Philly, very unprepared for the trip. They canceled the flight before mine so I was able to go out later in exchange for a voucher. Being the fiscally responsible student that I am, I couldn't turn down the voucher, especially after I learned that it was for $250. After my original flight left, I noticed that I was sitting at the front of the plane and that my ticket had been stamped "first class" what a bargain! Or so I thought. After many delays, I finally arrived in Philly at 1:30 am and began the long drive to the hotel. I only got lost once, which was good. Once was enough to learn an important lesson. Never drive around downtown Philly at night, in a minivan. Mom, thanks for the Garmin, it really came in handy. I finally made it to the hotel where I slept for about 3 hours before leaving for the conference. The conference was boring, but that was OK because I worked on my last final through most of the presentation. After that I went to New Jersey to meet Becky and Garry. We had a great time in Hoboken. We ate Thai food and saw New York from the Jersey side. That was the fun part of the trip. The next day it was back to work, visiting Universities and working for the the University. I did take a few minutes to check out the liberty bell and the U.S. mint. Philly is a fun place. I would like to go back. Carrie and I want to do a "National Treasure Tour" and visit D.C., Philly, and Boston. After leaving Philly at 4:00 am, I made it home safely but tired only to start my next project here at home.
The professors that I visited at Utah Valley University came down to visit our school. They have some interest in starting a personal financial planning major at UVU. I was in and out of meetings all day jumping from campus tours to research presentations. There was also an LDS professor interviewing form Georgia, I had to switch off taking him around as well. The good news is that our visitors from UVU loved it. There is a good chance that we will have an offer to come back to Utah to teach at UVU. From the information that we have now, it seems like working at UVU would be a great opportunity. So we will continue to hope for the best, we have a lot of opportunities, we'll just have to wait and see how everything works out.
There is much more to share, but you're going to have to call to get details. I'm going to bed! This next week is our home repair week. We have a lot of projects that have been waiting for a break. We'll put before and after pictures up when we're finished. Happy Mother's Day to Mom, and all Sisters. Carrie and I enjoyed participating in the family fast today. We appreciate your faith and prayers. Have a great week.
Jacob & Carrie

Just to recap - major accomplishments:
I visited 3 more states PA, NJ, & DE (just 15 states to go before I've hit all 50),
Lived through a midnight drive through downtown Philly,
Flew first class (for free),
Got an A's on my finals in Stats and Household Asset Theory,
Impressed the guys from Utah Valley University,
Survived a crazy week &
Made it home safely!

P.S. Show Kristen how to blog when she is in Australia.