Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! There is nothing quite like waking up on a beautiful, sunny Sunday Easter morning. It shouts out, "life is wonderful!" and, I think, testifies to the grandeur of God and the reality of Christ's resurrection. I love how, at least here in the northern hemispheres, Easter (typically) coincides with the start of spring, when life renews itself again for the year.

Well, a lot has happened since the last time we updated this post. The biggest news, in case you haven't heard, is that we have finally decided on a law school--Harvard! It was a difficult decision, coming down to Harvard and a full-ride at Virginia. I flew out to visit both schools, and liked both of them, but Liz and I both felt that, over the long-term, HLS was the better option. I just sent in my acceptance letter and first deposit (which is what they really care about) a week ago, so everything is official. I am sorry to my family in Michigan that we didn't end up going to UofM, but hey, at least we are a day closer! And Boston is a great place, so now you all have an excuse to visit us as well.

I finally heard back from Stanford yesterday--waitlisted. I was expecting it and so it comes as no surprise. A few months ago I figured that even if I got into Stanford, I would still want to go to Harvard (better clinicals, clerkship placements, more journals, etc.), so I am completely happy with where I ended up. (I almost withdrew from SLS but wanted them to have to work to earn the $100 application fee.)

And in more surprising news, we are moving to Cambridge at the beginning of June! I saw an open spot as a summer research assistant for a professor at HLS, Einer Elhauge, and so applied for it. The work is remarkably similar to what I do at CRA, and so I was well qualified for it, and they offered me the job! I am excited (and a little nervous) for it, because not only will I be doing some data analysis for the job, but I will also be responsible for drafting up expert reports and, likely, also managing some cases over the summer. It is somewhat daunting to consider being in charge of a case's progression, but as I consider it, every new thing that we do is daunting at first. Growth and experience really only come when we move out of our comfort zones, so this job will be a catalyst in that. Liz is also excited to move out early, both to (1) have more time to settle into Cambridge without the stress of law school, and (2) hopefully have an easier time finding a job since we will be there earlier in the summer.

We have already found a very cute (we hope) townhouse in Cambridge to live in. If you google "Shaler Lane Cambridge MA" you can find a link to the street. While I was at HLS for their admitted students' weekend, the LDS students hosted a little get-together at a different house on Shaler, and it was a nice little place, so we are looking forward to it. We took some measurements and it is approximately the same size as our current apartment, so thankfully we are not moving into someplace much smaller. We will have a second bedroom, so anyone who wants to come visit has a place to stay (at least until a baby comes...)!

So those are the biggest developments for us. We just bought a new road bike for Liz yesterday; she had sold her mountain bike a few weeks ago, since I have a road bike, and we had been looking around for a good deal. It is being shipped here, so we hope to have at least a few weekends to do some biking and/or hiking before we head out to Boston. Our new apartment is right next to the Charles River and a city bike/running path, so Liz is particularly excited about that.

It's rather strange to think about moving in a little over a month (and leaving CRA in three weeks). We have always known we would be leaving Utah this summer, but it had seemed so far away, and now we have the date circled on the calendar for packing and moving. It will be a huge change for us, but we are excited about it. Another branch of the Geiger family staking out a part of the country for itself. We are taking the opportunity, before we leave, to visit Grandma Geiger in Reno, NV, and Liz's brother Brian and his family in California. I have never been to CA, apart from the small section of Lake Tahoe that is in it, so that will be fun. They live in Monterrey, which is close to the ocean and also San Francisco. We are also hoping to visit the redwood forests, if we have time. Any suggestions?

And to end as we began, here is Elder Holland's Easter talk from last year...