Economics

This past weekend, John and I were in Boston for John's one-year MBA reunion. We've been wanting to visit a few friends up there, so we tried to pack everything into the weekend. I brought the camera, but never took it out of the suit case.

I did, however, steal a picture from the Charles' website of us with Sammy, Ben, William, and Cristie (Steven took the picture). Cristie and I go way back- we went to high school together, both moved to Boston after college, ran into each other on a flight back to Boston after Christmas break, and eventually lived in the same building in Boston for two years while our husbands went to the same school. Ben and Sammy used to come over to play and get John to do magic tricks (I'm surprised by the number of kids who invite John to birthday parties). We taught Ben about why you don't want to put too much salt or pepper on your dinner, no matter how cool the shaker. We really miss them!

We enjoyed spending time with the Bryants (including 6 month-old Layla on the right), who put John through Daddy try-outs, and he passed! Though you can see from his face that it was hard work. We also learned that John rocks at Guitar Hero, but not as much as Bryant. Mona is an amazing resource for baby prep.

My favorite reunion event was the economics lecture on the world recession and the price of food by Roberto Rigobon. I love that John takes me on dates to economics lectures- seriously. Two years ago John took me to Israel where our 30ish person group met with Stanley Fischer for about an hour- that was AWESOME. We discussed Israel's unique economic challenges, with a history of mass immigrations, constant war, political chaos, etc. Bernanke was interesting as well, though I'm still trying to decide what I think about the sub-prime mortgage bailout. It's just cool to hear super smart people talk about stuff I find interesting.

I have always been much more interested in finance and economics than in accounting, but accounting seemed like the right degree to get a job (though I later learned a job is not the same thing as a fun job where you work hard, are treated well, and are paid well. After we were married, I noticed the contrast between the job John had and the job I had, though we each had a BS in accounting from BYU). I'd considered going back to school to study econ for a while, but until I met John, it was pretty tough to find any one who was very supportive of any "non-mom" plans (once I met John, I decided his prospective tuition payments were enough for the both of us). I love that I have a great husband who supports and encourages my crazy ideas and interests- and that our daughters will have him for a daddy.