Good news.

Bring out the champagne!

{via}

We'll be home this evening, ready for a long weekend in the Cities. Our days are going to be filled with family, cuddling with the pup, wedding preparations, dancing (the concert's tomorrow!), and grilling in weather that's supposed to be nearly perfect. That, on its own, is plenty of reason to celebrate.

But there's also this, something I've wanted to write about for a while, but wanted to make sure everything was in place and settled before anything was mentioned. I'm superstitious that way - I'm that person that actually knocks on wood when I don't want to jinx anything. Last week, Andrew received the news that we've been waiting to hear for months. After two semesters of extremely dedicated and committed work, hundreds of pages of (great) writing, plenty of hoping, emailing, and yes, a bit of anxiety, he was awarded a teaching assistantship for next year. We cannot believe how fortunate we are; so few are given out, and there was a good chance that this was going to be just out of reach for him this fall...but sometimes, when you least expect it, life decides to prove that hard work, patience, and persistence pays off.

{blurry, but bubbly}

We celebrated together when we found out last week, but now, our trip home this weekend means so much more because we'll be able to celebrate this news with our families, who've been so supportive and encouraging throughout this whole process. Next fall, my fiance (he'll be my husband by then!!) will be teaching two classes in addition to continuing his PhD work. It's already on UWM's registration website, which I happen to think is pretty fantastic. I'm so, so proud of him, and can't wait to see what opportunities this presents for us!

Summer is off to an amazing start.