Five Years!

Believe it or not, Sarah and I celebrated our FIFTH wedding anniversary a few weeks ago.  I can't believe it has been over six years since we first met.  Seeing as Sarah is in Peru this week, I have had a bit of free time on my hands.  I decided to go through and provide a little refresher for you viewers on our five years of wedded bliss.  If I have learned anything from this project, it's (1) I've gained quite a few gray hairs over the years, (2) we seem to visit New York City a lot, and (3) Sarah has had a LOT of hairstyles.

Fall 2006: As most of you already know, Sarah and I met on a study abroad program in Spain.  This is our very first picture together.  In fact, I didn't even know her name at the time. 

Spring 2007: After a very long, drawn-out courtship (by BYU standards), Sarah and I got engaged in May of 2007.  This is one of my favorite engagement photos, which I still carry in my wallet today.
 

 Summer 2007: We got hitched!

Spring 2008: One of our first vacations together.  I think this is Sarah's third hairstyle, if you're keeping count at home.

Winter 2008: Our first Christmas in Washington, DC.

Spring 2009: Rather than stay in town for the inauguration, Sarah and I and used the long weekend to head to New York City (my first time).

Fall 2009: Another trip to NYC (fifth hairstyle, maybe?).

Winter 2009: Also known as the Snowpocalypse.

Spring 2010: Yet another visit to NYC (this time for a job interview), and yet another hairstyle.

Summer 2010: Our trip down to Argentina (maybe it's time I changed hairstyles).  I've been sporting the "Marine" cut for the better part of a decade now.  

Winter 2010: A visit home to sunny Arizona.

 Summer 2011: Law School graduation gala.

Summer 2011: More Law School graduation.

Fall 2011: Fulfillment of Sarah's lifelong goal of flying to Australia to look at some big rock in the middle of nowhere.  

Summer 2012: Roadtrip to Tennessee.

Back to Fall 2006.  We took this picture in France after we had been dating for about two months.  I had no idea we would end up traveling all over the rest of the world together.  It's been a great run so far, and Sarah and I are still as happy as ever. 

Was This the Greatest Saturday of All Time?

Hey folks! Sarah has just caught a plane to head down to Lima, Peru, which means I'll be home alone for the next week. I'll be flying down to see her this weekend, and then hopefully we'll get a chance to head to Machu Picchu! I'll be sure to post a full report of our trip. Thankfully, Sarah and I were able to have one amazing Saturday before she left.

First off, we got up early to run a half-marathon.  Now, that probably doesn't sound very exciting, but as some of you may recall, Sarah ran a half-marathon last winter.  I was unable to participate because I injured my knee a few weeks before the race.  Well, after some physical therapy and a lot of patience, I was finally able to run the distance as well. 

I even made this awesome shirt to commemorate the momentous occasion. 

Perhaps this photo better encompasses my elation.

After that, we got ourselves cleaned up, put some Icy Hot on our joints, and made our way to Berryvile, Virginia, to see the Clarke County Fair.  We started off by checking out the carnival and the livestock winners.  Apparently, this bunny was the winner of his weight class.  Did they have the rabbits fight each other?  Who knows?  Just one of the many glorious mysteries of the Clarke County Fair in rural Virginia.

Speaking of rural Virginia,  the Obama tent at the fair didn't seem to be getting a whole lot of love.  Apparently, even the people who set it up couldn't be bothered to stick around. 

Berryville was a bit of a drive from our home, but it was well worth the trip for the main event: the demolition derby!  Behold the sights and sounds of this amazing slice of Americana.  Witness the dirt track, with the state troopers standing guard.

Smell the funnel cake, along with my deep-fried Twinkie on a stick.  Sadly I ate the entire thing before I could take a picture. 

Behold the carnage.  Even Sarah was impressed with the madness.  So, I pose the question, was this not the greatest Saturday ever lived?

The Foreign Service Timeline

Hey folks, it’s another busy week here in Arlington, but Sarah and I are doing our best to stay on top of things, including watching our quota of 12 hours of Olympics coverage per day.  I’m also trying to stay ahead of the summer movie schedule in anticipation of my annual summer movie roundup (SPOILER: The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises are in a race for first place).  So, obviously, we have our priorities in place.

Lately, Sarah and I have been perusing other Foreign Service blogs, of which there are many, and noticed a common attribute.  Everyone seems to take the time to explain the entire timeline of the Foreign Service (FS) hiring process.  Since it is somewhat exhaustive and some of you may be interested, I thought I would provide a breakdown as well.  The hiring process can take up to three years, so we are pleasantly surprised at how quickly we made it through all of the steps.

The process consists of three exams: (1) the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT), a multiple-choice exam; (2) the Essay Exam, submitted online; and (2) the Oral Assessment, a grueling full-day interview at the State Department with various activities and writing assignments sprinkled throughout.  If you fail any one of these steps, you have to go back to the very beginning and start over.  The FSOT is perhaps the greatest barrier to entry, with a passage rate of about 20%.  From start to finish, only about 3-6% of applicants ever receive an offer to join the Foreign Service.

So here’s what our timeline looks like:

JUNE 2011                    TEST 1: Foreign Service Officer Test

SEPTEMBER 2011       TEST 2: Essay Exam

JANUARY 2012            TEST 3: Oral Assessment (5.30)

FEBRUARY 2012         Medical Clearance

APRIL 2012                   Security Clearance (Register)

APRIL 2012                   Language Testing (PASS – 5.47)

JULY 2012                     OFFER TO JOIN!

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012  Entrance into 168^th A-100 Class

 Alright, let’s take a look at that a bit more in depth.  If you pass the first two exams, you are invited to take the Oral Assessment, where you are given a score on a scale of 0 to 7.  The cutoff score is 5.25.  If you score lower than that, you have to go all the way back to the beginning.  As you can see, I scored a 5.30, meaning I just barely passed.

After that, you must go through a somewhat rigorous medical and security clearance process, which involved visits to the doctor, chest x-rays, and visits at home and work from State Department investigators.  To give you an idea of how exhaustive this process is, I got a call from an investigator in Provo, UT, who was on his way to Brick Oven Restaurant to check on my employment records from five years ago! 

We received our clearances surprisingly quickly, and were placed on the “Register.”  The Register is the list of all eligible FS candidates, ranked by Oral Assessment score.  Needless to say, Sarah and I were pretty excited about this development, until I called to find out my ranking, only to discover of all the Consular candidates, I was ranked #78 out of 78 people.  Perhaps I would have to go back through the entire process again. 

My only real chance at improvement was to get a bonus added to my raw score based on language testing.  After some deliberation, I decided to test in Romanian instead of Spanish.  I performed horribly, or so I thought, as I found out a couple weeks later that I actually passed.  My new score was a 5.47, and my new ranking was #13!

After that, we spent a few anxious weeks waiting for the next class to be called, praying to make sure we were doing the right thing, and watching in agony as my ranking slowly slipped from #13 down into the twenties.  Amazingly, I received an offer to join the September class, and the rest of the story I suppose you already know.  We are still just as excited as ever to be joining the Foreign Service, and can’t wait until we find out about our first post (probably mid-October).  And, of course, we will be sure to keep you all posted.