The Big Reveal: Part 3

To get caught up, here is Part 1 and Part 2.

After the Kentucky job didn't pan out and the Texas job began to look unlikely, I went online again and discovered job postings for 2 jobs in Chattanooga.

David and I have wanted to live in Chattanooga for years and years.  It really is our dream location.  We much prefer mountains to beaches, it's just the right distance from our parents, lots to do there, etc.  So we both nearly had fits when I made this discovery.  Needless to say, we applied for both jobs that night.  (This also involved a God moment.  It would be pretty convoluted to explain, but suffice it to say that He was watching over us.  As always.)

The next morning, David got an e-mail response from one of the jobs.  The man indicated that some key people were on vacation but that there would be "a great deal of interest" in David.  So I began to learn the words to Chattanooga Choo Choo (What?  You think I'm kidding??) and mentally moved there.

One humbling realization from this Summer: other people really aren't in a big hurry to make hiring decisions.  Nevertheless, eventually a lunch meeting was scheduled.

For my kids, the 4th week of July was Cousins Camp.  For us it was The Week of Many Miles and Many Interviews.  We dropped the kids off in north Alabama on Sunday night, and Monday made our way to Chattanooga in time for the lunch appointment.  It went very well.  We were convinced that finally (after literally driving through Chattanooga during two moves) we were going to get to move there.  But just in case, we continued on.

David had an interview in North Carolina on Wednesday, so we drove and drove and drove.  That interview was disappointing for a number of reasons, but that was OK because we were moving to Chattanooga.

But just in case, David called a guy in Birmingham whom he had heard was hiring.

Wait a minute - Birmingham?  How did that get on the list of possible jobs?

To be continued...



This post may be linked up to one or more of the following blog parties.  Check them out! Monday: Menu Plan Monday on I'm an Organizing Junkie Wednesday: Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family Friday: 5 Minute Friday at The Gypsy Mama, Company Girl Coffee at Home Sanctuary, Pieces of Amy Other days: A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

The Big Reveal: Part 2

If you're just joining in, you may want to read this first to get caught up.

We continued to talk about and consider moving to Alaska for a couple of weeks.  The main issue standing in our way was the cost of living.  It's MUCH higher than Fort Smith, Arkansas.  In researching houses (to buy or to rent) and talking to a cousin who grew up in Alaska, we had a pretty good ballpark figure in mind of how much David's income would need to be to at least be comparable to our current (comfortable but not extravagant) lifestyle.  Problem: it became clear that the job in Alaska was not going to pay anywhere close to that amount.

Moving far away for a new adventure: exciting.

Moving far away and having to pinch every penny leaving no money for actually enjoying the benefits of living in Alaska: no fun at all.

We were disappointed by this turn of events, but we recovered.  All along, we had been asking for God to make His will apparent to us.  For us, the salary issue was the answer we were seeking.

Although we were still more than willing to stay in Fort Smith, the business continued to decline and various signs seemed to be pointing in the direction of us needing to move on, at least within the next year.  So one night we sent David's resume in response to 8 different job postings.  Within a couple of days, David had been contacted by 5 companies in Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Florida.  Of those, the three that seemed to be the most realistic were the ones in Texas, North Carolina, and Kentucky.

The potential employer in Kentucky spoke with great urgency of wanting to fill a management position in Elizabethtown and gave every indication of wanting to hire David as soon as possible.  So the last week of June, we found ourselves in Elizabethtown for David's interview.  He spent the day at the office, and I spent the day looking at houses.

While there, David found out that another person was also being interviewed later that week, but he felt positive about the interview.  So we waited and prayed.

And waited.  And prayed.  And waited some more.

A few weeks later, they finally decided to hire someone else.  Again, we were disappointed but not bewildered.  If God didn't want us in Kentucky, then we didn't want to go to Kentucky.  After all, there were still "irons in the fire" in Texas and North Carolina.

To be continued....





 This post may be linked up to one or more of the following blog parties.  Check them out! Monday: Menu Plan Monday on I'm an Organizing Junkie Wednesday: Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family Friday: 5 Minute Friday at The Gypsy Mama, Company Girl Coffee at Home Sanctuary, Pieces of Amy Other days: A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

The Big Reveal: Part 1

We've been in Fort Smith now for just over 3 years.  In fact, we set a new David-and-Laura record last month in our current house: longest time living at a single address (25 months).  For most of that time, David has wanted to move.  He has felt disconnected from anywhere he considered "home" and has had a hard time making friends.  While I didn't just love it here at first, I began to make friends pretty early on, and several of those friendships have continued this whole time.  I have "put down roots" here and feel quite at home.

Over the Spring, David finally began to feel at home here, too.  He started making some friends and just generally became more content here.  Although the business at his office was diminishing, he was hopeful and confident that, with God's intervention and direction, the business could thrive again.  We were making plans for how to market the office and looking forward to buying the office here in a couple of years.

At the end of May, David and I traveled to Tampa for him to take part of a certification test in orthotics.  Driving back up I-95, he said something quite unexpected: "I think I should apply for that job in Alaska."

Umm, what?

This job in Anchorage had been posted in the orthotics and prosthetics trade magazines for quite a while, and several times I had (half-joking, half-not) suggested that we consider it, but David always just looked at me incredulously and laughed.  After all, if Arkansas was "too far away," then why on earth would we move to Alaska?

It took me a few minutes to get over the initial shock, but then I was all over the idea.  You see, contrary to my rather plain exterior, I have quite a thirst for adventure (not the jumping out of airplanes type but the living in a different part of the country or different part of the world type).  So in true David-and-Laura style, we spent most of the trip back to north Alabama (to pick up the kids) talking about this next adventure, how crazy it was, and how we were sure we could make it work.

Within a couple of days of getting back home, we had sent a resume, David had a very positive phone interview, and things were moving along.  I even had a new blog name picked out for chronicling the adventure: The Frozen Magnolia!

To be continued....



This post may be linked up to one or more of the following blog parties.  Check them out! Monday: Menu Plan Monday on I'm an Organizing Junkie Wednesday: Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family Friday: 5 Minute Friday at The Gypsy Mama, Company Girl Coffee at Home Sanctuary, Pieces of Amy Other days: A Wise Woman Builds Her Home