BIG Changes

So, something that I never thought I would say I am saying – we are moving to another state. Yes, my family and I are moving. This is going to be long, and it is taking a lot out of me to write it so here we go.

This has to start with my wonderful wife and her job. My wife has worked for 22 years at the same company as an engineer in different capacities over the years. And over that time there have been more down times than high times in my opinion. She has worked very hard and at times things have come from it and at others she has been beaten down by it. Well, her current situation hasn’t been that great for a while now and so she decided to actively start looking elsewhere for a new job. For a while this went nowhere. Then she was contacted by a company recruiter. This person thought she would be perfect for a director role at this company. So, she did initial interviews for it. During this time she was told it would be a remote job, and therefore she could stay in Arizona. There would be some travel throughout the year, but that was all. So things sounded pretty good to all of us. She knew someone that worked in the area of that company and they thought she would be a possible good fit for the job. Things went forward, and after some phone interviews she was told by the person that would be her boss that the job was going to have to be an onsite job not a remote job. 

So then “B” and I had to have a talk. As you all know I was born and raised in AZ so living outside the state is honestly something I have never really considered. But I saw and heard the joy in my wife when she was talking about what this job was being outlined as. There was a spark in her I hadn’t seen in a while. So, I told her to keep pursuing it. There wasn’t a guarantee that she would get hired so there was no harm in going forward.

Well, in early April this company wanted to fly my wife, and me, out to their main facility to do interviews all day for her and so I could see the area. This was getting very real. So, we went. She interviewed all day one day and the recruiter set up meetings for me with the local university, a private college and the community college so I could see about the possibility of getting a teaching job myself. It snowed and rained while we were there. That was highly unusual for the area that time of year but it was interesting to see and drive in. The area was beautiful. It is a small metropolitan area and I covered almost all of it while doing 4 different meetings. They all had options for adjunct teaching starting in the fall (mostly math though). But none of them had any real prospects for a full time teaching option. That was a big downer for me, but it was what I was expecting. “B” was really hoping I would find something. The next day we went looking at houses in the area. I had already done a lot of looking and the company hooked us up with a realtor to show us some houses. We saw 7 and there were 3 that jumped out to us (1 was above the rest though…). The school districts aren’t quite as good as we have in AZ where we live, but we are still looking that over. I am really not that concerned about it. After a little more looking there are some great options. So, back home after less than 2 days, and then waiting started. They told “B” she would have an offer or a NO by the end of the next week.

Well, it happened early one morning before school and work. She got a text saying “Can you talk now I have good news for you?” She took the call later, and now she had an offer. The verbal offer came, and the wheels started rolling, and then a week later the written offer came in. We are working through it, and the people we need to talk to day by day by day.

So, you may asking how am I on all this. Well, I don’t want to move. My wife knows that. But I am more than willing to move. I think there are lots of possibilities for life in the new location. I may have some teaching lined up at at least 1 of the colleges and maybe 2 of them. There are certainly some options there. I was pleasantly surprised to learn from both the university and the private college that I can be hired full time as a lecturer with only my Master’s Degree. It doesn’t pay great, but it is a possibility someday. At the community and the private college there are actual teaching options of classes, but at the university there would only be lab instructors for the time being. That isn’t ideal to me at all, but it is something I will have to consider based on timing and pay. There is also a possibility that I will take over the sales of Kodak film from my father’s business. That is still a maybe. 

What about my current job? Life keeps going. I have taught for 21 years in the Maricopa County Community College District. I love it here. But I have had a great run. 12 years as an adjunct at CGCC and 9 years at SCC residential. It has been amazing, and I wouldn’t have traded it for anything really. I feel bad for my school. I really hope the powers that be can be convinced to hire a one-year-only to take my place so the program can keep going strong and then hire a full time person to replace me at some point in the future. I wish there was a way I could keep teaching for MCCCD, but I can’t for now. There is a rule that you can’t teach even part time until 6 months have past since retirement. So the earliest I could teach would be in the spring of 25. I may consider it if I am needed. It would be weird in many ways, but if SCC doesn’t hire a full time person to take my place they may need someone to take on the online physics course that my coworker and I have been designing this semester (and I was supposed to teach all next year). And part of me really likes that possibility since I know what to expect (sort of) and they pay a bit better for equal time than any of the colleges at the new location do. But I have had 21 years of a great time teaching (I also got to work for my dad during those adjunct years which was even more amazing as well), and I feel that it is time for my wife to enjoy life working somewhere that will appreciate her. I want to see that joy in her eyes and words again on a more consistent basis. I am happy and sad. I will miss my family, but my family is going with me as well. I don’t have many friends so I won’t lose that, but I know the rest of my family is moving from friends and that will hit them hard. 

In some ways I am glad that I can’t get a full time job right away. I can be at home more to help out our girls, to get the house setup, to figure out life in a new area. I will land on my feet. I am just like that. I know that no matter what God will help me out with any challenges I face once we are there.

What about the girls? Well, it is hard for them. We told them a few days after “B” got the offer, and that went probably about how you would expect. There was about 4 hours of crying and questions. “G” asked some great questions about life here and life there. We answered them all as best we could, and she is dealing ok with it. I don’t think it has really hit her fully yet. “A” is clearly mad at us. She told us that she recently made some new friends at school (this is big she has had pretty much only 1 or 2 since starting Jr High at the school). She told us about her future desires with friends at high school. Not gonna lie it tore my heart out. I knew it was going to be hard to tell them, and it lived up to it. It of course creates doubt about the situation in some ways, but in other ways I know that things will work out. Not going to write any more on them right now.

God is going to take care of us. “B” and I have been praying a lot. My guess is she is praying more than I am, she is a prayer warrior. I trust that God has it all figured out. I know that I don’t. I am sure He will guide us to where we need to be. And there is peace overall. There is so much hurt and pain, but there is underlying peace that can only come from God in this situation.

Where will we live? As I mentioned before we looked at houses when we were there and found a nice one. House prices and interest rates are a lot higher than the last time we bought a house so that was a bit of “sticker shock!”, but things are good. We have the means and will continue to have the means.

When are we moving? That is a funny one. “B” is leaving sooner than the rest of us. The girls will finish up school in late May, and they have camps and stuff in June. “A” is getting her braces off this summer so the goal is to get all the way through that before she heads up permanently (or we will head back for that), and as a result my guess is “G” will also wait until then as well. Since I will be at home during the summer to watch them. I would guess that our stuff will move sometime during the summer, once we have a house to put it in? Not exactly sure. That is part of the adventure. I know I don’t want to have to move more than once on this adventure if at all possible.

So where are we moving – Boise, Idaho. Yes, Idaho. It is closer to Glacier NP and Grand Teton NP, and that is really cool to me. There is a ski slope only 45 minutes from the houses we are looking at. Lots of hiking. 

Stay tuned. I will update on the house there, the house here, jobs, moving, etc. as time goes on. It will give me a lot to blog about over then next who knows how long.

I would like to ask for prayer though. Please keep my family in your prayers. We need them. This is going to be a very hard time for all of us.