New Job!

Part of the reason that I went silent on the blog is that I had to keep Kaylon's job search private and that was hard to do because it affected everything we did.  We sat down in December and decided that we were ready for a change.  We listed out our priorities in a new job and prayed that we could find something that matched:

-Shorter commute (it would be hard to make it longer than the 3 hours he was already doing)
-A step forward in Kaylon's career, with growth potential
-Hopefully lower cost of living
-More time together as a family

He started applying before Christmas and started getting phone interviews soon after.  Things were taking longer than we wanted and we got discouraged.  Then things picked up quickly- two places had scheduled on site interviews- one in Dallas, TX, the other Stillwater, OK.  Stillwater was even flying me out as well so I could look at homes and get a feel for the town.  And then WV called and scheduled an on site interview for the same week.  Three interviews!  We were thrilled and excited.

WV went well, though Kaylon was weirded out a bit by the old town, crummy roads, and twisted routes on hills.  It seemed like there were no flat yards anywhere.  Oklahoma was the exact opposite- flat as WV was hilly, with the added excitement of tornado shelters.  We both loved it- especially being only a days drive from family.  Dallas we discovered would not really help our commute problem, so it slid quickly to the background in our decision-making.

In the end, WV offered us everything that we had prayed for: a 15 min (1way) commute; a title bump, a lower cost of living; and a set 8am-5pm work day.  I struggled since I had really been looking forward to being closer to family, and was not looking forward to worse winters on crazy roads; plus our original house search did not reveal anything I had any desire to own.  But I had told Kaylon that I would go where it was best for our family and where the Lord wanted us, and after a day of mourning the idea of Oklahoma, I got on board.  That week a new house went on the market which we saw that weekend and put an offer on 3 days later.

So at the end of April, Kaylon became the Director of Investments at West Virginia University Foundation.  We are so proud of all he has accomplished and can't wait to see how well his does at this new job!