Employed

I have a job! God is good!

Changes

I'm sure that news has traveled and you all know that I lost my job last week. The circumstances behind the termination of my employment with Alys Beach were a little mysterious, but it comes down to the condition of the Market. I loved my job at Alys. I brought in 5 new employees. I worked hard and cared very much about the success of the development. But, it is what it is and it isn't what it's not. As Patrick said, "God is not surprised." His timing is perfect and I am going to trust that He is directing all of my steps.

So now I join the game of employment musical chairs. The job market in this area is extremely competative right now and is becoming more so every day. Legendary and Sandestin have recently had some big layoffs which means more people are in my situation than I would like. I had an interview on Monday with a great company that is doing exciting world-changing things. I'm one of 40 applicants. Sheesh!

I mostly feel that this is just the push I needed to move my life up to North Carolina. Patrick and I need a chance to grow to know and love eachother on a normal day-to-day basis. I'm looking for jobs in Hickory, hoping to find something permanent that will give me the time off that I'll need in the late spring. I want to get out of the Office Admin box. There's an opportunity as a teacher at a Christian School. PR, Marketing, more Real Estate (probably not right away :))... the options there are a little better than here. Finding a place to live would probably be fairly easy, and the best part is that I can be near the man I love.

In the mean time, I'm going to enjoy this time with my family and make plans for a pretty big event in my life. With the holidays, it's all going to fly by! Baby showers, birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years! Come January, I will most likely make the move. Lord willing I will have had a successful job interview during my two weeks in Hickory for Christmas... He has a plan I just have to step into it. I appreciate your prayers and all the encouragement!

Hickory/Boone/Blowin' Rock

My visit to NC was everything I was hoping for and more! I was introduced to Patrick's world and all the wonderful people in it. Hickory is a great town with all the necessary amenities and charms. I got to stay with Patrick's parents, who made me feel so welcomed and comfortable! They had fresh flowers next to my bed and made sure I had a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. I guess Patrick had given them ample warning of my dependence on caffein to wake up each day.

Friday: Patrick showed up at the house in the morning to pick me up. He was fairly early, which shocked his parents a little. It must be love! :) I got the grand tour of Transportation Insight where Patrick works. Everyone was very nice. It's a neat place, and they all had good things to say about my boyfriend. It made me so proud.
From there we went to the bank where Mrs. Berry works. The welcome was overwhelming! All of her co-workers are evidently faithful readers of my blog. It was so funny because they all already knew me to some degree and were following the story of our Love. Great fun!
On to Boone - a beautiful drive up to the mountains. I got just a bit car sick, but once we had lunch at Our Daily Bread my stomach settled. We got to go to Footsloggers, Jason's outfitter store - very cool! He is so nice and it was entertaining to watch he and Patrick interact. The ASU tour was next. What a great school! Kind of made me wish that I had gone there.

Saturday: We woke up early so that we could go to the ASU Homecoming Parade that Patrick was driving in. It was cold cold cold when we left but quickly warmed up to a sunny 72 degrees. The weather could not have been better! Once the parade was finished we walked all over campus, down to Duck Pond Field, and then back to the other side to meet up with some old friends. I met tons of alumni, professors, current students, etc.
Instead of going to the game we decided to go for a hike up at Price Park. There I met some very curious cows (see pictures below). They followed us up to the wooded area where we strapped up the hammock and stared at us like we were doing something terribly wrong. We were getting uncomfortable as one of them got closer and closer. Definately was a Kodak moment...

Sunday: Church, lunch with friends, a tour of Hickory and some great time with the Berrys. I learned to ride the Segway, which by the way is great fun! At this point, we were starting to feel the wonderful weekend coming to an end. We had to both work to distract one another from getting really sad. We had as much quality time together as we could. The trip was full of great memories and stories, moments and discoveries. I did not want to leave.