We lived with Chad's parents for about a week, then decided him being in the car 2 hours a day wasn't worth it to our family. So, the search for an apartment began. Thankfully, we found a place quickly and moved in a week later. 4th of July was the move in date, so we were off and running. We moved into a great place on the west side of town with a swimming pool, so the kids were thrilled with that. The hard thing is it was a small place, 2 bedroom apartment, so the kids have been sharing a bedroom. Remember in my previous post when I said all of our things were in storage? Yah. That was kind of a problem. We were able to get the bare minimums out - beds, couch, tv, table and chairs, etc. but the rest of our things were well packed, labeled, taped up and placed who knows where in our large storage unit. So, a quick trip to Wal-Mart was a necessity to get what we needed - you know - plates, cups, utensils, shower curtain, etc. It was like we were camping....the never ending summer! LOL! {That explains why I am still wearing flip flops....all my other shoes are in the storage unit!}
What came up in me that I wasn't ready for was the grieving. I was grieving over my home, I was grieving over my things being locked up in storage, I was grieving over acclimating to a new side of town, new grocery stores, only to have to do it again once the REAL move occurred. Talk about emotions! On top of the emotions/roller coaster associated with the job hunt. Chad got an email saying they would like to interview him. High, great! I start looking into the city, schools, houses, etc. He has said interview, then we wait. Wait to know if he advanced to the next round. He didn't advance? Sad. Ok, let's keep going. If he advanced, he goes on the interview, then we wait. You see the cycle - high, low, low, high, high, high.
This cycle continued all summer! As school began to approach, we didn't know what we would do. There were 2 jobs Chad was really interested in. Since he was a finalist for both roles, we both went to the interviews at the end of July. They were hoping to decide soon, so we would know where we were going before school started again. We were hopeful we would be out of Sioux Falls and in our new city before then. We had to be - there were 2 great jobs! In fact, one of them, we knew he was the top choice going into the process, so we were certain we would get an offer from them! When we were there for our interviews, I learned the woman who would be his boss is a sorority sister, so he is a shoo-in, right? Not so much.
Looking back on both of those jobs, I can say God intervened. We should have ended up in both cities, if not just one. With the job mentioned above, the President of the hospital did not like any of the candidates, so wanted to start a new search. However, had the woman who would have been Chad's boss been able to decide, we would have been there. {This is the kind of stuff we kept running into.}
Then, the other particular job, the one he skyped with the day after the sewage flood, remember that? Well, this whole process started in March. They had 400 candidates, narrowed it to 10 or something crazy like that for the skype, then 4 they brought in for the in persons, then the final 2. Chad made it from the list of 400 or however many there were to the final 2. Our trip there was lovely, such a darling city! Great job, great people, it was a great match! We were there at the end of July and they too, were hopeful to decide before school started. We learned the day that Lauren should have started school, {oh, did I mention that at this point, we decided homeschooling would be best, since we knew we would be moving? We didn't want to start the kids in school for a few WEEKS, only to pull them out and start over. So, yah, I have been homeschooling in a tiny 2 bedroom apartment! Interesting.} that Chad did not get the job. The recruiter said it was the toughest race he has ever seen in all his years. It came down to one small tally mark, which is something Chad had no control over {see, once again, this obstacle......}
We were crushed. We thought for sure this was it. It had to be. The woman in the interview even said "I don't know how this will shake out in the end, but I would love to see you here." When Chad told her what happened at work, her reply was "you gotta get out of there, I understand why you are looking." So, we were surprised to say the least when we learned he didn't get the job. But, then, there was hope.
Hope. Something you desperately want when you feel like you have none. Hope that things will work out the way you envision/hope for. Hope that the situation you are in will come to a close soon. For us, it was the hope of being out of limbo. We had been in limbo around 8 months now and we were tired, we were weary, we were losing hope.
Chad, being the wonderful, humble man that he is, reached out to the woman who said she wanted him there. They developed a good rapport during his interviews so he sent an email explaining he wasn't tied to a title, or a role, but felt it was a great organization and he would like to be a part of it. Long story short, the woman called him and they chatted about some possibilities of what could be. We were hopeful that this was it! That this would work out! It wasn't the job he applied and interviewed for, but it was a job he could be excited about, with people he liked, in a great organization and in a wonderful location.
The woman, who would have been his boss had he got the original job he applied for, explained to Chad that the person she hired would be coming into town this week. She would like to visit with him and get his input, as Chad would be reporting to him, rather than her. {I know, it's confusing}. So, we held out hope all weekend that this would work. We prayed for favor for Chad with this man and hoped for the best.
On Monday, Chad got an email from this woman saying the person she hired would like to wait until he got there to decide anything. {Back track, he would be arriving on October 13.} Hope crushed AGAIN. We certainly understood. Of course, he would want to hire his own team. He didn't know Chad, he was a random. Made sense to us, but it still stung. We thought for sure this was God's way of redeeming the situation. But, He had something else in mind.
What you need to know about me is that I am a hard core Boilermaker. I LOVE Purdue. Always have, always will. Perhaps it's because I had such a great college experience there ~ I got saved there, made some of my best friends there, I just loved it! All of it. Since Chad and I met in Madison, WI 11 years ago, I have wanted to live in or near Purdue. In fact, Chad tried SEVERAL times to get a job there. I can think of at least 3 times he interviewed there, if not more. The thing is, he should have gotten the job EVERY time. I'm not just saying that, either.
The first interview he had there was with the School of Veterinary Medicine, before we even had kids. The second interview he had was for the College of Engineering. I'm not sure on the third one. The point is, each time he made great connections there and built great rapport with some contacts there.
In fact, shortly after we moved here 2 years ago, one of the women he had interviewed with reached out to him again, asking if he would consider going there now. At the time, we weren't interested as we had just settled in here. They did talk and left it as if something changes with me {Chad}, he would be in touch again......
TO BE CONTINUED........
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