The search continues...

What would be my boss at the Naval Air Station called Friday evening to arrange a time for me to come on to base and meet the team I would be working with and see the base. I'll be making my visit to the base tomorrow. I'm excited to see the place and meet the people. I asked him if the job opportunity was still promising and what the status was. He said that it is currently in the "HR Blackhole" but he is hopeful and really wants it to work out...since he needs some work relief. I guess this means I would be keeping busy if hired. In any event, I am still anxiously awaiting the call from HR (goodness, the government moves at a snail's pace!!!). In the meantime I am running parallel paths with some other possibilities. I'm ready to get back in the game and start bringing home some dough...to make the bread of course :).

Even the Police Smile

So yesterday was quite the day. I woke up early to take Craig to work since we only have one car (until my car arrives today). I had a hair appointment in the afternoon and a couple of other errands that I had to run, so I needed the car. When I got home from dropping off Craig little Maverick (our all but 7 lb yorkie) surprised me with some not so pleasant gifts spread throughout our little rented bungalow. He clearly had a very upset stomach. The poor little guy was not feeling good at all. Because we are in a rental I was not equipped with my normal 10 bottles of carpet cleaner, scrub brushes, and cleaning rags. Instead I had to look around the house for an old towel to tear up and convert into cleaning rags. It was pretty bad, and I felt really bad for the little guy. As our vet put it years ago..."he's hypersensitive." Not a trait you want in a dog. Little Maverick has cost us a pretty penny throughout the years...why stop now. He's left us the bill of a house full of carpet and many vet bills in the past. In any event, after many episodes of him running outside and getting pretty sick, I decided to take him to the vet to get him checked out. This is where small town life is a relief. I got there and there wasn't a long line of people, in fact I showed up and there was the doctor ready to see him. The doctor examined him and said that he looked fine but wanted to run a blood test on him (since Mav did have some blood in his stool). The doctor told me that I could wait around or run some errands while he took the sample. I took him up on this offer to run to the store to grab some carpet cleaners and a scrub brush. When I got back, the doctor was ready with his blood tests. He showed me the results, gave me some medicine, and assured me that Mav would be quite alright. The doctor and his staff were extremely friendly and helpful. Of course I walked out with a nice bill...I'll add this to Maverick's tab.
After we got home, I continued to clean and do laundry. I had missed my hair appointment and it was time to pick Craig up already. We were going to go look at a few more houses before we decide which house to make an offer on. The three houses we looked at were very nice, all very different from eachother and honestly, I feel like I'm in an episode of house hunters. Here is what we have:
House #1: Cheapest, oldest, well within our budget, needs all new floors, appliances, and cabinets. The neighborhood is very nice and cozy.
House #2: Middle priced. Nice, 3 years old, nice neighborhood, but only 3 bedrooms, and it doesn't have a dining room.
House #3: Top of our budget, new, neighborhood is close to schools, stores, and work. Neighborhood has more of a cookie cutter look, but very nice. Backyard connects to a nature reserve with trails etc.

I guess we'll have to sleep on it for a couple of nights.

On our way home from house hunting, Craig was driving a little fast and didn't slow down in time before a police officer caught us on his radar. "Oh great we thought." Sure enough he put on his lights and pulled us over. We've gotten pulled over in Texas our fair share of times for silly reasons like not having bright enough lights on our plates and other random reasons and we are used to a pretty rude approach by the officers. We were ready, we put our big city tough faces on, but they didn't last as the officer came up to us with this huge smile on.

Police :"Howdy folks, how are you doing tonight?"
Us: "Um...good, how are you doing."
Police: "Good thank you! I pulled you over because you were going a little fast, nothing worth a ticket but be safe a slow down a little. What brings you guys from Texas?"
Craig: "I recently got a job here, so we just moved to Anacortes last week."
Police: Great! Welcome, let me go grab you a card to the DMV where you can get your new plates etcs."

He came back with the card, explained where the local DMV was, chit chatted some more and wished us a pleasant evening and we were on our way. He was very nice, and it was actually a pleasant pulling over experience (didn't know this was possible).

In any event we seem to breaking into this town pretty well. Mav's already got a Vet, and we are already getting acquainted with the local authorities. What else can you ask for!?!?

A New Adventure

Well, this is the first official week that we can call ourselves Washingtonites. We have sold our house in Houston (very quickly to say the least) and we have a whole truck load of stuff on its way to Washington! Craig and I love new adventures and this one sure is proving to be the biggest of all. After Craig accepted a job in Anacortes, WA last month we have managed to drive from Texas to WA, sell our house, fly back to Texas and move our stuff, fly to WA, move into temp housing, and house shop for our next home...all in the span of 3 weeks. WHOOOO WEEEE it has been quite the ride. In the meantime I'm in the midst of "the job hunt". It is hard doing a job search....I have to admit I kind of like having some spare time during the day. Although I can see it getting boring eventually (maybe...) I am enjoying some time off. Since I have some free time, I figured I might as well get a blog started to keep all of our friends and family up to date on our adventure status.

Anacortes, WA (our new home) could quite honestly be the most beautiful place I've been. To get the opportunity to make this our home, is nothing short of a blessing. Just driving around on the island, it is hard to stay on the road sometimes because the views are so breathtaking. The Pacific waters are absolutely stunning. The water is a deep sea blue that is surrounded by mountains and small islands. The small town life is exactly what we were looking for. Because we both grew up in small towns, we knew that we wanted to raise a family in a small town. Anacortes is perfect! Everyone on the island is so friendly and and it definitely has the small town feel. Craig and I love to take walks down to the beach where we like to watch the boats dock. The other day we were out and spotted a seal swimming around the boats. How neat! Just sitting there listenting to nature is a pleasure we haven't had for awhile. It is great seeing kids walking home from school or playing outside. That is how we both grew up and we really wanted that for our future family.

On Easter Sunday we went to the Anacortes United Methodist Church for the first time. It was a very good experience. Because the congregation is so small, the Pastor actually asked for joys and concerns during the service. It was really neat. They were very welcoming and we are excited to get involved. After church we went house hunting which we love to do. Although the housing is more expensive than it was in Houston, we have found several houses that are our very nice in our price range. We are anxious to get into our new home soon.

We both know that this is where we are supposed to be right now, and God has certainly led us down this path. It is such a blessing and we look forward to all of our upcoming adventures here!