Wasn't my last post just titled "Fall is Here?" Scrolling down...scrolling down...yep! Oh well...hopefully no one has given up checking our blog on a regular basis, even though our postings are on an irregular basis. If you're reading this, make sure to check back a few times in the next month or two. Cari and I have been and will continue to be fairly busy into next year, so we'll try to post frequently whenever we have something exciting to report.
Sadly, illness has been what's taken up most of our time lately (with the exception of work). Cari and I seem to be trading off being sick, although I've only taken part in that game once, and Cari has taken more turns than she'd like. She has decided that there is something in the air or water out here that's causing us to get sick...which sounds reasonable. She's had a virus (flu-like symptoms, but not the flu), stuffiness, sore throat, and an ear infection. I had a pretty bad virus a couple weeks ago that sent me to Urgent Care twice and the ER once. 8 tubes of blood, 5 bags of IV fluid, 1 X-Ray and ultrasound later, and it turned out to be a mysterious virus. (I could almost make the 12 Days of Christmas song out of that previous sentence, by the way). My flu tests came back negative, and the doctor thought it might be Hepatitis A since my liver functions were sky-high (no, I hadn't been drinking too much). It was not too fun, but we're both feeling back to normal now, so all is well!
Enough about our sicknesses :) We pray that everyone had a great Thanksgiving with friends and family. We were planning on going to our friends' parents house with them and some others, but it was near the end of my illness, so I was still recovering. Cari and I had a nice quiet and relaxing Thanksgiving here with the two of us. We enjoyed watching the Macy's parade and Home Alone while snacking, and had a small Thanksgiving dinner later in the afternoon after taking some naps. Overall, we certainly missed spending time with family, but given my current state and the need to relax after a trying week, our time together was a blessing.
We've been working pretty hard since then...Cari only has one more week left before her two week Christmas break. I've been extremely busy, and will probably continue to be throughout the next couple of weeks due to some big issues at work. Overtime = $$ though, which is always welcome this time of year. Cari's family is also coming in less than a week! We're excited about showing them around Albuquerque and just being able to spend time with them. It will be the two of us, Cari's parents, two brothers, one sister, and our dog Belle in our one bedroom apartment...so it should be a fun adventure with all of us crammed in together. We'd much rather be packed in here together than thousands of miles apart.
We do have one exciting thing to report - a great memory made just yesterday. We volunteered to serve with members of our church to assist with "The Christmas Store." This is a great ministry where the church asks its members to take tags off of Christmas trees in the foyer which have gifts to purchase. These gifts go to one of several different ministries which then allow local parents to come in and pick out a couple presents to give to their children on Christmas. As you can imagine, the ministries we partner with focus on serving parents of families who may be less fortunate. Anyways, we traveled with a group or 12 or 13 people to the Navajo Indian Reservation in Steamboat, Arizona to take gifts and food to a small church in their community. We had the opportunity to allow parents from the church to select items for their children, have those items wrapped, be served lunch, and just to fellowship with others. It was incredibly rewarding to be able to serve families in such a rural church, from a different culture, and who were appreciative of us being there. We also enjoyed getting to visit the Hubble Trading Post on the way back (http://www.nps.gov/hutr/index.htm), seeing Window Rock in Arizona (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_Rock,_Arizona), and eating dinner in Gallup, NM. The snow-covered scenery on the drive out was more amazing than I can describe on here, and we even saw some TREES when we drove through the Navajo National Forest. Overall, it was a great experience, and we would do it again in a heartbeat.
That's it for now...Cari and I will be traveling up to Colorado Spings, CO on the 26th and 27th and staying at a Bed and Breakfast for our "Christmas present" to each other. We're looking forward to yet another new experience and some great southwestern scenery. We'll miss our friends and family greatly on Christmas, but are excited to get away for a weekend and spend some time exploring a new place/relaxing! So, check back in late December for another posting, and hopefully we'll have some good details/stories from that trip. We're also going back to N.C. in January to spend time with my family and attend a wedding for one of Cari's friends. As you can see, we've got a lot going on, but can't wait for the whirlwind of activity.
We hope everyone has an excellent Christmas...we love and miss you all and wish you a very happy holiday!!
Hello everyone!! I'm not sure how many of you guys actually read this, so hopefully I didn't keep many people waiting. A LOT has happened since the last post (although I think that's what I say every time). Albuquerque isn't much different in the fall except for the slightly cooler tempatures, especially in the morning. There obviously aren't too many leaves around here, so the color changes aren't as prominent as they are back east. However, the chilly temps are a welcomed break from the summer heat.
Both of our jobs are going well...mine is extremely busy these days (which is good)...and Cari's is also very challenging. Although I think the most challenging part is trying to stay healthy when the kids are out every other day with something gross.
It's also been a crazy past month with traveling. I had the opportunity to go back to the east coast for Jon's "bachelor party," which involved a weekend of little sleep and lots of food and fishing. It was great to see him and hang out for the weekend...even if I did only shower once the whole time :) A couple weeks later, I traveled up to New Hampshire (Manchester/Merrimack) for work. My boss and most of my team is located at Fidelity's site in Merrimack, NH, so Fidelity flew myself and my team of 3 others up for the week (all expenses paid). We got the chance to meet with the people we work with on a daily basis and attend meetings in person as opposed to on the phones. I definitely missed Cari and Belle, but we had an excellent time..eating out every night, traveling to Boston and Portsmouth, and just being on the east coast!
We also celebrated a BIRTHDAY!! September 19th was Cari's birthday. In trying to plan something fun, I purchased train tickets (New Mexico Railrunner) to Santa Fe and took Cari to the Georgia O'Keeffe art museum. The train ride was an excellent alternative to driving, even though it took a half hour longer. However, we didn't have to worry about traffic or parking. There is a station about 5 minutes from our apartment, and the Santa Fe depot is extremely close to the Plaza and the museum. Luckily, the weather was incredible, so we sat on the Plaza and got a couple Fajitas from the Taco cart...delicious! The museum was nice too...it was good to learn about Georgia O'Keeffe and her interpretation of New Mexican culture. After a couple drinks and chips/salsa at our favorite Santa Fe restuarante (Tomasista's), we caught the train back and had a nice shrimp dinner and ice cream cake!
Finally, we've experienced two major Albuquerque cultural events in the past month. The first was the New Mexico State Fair...and talk about being the minority! We didn't go for too long, but long enough to realize that it was HUGE. There were tons of food, shows, and concerts. We enjoyed an excellent lunch at the Hispanic Village, watched the performing pigs (lame), and the Tiger show (awesome). Overall, it was just like most fairs...lots of people, lots of overpriced food, and just something fun to do. The second event was the 2009 Balloon Fiesta!! The event lasts for over a week, with different "mass ascensions" (when all the balloons take off at the same time) and "glowdeos" (at night, when the balloons are tied to the ground, but inflated and lit up). Since we were out of town for the first weekend, we decided to go during the last weekend. Cari and I went to the Special Shapes Glowdeo on a Friday night. Special Shapes are balloons that are different characters or objects (beer mugs, Spongebob, footballs, etc). It was pretty cool to see, but also had kind of a creepy funhouse feel to it. We had some greasy (but great) cheesesteaks and cheese fries (again, overpriced...but oh well). We tried to go to the final farewell mass ascension on Sunday. We got up at 5:15 so we could leave by 6 (the event was supposed to start at 7) and beat the traffic. Fortunately, we got a great parking spot and free admission from some nice people who had extra tickets. However, it was FREEZING. We were unprepared and definitely underdressed for the 40 degree weather. It was also windy which didn't help. Speaking of windy, apparently balloons don't fly if it's too windy...so the ascension was cancelled :( We did get some good hot chocolate, a cinnamon roll, and a "world's famous" breakfast burrito. It was a little disappointing not to see the balloons go up, but we were able to see some flying on Saturday above our apartment complex. We also saw quite a few throughout the week on the way to work...so not all was lost.
I think that's it for now...time to go to church. We are looking forward to seeing my parents in a couple of weeks. Also, Cari's family was supposed to come this week, but her sister came down with the swine flu late last week so they had to cancel. Please keep all of them in your prayers. A special congratulations is due to Jon and Megan who were married in Baltimore last weekend. We were so thankful to get to spend that time with them and their friends and family (and get to see my parents!!). We wish you guys the best and hope the honeymoon was fantastic! Anyways, we hope everyone is doing well and can't wait to see you all soon!
Hello all! It's been quite a while since my last post, but we've been pretty busy lately. However, there's certainly a lot to update everyone on. We finally got a chance to both go back to the east coast a few weeks ago for VACATION! It was much needed after everything that's been going on over the past few months, and it was great to see family and friends. We spent the first weekend with my parents who were in the process of moving so they were staying at a friends house near Chapel Hill. The house was way out in the country and being able to sit on the screened-in porch was incredibly relaxing. We then spent the next week at the beach with Cari's family (Ocean Isle, NC). The weather was great all week, we ate some amazing seafood...and a lot of it, and I owned my in-laws in golf (haha...not really). We came back to Chapel Hill the following weekend, stopping in Rocky Mount to see some good friends and their adorable new baby. I also got the chance to see my sister on Sunday before we left! Overall, it was an excellent trip...awesome to see everybody and also incredibly relaxing.
Albuquerque has been treating us pretty well, although the weather has been pretty stifling. Luckily, the humidity is not nearly what it is back east, so I don't really mind the dry heat too much. We've tried a couple new restaurants, namely the Genghis Grill, which is a Mongolian style grill (fill a bowl with whatever meat, veggies, starch and seasoning you want and they cook it for you). It was a great experience and excellent atmosphere. We also tried the Blue Cactus Grill, a small local New Mexican restaurant, where I discovered Chile Relleno. I know, not a new dish or anything, but amazing nonetheless. Finally, we recently went to an Albuquerque Isotopes baseball game. They are the minor league affiliate to the LA Dodgers and played a pretty good game, beating Nashville 8-4. The ballpark was quite a bit bigger than we expected, although the food was definitely nothing to brag about. Overall, we enjoyed it!
In other news, for those who don't know, Cari has officially accepted and started a preschool teaching position with Head Start. She's spent the past two weeks in orientations and trainings and also getting to know the people she's working with. She'll be head teacher for about twenty 3-5 year olds with the help of a teacher's assistant. Things have been pretty hectic as a result of the limited time she's had to set up her classroom and get things ready, but the kids come tomorrow, so we're praying for things to go well. Also, we've completed our "Knowing Christ, Knowing the Church" class at Desert Springs Church. It's been a joy gettin to know more about the church we're thinking of attending, but it's also been challenging for us to work through some issues and discuss some "hot topics" in the church. We've also made quite a few friends there, which is definitely a positive for being in a new place and trying to get connected into such a large church.
The next couple months will be pretty busy with my continued work and Cari's new job. Belle won't know what to do with herself, but I'm sure she'll manage :) We'll be back on the east coast a couple times this fall (me for a fishing trip with my best bud, Jon and for work, and both of us for Jon and Megan's wedding!). We're not sure how much we'll get to see people while we're there, but once the new year hits, I'll have more vacation time...so hopefully we'll be able to spend a little more time with family and friends back home. Also, Cari and I are hoping to get away next summer...somewhere tropical, all-inclusive...so any suggestions/ideas are much appreciated. Love you guys!!
Well...summer is officially here in New Mexico. The weather has started to heat up, but I'm told it will get even hotter. We have been enjoying the 95 degree dry heat, which seems a little more forgiving than the 70% humidity we were used to back east. However, once it gets up around 105, I think I'll start to long for winter. We have been enjoying the beautiful weather by spending many afternoons by the pool. Since I get off work around 3 now, we have plenty of time to relax outside before the sun goes down.
It's been a while since the last update, and we've done quite a bit since then. Mainly, we went to the ZOO!! That's right, there is a zoo in the middle of the desert. And more ironically, they have polar bears! It's no Washington D.C. zoo, but it wasn't bad at all for Albuquerque. If you're on facebook, make sure to check out the pictures I posted. It was advertised in the local paper that the giraffe just gave birth a few weeks ago, and Cari was especially excited about seeing the baby giraffe. We were pleasantly surprised to see everything from polar bears to flamingos to elephants!
We've also had the pleasure of experiencing our first fourth of July out here. There was a big celebration at the Balloon Fiesta Park, and Cari and I went down for an hour or so to hang out and listen to some music. It looked like a fun place to just go and hang out, but I can imagine traffic was terrible after the fireworks. We left early after watching the mayor rock out on stage with the band and came back to grill out some great burgers. We wanted to see some fireworks, so we drove a few blocks from our apartment which overlooks the park. It also overlooks a large part of the city, so not only could we watch the main fireworks show, but we also saw all the individual "shows" randomly shooting up over the city...great stuff!
Finally, God has definitely answered prayers by not only providing a job opportunity for Cari, but providing THREE opportunities. She's been substitute teaching at a school for the past week and was offered a full-time teaching position there. She was also offered a job at the Abilities School (inclusive for children with disabilities) and Head Start (national program for at-risk children). She has recently decided to pursue the Head Start position, but due to funding, there's not a 100% guarantee she'll have the job. However, the outlook is excellent, as they've already tentatively placed her and are currently going through the background check logistics. So hopefully in about a month, we'll both be employed!
We hope everyone back east is doing well. We are coming in July 31, spending the weekend with my parents, going to the beach with Cari's parents Monday-Saturday, and then coming back here Sunday. We hope to get a chance to see some of you when we're home, but are very sorry if we don't have the time to visit with everyone. Love you guys!!
Well, we haven't had any unique road trips or adventures lately, but I thought it was time for an update, especially since I am now 25!! That's right, Cari and I celebrated my birthday last weekend :) Thank's to everyone for the Facebook messages and cards/gifts. We had a nice relaxing weekend--spent Saturday morning by the pool, and when the clouds rolled in, went to go see Sunshine Cleaning at the $2.00 movie theater. It's a lower budget independent movie, but definitely good for a renter. Also, to our surprise, it was filmed in Albuquerque!! So...if anyone wants to get a good idea of what parts of ABQ look like, check it out! We also tried a new restaurant (Mexican, of course) called Garduno's. The food didn't taste quite as authentic as some of the other places we've tried, but that may be because it's actually a smaller chain. The margaritas were definitely incredible though. We celebrated my b-day on Sunday with some incredible steaks (marinaded and grilled) and veggies. Cari also got me a cake from Cold Stone, which we ate off of for the next few days. Overall, an excellent 25th!
In other news, we've decided to begin taking a new member's class at the church we've been going to lately, Desert Springs Church. We both feel like God is leading us to know more about that church in particular, and we're excited to meet more people there and get involved in serving and ministry. The class is about 8 weeks long, so we're assuming by the end we'll have a good idea of what the church believes, how it's led, etc. Also, I've officially finished training and have begun actually working as of a couple weeks ago. My job is far more challenging than I thought it would be right out of training, but I know I'll get used to certain things about it and will find it easier in time. Since I'm working with a lot of clients (and for a company) that operates primarily on east coast time, I usually work about 6:30 or 7:00 to 3:00 or 3:30, which seems early...and it is...but it's nice to get off and still have most of the afternoon. Cari and I have enjoyed spending more time together and definitely getting all out of our pool that we can.
That's it for now...this Saturday is a little gloomier than normal, but tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and 90!! Also, next weekend is our 1 year anniversary!! We're both excited about spending the weekend doing absolutely nothing and maybe going out for a nice dinner. Thank you everyone again for the birthday wishes. We're excited about coming home to see family in August and can't wait to have some visitors out here!
We thought we'd play "tourist" this weekend and visit Santa Fe. It's actually very close to Albuquerque for those of you who need a brush-up on geography :) It took us about 45 minutes to get from our door to "The Plaza," which is the main spot to check out if you're just visiting Santa Fe. The 75 mph speed limit through the desert certainly helps quite a bit! Anyways, we left about 1:30 on Saturday. The drive was fairly fast and the scenery was pretty nice...a few mesa areas, some random bushes, mountain ranges, etc.
We got to the plaza and found a pretty cheap parking garage about a block from the main center. The area is full of culture, including lots of jewelry shops, clothing stores, restaurants, etc. Unfortunately, everything is WAY overpriced since it's the main touristy spot (similar to "Old Town" in ABQ). We went into a jewelry shop with some beautiful merchandise and was offered a "deal" on a bracelet Cari liked of $350...um...no thanks! After window-shopping a little more, we made our way to the New Mexico History Museum, which was free this weekend...how convenient! Outside of the museum were many Native American vendors, selling hand-made merchandise. Very cool and authentic.
The museum is in the renovated "Palace of the Governors," which is the oldest continuously occupied public building in the United States. This site has a lot of info on the actual building itself, so if you want a history lesson, feel free to read through it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_the_Governors). The museum was pretty nice...there was a "Through the Lens" exhibit on one side which displayed the history of New Mexico through photography. The other side was the "permanent" half, which included all sorts of artifacts and timelines about New Mexico's history. There were also various sections of the building itself that were preserved and displayed. It was crazy to see the things they had on display (old revolvers, Rough Riders badges, etc)...I think my appreciation for history (especially living in this culture) has grown a great deal since I've been here.
Aaaanyways, we took some pictures of the plaza, a big cathedral close by, and the monument located in the center of the plaza. Then we walked down to a restuarant called Tomasita's which was in an old train station. The walk was further than we thought, especially with open parking spots close by. However, the food was incredible...traditional New Mexican. Also, the margaritas were one of the best I've had. Cari is getting a little tired of Mexican/New Mexican food, but I don't think I could ever get sick of it. After our dinner, we waddled back to the car and headed home. There was rain all around us, but we never drove through any of it. It's incredible to see the clouds and the rain out here. Since everything is so wide-open, you can see the streaks of rain and the area to where it's isolated.
Hope everyone reading this is on Facebook. If so, you can check out pictures of our trip on my profile. We are ready for some visitors (in case you hadn't picked up on that yet), so if anyone is ready to come out, let us know!! Love you guys!!
Happy Memorial Day everyone! We hope all of our friends and family had a great long weekend, and more importantly spent some time reflecting on our veterans and what they and our current military servicemen and women have done for us. Cari and I had a much needed three day weekend full of rest and good ole fashion Albuquerque fun!
We checked out our first wine festival on Saturday with some friends (picture is above). It was incredible...much better than what we got to experience in Raleigh the past couple years. It was not very crowded at all (no lines to taste), beautiful weather, about 30 different vendors, and some GREAT wine. I've heard that New Mexican wine is pretty good, and those rumors were certainly justified through our experience Saturday. We tried everything from "wine-erita" (yuck!) to red chile wine (yum!).
We also went down "Old Town" Sunday, which apparently is the place most tourists go when they visit Albuquerque. It's a fun area with older style architecture filled with shops and restaurants. A lot of the merchandise is over-priced (or so we hear) since the tourists will pay more for it. We did have a nice Sunday lunch at a Mexican restaurant (the name escapes me) that was decent, but not the best we've had. We left to go see Terminator: Salvation...I know, not very New Mexican, but a GREAT movie.
As far as other updates, nothing super important to report. I got to meet my manager this week...she works out of Fidelity's New Hampshire office and came down to visit. My team of 3 analysts and I went bowling and out to eat while she was here. It was a good time...we're all definitely getting closer and our personalities are different but work well together. I'm looking forward to getting to know them all better. Cari has not found a job yet, but continues to look and put her resume out there. Hopefully the Lord will provide something for her that will be challenging and rewarding and that she'll enjoy.
We are also still continuing our church hunt. We've found a couple we like, but want to look at a few more before making our second runs on the ones we like. We've also been to a few more restaurants other than El Pinto (which is still the best). Sadie's was pretty good, but definitely not comparable. I've learned that I LOVE green chiles and have proceeded to put them on everything (enchiladas, quesadillas, nachos, etc). Anyways, we have a few more restaurants on the list that we're looking forward to trying soon. I think we might travel up to Santa Fe this weekend for the afternoon, so I'm sure I'll have another update next week with our travel adventures.
Thanks again to everyone for your prayers and calls. Our apologies if we don't always call back right away. We're a lot busier here than we thought we'd be, but we always appreciate the calls and emails so keep 'em coming. Congratulations to Jon and Megan for moving into their house recently, Happy 1 Month birthday to baby Austin, and Happy One Year Anniversary to my sister and her husband! Love you guys!!
Hola! Hope everyone is doing well back home. Things are going pretty well out in New Mexico. We've experienced a little bit more of the culture, so I figured it was time for another post. Cari and I are continuing to get settled in to our small apartment. Besides pictures on the walls, everything else has pretty much found it's place. My job is going well...only four more weeks of in-class training! I'm meeting some really nice people and am excited about the team of analysts I'll be officially working with. We are praying that God provides something for Cari soon, as she's ready to get back into the classroom and be around people. Belle keeps her company during the day, but a dog that doesn't talk back only goes so far.
So the moment we were all waiting for has finally come...Cari and I went out to eat at an authentic local New Mexican restaurant!! It's called El Pinto (you can check it out online), and it was delicious! For those of you who don't know, the main difference between Mexican and New Mexican food (so I'm told) is that the latter is cooked with chilis (red or green). I had chicken enchiladas smothered in spicy green chile and Cari had tostadas. It was a great first local cuisine experience, and we can't wait for some visitors to take there (hint hint).
We've also visited a couple churches the past two weeks, Grace Church (with Preston and Laurel) and City on a Hill in downtown Albuquerque near the university. Both were very different, and we enjoyed certain things about each one but think we'll continue to search for something that fits our needs and where we can serve. We're definintely excited about getting involved somewhere and meeting some more people as soon as possible.
I think that's it for now...hope everyone is doing great, and feel free to come on out and visit whenever. The weather is phenominal here, and we're excited about showing you all around. Also, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM!! We love you guys!
Hi everyone! It's been several days since I've posted here, and I'm sure you all are disappointed because I know you check it constantly! Anyways, Cari and I are here at our new home in Albuquerque, and I feel like there is quite a bit to update you all on since we left. I'll try to keep it short, but no promises.
We left Friday morning early and made it about 5 miles before pulling off the interstate due to the "check engine light" coming on in the moving truck. After a quick call to Penske, we were informed it may be an oxygen sensor and should go off upon filling the truck with gas. It did. We made it all the way to Memphis on day 1...a total of about 15 hours altogether, including stops. Belle (our dog) did well, mainly sleeping in the back of the Trailblazer most of the way.
Day 2 was a little more interesting. The goal was to get to Elk City (western Oklahoma). We stopped in Oklahoma City for dinner, and noticed some dark clouds to the west when we finished and were preparing to leave. After some calls to friends/family for a weather radar check, we thought we could make it and headed out. As night fell, it started to get worse. Although it wasn't raining, the lightening surrounding the interstate was INCREDIBLE. Eventually, the rain started and we pulled off into a gas station. Over the next 45 minutes, the wind/rain picked up, we learned there was tornadic activity nearby, learned of a tornado northeast of our location, met some locals who educated us on tornadoes and what to do, saw quarter-size hail, and had a dead battery. Whew! Things cleared up and we finally made it to our hotel much later than expected.
Day 3 driving was pretty straight-forward. It was incredible to see how the terrain changed so quickly from green to greenish-brown to desert. We made it to Albuquerque around 4:30 and signed the lease on our new apartment. Luckily, we have some great friends here (Preston and Laurel) who mustered their friends and we had the moving truck unloaded in 40 minutes flat. Granted, there was no room left in our small apartment so we went to Laurel's parents for dinner and to stay overnight.
Since we've been here, I've been in training for work everyday (and will be for the next five weeks) and Cari has been working diligently on the apartment. I think we'll be successful at fitting everything in here, it's just a matter of time and patience in unpacking. I think that's all for now...thanks again to everyone who helped us load up and to everyone who helped us unload...we couldn't have done it without you. Also, special thanks to my dad, who drove the ENTIRE way in the moving truck and has devoted his past week to helping us. We love you all and miss everyone and will update this constantly.
Yesterday was our last Sunday going to church at Southbridge Fellowship. In fact, we're realizing that this week will be full of "lasts." Two weeks ago, Cari and I met an extremely friendly couple at church who we talked to about our potential move for quite a while. They shared their stories of their past with us, how they've traveled all around the U.S. during their lifetime and how they've made life-long friends all over the place. We believe God definitely put them in our lives to be an encouragement to us and to our difficult decision. We saw them again yesterday, and they were so excited to hear about our decision and said they had been praying for us constantly since they met us. God just continues to amaze Cari and me by the people He places in our lives and the encouragement He provides through others.
The packing is going well, although our apartment is in shambles and it doesn't look like much has been packed. Wednesday is the big "load-up-the-truck" party...friends, family, pizza, hard labor...you know, all the fun stuff. We're so blessed to have family and friends that are willing to help, and we definitely could not do any of this without them. After packing the truck Wednesday evening and Thursday if needed, we'll spend the night at my parent's house where Cari's parents will meet us. On Friday morning, we'll get up early, say our teary goodbyes, and hit the road. We can't believe we'll be in New Mexico in less than a week!! Thanks again for everyone's prayers and help...I'll try to post to this as soon as possible after we arrive in Albuquerque!
Friends and Family-
If you're reading this, I suppose it means you are somewhat interested in what has been happening with Cari and me over the past few weeks. As of Thursday, April 9th, we have officially decided to move out to Albuquerque, New Mexico. We will be moving Friday, April 24th. As most of you know, I lost my job with Fidelity Investments at the beginning of February due to the recent economic downturn and the need for a reduction in force. I have been actively looking for a job since then, and after hundreds of resume submissions and very little interest from employers, I was given the option to come out to Albuquerque for an interview. The position was with Fidelity's Health and Welfare division as a Client Service Analyst. I've always been interested in the analytical side of the financial services business, so this seemed to be a good opportunity.
Cari and I traveled to ABQ (on our own dime) for the interview. The interview went well, but neither of us really liked the city itself. Luckily we have a couple friends who live out there, and they were extremely hospitable (showed us around, went to lunch, looked at apartments). To make a long story short, I was offered the position with Fidelity and after a potential opportunity with BB&T bank didn't work out, we accepted the offer.
We will both miss our friends and family on the east coast a great deal, but after much prayer and long (sometimes emotional) conversations, we feel as though this is where God is leading us. We're not sure why yet, but we're praying that He reveals His purpose and will for us in His perfect timing. What incredible rest and peace we can find in that! We'll miss the trees/grass (it's all red and brown out there), and I'm still not sure what I'll do without being able to catch every single Panthers, Hurricanes and Tarheels game on TV. However, I feel as though this is a great opportunity for us for my long-term career path interests. Cari hopes to find a teaching job once we get out there and get settled, and we're praying God provides something for her and uses her just as much, if not more, as He's used her here in Raleigh.
That's enough for now! Sorry for the novel, but those of you who know me know that I'm a little long-winded when it comes to writing and emails. We are starting the packing process and are trying to get excited about this new adventure, but I'll try and keep everyone updated through this blog regarding our moving experience, life in New Mexico, etc. Feel free to check back often for new posts and hopefully we'll get some pictures online too. Also, we're excited to have some visitors, so we won't discourage you booking plane tickets now!!! Thanks for everyone's prayers and support. We want you all to know that God has certainly provided, as we've been asking Him to do, and we are excited for what He has planned for our lives in New Mexico!
