Never Say Never
Two posts in a week!  Aren't you all so lucky.  No this is not a post about my undying love for Justin Beiber.  I'll leave that post up to Stephen, since that's HIS guilty pleasure...not mine.  Although I have been known to sing along...mostly out of spousal pressure than for my own enjoyment though.  ;)
Remember the other day when I said not much has been going on in our lives lately??  I lied.  A LOT has been going on.  We've been doing a lot of thinking, praying, phone calling, last minute tripping to Raymond, waiting, waiting some more, stressing, over thinking, doubting, stressing some more, and to top it all off a little more waiting.  But we finally got our answer...IN WRITING!  So I was allowed to make it blog official.  Stephen has been offered a job in Lethbridge, and we're moving to Raymond!!!!  
I AM THRILLED!!  Although Stephen doesn't believe I am.  Apparently my absence of acrobatic cartwheels across the living room floor put this silly thought into his head.  "A", I can't do cartwheels, so that would be a disaster all in its own.  "B", I think it's just a little surreal to me still, so my portrayal of excitement may be a little weak.  To prove my excitement, Stephen had me skip down the hall of the Southgate Mall the other day.  And I DID!!  Because I'm EXCITED!!  
I couldn't be more proud of Stephen.  This has been a very, very, very long process.  But we're so glad it's over and that the end result was the one we wanted!  I think the longest job interview I've had for my career was all of 5 minutes....and I don't think you could even technically call it an interview.  More of a, are you graduated yet?  I graduate next week.  Can you start Monday then?  Um....sure.  
First Stephen had to write a short essay on why he felt he was right for this job.  Then he went through an hour-long phone interview, followed up by a two-hour three-panel interview, followed by another hour-long phone interview.  I'd say he paid his dues for this job. 
I don't know if I've ever talked about what Stephen does for a living.  He has his education in Human Resources, which involves like a billion different things.  Anything from benefits and compensation to labor relations, to payroll, to his specialty, recruitment.  He likes to compare his job to being a missionary....only there's no Spirit and you get paid! I believe his actual title is Senior Recruitment Coordinator for Western Canada.  Sounds important doesn't it.  haha    
Marrying a guy from Edmonton, born and raised, I had resolved to accept the possibility that I was bound to this city, that I would never live the simple country life again.  And I was fine with that.  But we had agreed that if a job opportunity ever presented itself to Stephen, (which if you know anything about the HR industry in Lethbridge you wouldn't hold your breath) we would jump on it, and I'm so glad we did.  
That being said, I am nervous.  This is one of those 'life changer' decisions.  I'm nervous Stephen will dislike his job, that he will get over the simple life in about a month, that I'll miss my shopping malls, that I'll miss the convenience of my midnight McFlurry runs.  But I think we're willing to trade that in for no sirens at midnight, knowing my kids can ride their bikes to and from school without me worrying, walking three blocks to my parents when I need a babysitter, and being able to afford to build our dream home.  Yaaaa.....I think we'll be up for the swap.  
So that's our big news!!  We'll be leaving in about three weeks.  
I love Raymond.  I'm pretty sure I wasn't saying that my last year of high school.  I wanted to be anywhere BUT Raymond.  But if I had a choice, I wouldn't pick anywhere else to raise our family.  And I'm glad I have a husband who take the phrase "A Happy wife is a happy life" seriously.   In the meantime it's Stephen's birthday week, so I have a week of slave duty to look forward to.  BOOOOO.  But then I get to repay the favour in two months' time.  YAYYYY!  Sorry for no pictures....maybe I'll take some of Stephen's birthday.  No promises though!