My mister and I both finished our degrees at BYU; he got a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and I in Recreation Management. We were married in December of last year, and our "young couple struggle" has been unemployment. Having decided to start a family early and on me staying home, meant this search was for Matthew, rather than myself. The first few months of marriage were filled with online applications, phone interviews, and then a few fly-outs for interviews. Some jobs felt really right, were just what we were looking for, and then didn't work out. Others were duds overall. Some sounded AMAZING and had incredible pay as part of their offers, but just didn't feel right. If you've ever been unemployed (and expecting a baby to boot), I'm sure you can imagine it's hard to say no to a job with no exact promise of another. Some people thought we were crazy. But, there's much to be said for prayer and personal revelation.
In May of this year, my mister flew out to upstate New York for an interview. Actually, when he was applying online back in February or March, I remember him asking me, as he sat behind his computer, "Would we ever live in Iowa? Pennsylvania? California? etc..." As you can imagine, the variety of places I said yes to increased with the amount of time we job searched for. I specifically remember him asking about upstate New York; I remember thinking "It's really cool up there...we probably wouldn't ever end up living there...but, sure...why not." And telling him to go ahead and apply.
I don't think I REALLY thought it through. And, as much as I did think it through...it was more for fun and "well, why not", than for actually having thought we'd end up moving there.
Well, that company contacted us and wanted to fly Matthew out for an interview. I think the person on the other line asked only two questions when he talked to Matthew. 1) Whether or not we'd be okay to wait for a security clearance to go through before starting work, and 2) If the GPA on his resume was actually his GPA. After hearing Matthew's responses, he told him they wanted to fly him out. Boom. Easy as that! What??
Matthew asked me about flying out. I think my mentality was, again, the "hm. why the heck not", rather than, "oh, wow. We could end up moving to New York if/when we get this job." Ha, again, for those who have experienced job searches, I think the idea is more just getting a job, rather than what and where.
Well, the time came for Matthew to fly out for his interview.
He.loved.it.
Meanwhile....in Utah...I started actually researching upstate New York, and the area we would be living. From the start of the research, I didn't think there was a real chance of me feeling good about moving there. But, the more I looked at it--the area, the people, reviews of people who had lived there, the weather--the more I loved it. And, really, just felt amazing about moving there. This being said, I didn't want to sway Matthew towards moving there if he didn't want to.
Matthew called me after his interview and I could tell from his voice that something was different about this one. I could tell it was right. We were both worried about not wanting to push moving there too much (for the other's sake), but both felt amazing about it.
I'll never forget how insanely happy he sounded on the phone; his voice was totally different than it had been talking about any other interview or company.
One of those times you can just feel the "click", you know?
We accepted the job in May, and got the clearance last week. We've been on Cloud 9 since.
The wait has been long. Has our first year been as I might have pictured it? Probably not. But, like I said, every couple has their struggles. Every couple also has their blessings, godsends, and answers to prayers. I've learned that patience pays off. I've also learned that Matthew is my rock.
One of the greatest blessings is knowing you've made a decision that God wants you to, even if haven't seen results yet or things aren't panning out like you thought they would. This waiting game has been a lot like that.
Hearing the clearance finally went through last week was like Christmas :) We couldn't be more excited about this next phase of our lives. The fact that this adventure is going to take place with an additional new best friend for us just makes it that much more more awesome.
That being said, I'm grateful for the time Matthew and I had this year. I'm grateful for our struggles, fun times, and so, so stinking grateful for that boy.
My dearest "2nd Aunt" sent me a picture yesterday from her recent trip to upstate New York; Schenectady is the city where Matthew will be working.
Oh, and here's a link to part of the Taylor Swift song that has been the soundtrack of our life this week. Yes, we've listened to it more times than I can count.
Congratulations! That is so awesome! My husband is from upstate NY and I love visiting there!
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