Basement Help

The basement is coming a long quite well.  It's slower than we would like, but between school, work, church, and the family we put in as much time as we can.  We've been sleeping in the basement for a while now.  The carpet is in, doors are up, and we're starting to finish the closets.  We even have half of a working bathroom.  The kids enjoy being downstairs and they love helping to build it.

Tanner and Cedar helped nail in the shelf cleats into the walls.

Bridger wanted to help find the studs to attach the baseboard to.

Colorado - Some additional blessings

There are two other items that Heavenly Father aligned for us to make the move to Colorado possible.  The first one I want to mention is the location where Annie's parents bought their home.  Kaylene shared this experience with me as additional evidence that our move was blessed.

Mark and Kaylene had been living in apartment buildings for some time ever since they moved to Colorado and were very excited to find and purchase a home again. They found one in Bennett Colorado that was a great deal, completely finished basement, and had very nice upgrades.  They began the process and put an offer on the house.  During the process they didn't feel quite right about it, but weren't sure why.  It was such a nice house.  Kaylene felt so uneasy about it they she got physically sick and was up all night one night with a horrible stomach ache.  She told Mark that night to cancel the offer. The next day he did, and as soon as he did, Kaylene's physical ailments disappeared and she felt better.  They both in fact felt at peace with not purchasing the Bennett house.

Later they found the house they are currently in and though it had an unfinished basement, it was still a very nice home.  This home is in Brighton Colorado.  It was only until later when I got my new position with Intel that the reason the Bennett house wouldn't have worked.  It would have simply been too far of a commute for me to be able to live with the Neslens and work at Intel.  Their home in Brighton is almost exactly between Mark's job location and mine making it a pretty reasonable commute for both of us.

The second blessing we received while in the process of moving that I want to mention is in relation to the lease that we were in in Oregon.  The lease expired the end of July, but we were planning on moving in June.  We were of course going to fulfill our lease agreement, but weren't extremely excited about paying the extra couple months of rent.  When we told our landlord we were moving the appreciated the ample notice we gave them and told us that they would forgive the lease if they found someone else to rent in June and July.  We were excited about that possibility, but were hesitant about having to show the house to potential renters.  We've gone through the process of having to show a house and the inconvenience it is, especially while moving.  We had boxes everywhere and weren't making much of an effort to keep the house clean.

Shortly after we were notified that a family wanted to come look at the house so we went through the process of cleaning to make it as presentable as possible.  The family came, looked, and left.  They seemed pleased with it but were also very polite and nice individuals.

It wasn't long after that when we heard that they did want to rent it and would move in just a week after we were planning on moving out.  This was a huge blessing in two ways.  One, our lease would be forgiven from the time the other family moved in.  Second, we wouldn't have to show the house again, preventing a lot of stress.

I know I've said this a lot in this series of blog posts, but I am so great full to Heavenly Father for taking care of us in even the small details of our lives.  For caring for and loving us so much.  For opening the doors for us to move to Colorado and be closer to family.  We have been so blessed to be here.

Temp to Permanent

When I was working for both the Oregon and the Colorado team there were times when I wondered if the late nights and all the extra work would add up to anything or if it was all a waste of time.  I was worried that the temporary position with the Colorado team wouldn't pan out and I was putting the family through unneeded stress.

In December and January I started to get pretty good feedback from the hiring manager in Colorado. I was basically told that if the position were available I was the first on the list to get it, which was heartening, however, I stayed skeptical.  I didn't know the manager and wasn't sure if she was just saying what was easy to say when talking about a potential position to a potential candidate.  Another issue that was creeping into our minds was the fact that if I got the position sooner than later I would have to move while Annie stayed with the kids to finish school.  Watching both our parents go through something similar we knew we didn't want to do that.  We realized that getting the job soon would elliviate our immediate stress , but could just introduce a lot more.  We thought it would be ideal if I could get the job soon, but be able to work remotely until school was over.  I wasn't going to mention this to a hiring manager, but in a conversation she asked when we were wanting to move.  I told her when school was over, but we were of course willing to do what was needed to get the job.  She assured me that when I got the job I could work remotely until we were ready.  "We are Intel after all", she said.  What a huge blessing that was going to be in our lives.

After I had been working with the Colorado team for several months and with no sight or sound of the hiring freeze ending soon Annie and I started facing more decisions that depended on where we were going to be for the next year.  Cedar's preschool re-registration was approaching fast and we didn't want to lose her spot in the school if we were going to be in Oregon for another year.  It was $75 to register her and we didn't want to have to pay that if we were going to be in Colorado for the next school year.  We thought of just paying and thinking about the $75 as the cost of peace of mind in case our plan didn't go through.  But Tanner's school re-registration was also approaching and it was much more than that and it would not have been a "peace of mind".  We had also felt the Spirit on multiple occasions confirming our plan was going to work so we thought that registering Cedar in an Oregon school would be a display of lack of faith.

The week before the re-registration was due that would confirm Cedar's spot in her preschool Annie and I were at the temple and decided to really focus on the answer to the question, "Should we pay the $75 and register Cedar in an Oregon school".  We prayed independently and both felt a peaceful feeling about not needing to register Cedar.  Without knowing what the future looked like it was difficult for me to just accept that so I continued explaining to Heavenly Father how I thought it would be good to have a backup plan. The thoughts that entered my mind were, "Sure … I can pay.  It's not the end of the world to apply and pay … but it's not needed." With that I continued my prayer expressing my desire to have the faith to follow that prompting, to not apply and risk losing the Cedar's spot in her school.  I also asked that  that trial of faith not last too long and that we would know one way or another if I would be offered a permanent position. I again had a thought enter my mind that within a week I would be offered a position.  I really didn't know at the time if that thought was me trying to inject some of my own will and desire, or if it was the Spirit.

We let the day pass when the registration was due, and despite my fears of anxiety, I actually felt okay about it.  Then, just under a week since visiting the temple I got an IM from the hiring manager of the Colorado team that just said she had good news.  I wasn't able to talk to her until the next day, but she did have good news.  She was very excited to tell me that she was allotted one additional head count, and she wanted to offer it to me.  We still had to go through the process of applying and accepting, but it became pretty official at that point that I was able to move my family to Colorado, after 5 years of trying.  And she again assured me that I could work remotely until the family was ready to move.

I, again, have to doubts that Heavenly Father has made this possible for us, and I am extremely grateful.  It shows me just how much He loves me and knows my and my families needs on a personal level.  How He is able to do that for each and everyone of us I don't know.  But I do know that he does.

Finding a Colorado Job

I have really enjoyed my career at Intel and had a great desire to continue it even after moving to Colorado.  When we tried previously to find work in Colorado I did look both internally and externally to Intel, but was coming up empty in both areas.  I have learned that without  networking contacts it is extremely difficult to even get an interview, so I knew my best bet, and in fact my desire, was to get a new position with Intel.

When we made the decision to try again, I wasn't very hopeful because the Intel's presence hasn't been very big in Colorado.  When I looked previously the Colorado Springs site was being closed, the Fort Collins site didn't have positions for the kind of work I do.  There was also a small site (if it could even be called a site), in Longmont Colorado where half a dozen people worked on firmware which is like what I do in that it is writing code, but it is a very different kind of code and I had no experience.  I did apply when we first started looking but was quickly turned away.

Five years later I was surprised to find several software engineering positions available at the Longmont site. Apparently it had grown, however, I still wasn't very hopeful because the type of programming was still outside of my skill set.  I definitely had a lot of software engineering experience, but it was in the wrong area. I decided to apply anyway, but by the time I had a resume crafted to emphasis the experience I did have along with my abilities to learn and ramp quickly, all of the positions had been removed from the internal job posting.  Feeling like not all of the positions could have been filled that quickly and all at the same time I inquired about them and if there were any still available.  The hiring managers informed me that there was a hiring freeze and they weren't sure how long it would last.  The only disappointment I had was the amount of time I had spent on my resume which, at this point, seemed to be in vain.  I knew it was a pretty long shot anyway.

Then an idea was given to me and I began to see Heavenly Father's hand opening doors and providing opportunities.  The idea given to me was to take advantage of the hiring freeze.  These groups in Colorado obviously had a need for additional help that there weren't going to be able to satisfy, at least right away.  I needed an opportunity to learn a new skill set and prove my ability to do that within a short period of time.  I communicated my desire to my manager and he fully supported me offering part of my time to the Colorado hiring managers as a temporary assignment.  I would be able to use 25% of my time for 3 months to work with a team in Colorado.  My manager and the hiring managers met and made the arrangements.  It would be a win-win situation.  The team in Colorado got at least a little extra help and I got an opportunity to prove myself and make some more networking contacts.  The only party that lost was the team I was leaving, but my manager was very supportive of my direction, in part possibly because he was moving into another position as well.  Again, another situation that seemed to align with the direction we were headed.

So I began to work with this new team.  Everyone was excited to work with me and I began to learn a lot, though I was discouraged how much I felt like I needed to learn.  It really seemed like I was working two jobs, using a lot of evenings to try and catch up with the work responsibilities I had.  It was a difficult time because Annie was in school as well and had her classes at night.  But I was very grateful for the opportunity and I put as much effort as I could afford into it.

The Colorado Decision

After trying a few times without success because of the economy and a lack of job opportunities, Annie and I started to wonder if we weren't meant to stay in Oregon.  We moved to Hillsboro to be closer to work and even though we were renting to avoid establishing roots, we started to look at houses again and thinking of buying.  We decided on Annie going back to school which was going to be a 3 - 5 year commitment in Oregon. We got the kids in good schools and we started making friends in Hillsboro that we would miss.  And of course we wanted to stay closer to Sara and Spencer.

Even though we never made the decision to stay in Oregon we did lose the goal of moving to Colorado.  We both felt kind of lost and unsure of what the future would bring and we were living somewhat complacently. We became very busy with Annie's school and everything else life was bringing to us. Our focus became just surviving the day to day, and whenever we looked up to see the direction we were headed in we really couldn't see very far.

Then one day in a regular one on one meeting with my boss at work, he told me that he was moving into a new position at Intel and he thought that I should apply for the management position he was leaving.  I have never done management and wasn't sure if I would want to, but it would be a promotion and potentially a very good opportunity for my career.  I knew this particular management position would be extremely stressful and even more so for me as a new manager.  It was exciting to think about, but I did not feel good about it, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to bring the additional stress to my family. I decided not to apply for the position, but this opportunity forced me to think long term about my career and where I wanted it to go. At Intel there are well defined tracks for both management and technical positions, but the industry and corporate USA as a whole seem to value managers a bit more. I could probably become a good manager with enough time and experience, but I really like the technical aspect of my job and I'm not sure I would want to lose that. As I was thinking about management versus technical, Annie and I finally decided that what was more important than a position, was our family and being closer to family. So instead of targeting a specific career position, or type of position, we started to again, target Colorado.

At first we made the goal to do whatever it took to get to Colorado after Annie was done with school in a few years.  We hoped by then the economy would improve, and that it would be easier to find work. Thinking about this goal, our future became somewhat clearer than the uncertain cloud we had been living with, and we were excited to have a defined goal again and have something to work towards.

In a discussion with her mom, Annie was expressing some concern about the school program she would be doing and the stress it would bring to the family, and she was asking her mom if she would be able to come help us during a term or two.  In the discussion Kaylene suggested that Annie do the program in Colorado and that we try to move before the program started. Annie only had a few prerequisite classes left before applying to the program in Oregon, so that didn't give us much time, but in discussing it, we really liked the idea and it felt good.  We weren't very hopeful that it would work out, but we started the process again for trying.

It was this decision to start the process again that actually got us here to Colorado. Thinking back to my bosses suggestion to me to make a pretty severe career change was just the nudge we needed to reevaluate our long term goals and get out of the complacency we had been living with.  I have no doubt that Heavenly Father had a hand in helping us to make this decision and that he set up the events that caused us to make the decision that eventually brought us here to where we are today.

We made it to Colorado

When Annie and I were first married both our parents and families lived very close to us in Oregon City Oregon. It was a huge blessing for us and we loved it. We were excited that our kids would be close to grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. And of course the free babysitting wasn't bad either. Slowly, however, family started to move away. Annie's parents ended up in Colorado and mine in Kansas.  Between Colorado and Kansas we knew we had a better chance of finding a job in Colorado, and we couldn't give up both the ocean and mountains, so our goal became to move to Colorado.  Well that was over five years ago, and it has taken us that long to achieve that goal.  But we did it!  We are living in Colorado now and couldn't be more excited.

We know that we couldn't have done it alone.  Heavenly Father has supported us in this goal, and we had many faith building experiences along the way.  We experienced answered prayers, doors opening, and guidance and inspiration that has led us here. We are just as  grateful for the blessing we have received to be able to move to Colorado as we are of the journey and experiences along the way.  In future posts I will make an account of some of those experiences ... so stay tuned ...

A Date With Tanner

Tanner and I had a special date last week, and he was very excited to go bowling for the first time. It was very fun for both of us. It was fun for Tanner as he learned how many pins there are to knock over, when to stop so he doesn't slip on the slippery part of the lane, and how the ball comes back. I had fun watching Tanner have so much fun. I guess that's the mark of a parent. Enjoying your children's joy. I tried capturing Tanner's "Happy Dance", but it's difficult to capture that much happiness in a photo :-). 

 

 After bowling we enjoyed a couple Frosties from Wendy's. It was already a cold wet day, but Frosties just sounded soooo good. 

 It was a fun day.