I guess it's time to explain what's been happening over here. This will probably be long.

I'll start from the beginning. Many of you know that the company John works for was recently bought out by another company. John happened to survive two rounds of lay offs, but it was only a matter of time before he too joined the unemployment collecting crowd. So he began looking for a new job months ago. It was looking pretty bleak for a while. He literally sent out dozens of resumes every few days all over the country. I was ready to pack my things and move wherever he found a job. I was itching for an adventure.

Months went by and nothing. Nothing but lots of interviews for the same position: a financial advisor assistant intern type thing. The kind of job that paid about $5 a year until you completed the program and then they MIGHT hire you on. Lame-o is what I said.

So one day our luck started to change. John did a little networking and got a phone interview with this company in Chicago who is worth billions (literally). We'll call them Company A. The phone interview went well and then they flew him out first class and put him up in the Four Seasons for more interviews. During the interviews he found out they not only pay for full relocation, but they also give you discretionary cash for your move, pay full health coverage, full continued education reimbursment and much, much more. Things were looking good.

Meanwhile, John had also started interviewing with a company we will call Company B. They were located in Orange County. They were small and couldn't come close to the things that Company A was offering us. John seemed to like them though, so he contined the interview process.

Company A had a lot to offer. They were a great company and treated their employees very well. However, we soon found out that they were also very, very selective with potential candidates. John had to jump through several hoops for them, but in the end they chose him and made him an offer. He accepted. We were packing our bags for Chicago. Except not really, because they were packing for us.

After John accepted Company A's offer, Company B wanted him to come down for a final interview type meeting. I told him not to go, because he would be wasting their time. For some strange reason John decided to go anyway. He went. They made him an offer. The offer was not as good as Company A's, but it was good. They seemed to really like John and were willing to go the extra mile for him. John came home from that interview and was really torn. I kept telling him that Company A's offer was much better, and how could we possibly say no to free health care and more money? Not to mention it was (a little) cheaper to live in Illinois than Southern CA. We discussed the possibility of working for Company B, but in a "we already made our choice" kind of way.

John told Company B that he would have an answer from them two weeks ago on Monday. When that Monday came around I was ready to just be done with Company B. We had people coming to get an estimate on how much stuff we were moving to Chicago and people calling about shipping our cars. We had a package from Company A with lots of maps and books about Chicago, including a $100 gift card to some fancy restaurant in Chicago. John sent me a text message on that Monday saying " I broke up with Company B. They took it well." This is where it gets interesting. My heart sank when I read his message. For some reason I started to feel really confused. Why did it feel so wrong to say no to Company B?

John had similar feelings. They day after he said no to Company B we again began discussing the choice we had made. All of the sudden we both felt really strongly about Company B. All of the sudden we realized that while we were being swept away by Company A, little ol' Company B was waiting around for us to realize that really, it was them that we wanted. And we started to realize that John is SO not a corporate kind of guy, that even though Company B may not have billions, it does have millions and it's better to be a big fish in a small pond rather than a small fish in a big pond, right? Plus, John realized that the job Company B was offering would get him closer to what he really wants a lot quicker than Company A.

So John called Company B back. The very next day, to ask if the offer was still good. They wanted to think about it. They wanted to make sure that John was commited and that he really did want to work for them. They needed reassurance. John gave it to them and went down AGAIN yesterday to let them know that he is commited. They still want him. And now, we want them. John had to break the news to Company A today and it's still a little scary to me to know that we are walking away from a job that would provide more financial stability for us, but that is where the leap of faith I mentioned comes in. I recently visited with a family friend of ours who made a goal when he was in his twenties that he wanted to retire by the time he turned 50. He retired when he was 48. He obviously had a succesful career to be able to retire at 48. He said to me, "Most of the decisions I made in my career and in my life were based on the fact that they felt right."

For some reason, Company B feels right to us. Company A never felt wrong, in fact, it felt really good. But I don't know that I'd say it felt right. So that's the story. We are listening to the still small voice and having faith that it will all work out. I'm packing my own boxes and won't get the new furniture I wanted, but I know that someday I will. And if you have actually read this whole thing, I am impressed!

I have another little interesting part of this story that includes three different fortunes from fortune cookies but I will write about that later.

Remember when I said we were moving to Chicago? I actually meant Orange County. There is a very, very long story behind this sudden change of plans. It involves many sleepless nights, loss of appetite, stress times infinity and one giant leap of faith. The good news? We still get to keep our tradition of going to the Book Festival. That's not really the only good news. We are excited about the new job and the move, too. And, if you haven't ever been to the book festival, you should definitely try it out this year. Maybe you'll see us there!

Me: My arm hurts from bowling last night. Does yours?

John: No. I have muscles.


The rest of my body hurts from bowling last night, too, but that's another post. It has to do with me chasing my daughter down the lane before she reached the pins.

Thanks Aunt Corinne, for the super cute bathing suit! Devan loves it. I'm a little worried that it might not fit her still when August comes around, but that's okay, because with this weather she will surely get plenty of use out of it.

And yes, while I sipped my (caffeine free) sweet tea and had my feet in the water I did question (several times) why in the world we are moving. But I'm still excited for a new adventure! Happy Spring, everyone!

The other day I made some minestrone soup in the crock pot. John was tasting some and took off the lid to set it on the counter. Devan was sitting at the table and touched the lid with her index finger. Upon realizing that it was hot, she quickly pulled her finger away and said, " I cooked my finger!!"

I like good deals. I like them so much I'll go ahead and say that I LOVE finding a good deal on something. Most of you know this. I am going to share a little more with you, so if you're already bored, you can stop reading.

I have rules when buying clothes. I might have mentioned this before, but I'll mention it again. When buying clothes for Devan I have come up with several rules. Pants, for instance, will not be bought for more than $10. I absolutely will not spend more. In fact, the average price I pay for pants for her is probably around $5. Shirts have to be under $5. I'd say they average price for a shirt is around $2. This makes shopping a little more challenging, however, once you get the hang of it and you know where to go, it's super easy. I have gotten very good at this. I can go in a store and not even see the regular priced clothes. I'm serious. I shop sizes in adavance, so I am never in need of a particular size. I thought I'd do a little organizing in Devan's room today and this is what I found.

In her dresser:

42 shirts. (These are only the shirts that fit her now. And not the ones that are in the laundry, sitting around the house or hidden somewhere amongst baskets of toys).

24 pairs of shorts.

Pants and dresses: (Didn't get around to counting these)

Here are the bags of new clothes that she will grow into in the next couple of years. Organized by size, or course.

I had an economics teacher in high school who taught that in order to get the best deal on something you needed to wait until the item had been marked down three or four times. Here is an example:

Above is an outfit that I bought to have for a baby shower gift. The original cost was $15. Then it was marked down to $11.50. Then $7.50. Then 50% off, which leaves the final price at about $3.75. ( I know you are all amazed by my math skills). That was only three markdowns. You can all imagine now how much fun my husband has shopping with me. You can also imagine my reaction to finding something like this in a store that is actually asking $15 for it.

Anyway, I'm sorry if I've bored any of you, but that is what I mean when I say I think I have a problem. I wonder if there is a penny pinchers anonymous meeting somewhere...