We started the year with me (Sarah) pursuing nursing school, completing a mini-mester last December and starting classes in January but then realizing it wasn't right. Shortly after deciding to not pursue nursing school further, Walt received many opportunities for applying for promotions and in February, he applied for two promotions. (same job, two different parts of the country) In March, we found out that he got it but we had to wait and in August, we were finally given the opportunity to move and for Walt to begin his new job. We've been waiting a long time for many things and this year truly showed us to just not plan or anticipate when or what will happen.
We LOVE living in Arizona! We were happy to leave Texas (not the people but the state) and immediately felt more comfortable in Phoenix. In our opinion, Phoenix feels like a cross between California and the Midwest. I can't accurately describe it but you have palm trees and great weather which make me think of California plus you have lots of Midwesterners here. When we wear our Husker shirts, we get stopped a lot by former Nebraskans! It's awesome! (We have also found a lot of Steeler fans! We also get asked if we moved here from Pittsburgh.)
The first three months we were here, I met someone from Omaha (or Nebraska) every week: our realtor, our home inspector, the receptionist at the doctor's office, etc. I told our friend, Traci, about it and when she came in October, we went to Michaels and the cashier knew her zip code was the Omaha area because she used to live in Omaha! That made me giggle that she saw my discovery of Nebraskans in action!
Walt's new job is busy and the hardest he's had but he's adjusting rather well. He is still with the Department of Veterans Affairs and his new title is "Assistant Officer of Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment" or "#2" as he has been nicknamed by the office. (The officer is nicknamed "Dr. Evil" so "#2" was a natural choice for Walt.) His office oversees the entire state of Arizona for helping disabled veterans get back to work.
I am still staying home for now. It's been 7 months since I quit and the time has been quite useful while we prepared to move from Texas, got established in Arizona while we living in a furnished apartment for 3 months, moved into our home on Veteran's Day (11/11/08), and through the holidays. Staying home without kids probably won't last forever so I am savoring every day that I can stay home and take care of Walt, Grissom (our cat), and our house. I've enjoyed having the time to cook more.
For the cat enthusiasts, Grissom has adapted to the changes rather well. He had no problem in the apartment and became comfortable in the house immediately. I think he loves all the extra room in the house but misses all the people and dog watching in the apartment. He learned to open doors in the apartment but those skills weren't brought over to the house. He traveled with us from Dallas to Omaha for Thanksgiving '07 and then in August '08 for my uncle's funeral. A week later, when we drove from Dallas to Phoenix, he was a trooper on the 2-day, 16-hour drive. On day two, about 90 minutes outside of Phoenix, he started communicating his displeasure for being in a carrier so long. Thankfully, that only lasted about 5 minutes.
On the church front, it's been challenging to find the right fit. We heard a statistic that only 14% of people in Phoenix attend church. As the 5th largest city in the nation, that's a very small number. We have found churches that don't have groups in their 30s with young families or they are very rigid in how many are allowed in groups so we've been frequently placed in misc groups with ages 16-65. We found a great group at one church but the drive to church was a bit far so we've started going to a sister church of theirs only 3 miles from our house. There are about 1700 in attendance and we have found two groups in our age range to visit for small group fellowship. (They are currently on a break with the holidays.) We can't wait to try them out soon! We have started volunteering and serving in the meantime and it feels good to start meeting people.
We've been thankful for our friends that have visited us! Helen, Ed, and Jim came to Dallas in May the week of my 30th Birthday and we had a lot of fun. Traci came to visit us in October and we had fun in Phoenix and going to the Grand Canyon. We unexpectedly got to see Jenn and the girls this month when their Phoenix to Omaha leg of their flight got cancelled due to bad weather in Omaha! We didn't get an Omaha trip in as far as visiting. We went in August for a couple days the week before we moved for a funeral. We enjoyed going to Mississippi Memorial Day weekend to see family. We traveled to St. Pete for a business conference for Walt and then came to Phoenix on an exploratory trip. Our only vacation this year was a weekend trip to San Diego in October and we had a great time! We hope to go back soon as it is only a 5-hour drive!
We are looking forward to 2009! While 2008 has not had much going on, we are thankful for the Lord's provision in our lives.
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