I've started again...

I have to thank my younger sister Stephanie, for inspiring me to take this up again.  THANK YOU!

This past year has been extremely difficult for us.  Randy was laid off, along with a dozen or so other employees, last October.  We weren't too concerned, he had been in contact with a lot of people at a lot of different companies and they all said the same thing --- "Send me your resume, we have a lot of jobs open, I'll push your's through."  So he did...and his contacts did...and waiting we did...but hiring they didn't.  A layoff we thought would be over by February at the latest just kept going on and on and on and on.

Randy's contacts continued to try to help him and he continued to apply for jobs all over the country, even considering more than once of going back to Afghanistan.  We may never know why God tests us but a year of Randy staying at home tested us in ways we never imagined.  It wasn't just our finances that were strained, but our relationship, our family, our faith.  Through it all though, I never once felt as if we weren't going to make it without losing absolutely everything.

And then two weeks ago the first door opened...and then the second.  Randy was hired on as a consultant by a defense contractor out of San Diego and then shortly after was hired on for a few hours a month consulting for a small engineering firm here in the Bay area.  Watching his demeanor change instantly was an awesome transformation to see.  The spring in his step is back.

So what have we learned through our one year ordeal?  I've learned my husband is an absolutely amazing man who is more resilient than I have ever given him credit.  I've learned that my husband will go to just about whatever lengths necessary to provide for his family.  I've learned that my husband is an extremely creative writer...he has a large following on Facebook of his Barbie Chronicles and has also shown a flair for poetry pertaining to Pave Low.  And even though I have always known that my husband is a good cook...gumbo, dirty rice, Cajun deep-fried turkey - EXCELLENT - I learned that he is a chef without formal training (the 20 pounds I've added on can attest!).

I'm still learning that many of the things that I freak out about on a day-to-day basis will not matter ten years from now.  So now I'm ready to see where the road takes us.  Now that our level of stress has lifted I can see blue skies.