Employed!

So, normally I would leave this to Will to write a blog about, but I seriously doubt he is going to have the time to do that anytime soon and by then you will all know anyway. But the big huge good news is that Will found a job.

I know you are doing a happy dance for us, and we thank you for that. Gracias.

It's been a long road of unemployment, side jobs, a 2nd job and then another layoff, and lots of job searching. He was originally laid off from Buchan Homes in 2009 (when Preston was 5 months old), due to the really bad economy in the country at that time. Washington state was one of the hardest hit locations as far as unemployment was concerned. 10% of WA's residents lost their jobs, and being that Will's speciality is in finance and real estate it has been extremely hard for him to find a replacement job (2 of the hardest hit fields).

In early 2010, Will was hired on with a security company on a contract-only basis with the contingent that if they landed a big potential job he would eventually be hired on with the company full time. He was laid off 2 weeks before Taylor was born in August later that year.

5 months later, we moved to the island to beaches, beautiful scenery, and cheaper rent. Oh, and did I mention that Grandma and Grandpa live only 3 minutes away? It's been like a vacation almost.

Will has applied to so many countless positions, but has been competing with all of the other out-of-work applicants as well. Applying for jobs in 2011 is so different than it was just even a few years ago. Basically nobody wants to talk to you face to face and will just automatically direct you to their website where you have to fill out an extensive application that includes background checks and essay questions. It would sometimes take Will an entire afternoon just to apply to one job. Once the application is done, it's sent to the cyber world and you just basically have to wait and hear back. Not exactly the best way to get your foot in the door somewhere, right?

Well, right before we left on our 2 week vacation (which we just got back from last night), Will heard about a position with a commercial real estate firm called Grubb & Ellis. One of Will's old coworkers from Buchan actually works there and contacted Will about the position. My first thought was thank goodness, he's actually going to be able to talk to someone face to face and have an "in" when it comes to the application process.

He interviewed literally the day before we left on vacation. A week into our trip, he got a text from his old coworker that he needed to check his email. We were basically out in the middle of no where in the Redwoods, Yosemite, and other random places and had no access to internet or email (we are so old school and do not have smart phones). We found a public library in Oakdale, CA on my birthday actually (Yay I was able to check all my birthday emails! haha), and he got the job offer. He accepted it and got the paperwork rolling.

He ran his 100 mile race this past weekend (which we will eventually blog about soon), and basically the past few days have been like this:

Saturday morning 3:30 a.m. - get up and head to the starting line

5:00 a.m. - the race started

Sunday morning 9:35 a.m. - Will finished running 100.2 miles

Sunday 11 am - Monday 10 a.m. - Will slept, with the exception of waking up to eat

Monday 12pm - we packed up and rolled out

Monday 10pm - We stopped in a motel in Eugene, OR

Tuesday 10 a.m. - We packed up and headed north to Seattle

Tuesday 4 p.m. - We arrived home.

Tuesday 12am - went to bed.

Wednesday 5:30 a.m. - Will got up and went to his first day on the job.

So as you can imagine he is kind of tired and busy and exhausted, hence the reason I'm writing this blog.

So congratulations to Will - the newest employee of Grubb & Ellis. He is on the Microsoft project and is there on the MS campus. Not the best commute from where we are currently living, but eventually we will move back down that way. G & E is a very reliable, stable, reputable firm and we are so excited that he is in with such a wonderful company.

I just want to say that we have been incredibly blessed during the past couple of years. Whether it's been from others offering their kindness and generosity, or from our own smart moves to prepare for hard times, we have really been okay. We know that the Lord has been watching over us. We are very excited to be "back on our feet" if you can call it that, and it will be nice to "pay it forward" in the future to others since we have felt so blessed to receive so much kindness.

Thanks for the support you guys!