an update

I thought I would take a moment and give a brief overview of what has been going on with our family. Many of you know bits and pieces and in some cases you may know more than I do!

In April I was interviewing with a few firms trying to find a job. Two of the big ones were The Midland Company and NASA. Midland offered me a job and NASA delayed. It was a looooooong process with NASA trying to get paperwork and various approvals. It was taking so long I basically counted it out so I accepted a job at Midland. Immediately after graduation (in June) I started working at The Midland Company, an insurance company in Amelia, OH.

Sometime in mid-July (I believe) NASA made me an offer which I turned down. Everyone was shocked. NASA was shocked, my family was shocked, my in-laws were shocked, everyone. We turned it down for a number of reasons. Salary was a big one. NASA wasn't offering as much as I was getting at Midland. Midland is a great company with an awesome culture. We liked our ward and didn't want to leave. We were settled and getting comfortable.

Then NASA came back with another offer and we haggled for a few weeks. The approval process went all the way up the Center Director for the Glenn Research Center. Eventually we decided that the opportunity at NASA was too good to pass up so in what was an AGONIZING decision we decided to say goodbye to our friends and family and move to Cleveland.

Now to make things more complicated we had to wait for approval from NASA to move. We didn't need their approval to move but we needed their approval so they would pay for it. Also at this time was a 1 week class in Virginia I needed to take for my new job. As it has happened more than once in our marriage when it is time to pack and move I conveniently am out of town. It is really odd how that happens. But it all worked out this time. When I got back we boxed up everything and moved the next weekend.

So as of the 18th of October we are residents of Cleveland, Ohio. We actually live in a suburb of Cleveland - North Olmsted. That's right we live in North Olmsted. It is very strange to see my name EVERYWHERE. We have a great little house with lots of light (which is imperative for Shanna). The kids are adjusting extremely well. We are 5 minutes from work, 5 minutes from church, 5 minutes from a YMCA. To paraphrase Everett in "O Brother, Where Art Thou" its a geographical oddity, 5 minutes from ever'where.

Now many of you may want to know what I'm doing at NASA. I am in the NCIP or NASA Contracting Intern Program. The 2 second description is that I will be buying stuff for NASA. NASA is trying to shift from the old government way of doing stuff to a more modern private sector approach. They still have old school government requirements so it is more of a hybrid approach. Because NASA had an 11-year hiring freeze and the nature of this program I am expecting a rapid promotion schedule. I will be at Glenn for 12 months then rotated to another NASA facility for 18 months then back to Glenn.

Non-work related news
Another bit of fantastic news in our world is that Shanna is pregnant! She is about 11 weeks along and doing well. She has been having bouts of nausea but managable. I keep her happy by feeding her copious amounts of indian food. That always seems to settle her tummy.

We of course want a healthy happy baby and we love our boys but I think we are hoping for a girl. It will be strange being outnumbered by our kids. We have to shift from man-to-man to a zone coverage but will be okay.

In our new house we have put the boys together in a room and have made the 3rd bedroom a play room. When the baby comes it will be the baby's room.

I think that is about it. There are other things but I'm tired of typing and I'm sure you've stopped reading at this point anyway.