Rewind, Recap, & Revive! - Part 1
10 years ago
Monday, March 30, 2009
Job Update (sort of)...
So the FSU people were supposed to have made a hiring decision by the end of last week. As I was leaving work on Thursday I decided to mentally move along. I still didn't hear anything Friday, so that was pretty much the nail in the coffin. Or so I thought. The lady who I interviewed with emailed me at 6:00 Friday night and said that they actually haven't made their decision yet. They had "some scheduling conflicts" that made them run behind on interviewing the other 2 people. She and the other interview dude are out all this week, so they won't be making their decision until NEXT week. So I will continue to wait...
Monday, March 23, 2009
Another interview behind me
I was supposed to have an interview this morning over webcam. Thank the dear Lord they weren't able to figure it out, so we just did it over the phone. This time I spoke with the department head. The lady who gave me the first phone interview was also in the room listening on speaker.
In a nutshell, it went really good! He didn't ask me anything that stumped me and we had good conversation. When wrapping things up, he said that I was "very pleasant to speak to and he likes my past experience" but he has to speak with the other 2 candidates this week before he makes a decision. He said his one concern is that he has never hired anyone with only having phone interviewed them, so there's a chance (uuugh!) I may have to fly down there after all. I'd love to see family, but there goes $250 on a plane ticket.
I told Dane that if I didn't get the job, it would suck, but I couldn't have had a better interview. So if they hire someone else, they were just more qualified, and I can handle that. :-) I should hear something by the end of the week.
In a nutshell, it went really good! He didn't ask me anything that stumped me and we had good conversation. When wrapping things up, he said that I was "very pleasant to speak to and he likes my past experience" but he has to speak with the other 2 candidates this week before he makes a decision. He said his one concern is that he has never hired anyone with only having phone interviewed them, so there's a chance (uuugh!) I may have to fly down there after all. I'd love to see family, but there goes $250 on a plane ticket.
I told Dane that if I didn't get the job, it would suck, but I couldn't have had a better interview. So if they hire someone else, they were just more qualified, and I can handle that. :-) I should hear something by the end of the week.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Baby Megan
Of course, all my NC friends know this situation. So this post is mainly for my far away friends to read. I have a friend here in NC named Amber. We met for the first time maybe a month after I moved here. Unfortunately she doesn't live in Raleigh, so we never got to see each other as much as I would have liked. I have told Dane this and I have told her this- I know without a doubt in my mind that if we had lived closer to one another (she lives about an hour and a half away) that we would have been really really good friends. Now that I know her a little better, and now that little Megan is on the way, I am finding it really hard to be 100% happy about relocating back home right now. I want to be here for her so bad.
Amber suffered a miscarriage over a year ago and she and her husband Steve tried for quite some time to get pregnant again. Around Thanksgiving time they found out they were expecting. They wanted to keep the sex a surprise, but they already have precious boy and girl names picked out. Last Friday, Amber and Steve's lives were turned upside down. Every mother, mother-to-be, or woman who wants to become a mother someday's absolute worst nightmare came true. They went to their "big" 20 week appointment where if they so chose to do so, they could have found out the sex. Instead, some measurements were off. Their sweet baby was diagnosed with "lethal skeletal dysplasia" which is the most severe type of dwarfism out there. After hearing this they decided to find out the sex, so they could be as prepared as can be for what lies ahead. They were told that their little Megan Grace will live for a few minutes to maybe a few days after being born.
Amber will be carrying Megan full term. She plans on taking the best care of her in the amount of time she has with her. She and Steve will be spending the next several months preparing for the worst, but through this all, they know that God still has time to perform miracles. They will soon be seeing a whole new set of doctors at Duke- as far as medical care goes, it's among the best in the nation. How blessed they are to be living right next door to such a place at a time like this.
A group of friends have created a blog to keep us all updated on Megan. I'm sure I'll be updating as time passes too...I tell you this heartbreaking story because Amber needs your prayers. I think we all know the power of prayer. You don't know her personally, but she needs every single prayer she can get.
Amber suffered a miscarriage over a year ago and she and her husband Steve tried for quite some time to get pregnant again. Around Thanksgiving time they found out they were expecting. They wanted to keep the sex a surprise, but they already have precious boy and girl names picked out. Last Friday, Amber and Steve's lives were turned upside down. Every mother, mother-to-be, or woman who wants to become a mother someday's absolute worst nightmare came true. They went to their "big" 20 week appointment where if they so chose to do so, they could have found out the sex. Instead, some measurements were off. Their sweet baby was diagnosed with "lethal skeletal dysplasia" which is the most severe type of dwarfism out there. After hearing this they decided to find out the sex, so they could be as prepared as can be for what lies ahead. They were told that their little Megan Grace will live for a few minutes to maybe a few days after being born.
Amber will be carrying Megan full term. She plans on taking the best care of her in the amount of time she has with her. She and Steve will be spending the next several months preparing for the worst, but through this all, they know that God still has time to perform miracles. They will soon be seeing a whole new set of doctors at Duke- as far as medical care goes, it's among the best in the nation. How blessed they are to be living right next door to such a place at a time like this.
A group of friends have created a blog to keep us all updated on Megan. I'm sure I'll be updating as time passes too...I tell you this heartbreaking story because Amber needs your prayers. I think we all know the power of prayer. You don't know her personally, but she needs every single prayer she can get.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
One step closer!
I got the phone call that I have been hoping for! The phone interview from this past Friday has led to a "face-to-face" interview with Florida State. I was kind of excited to get to go home for a couple days, but that's not going to happen. :-( Although I'm sad about that part, the good thing that has come of this is that I don't have to spend $250 on a plane ticket. They want to do a web-cam interview on Monday morning. Being that I have never had an interview via this method, it is kind of nerve-racking! My computer has a web cam, but I've never even used it other than for the face-morphing feature. So hopefully I can get it mastered this weekend sometime. So thank you SO much to anyone who took a minute to say a prayer or think good thoughts for me. I'll keep you updated!
Monday, March 16, 2009
big changes for the Nelsons...
I haven't blogged in a long time! As far as fun and exciting things to report, I've got nothing. :-/ There have been so many occasions that I wanted to update here, but until I knew EXACTLY what I wanted (this will make sense in a minute), I didn't want to spill my thoughts. Well, Dane and I have been dealing with making some huge decisions over the past couple months, and we've finally come together as one and are in agreement with what we want to do.
A very few of you already know this, but Dane and I are going to move. This was such a huge decision and not an easy one to make. We don't know when (or even exactly where) yet. Bottom line is that we want to be, and need to be closer to home. We were very excited to move to North Carolina nearly 2 years ago and begin a brand new chapter of our life together. We had such high hopes. There have been many things that we have loved up here and will truly miss. First and foremost, I have met some of the most awesome girls I could have asked for. We also have loved feeling what a season really feels like. Fall and spring are heaven up here, and we both got to experience our first "real snow." NC also doesn't have to deal with "love bug season" or with 2 or 3 weeks of a thick yellow coating of pollen all over EVERYTHING (cars, house, patio furniture, driveway, bushes...). Nor do you walk outside and have your glasses or sunglasses immediately fog up because of the humidity. We will also miss some of the great shopping and food. Oh Armadillo Grill, how I will miss thee. Living 2 miles from Triangle Town Center has been awesome.
So if we like Raleigh this much, why not sacrifice some things (like many other people have) and just stay? Well, one reason goes all the way back to my childhood. Though we don't have kids yet, this is strongly influencing the decision. Though I had a picture perfect childhood that I can only pray that I will be able to provide for my kids, I wasn't lucky enough to grow up with family living close by. We were closest to my paternal grandparents because their Florida house was about a 3 hour drive from ours. During the summers they lived in the mountains of NC. My dad's brother's family also lived in the NC mountains. So to visit them it was a 6-7 hour drive. My mom's parents and my aunts, uncles, and cousins are all in Oklahoma. I can count on 2 hands (easily) the amount of times we've visited. I just don't want this for my kids. I have a niece who lives in my hometown, so from the time she was born, she has been around my parents, her grandparents, at least weekly. The dynamic between them is so wonderful to see. There isn't any awkwardness. She loves them and talks to them just as she does her own parents. I want my kids to know their grandparents in this capacity too. And if we want to take this to a whole other level, working in the industry I am in, I can't help but be reminded that parents aren't going to live forever. Time is precious and family is precious. I don't want to miss out on their last years, whether that's 1 year from now or 30 years from now.
About a month ago, a position opened up within Dane's company in Orlando. When he asked me "Would you want to move to Orlando?", I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it because ultimately we want to be back in a smaller town away from the hustle and bustle and the crime and the traffic. Orlando offers none of the above. :-) But the more I got to thinking about it, the more sense it made to give it a shot. It would pay a good bit more and would get us a LOT closer to home. Plus we do have some friends there. So he went for it and was told by a general manager and a regional manager that he had a really good chance. Well he got a call last Monday saying that they weren't going to consider him for the position because they felt it was too big of a jump from where he is right now.
Once getting that news, I have jumped into high gear applying for jobs. The majority of my applications were placed in Tallahassee and I have 1 in Jacksonville and 2 in Gainesville. Tallahassee is a place where we were very comfortable and would be more than happy to return to. It's an hour and a half from my parents and 2 hours and 15 minutes from Dane's parents. Close enough without being too close. :-) We're including Jacksonville and Gainesville simply because they are close to home and may have a lot to offer. We know that this could NOT be a worse time to just up and move and attempt to find a new job. We just feel as if it is something we HAVE to do in order to be happy.
Last Thursday I applied for a position at Florida State's College of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics. Friday they called me. That was shocking. State jobs in particular are NEVER in a hurry to hire anyone. They did a phone interview which lasted about 50 minutes. It went really really well and a lot was covered. The lady said that she had a couple other people to speak with on the phone and then she would talk to her boss when he returned on Monday (today). So I'm kind of on pins and needles waiting on the phone to ring. She didn't say she'd call me today, but she did say that they wanted to fill the position by the END OF THE MONTH. Kids, that's only 2 weeks away.
This has dragged a bit. :-) So if I think of other updates, I will make a new post. Everyone pray for the right jobs to come along and for this super difficult transition.
A very few of you already know this, but Dane and I are going to move. This was such a huge decision and not an easy one to make. We don't know when (or even exactly where) yet. Bottom line is that we want to be, and need to be closer to home. We were very excited to move to North Carolina nearly 2 years ago and begin a brand new chapter of our life together. We had such high hopes. There have been many things that we have loved up here and will truly miss. First and foremost, I have met some of the most awesome girls I could have asked for. We also have loved feeling what a season really feels like. Fall and spring are heaven up here, and we both got to experience our first "real snow." NC also doesn't have to deal with "love bug season" or with 2 or 3 weeks of a thick yellow coating of pollen all over EVERYTHING (cars, house, patio furniture, driveway, bushes...). Nor do you walk outside and have your glasses or sunglasses immediately fog up because of the humidity. We will also miss some of the great shopping and food. Oh Armadillo Grill, how I will miss thee. Living 2 miles from Triangle Town Center has been awesome.
So if we like Raleigh this much, why not sacrifice some things (like many other people have) and just stay? Well, one reason goes all the way back to my childhood. Though we don't have kids yet, this is strongly influencing the decision. Though I had a picture perfect childhood that I can only pray that I will be able to provide for my kids, I wasn't lucky enough to grow up with family living close by. We were closest to my paternal grandparents because their Florida house was about a 3 hour drive from ours. During the summers they lived in the mountains of NC. My dad's brother's family also lived in the NC mountains. So to visit them it was a 6-7 hour drive. My mom's parents and my aunts, uncles, and cousins are all in Oklahoma. I can count on 2 hands (easily) the amount of times we've visited. I just don't want this for my kids. I have a niece who lives in my hometown, so from the time she was born, she has been around my parents, her grandparents, at least weekly. The dynamic between them is so wonderful to see. There isn't any awkwardness. She loves them and talks to them just as she does her own parents. I want my kids to know their grandparents in this capacity too. And if we want to take this to a whole other level, working in the industry I am in, I can't help but be reminded that parents aren't going to live forever. Time is precious and family is precious. I don't want to miss out on their last years, whether that's 1 year from now or 30 years from now.
About a month ago, a position opened up within Dane's company in Orlando. When he asked me "Would you want to move to Orlando?", I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it because ultimately we want to be back in a smaller town away from the hustle and bustle and the crime and the traffic. Orlando offers none of the above. :-) But the more I got to thinking about it, the more sense it made to give it a shot. It would pay a good bit more and would get us a LOT closer to home. Plus we do have some friends there. So he went for it and was told by a general manager and a regional manager that he had a really good chance. Well he got a call last Monday saying that they weren't going to consider him for the position because they felt it was too big of a jump from where he is right now.
Once getting that news, I have jumped into high gear applying for jobs. The majority of my applications were placed in Tallahassee and I have 1 in Jacksonville and 2 in Gainesville. Tallahassee is a place where we were very comfortable and would be more than happy to return to. It's an hour and a half from my parents and 2 hours and 15 minutes from Dane's parents. Close enough without being too close. :-) We're including Jacksonville and Gainesville simply because they are close to home and may have a lot to offer. We know that this could NOT be a worse time to just up and move and attempt to find a new job. We just feel as if it is something we HAVE to do in order to be happy.
Last Thursday I applied for a position at Florida State's College of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics. Friday they called me. That was shocking. State jobs in particular are NEVER in a hurry to hire anyone. They did a phone interview which lasted about 50 minutes. It went really really well and a lot was covered. The lady said that she had a couple other people to speak with on the phone and then she would talk to her boss when he returned on Monday (today). So I'm kind of on pins and needles waiting on the phone to ring. She didn't say she'd call me today, but she did say that they wanted to fill the position by the END OF THE MONTH. Kids, that's only 2 weeks away.
This has dragged a bit. :-) So if I think of other updates, I will make a new post. Everyone pray for the right jobs to come along and for this super difficult transition.
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