How It All Began

This whole crazy process began on November 27, 2006, when Ryan found out he was getting laid off from Gerber Legendary Blades. They were downsizing and he was one of the "lucky ones" who was let go and given a severance package. At that time, we saw it as a blessing...Christmas was just around the corner and this would be like an extended vacation, right? So, before he began focusing on looking for work, we enjoyed some great family time together and celebrated the holidays. After New Years, however, the search began. He had dozens of interviews and sent applications to countless firms in Portland and Vancouver. But, each one with the same result - they weren't ready to hire anyone at this time, he was over or under-qualified in that particular field, they couldn't match his previous salary, etc, etc. We began to wonder what the Lord was doing and where He wanted us to be. After much prayer and deliberation, we decided to broaden the job search out of state...and we were amazed at what we found!

It seemed like all of the great job opportunities were in every state but Oregon. Ryan got connected with several recruiters, who all had companies that were interested in talking to him. He was flown to California, Washington, Arizona, Florida and Ohio for interviews. It finally began to narrow down to three - Florida, Arizona and North Carolina. We continued to pray and even began looking online at those areas. The more that time went by, the more we felt comfortable with the idea of moving away. The Lord slowly poured peace into our hearts and we were able to completely let go and give Him control to take us wherever He wanted. Now, we just had to see who made an offer first. :) We were leaning towards North Carolina as our preference, because it was such a nice community and a great place for young families...plus it didn't have the desert heat of Arizona or the hurricanes of Florida.

The Lord answered our prayers on Monday, March 20th! Ryan was in Ohio for a final round of interviews with Rubbermaid and, while he was there, they offered him a job! Two days later, Armor Holdings in Arizona sent in their offer, but we already knew that God's hand was leading us to North Carolina. Things have moved quickly since then...Rubbermaid flew us out to Huntersville, NC (which is where Ryan's office will be) to take a look at the area, find the neighborhoods we liked and get a feel for things. It was 80 degrees and beautiful - we fell in love with it instantly! Below is a picture of Lake Norman, a huge man-made lake in Huntersville, and Birkdale Village, a quaint shopping area right by Ryan's new office: