No answers

AH! The sweet sound of the kids laughing. I sure did miss them during our little adventure. I am so grateful my Mom and Dad could be with them while we were gone. It helped us relax and enjoy our time away. And while the kids had a wonderful time too, I was very ready to get home Friday night. My Dad brought Natalie to the airport and I was a grinning fool when she screamed and threw herself into my arms... about knocked me over. We left 68 degree sunny weather in California and I woke up this morning with snow on my car. I love the winter but it will be nice to be able to be outside a little more with the kids in either place we move to.

And with that statement it is time to admit we still have not made a final decision regarding our move. We really did have a great trip and learned a ton about both locations and facilities. We now feel very comfortable regarding all the pros and cons of both places. However, there is still a lot up in the air right now. We are still waiting on several details to fall into place regarding both job offers. When both HR departments get all their ducks in a row perhaps we will see a clear winner.

But we are officially moving... out of our house at least. Our house is now in the "Sale Pending" category. We signed paperwork yesterday and are looking at closing the middle of January. Perfect timing for us. This is extremely exciting because it was a full price offer. Pretty amazing in this economy. Just another "sign" that moving is the best thing for our family. Now I need to figure out how to convince Trevin to put up the Christmas lights even though we will be moving right after the New Year.

California dreaming

What a long day of travels. We left Sierra Vista at about 9 a.m. and now after driving and flying and flying and driving, we are at our hotel. We were able to enjoy an amazing dinner at the ever wonderful Cheesecake Factory and some time in the hot hot tub at our hotel. Now I am very tired and missing my kids. Would really like to be in my own bed tonight with my dog and family but we are a LONG way from making any decisions. I will say the Christmas light wrapped palm trees are a nice touch California. Hope we are able to get some good rest tonight and that tomorrow provides some much needed answers to our million and five unanswered decisions.

Off we go again

What an interesting few days we have had. Sierra Vista was not at all what I was expecting. Lots of businesses and industry. Nice homes and large roads made for lots of people that don't live there yet. We were able to spend the day touring the tower, new radar facility and city. We also had a great night out with people for the airfield and some good friends. It gave us a lot of food for thoughts. Now we are at the Tucson airport about to head on to Orange County for a few days. Wish it was a direct flight but we have to change planes in Phoenix... guess that's what budget flying will get you. Away we go again...

The desert

When we were getting ready to make this trip we received some pretty good advice... "Go to each place thinking the other is where we really want to live. Then let each place speak for itself and convince you otherwise." I think that is a great frame of mind.

Here we are in Tucson. It really does have a home feeling. Living in a place for years will do that to you. And we have some great friends here that make it feel like that too. Today we are going to check out Vail, Sierra Vista and Fort Huachuca. Hope we can discover a lot more about our opportunities here.

Suitcases are out

Guess we can't put this off any longer. I hate packing but we really need to get all organized. We fly out in the morning. Our first stop is Tucson. We are really looking forward to spending time with friends and to being a little closer to making a decision. In the meantime I have a list of chores a mile long. Think I'll have another cup of coffee... hope my motivation is lurking somewhere near the bottom!

The Options

A few months ago, Trevin started the process of applying for a job back in Orange County California. The position is located at Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base. He started his career in the Department of Defense there and we really liked the tower and its location. We will be close to the beach and family and have a front row seat to all the fun, traffic and outrageously overpriced housing southern California has to offer. However, we never expected the process to take as long as it has. We have received an offer but are still waiting for an official start date.

In the meantime, he received a different job offer at Fort Huachuca, AZ. It is a higher GS level in a radar facility. Trevin was stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson for almost 6 years so we are familiar with the goods (gorgeous sun sets and nice Christmas Day swimming weather) and bads (needing to buy Baron the dog shoes again so he doesn't scald his feet) of the desert. However, we are not familiar with Fort Huachuca or Sierra Vista. It has only been a week since we first learned about the job offer in Arizona and we are already progressing much faster in the hiring process than the California job. That is a bonus for us because we are getting tired of being in the "we might be moving" category and are ready to "be moving".

So now we get to start the process of deciding which position we think will work best for our family and which will help us reach our future goals. In order to help make some decisions, Trevin and I are going to take a "Scouting" trip next week. Two nights in both places just the two of us. It should be an interesting experience!