The BIG Job

We're moving up in the world.  In one week's time, Dave has a new job, we have a new place to live, a new car, our house is rented out, the classroom is packed up, and we just sold three large pieces of furniture today.  The blessings that are being SHOWERED upon us!!!

In January, Dave and I started praying hard for a job in Northern California, knowing that we were asking for the impossible. Dave was burnt out on teaching, and Fresno was not a place either of us wanted to live long term. So we began to pray. Teaching jobs are incredibly hard to come by, and administrative jobs are even harder due to the state of education in California. But God is bigger.

Around spring time, several jobs had been posted, but no interviews were to be found.  Dave heard clearly from the Lord in his quiet time that we were to start packing up the house in faith - so we did.  God spoke to me during one of my quiet times so clearly that God was going to move us out of Fresno, and the process would be nothing short of a miracle - a God story.  We continued to pray hard all summer as letter after letter came thanking Dave for his time, but not offering him an interview.  We searched all over California, Oregon, and Washington.......nothing.

Just as our hopes were slim, a call came on July 14th in the morning from Corning Union Elementary School District inviting Dave to interview.  We were ECSTATIC!!! We tried not to get our hopes up, but that didn't work out so well =)  We spent time with Dave's folks over the weekend and used the 7 hour drive up to Chico to rehearse interview questions.  Dave said he felt ready. 

We had friends, family, neighbors, etc. all praying during his interview. Heck,  my sister Cassie stepped into her boss' office with his wife to pray during Dave's interview as well.  The power of prayer was on our side and it PREVAILED!!!  He interviewed on Monday, July 19th, and the next day they offered him the job. Fifty people had applied for this job, several of them within the district.  It is truly the hand of God that was at work in this situation.

So Dave is now the new Assistant Principal at Maywood Middle School in Corning, Ca.  We are both on cloud nine as we have one week to pack up our house!  It's been a whirlwind, but it's been welcomed.  Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.  The pictures below are of Dave's new office, the school mascot, his new school, and his official picture for the school site.

The New Car!!!!

As if things weren't happening fast enough, today we purchased a car!  Dave went to a job interview on Monday, he got the job on Tuesday, we found a place to live in Chico on Wednesday, we drove back down to Fresno and listed the house on Thursday, and on Friday we bought a new car and rented out our house.  Is God good or is God good?  There's a whole story on how Dave got this job that I will blog once we've moved to Chico, but the jist of it is that we felt that God was moving us out of Fresno, and that the process was going to be a witness of His hand in our lives.  We felt that our move would be a God story to share - sure enough it is.

So, we bought a car!  At the beginning of the summer we had sold my car since we didn't need two cars over the summer.  We wanted to buy a car in Fresno since the prices are cheaper.  We have been doing lots of research and were debating over a Honda CR-V or a Toyota Rav-4.  They both had excellent reviews. We ended up finding a Rav-4 that we fell in love with.  It has so many neat features that the Honda didn't have.  It's 4 wheel drive, so we're ready to play in the mountains!!!  Dave negotiated the dealer down $1,000 and we walked away with a car.  God has blessed us more than we can imagine!

A Day at the Beach

While down in Santa Ynez with Dave's parents, we decided to take a trip to Santa Barbara to enjoy the beach.  Dave used to go to UCSB and while living there he discovered an incredible beach that very few people know about (we maybe saw 5 people the entire 3 hours we were there).  This beach is accessed through a local neighborhood and is the home to the migrating Monarch butterflies.  The butterflies make their way south to Central America around January and February and make their stop in Santa Barbara along the way.  We didn't get to see them this year, but we enjoyed the beach nonetheless.  Our dog Oliver was in heaven as he jumped through the waves and ran up and down the beach.  It was an awesome afternoon!

The Ascent......Mt. Shasta!

After school ended for me up in Redding, CA, Dave began his conquest. Mt. Shasta is 14,179 feet tall, and is one of the most difficult mountains to climb.  Dave has climbed Mt. Whitney (14,505 ft) and he says the two don't even compare. The level of training and physical exertion it takes to climb Shasta isn't for the faint of heart.  Dave, Bill (brother in law), and Mike (Bill's brother) had been training for weeks. After conquering the mountain last year, they were determined to tackle another side of the mountain.  Shasta is so unique that climbing a different side is like hiking a completely different mountain.  Ice axes and cramp-ons are needed as the mountain is iced over year round. Helmets are worn at all times since the ascent is a 40 degree incline for a large portion of the hike, and ice chunks tend to fall from up above, coming flying down the mountain at dangerous speeds. The boys slept in ice coffins to keep the wind down (see picture).  The trip was 3 days long.  Day one consisted of hiking up to base camp at 9,400 ft. Day two began at 3am as they began the trek to summit.  Shasta needs to be summited by 1pm because of afternoon storms.  Day two landed them back at base camp to spend the night.  On day three they hiked out. The winds on their trip were so intense that standing a foot a part required yelling just to hear each others' voices. At points the winds were up to 50-60 mph.  The descent was the fun part.  The boys were able to glissade (slide on their bums) down the mountain for about 3,500 ft of elevation descent. I'm just glad they're back, safe and sound.

The Fourth

For the fourth of July this year, Dave and I headed up to Chester to celebrate with family.  We had a great time!  The fourth started out with church in the park, followed up by the annual Chester parade, and to top it off, we spent the evening over an open fire, watching the fireworks on the beach overlooking the peninsula. The following day we went kyacking in celebration of vacation.  It was an awesome weekend!