seattle, here we come!

the short version: we're moving to seattle! b accepted an awesome job at microsoft and we move at the end of june.

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the long version: here's a little story about faith.

in spring 2009, when b was accepted to BYU's MBA program, he was assigned an alumni mentor. b's mentor happened to be german [b lived in germany for 2 years], had family in our ward in pasadena, and worked at microsoft in seattle -- he & b hit it off right away. b was fascinated by the microsoft culture and asked the mentor lots of questions about the company. we thought, what a cool job.

throughout the MBA program, b and i knew we ultimately wanted to stay in the west; we listed LA, san francisco, portland, seattle and denver as cities we'd keep our eye on for job opportunities. during his first year, b helped plan a student trip to seattle. he toured microsoft and thought it was a great company to work for; he came home and applied for internships and jobs there but never heard anything back. then he was offered an internship in denver and we left for the summer and loved it -- or rather, loved denver, but not so much the job.

that company didn't hire b on for post-MBA work [which happens in approx half of the MBA internships] so it was back to the drawing board for second year. b is amazing at networking and researching, and found tons of job opportunities. he went to career fairs, applied for jobs, enlisted me in researching and applying, did informational interviews, phone interviews, fly backs, first rounds, second rounds...and nothing. no job offers for b. but he didn't LOVE any of the companies, either, so we just kept looking.

meanwhile, most of his classmates had nailed down jobs and everyone kept asking b "got a job yet? got a job yet?" this has got to be one of the most annoying questions on the planet, comparable only to asking a woman who is trying to have a baby "are you pregnant yet?" it's not like we weren't trying!

b stayed pretty optimistic throughout this whole process, but once in a while he'd get down on himself and wonder what was going on -- why he didn't get offers when it seemed like everyone else did. it was my job to be his perpetual cheerleader, reminding him that he IS awesome and capable and that the right job WOULD come along. we prayed and prayed that we would be led to a job that was right for b and right for our family. i honestly believed that the right job was out there for him; it was just a matter of finding it. b is a major planner and i think if he HAD gotten a mediocre job offer back in september, he would have taken it just because he worried nothing else would come along -- and it could have been a bad fit. we needed to find the right job.

spring came, graduation came and went. nothing quite as nerve-wracking as finishing school and having no idea what is next. we gave ourselves till the end of july [when our apartment contract expired] to figure something out, and decided not to stress till then. i felt really calm about the whole thing, knowing it would all work out. b was actually in good company; even now, there are a handful of b's classmates -- also very qualified, competent people -- who still don't have jobs. i really think it's just a weird year for the hiring pool.

a few weeks before graduation, b was randomly contacted by a microsoft recruiter who had seen his resume after he'd applied for those previous jobs. she had a position in mind for him and wanted to fly him out to interview. sure, why not. b had already flown to new jersey and california for jobs that month, so what was one more? he got in touch with microsoft's travel department to book his interview -- and then got a call that the job he was interviewing for had been terminated and they were reworking that whole division. there was one other position in a different area, so maybe he'd like to try for that one? oh wait -- that other position already got filled. another dead end.

then the recruiter called back. she had a different position, this time in a different department, that seemed right up b's alley. he booked his flights and went out there the week after graduation. his interview lasted 7 hours (!) and when he called me at the end, he sounded SO happy. i've never heard him that excited about an interview -- even after the 20+ interviews he's done this year. he loved the people he had met, loved seattle, loved the position. his role would be in marketing, but involved a lot of PR stuff which matched his background perfectly. it's like this job was made for him.

our second day in san diego, microsoft called b and told him he got the job! they made us an amazing offer. we were 90% sure we were going to take it, but that same week he got TWO more offers from companies in california and we had to think about all this. after months and months of waiting and getting nothing, all of the sudden everyone wanted b!

obviously, we've decided to go with microsoft. a few years ago, i might have been a little nervous about making such a big change [i've never even been to washington] but now, i feel so good about this decision. everything just fell into place and seems so meant to be -- how can i doubt that it's right for us? i feel like this job was an answer to all the prayers we've said over the past nine months -- what an amazing thing, to get such a clear answer of where exactly we're supposed to go and know that God wants us to go there...or He wouldn't have set it up so perfectly that i don't even have room to second guess it. answers to prayers always come....sometimes you just have to wait a little longer to get it.

i can't wait to see what seattle has in store for us!