So...Blogging Regularly Hasn't Been My Strong Point...

{one of Jeff's birthday present, coincidentally one of my only successful journals}

I had very wise friend say once that when she journals, if she takes some time away and then comes back to it, she never tries to cover everything she missed. Instead she starts with the present and moves on from there.  That was the best idea that I had never thought of myself, but it really takes the stress out of this whole journaling attempt I'm making here.

But the thing is, I can't quite move on ahead without getting on some of what has happened already.  We have a pretty amazing life (ha!), so in addition to keeping up with the present, in honor of the end of summer I'll be sprinkling in some of our favorite summer pastimes that kept us happy and busy. And if you know me and if I get my way, then you should know that "sprinkling" will be more like a deluge, so hang in there! Here we go....

Klises Take Cleveland

{chocolate chip cookie coma, poor tired babe}

{watching for Poppi at the airport}

{cleveland skyline}

Rarely is it the case, but sometimes, somethings happen that are so undeniably, precisely perfect, that they are undeniably, precisely presented from heaven.  I know of no other explanation for every last need, concern, desire- even wishes you didn't know you had or would never dare dream of- to be wrapped up and placed before you with a bow.  Our opportunity to move to Ohio was heaven sent.  We have absolutely no doubt that we were given this chance because we live true to our moral standards, exercise gratitude for our blessings, work hard, and at those times when we feel our strength giving out and our purpose losing intensity, we immediately buoy up with faith. 

Not only has it been incredible to see all our needs and goals begun to be met, but also amazing to me is the intricate interweaving of our lives.  Lauren is one of my oldest and dearest friends, and her wedding this summer brought together several of our other oldest and dearest friends. One of these friends, Sarah, has a father who has a job I never understood, but I I did know that he was very smart and liked to take apart radios.  Somewhere along the way, I realized that what he does is what Jeff does, and after noting as much to my friend, she told me that her father was actually looking to hire a new engineer. Right away.  At the reception the next day, Jeff did what he hates to do (networking) and talked to Sarah's dad.  Much to my surprise, he came away positively bursting with excitement.  If you know Jeff, then you know that excitement is a REALLY big deal for such an even keeled fellow. Jeff wanted to talk and talk and talk some more about how perfect the job sounded and how much he liked Sarah's father and how awesome it would be to work with him and to engineer with the company. It was exactly the kind of engineering he had been wanting to do and would do..... in his spare time, at home, for fun.....He could not believe how tailored the job pitch was, and even started to back down the next day because he worried that if he wanted it too much, it wouldn't work out for him and he'd come away extremely disappointed.

With the fear of defeat looming, Jeff sent in his resume to two positions in the company. Then he was contacted and asked when he could fly to Cleveland for interviews.  He did so right away, interviewed for both positions, and within a week, he was offered not one, but both positions and asked to pick which one he wanted.  Someone needed to pinch us.  We could not think of any time, any company has made such an offer, but they were gracious enough to explain that they were very impressed with Jeff and wanted him to work the company at the job that would best suit him. We were in a delirium of disbelief and incredibly grateful and glad that Jeff would be able to immediately start working in the career path that he had thought would take years of gathering career experience and more education to work himself into.  

That, in a nutshell, is how we found ourselves watching movers load up boxes and place them on a truck bound for Ohio, just four weeks after Lauren's wedding. There was a lot we left behind: family, our Minnesota "family" of friends, a great first job with a good company, and a frigid, depressing winter (that last one won't be missed, the others made it hard to leave).  But we could never feel uncertain about what we needed to do, because what was right was impeccably obvious. It was incredible to feel such surety.  

We're so grateful to our family and our friends for helping us and supporting us as we've started this new direction.  We know we could not have had, nor accepted, this opportunity if it wasn't for all of the combined efforts that worked together seamlessly to help us get where we needed to go. And mostly, we thank God for understanding the silent, patient desires of our hearts and seeing fit to move us along toward our dreams.  We're in awe of this amazing, incredible, awesome, heaven-sent happening.