Mostly business, some pleasure

Its that time duh duh dum... to get a job, a real job!

We have been so confused on where to actually look. We finally narrowed it down to Arizona, California and Utah.

Why you ask?

 Well after living around absolutely no family for 7 years, we decided that family is pretty important.

But we also decided that money is important as well, so we are looking for a place that will supply both.

Travis was lucky enough to land 2 interviews in Arizona.

Since my whole family was going to be there anyways for a soccer tournament,  the girls and I decided to join Travis in this endeavor.

I'm going to lay it out, I took about 4 pictures this whole trip. I didn't have it in me, so this post is going to be mostly words. There is your heads up.

The business part

Job interview #1 Kearny/Superior Arizona

When we found out about this job, I was sold right off the bat. The location is commutable from Gilbert, the salary is great, they also qualify for tuition reimbursement and its a 40 hour work week, all outpatient (which is what Travis wants). But then Travis was informed that if we don't actually live in the area, than we wouldn't qualify for loan repayment.... which is huge for us! My heart was crushed a little. So on Sunday, my dad, Travis and I decided to go and check out Kearny AZ. We saw the "entering Kearny" sign, and  I was really excited to see the little town... then we saw the "exiting Kearny" sign. We literally had to do a u turn because we totally didn't even see the city. It was so so so tiny. I went through a major country/cowgirl phase in high school, and I always thought I had the small town girl in me. But after seeing where we could possibly live, I decided that that cowgirl was dead. And this is when the anxiety started.

And Superior was not any better.

The next day was the actual interview and it was in Globe, Arizona, where the hospital and company is located. We talked to the CEO for awhile, he gave us a lot of good info. He also said that Globe is in the qualified service area, and we could live in Globe, which was still very small, but so much better!

We went on a 3 hour tour. We learned everything about the town and surrounding areas. So that helped ease some of my anxieties. We ate at a Mexican family owned restaurant that was fantastic. Lets face it, the Midwest is amazing at BBQ, but we lack in the Mexican food world. We met a lot of really nice people, and I left with an open mind.
Travis went back the next day and interviewed more and went and saw the clinics, etc.

Job interview #2, Casa Grande, Arizona

We arrived, and there was an actual city there, fully equipped with a huge mall, tons of stores, and about 8 beautiful subdivisions. This place was a great deal larger than the Globe area. I went on a 3 hour tour with a real estate agent, while Travis met everyone and interviewed. I don't know if it was because I had just been in the Globe area, or what, but I was really excited about Casa Grande. It would only be 45 minutes away from my sister, and it was enough suburbia for me.

But then the punch in the gut happened and the guy told us that its not a guarantee for loan repayments, and the base pay would be significantly lower than the Globe job. 

You just can't have your cake and eat it too.

So that is where we are at right now, weighing the pros and cons and also looking at other options.

We really want to get out of lame medical school loan debt, but we also want to be happy. So if you have a solution, I am open to suggestions!

Now for the pleasure part of this post.... don't get too excited, this is a family blog. Travis had to go back to work, but I didn't so the girls and I hung out with my sis and her family for an extra 6 days. 

Like I said, I took hardly any pictures. We were just so happy to be in the warm sun, that we didn't really plan anything. We went to the park a bajillion times. And then it got cold and hailed.

What the what?

We had an amazing game of kick soccer, where I took my 10 year old nephew out. We celebrated that 10 year olds ten years on his birthday. We played my little pony, and when I say we, I mean us girls and one Jack Jolley, he likes ponies and he is proud of it OK. We went to Bahama Bucks and slurped up the most delicious drinks.

We met up with some old friends.

And of course spent some quality time with this guy 

And then just like that, we were home!

And I survived the plane ride by myself, which I was so dreading!

I'm so glad we payed $200 for this seat

It didn't get sat on the whole time; we were in this position the whole 3 hours

We got home to the aftermath of the biggest snow storm the midwest has ever seen... well that I've ever seen in the midwest, I should say.

And look what this little dear did for us

He loves us 

And we love him

Thank you to my beautiful sister for having us, small kids are hard to handle, but she smothered them the whole time. Also thank you to my sweet parents who I hardly even saw the short 4 days they were there. They watched our kids a ton while we were gone interviewing! 

Well, that is the scoop, lots of praying and decision making for us in the next couple of months!