I'm back from my blog sabbatical

It's been a while, I know. And to be honest I feel a little sheepish writing after so long. So much has changed since I last wrote here. Let me try and sum up quickly:

January:
Brian was job searching and we were pretty sure he would get an engineering job before our lease ran out. At the end of January we put 95% of our possessions in storage (yes, I parted with my dishes and pots, and pans. It wasn't without tears) and we moved to the Springs to live with Brian's folks while we continued to job search.

February, March and April
We started February with a long awaited trip to Tennessee. For a week and a half Mom and I did the two things we do best: shop and eat. Meanwhile Brian dutifully job searched and met with contacts in town. After our trip South, we settled into Brian's parent's basement. Brian started working part-time at Aspen technologies and I suffered rejection at the hands of Eddie Bauer, Origins and WholeFoods. So in March I employed myself to read the entire Harry Potter series. I also tried to steward my time and few resources well by babysitting for busy moms I know and being useful around Brian's folks'. Brian had a lot of great interviews in March and in April we found out that while his interviewers agreed he was great, he was not chosen for those jobs. The end of April was a real low point for us. We never thought we would be in the Springs for three months and after so long we were back at square one.

Job searching is not something Brian does half-heartedly. It is a job in itself. It's a rare day when Brian doesn't put in a full eight hours either at Aspen or at Starbucks filling out job applications. Words cannot convey the admiration I have for how hard Brian has worked these past five months. So you can imagine how disheartening it was that this season of working in the waiting was not over.

May
In May we realized that our hopes of moving straight from Brian's parent's to our new place with a new job in a new city might not happen as quickly as we thought. And I (after having finished my Harry Potter stint a couple weeks prior) decided to job search again. I landed a job at Target and we then had the income to move out and get a place of our own here in the Springs (with no lease just in case we need to move quickly for a job for Brian).

So we are settled comfortably in our new apartment for the third day. Brian had a job interview in Denver on Friday. And I have my first day of orientation at Target tomorrow.

A lot of people are going through much harder things than we have these past five months. I'm under no illusion that being unemployed and temporarily displaced is the worst of fates. But compared to the rest of my fairly comfortable life, these have been trying months. I'm thankful that while circumstances have been unpredictable and nearly all things uncertain, that God has not left us comfortless. We have experienced the indwelling of His Spirit in greater measure, our sin has become more bitter, and Christ has become increasingly sweet.

If you asked me what it was like living with my in-laws, I would have to say it was like living with friends. I enjoyed Sandy's company immensely. I'm thankful for the friendship we cultivated in my time there. I would also have to say that living my in-laws has given me insight into all those little things that used to make me wonder "Where does Brian get that from!?" Now I know ;)

So now that life is a little more normal, I will probably update more often. I better go iron my khakis for tomorrow!

Love,
Ash