Stay, stay, stay, stay for a while

Sooooooo... I've been silent for a while because we've been figuring out our lives.  L was unexpectedly approached by a recruiter back in April and he decided to hear what she had to say.  That ended up leading to a job offer in mid-June, so we had to decide if we wanted to stick with our original plan to move back to Austin sometime this fall or next spring or if we should stay here so he could take the new job.  He was informed on a Monday that the company was preparing an offer for him and the package came through on Friday afternoon.  We hoped and prayed all week that it either be low enough to where it would be easy to pass on or that it would be high enough to be an obvious "yes" response.  Of course, the offer was right in between, so we spent an entire weekend agonizing over whether or not L should take the job.  It was definitely one of the hardest decisions I've had to make in my life and certainly one of (if not the) hardest decisions L and I have made in our marriage.  Until then, I didn't realize how attached I'd become to the idea of moving home to Texas.  We literally didn't do anything that entire weekend except spend time together working on a puzzle while talking through the pros and cons of both staying and moving.  By late Sunday night, I told L that in my heart, I felt like he should take the new job.  It was too good of an opportunity for him and financially it would do a lot for the two of us.  L wasn't convinced yet, so he stayed up after I went to bed thinking through both options.  He still wasn't sure what he was going to say when I left for work the next morning, but I left feeling good knowing that he knew I'd be okay with whatever he decided.  The end of the story is that he had some kind of epiphany during his drive to work and decided that he needed to take the job offer.  So he did, and now we know we'll be here a while longer. 

I can't say enough that this was definitely a bittersweet decision.  It's a great opportunity for L, and by proxy, the two of us.  But it's hard to let go of, or at least defer, a dream you both mutually share.  L is really excited about the new job.  It's a big promotion for him and he likes the people at his new company.  They have some exciting long-term goals for him, which is great.  The hard part is that even though we have an idea of how much longer we'd like to be here, we're not sure how exactly we'll finagle a move back.  The new job is great for L, but it will also make it much more challenging for him to find a new job at the same level if he ends up leaving this one whenever we decide to move back.  But all that aside, we both feel at peace with our decision now.  L started the new job last week and it is going well so far.  It was really hard for him to leave his old position, particularly his boss.  His now-former boss has just been such a wonderful mentor to L for so many years.  L wouldn't have been in the position to even be offered the new job if it weren't for his former boss. 

So that's the big change that we used to usher in summer.  With this under our belts, we are now looking to start fresh in a new place.  More to come on that later when we officially know where we'll be, but keep your fingers crossed for us that we'll get the details on that ironed out this week!