Decision time

Oh, the crazy lives we lead.

About the middle of March I went to California to visit my family. On going out I was totally secure in the thought that we were going to move to Maryland at the end of the April. Not long after my arrival, I got a phone call from Devon informing me that he had just had another job offer from California. At the time I was totally thrown off guard. I knew that the job in Maryland was an amazing opportunity and I was confused about why Devon was still looking for other work. Well, I later found out that he didn’t go looking for this job. A friend of ours in the Horticulture department, who is also graduating, went and interviewed with this company in Moorpark, California called Malibu Canyon Landscape and Maintenance. He was soon offered a job and was asked if he knew of anyone else that was looking for a job and he recommend Devon. A few days later Devon received an offer from Malibu Canyon (just off of Matt’s recommendation! He hadn’t even talked to us yet). After Devon got the offer and talked with the owner, Brooke Bateman, he sent them his resume and a CD of his portfolio. Soon after Malibu received his stuff Devon was called again and was made an even better offer. Brooke told Devon that he thought that he would be a great fit in the company and really wanted Devon to come out and work for them. He was offered a position as a Design Project Manager (similar to the job that he was offered in Maryland) and offered a higher starting salary than the originally, the also told us that they would totally pay for us to move out. CRAZY!!! So we have had a hard time trying to decide which job would be best for us.

There were a lot of different aspects we had to compare. There was everything from type of company, size of company, knowledge he would gain on the job, what type of job it would lead into, we had the difference in church activity, safety of the community, cost of living, traffic/population, distance to family etc. etc.

After research, list making, analyzing, and debating we finally decided to take the job in California. The biggest aspect that it came down to was the fact that the job in California will give Devon a better rounded learning. In Maryland he would have been in the office designing most of the time. The only time he wouldn’t be in the office is when he would be selling. With the job in California Devon gets to design and sell, but then he also get to manage the project. He is in charge of hiring and firing people for his maintenance crew, he gets to go out to the sites and supervise the installation, and because of all this he gets to use his Spanish regularly which he loves! This will prove very useful if we later decide to start our own business. Another bonus was that Brooke Bateman (the owner) is LDS and so are several of the guys that work for him. That means it should be a good working environment.

So now that we have decided to take the California job, Brooke wants Devon to start April 16! Devon and I are both gone until April 4th and then on the 5th his family gets in and on the 7th he graduates. After all that we will have to pack up and move 14 hours away! Oh, this is going to be Crazy