Bonus Year

When Allen initially accepted his position here he was given a two year contract with the option to extend another two years and then one final year for a total of 5 years.  At the time we thought we would stay two to four years.  We thought that that amount of time would be plenty and we would surely be ready to get back to the US after four years.  The fifth year wasn’t really something we thought much about...

We arrived here October 7, 2010.  Whoa!

There were plenty of times in the beginning where we thought we wouldn’t even be here two years.

Last Spring,  in preparation for our departure at the four year mark, Allen looked to see what positions were going to be available to him for our return to the US.  It was pretty slim pickins.  {Yes, we want to be in the Southeast and we also know that there are many more opportunities elsewhere, but we have to try, right?}  So he looked in quite a few places, but there wasn't too much available.  So much for planning!

We wouldn’t mind staying another couple of years.  In the Spring we had sooo many friends who were in similar situations.  There were around 7-8 families who knew they were leaving, but didn’t know where they were moving to or when they would leave. 

Imagine that.  Where will you live?  Where will the children go to school?  What do we need to do to move to_____?  Misery loves company!

It turns out that several families have left and scattered themselves all over the world and some did not…we are still here.

It is hard to have friends leave to start their next chapter, but we are still here…wondering “What next?”   We are anxious to know what our future holds, but we also know that no amount of worry is going to reveal it any sooner than it should be.  So here we are getting ready to begin our fifth year here.

We’re calling it our Bonus Year!

In the spirit of the Bonus Year we are going to do as much as we can to enjoy our time here.  Time that we never expected to have here, but are going to wring every bit of fun and enjoyment out of!

We will be back to living normally soon enough.  If you need to find us we will be on the beach, fishing, having coffee with friends, island hopping and generally living it up, because Bonus Year!.