Life...

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."

--Randy Pausch

I've been reading this book called The Last Lecture. (Ok, I've been reading it since before Christmas...but it is REALLY good! One chapter at a time...)

Not sure if any of you know of Randy Pausch, but he was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. I saw him on Oprah a few years ago...and became interested in his lecture.

A lot of professors give talkes titled "The Last Lecture" and are asked if they were to vanish tomorrow, what would they want to leave as their legacy? Randy was asked to give such a talk, but in all reality...it would be one of his last lectures. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

He decided not to talk about dying, but in fact he talked about "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams." It is a GREAT book that I recommend to everyone.

In the book he talkes about the "importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because 'time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think.')"

Since knowing Dustin, we have talked a lot about our personal goals and goals that we have together. We've talked about everything from job goals, babies, investments, and vacations. We hope that we can live worthy of all the things that life has to offer us...even if it isn't what we have planned for the moment.

So when I try to relate to Randy and trying to reach our goals...I go back to his thought...."We cannot change the cards we are delt, just how we play the hand."

5 months ago if you would have called and asked me what the game plan was I had for my life, I would have said:

• Buy a home in Bakersfield, California. We wanted a nice property that we could call home, and that would serve as a nice investment property as time went on.


• Start thinking about having a family. We are excited to SOMEDAY be parents...and think we'd be pretty cool parents at that. Not to mention, I think we'd have some pretty cute kids.


• Get involved in the community.


• Get involved in a job I LOVE!

Well, the week before Christmas, we were delt some interesting cards. It changed our game plan...quite considerably.

Before Dustin and I got hitched, he worked for a company called Praxair. In September of 2007, he left Praxair to work for a wholesale company called ORS Nasco. Besides traveling a ton, ORS Nasco is a great company to work for...not to mention the people he works with day in and day out are wonderful people. Many of his customers have become our personal friends outside of a work setting.

A week before Christmas, Dustins old boss at Praxair approached Dustin with an amazing offer. With a faithful fast, and many many prayers, and even many more sleepless nights, Dustin and I have decided to take the job with Praxair. Dustin's last day with ORS Nasco is this upcoming Friday.

Dustin will be the new General Sales Manager of Southern California for Praxair Distribution, Inc. This is a great opportunity, as well as a great career chance of a lifetime, and I am very happy for my main squeeze. (Not to mention...he will only travel 2 nights a month...if that! Compared to the 3 weeks a month, it's a good thing!)

What this means is that we are going to need to relocate back to the Orange County area. Yes, I know...we just purchased a lovely new home up in Bakersfield. We have found some very interested people who will rent our home and love it as much as we do.

We weren't expecting the dealer to throw out the Praxair offer, but we are changing our game plan...and it is a good thing. We are excited for the next challenge and adventure awaiting us...