DIVISION ADMINISTRATOR of INTERNAL MEDICINE

Congratulations to Nathan Garner.
As of about 15 minutes ago Nate has a new job.
he is a division administrator over internal medicine- but we switched the post title to "of" so it does not sound too pretentious.
He was given an offer at his current company to take a salary position that actually utilizes his education (bachelors in business and Masters in Health Sector management- as if I have not mentioned that before). Hurray for us. Now, we are not rolling in the big bucks yet- so don't hit us up to take you out to dinner. In fact, Nate and I will celebrate this evening with a free pizza buffet that we got coupons in the mail for. However, this will give him great experience and it will be nice when he gets his next big job to say that he was with this company for over 7 years and worked his way up as he was in school. In May he will have his MBA and will be even more marketable- but we plan to stay put for a while.

So what do we have planned in our immediate future?

• Our house is up for sale by owner. We would love to have it sell soon, but the market is not great and we keep lowering our price. Once it sells then we will enter the great buyers market and hope to find a good house. Our original plan was to find a nice big house with brick and shutters that we could live in for at least 15 years. But reality is setting in and we realize that we don't need all of that size with our little ones (even the 3 more that we still want) and that the best choice is to look for a reasonable home that we can live in for about 6 or 7 years and afford now. When we are a bit more established we can find that nice big home- by then we will have bigger kids that need the space. Now our plan is to find the necessities. The first priority is a back yard and garage. Secondary is that we would like a 4th bedroom and a living room family room. We are probably looking at cookie cutter and stucco -but that is fine.

• I plan on keeping my job and keeping up my certification. With all of the budget cuts in Mesa Public schools I feel fortunate to have my great one day a week job (that happens to pay our mortgage and then some during the school year). I think I will do this for a few more years. Even when I'm not working at all I plan on keeping my certification up. If ever I need to go back to the work force full time it will be easier to get back into teaching if I am fully certified. (i'd rather not work full time-i'd rather be 100% home with my kids- but it is important to be prepared in case there is a need). Of course i'll teach my art classes at my house and try to make money in my etsy shops (once i have time to figure them out more and make things to sell.)

• Of course we want more kids- how else do I justify my want for a mini van? Just kidding. I'm sure they are in our future.. we just don't know exactly when. Probably sooner than later- but not too soon. I'm not so great at being a single mom- so having Nate around more often would make for a better environment for raising our kids. (meaning- i'm a little crazy- and need the support of my husband). I am starting to feel a small bit of hunger for a little baby.. we will see if that appetite grows. Maesyn and I even have a name picked out. She really wants a sister- so if we have a boy next she might insist we leave it at the hospital or trade it in.

So that is our plans in a nut shell. Be sure to congratulate Nate when you see him, and give him gift cards to take me out to dinner at restaurants like Carrabbas, Outback and Red, White and Brew. Thanks.