Safe and Sound in Arizona

Well folks, we're here.

It's been a long time indeed since we updated, and it's more than overdue!

So when we last left you with info was in WA...which was a lifetime ago.
From WA we headed south to the high deserts of Western CO where we stayed with our good friends Chris and Emily Osburn. We got the Civic up and running with a new battery, and we spent the weekend relaxing and preparing for the mammoth tasks ahead. Chris and I played a significant amount of Gears of War 2. It was glorious. And Epic.
We did have a little party at the Osburn's place and also saw many of our old friends at church
that weekend. It was a wonderful time, and I think that we can safely say we'll be coming back through there hopefully within a year. We both would love to see everyone there and in HI
again soon.
Mom and Dad (McIntire) actually arrived in CO shortly after we did after a roadtrip from the Northwest that they had just finished up. We pooled resources and were able to rent one big truck instead of two smaller trucks. We saved everyone some money and caravan'd down to Prescott a day later than anticipated, but overall the packing and travel went very smoothly.
A cop pulled Su over for the cracked windshield on the Civic....how he saw that with us going 60 mph past him I'll never know. I'm guessing that the eye sight of cops everywhere has drastically improved since Krispy Kreme went out of business. :D :D :D
Anyway he let us off easy and we were grateful for that.
We arrived in Prescott after dark that warm evening. The King's had previously agreed to put us up, and Joan fixed a meal that would make the Olive Garden green with envy in honor of our arrival. We also had two other unexpected welcomers that evening...a smallerish Tarantula, and a stinking huge one. I exaggerate not in the least when I say that the big one was as big as my hand.."Run away!!!" They are large and fearsome looking, but fairly docile. Biting is their last line of defense...needless to say, I didn't push even their first line of defense. :)
After a few days of rest, Mom and Dad decided to head to Ruidoso and Phoenix for another look at places to stay. After weighing their options they did end up in the Phoenix/Tempe area so that dad can meet with some of the local neurologists.
Su and I stayed with the Kings for another few weeks as we began to search for jobs and housing. Because of the economic state, housing is in large supply in the Prescott area, whereas jobs are not. Shortly after I began looking for jobs, Bill King took me around to see some of the different businesses, and to introduce me to some of his friends in the area. I dressed up and printed up a few resumes and off we went.
One of the first places we stopped was Keller-Williams Realty, where I met Doug Bunch one of Bill's old friends and a co-owner of the local KW branch. He said he had a few minutes of time to meet with us, and we sat down in the conference room. One hour and forty-five minutes later he was walking us to the door. He wanted me to come back and meet Miki Nakajima, the other co-owner of the Market Center. Less than a week later I met with Miki, again supposedly for 15 or 20 minutes, and again nearly 2 hours later she was walking me to the door. I was due back on Monday for the final say. Monday came and I had a job.
Keller-Williams is a unique realty agency in that they want moral and ethical Realtors more than they want good salesmen. They are also unique in that they are the Costco of the Realty world...the mentality is "sell a lot of houses at lower margins". And it works!
I am currently an IT guy there, prob'ly not a huge shock to many of you. However, Miki has recently suggested that I might make a great Realtor and in the meantime I can help her teach classes to the agents. My classes would of course be computer and tech based and helping the agents avoid trashing their PCs. KW is also unique in that they spend vast amounts of money on education for their agents, which is how the door is open for me to teach Tech Classes.
Miki herself has completed a good portion of her Ph.D., so obviously education is close to her heart as well. Many of the agents are former teachers from the local schools, and a very good portion of the people I work with are believers. I am very humbled and blessed to be part of such a great group of folks.
Su found a job about a week later at the Foot Fetish, a smallerish boutique store in the Bashford Courts. Their specialty is obviously shoes, but they do have a very tasteful and wide variety of clothing as well. The owners are interesting folks...he's an Orthodox Jew, and she's ...well we don't know what she is. Su met a lady who knows the owner, and this lady was very excited to hear that Su is a Christian and that we went to Harvest. Apparently this lady has been praying for Su's boss to get saved for a long time, and so in a sense Su might just be an answer to that prayer. Su likes it there, and the store owners like her as well. They gave her a nice pair of shoes for work and she's been wearing them around and showing them off. :)
Bashford Courts is a tri-level building in downtown Prescott, a very cool, and very old section of town. Prescott itself has a very nice, historical, and yet modern feel to it.
There are numerous old classic autos, and a ton of motorcyclists in the area. They call it "Everyone's Hometown" and we've found this to be very true.
After we landed the jobs we worked on housing. The doors opened for us to rent an apartment in the Prescott Lakes area, a very nice newer community near one of Prescott's many gold courses. It is a little ways out of town, but the 10 minute drive is more than compensated for by the nice area and the lovely apartment. And it was a DEAL too! :) We're trying to get it furnished as we've had to start over from scratch and a couple of hide-a-beds are on our list of must-haves. That way you all can come visit us! :D Aren't we clever! The apartment has some very nice goodies, like a brand new microwave, and a pool and weight room so I can get my lard-butt in shape again! Woot for abs!
We started attending Harvest Bible Chapel, a church that is very similar to Calvary in many respects. One of my old acquaintances from my first time in OR is a pastor there, one Skip Breyer. The teaching is solid and the worship team is fantastic...we really like it there. This last week I auditioned with the media/worship director and he wants to plug me in to the team in about 6 more weeks. He's very excited about this, and I feel humbled to be able to play on the team. They're very disciplined and tight, and I feel honored that they need a second rate, two-bit hack electric guitarist.
Harvest as a denomination is a very cool phenomena. They were started as a direct response to Willow Creek in Chicago, a place to offer sound Biblical teaching instead of pop psychology.
Additionally, they're keeping very close tabs on the emergent church movement and what is going on in Christianity in general. They're very concerned about modern issues and making sure the Word of God stays central. (for those of you who aren't Christians, all of this is a good thing. :D Come to church with us!)
So about a week ago we got all moved in and have been tearing into our pile of stuff that we've somehow brought with us. We're blessed to have a lot less than we used to.
Blessed reductions. :D
The fish tank is fired up again, and we have 2 mollies, a platy, and 3 cherry barbs that are currently our pets. I'm still holding out for a 75 gallon guppy tank in the living room instead of the TV. I'm ok with losing the idiot-box for a huge fish tank.
I want to name the Black molly and the white molly "Goethe" and "Faustas", but Su isn't digging it. She suggested Larry, Moe, and Curly for the three barbs, and I think that'll work!
I did find a Ninja 250...it wasn't exactly what I wanted, but it was such a deal that I would have been a moron to pass it up. I've integrated the rear turn signals and have plans to integrate the front ones as well. For $1500, and being in near-mint condition, I feel blessed to have another bike.
So that's the news! In the future we'll prob'ly be adding piggies into the mix again, another fish tank, and eventually a Christmas tree. I am reevaluating my future in general with KW and the local college and how to make all of that work. I'm still not sure yet, so I would covet your prayers for wisdom in all of this.
We miss all of you and hope you all are well! We have internet as of today, so email us!
Unfortunately we live in a black hole for cell reception, so don't hold it against us if we don't txt or call back. Our phones simply do not work.
But do write and tell us the news! Blessings to you all!

Andrew and Su