End of an Era & Beginning Anew

I haven't been online much because I didn't want to field questions to which I had no answers, but Aimee and I are now ready to make an announcement.  We're leaving the Army.

I've been on the job hunt for a few months now, and just this week I accepted a project management position with ConnocoPhillips.  I'll be constructing new oil-&-gas wells near Kenedy, TX, south of San Antonio, in the Eagle Ford formation, one of the most productive shale formations in the US.

This move has been a long time coming - the MS in Geological Engineering I earned back in 2010 was part of it - but Aimee and I weren't planning on leaving this early at first.  As usual, though, God led us in the direction He wanted us to go, and things worked out in ways we never would've expected on our own.  For example, we didn't expect to be able to move back to Pasco, WA.

The position I accepted at ConnocoPhillips is typical of the oil industry in that the work goes 14 days on and 14 days off, and ConnocoPhillips pays for employees to travel to the well site from anywhere in the lower 48 states.  Because of that, Aimee and I decided to move back to Pasco, where my parents, older brother (Mauricio), sister (Albania), brother-in-law (Jacob) and nephews live.  On top of that, we have lots friends in town and nearby - the Bradburies, Edwards, Millers, Morris, Fragosos, Radachs and many more.  And Aimee's parents and my brother (Josue) and sister-in-law (Stephanie) are only a couple hours away.

In short, we get the best of both worlds.  I get to work in the industry where I've desired to work for years now, and we get to live among an abundance of old friends and family.  The price for that is that I'll be working in southern Texas half the time, but then again, I get two weeks every month at home with no work to do - except for all the honey-do projects that Aimee will surely conjure up for me.

Honestly, this has been a scary time.  The job hunt was grueling and discouraging, with lots of dead ends and false hopes.  But God had something better in store for us than what we had planned.  We are truly blessed, and now I feel guilty for all the times I doubted God along this road.  You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now.

Thanks for all the prayers, everyone.  We still need to sell our old house and buy a new one (Bani's already hard at work looking for a house for us), so please be praying about that.  We'll keep you all informed as the situation develops.

At Abuelito & Abuelita's (Part 1)

We're in Pasco!  After a church potluck on Sunday, Aimee, the kids and I packed up the car and headed to Abuelito & Abuelita's (my parents) house.  Somehow, we always leave with more stuff than what we brought when we visit either of our parents.  

It's about a 2.5 hour drive from Oakesdale to Pasco. 

Oakesdale is in the Palouse Hills region of Washington, with rolling hills covered in wheat fields as far as the eye can see.  One of the most prominent terrain features of the area is Steptoe Butte. 

 

We didn't see any this day, but you can often see paragliders taking off from the Butte.  Below you can see a succession of photos as we drove west.

   

Moving further west, the landscape gets dryer and more rocky.

 

 

 

Grape vines are a sure sign that you've reached the Columbia Basin.

Once at Abuelito and Abuelita's, Eli wasted no time jumping on the trampoline Abuelita bought just for our visit.

Judah (the second of my four nephews) jumped in to teach Eli how to bounce.

More kids joined in.

Heidi explored the yard.

Eli's favorite part of Abuelito and Abuelita's house, though, is the mud pit.

Uncle Jake played with Eli and Jer-Bear and a Lego Thomas the Tank Engine train set that's been passed down from his boys (my nephews).

Abuelita made one of my favorite Nicaraguan dishes - bigoron!  It's yuca, cabbage salad and chicharrones (pork rinds), but she also added fried platanos (plantains) and fried cheese.  Yum!

After dinner, the little kids went right back out for more trampoline fun.

This morning (Monday), Eli went right back to the mud pit.  This kid loves dirt! 

My mom's friend, Dianne, joined us for lunch.  Jer-Bear loves dirt as much as his big brother!

The rest of the kids, however, enjoy the trampoline the most.

Eli's other favorite activity is helping Abuelito water his garden.

See you next time!

At Gamma & Gampa's House (Part 4)

This will be the last post from Gamma & Gampa's.  We went back to Benewah Lake for one last time.  The weather was a little cooler, so we didn't stay as long.  The kids were freezing after a couple hours of swimming.

 

 

The little boys were the first to want out of the water.  Fortunately, there's a playground near the beach. 

 

Aimee shot some photos, so I'm in some of them for a change. 

Jer-Bear loves playgrounds, but he's not quite stable enough on his feet yet. 

Yes, I'm a nerd and I wear Vibrams.  A clear sign that you've spent too much time in the Middle East is that you're more comfortable in the Afghan squat than on one knee. 

 

Jer-Bear doesn't quite get slides yet. 

 

 

As I mentioned earlier, Eli is compelled to throw things into water.  Even when he's at a playground. 

Here are a couple long distance shots of the kids taken from the playground. 

I tried to teach Jer-Bear how to slide. 

He just wants to climb back up the slides. 

On the way back to Gamma and Gampa's, we fueled up in Plummer, ID. 

Ouch!  $3.899/gallon is no joke!  However, our mileage improved again.

20.7 mpg is excellent for such a large vehicle.  I assume it improved so much because we've been driving at about 55 mph, as opposed to 75 mph.  Air resistance is a huge factor in fuel mileage, and air resistance increases exponentially with increasing velocity.  The Sprinter van has a coefficient of drag roughly equal to that of a barn, so it's conceivable that a 20 mph change in driving speed would result in a 2 mpg change in mileage.  We'll see how we do with the next tank.