Southern Comfort

As many of you already know, we are embarking on a new adventure. After two or so years of searching, we finally found the right job. It happens to be exactly what Jake wanted and we are absolutely happy about his new career. There is, however, one condition. We have to move. I have had a difficult time wrapping my mind around this move, but as the move looms closer, I am feeling more and more positive. Read on to see why.

I don't know if you have ever heard of Monroe, Louisiana. I hadn't heard of it until Jake came home a few months ago and informed me that if we wanted any chance at this job, we would have to accept the idea of moving there. OK. The truth of the matter is that we both kind of came up with this plot together. If Jake's company wanted someone out there, why don't we just go out there? It was the right job. So we set out to find out more about this place. Keep in mind that I have never spent time in this part of the world--except for a brief layover once in Atlanta. I don't think that really counts.

Here is what we discovered. It is the home of this awesome show. Reason enough, right?

I hope you recognize this scenery, because it is a great show. If you don't recognize it, I highly recommend Duck Dynasty on A&E. It takes place more in West Monroe, which is the small town next door to Monroe.

Jake's company was kind enough to fly both of us out to their headquarters in Monroe to see the town and meet some people before we made the final decision. That was my first time ever in Louisiana. I was amazed at how different things are there than here in Denver. That was really my main impression after our short 3-day visit.

Jake accepted the job, and they gave him one year to get moved to Monroe. (Currently he works out of their Denver office.) So we have been busy preparing to sell our beloved home, selling our home, looking for a new home, etc.

We realized that my bro was probably not going to handle this gigantic transition well, so we took him to my sister to hang with her while we take care of all this. We made a fun trip out of it.

In case you're wondering, I get a kick out of recording Jake trying to photograph our kids. So here's Jake trying to get a group photo of the kids and Superman. Ha ha ha.

We put our home on the market and were fortunate enough to go under contract pretty quickly. We close in just a couple of weeks. 

Last week, Jake and I went on a house-hunting trip to Monroe. I told Jake that if the company's people had taken us to eat at the places where we ate this time around, I would have been more positive about the move from the start. It is crawfish season in the South right now. It is awesome. The local cuisine is awesome. Here is a sampling:

This is a shrimp po' boy with fries and gravy. Amazing. The food is reason enough to at least visit this place.

Most important, however, is that we came away from this trip with this.

I can hardly believe it. We are officially under contract on this lovely home. It is not completed yet, so we get to move into a brand-spankin'-new house. It will be our Southern Home. We are very excited about it.

I will let y'all know when Hotel Ross is once again open for business.