Rockline Interview #2 and Rachel's First Time in a Pool

Jared graduated Friday night, and we headed to Arkansas Saturday.

Allie actually went with Maria Friday night. Knowing that a real estate agent was going to show us around the area, we thought it would be best if Allie didn't come along for the long weekend trip. She got to have fun with Maria from Friday night until Sunday late afternoon, when she then went to stay at the Brown's house. She was with them until Tuesday morning and then went to play at the Neely's house until we got back late that afternoon. Allie had a blast, which we figured she would. She cried when she saw us and didn't want to go home. Sad, right? Luckily, we know she loves us. She just loves to play, play, play.

We stayed in a Residence Inn by Marriott in Springdale, AR. Rockline paid for it, which was wonderful. We checked in Saturday afternoon and then headed out with the realtor, Mike Philip. He drove us around Fayetteville (just south of Springdale), Johnson (SW of Springdale), Springdale, and a little further north. We looked at a few new construction homes that we had seen online and decided we wouldn't be interested in them. But we enjoyed seeing the area some more.

One of the engineer managers, Gabriel, took us out to dinner Saturday night. His family came, too. They have a little girl about Allie's age, and a little boy just a little older than Rachel. It was nice that they picked a family-friendly restaurant that was very yummy, too. Gabriel and his wife (I can't think of her name right now and it is driving me crazy.) seemed very nice. We had a wonderful time with them, though Rachel met her limit while we were at the restaurant. She had been so good with the drive to Arkansas and then driving around with the realtor. Dinner was running into her bedtime, and she was done. She started crying hard, which is not like Rachel at all. Since they had kids, too, they completely understood.

We went to church on Sunday, and the ward we attended was small and very nice. They kept telling us to look for homes in their ward boundaries.We didn't promise anything, but they were very nice.

Jared had more interviews and meetings on Monday, so Rachel and I spent the day at the hotel. Jared also took a test, which somehow was going to influence the salary they would offer him. Jared's interviews went well, and we all went to dinner with an engineer named Wally and his wife Sue. It was good food, and they were a very nice couple. They invited us to see their neighborhood and home afterward, so we went ahead and went. They really were very nice. We really liked the families that we were meeting. Everyone was very warm, easy-going, and down-to-earth. We felt like it would be a good match for us.

Tuesday was a free day, and there wasn't too much that we felt we hadn't done, yet. So we took advantage of the pool at the hotel. This was Rachel's first pool experience. I actually forgot to take the camera down at first, but I decided I would regret not getting pictures of her first time in a pool, so I ran back up to the room. Good thing, because look at some of the cute pictures we got.



Rachel really enjoyed the pool, which was what we expected. She has always loved the water. It was a lot of fun. It was a little sad not having Allie with us, but we knew that the whole weekend was undoubtedly going to be more fun for her in Oklahoma.

Rockline told Jared that they would get back to him at the end of the week, but that it wasn't a matter of if, but one of how much. So it was great knowing that there was definitely going to be an offer.

They followed through and called Jared on Friday, May 11th. The salary was one we were happy with, and there were several other perks, too, including: moving us; paying for us to be in a fully furnished, all utilities included apartment for up to 4 months while we look for a house to buy; paying for our stuff to be in storage while we are in the apartment; paying for some of closing costs on a house; giving us a certain amount of money for "miscellaneous moving costs;" and medical, dental, and vision insurance. The only bummer is that the insurance doesn't kick in until the first day of the month after 90 days (so October 1st). We were ecstatic! His start date was "to be determined," because Jared still needed to finish research, his thesis, and defend his thesis.