My Tradesman

After many calls this week... we are alive!! Here's the plan, Stan.
1. We closed on the house! would you believe the week that we sold, 3 Foreclosures hit the neighborhood and dropped the appraisal value $7,000? How cool that we sold when we did! Because, that would have been money we lost! Yay.
2. We are all settled in Alpharetta, Ga. I must say we are so grateful to Tim's parents! They are truly like my family because I met them right after graduating high school. We have been on many trips over the years, spent the night with them, and see them all the time. They are semi-retired and are a blast to be around. Tims dad is a chef so I am going to learn as much as i can!! That and also try not to gain 100 lbs while living here. Someone asked if we all shared rooms here or lived in the hallway and it made my laugh! Don't feel sorry for us... this place is huge! I will have to post some pics of thier beautiful home! Let me explain what it's like: We have the "upper wing" of the house, 4 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms. They have a 6 Bedroom house, 4 1/2 bath, 2 full kitchens, 2 dens, 2 breakfast rooms, a living room, and formal dining room. We spend a lot of time on their big deck and back yard! There is plenty of room for lots of fam over here, haha!
3. So, our game plan. Tim has decided to get out of Sales/ Account Management. I think it's fair to state that over the past 4 years of Sales he has been pretty unhappy. He has always done really well, but to him.... this was not what he wanted to do for his "life career." I don't know if you remember this post, but Tim is a "jack of all trades" kind of man. He loves fixing things, creating things, building things... anything that involves being hands on. His other life long dream is to build/renovate houses one day. So, with both of those 2 things he knew about himself, he decided it was time to start moving that way.
Obviously, the housing market sucks, so renovating and selling houses isn't super smart right now. He started looking into the HVAC field.... Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning. It is the one component of building a home he doesnt know. It involves : engineering, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, refrigeration and heating skills = all in one system. So, if you learn HVAC, you learn all those things.
He has called about 30 HVAC companies in Atlanta, and had about 7 interviews. All loved Tim, but all said the same thing:

"Go get a degree and we'll hire you!" Yep. You have to have a 1 year degree to be able to get hired on. When we found this out, we were kind of at a loss.... we didn't know how it would be possible for him to go to school full time for 1 year. School expenses, children, living expenses, ect.
So, we prayed that if this was the path, God would light it clearly. And he did.
Within 1 week:
Since Tim had been laid off, had a 4 year degree and 4 years Sales experience... he qualified for many scholarships.
So far, he has been eligible for scholarships that will pay for a full ride to school, all the tools he will need, and living expenses!!!!! CRAZY!
He is enrolled and will start school full time school on July 8 and begin getting his degree! Once he has completed half of school (Nov) many companies have said they will hire him since he is half way done, and he'll have his career! He will be at a technical school on the Marietta campus.
So, we are currently looking for a place to rent until Dec, then we will buy a home close to
whatever company hires him on. His top place to work is still in Woodstock, Ga. They know he is going to school and are really excited!

So, thats that! All the advice we have gotten is this: If we are going to make a career change, NOW is the best time to do it!! We have no mortgage, no debt, and the money to pay to get us through school! Our kids aren't in school yet, I can still stay at home (but, i did start a small side business, more to come later, ill keep you in suspense) so we really feel like God is making it possible for us to make this move.
I love you Timmy, and I am so proud of you for never being afraid of doing what you want, while still putting us first. I will try my best to be supportive, positive, and make you do your homework, haha! Please pray for us as we embark on a little adventure here =)