Monday, April 2, 2012

Our Story pt. 4: Starting over again

Believe it or not, the time in North Carolina was very good for our family overall. We learned a lot about ourselves. We discovered that there's a lot more to our relationship than just financial security and job satisfaction. We also learned how to apply for and to use government assistance programs, specifically the WIC program to help supplement our grocery budget. Parenthetically, WIC is a wonderful program, and the people who work for the WIC offices in counties across America need as much emotional support as they can get for all of the good they do for families.
From the time we moved to North Carolina in April until after little Z was born in August, Caleb spent days filling out applications and going to interviews. We had very exciting prospects, but nothing was coming through. Caleb actually had a great interview after Emily's folks sprang for a trip to Myrtle Beach for a week with a school in Greensboro that would have been ideal. The man actually said, "You're the one I want. I'm putting your name in front of the board." After that we never heard from them again except to hear "oh, no one called you?"

Right before Caleb took a trip to DC to visit some friends he got a phone call from Augustine Classical Academy about a position teaching Latin. During that weekend Caleb had a long conversation with the headmaster, and when he came back we sat and prayed about the position and took a long time going over our finances and what we could afford. When the original deal from ACA came through they could offer us ~$9500 with the possibility of $14500 (a very slim possibility). We ran the math, talked things over, and with the school providing housing, we were set to move; and move we did right after little Z was born. Caleb moved into the new house while Emily went to Cincinnati for her sister's wedding. When it was all said and done, last year we made $18500 from ACA and survived the year.

Next time we'll talk about making life work on a tight budget.

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