Prayers to El Paso and never say never

We've naturally said a lot of prayers regarding Ben finding a job. Several weeks ago Ben mentioned maybe I should come to El Paso since it was a possible job offer and I might want to see where we might live. Although I didn't think the position sounded like a fit for us, I kept praying and kept feeling like I should just go.

The day before we left Ben got a call offering him a fellowship at Oregon State University. He told me, and I laughed out loud. What were the chances?! How flattering but ironic, since we didn't want it. I even remembered a conversation Ben and I had last year when a girl at Washington State got a fellowship there. I snidely told Ben she wasn't very smart and said "You would never do that, would you?" Definitely not.

Once in El Paso we both realized the position wasn't exactly what we were looking for. However, Dr. Jensen and his wife left a lasting impression on me. They told me frankly that Paul, her husband, had never been happy doing what he did before he went back - after 6 years of working as a vet - to do a residency. 

On the long drive back home we had a lot of time to discuss what we learned and thought. So really, one of the biggest blessings of going to El Paso was to prepare me for where we were going next...to OREGON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A quick search through wikipedia showed the county is the least religious in the country. Sad, since I have loved living in the deeply religious bible belt. Wikipedia's "rankings and recognition" showed Corvallis having multiple mentions involving 'good school systems' and 'safe place to live,' which is important to me. But my personal favorite ranking in 2011: "The American city with the lowest risk of natural disaster." SOLD! Although we are moving there, so they better watch out.:)