The Non-Year of Crap!

Hello all!

We have some exciting news to share...and I will let Ryan's e-mail he wrote me today do most of the explaining!
_______________________________________________________________
Hello My Queen,

I just wanted to send you a quick note and let you know how thankful I am for your support as I try and figure out what I am destined for in this crazy world. There are always things that we would like to do…Own a beachfront brewery and Lobster tail grill….but then reality hits and sometimes small steps are better than large leaps into uncertainty. I have always done things differently than most and for the most part I have learned a lot about myself as an individual and taking different paths has not always worked out. Case in point being how I chose my jobs after leaving college. It really has put a burden on me as the world does not hire on personality and drive. They hire on experience and specialization! I made choices in my past that have limited me on where and how far and fast I can move throughout the workplace. Knowing this now it is imperative that I stay with a company building my skill set internally, making connections and looking for or creating suitable positions. In short I will be able to climb the corporate ladder, not as fast as most, but climbing none the less.

Today I climbed a few rungs and was offered the position of Returned Goods Coordinator! I am literally the perfect candidate as we discussed last night and I am very excited at what this position will offer. Again, Baxa’s pay raises and promotions are based on a “Talent-Reward” style system where we as employees need to be able to justify our worth by keeping track of our goals and objectives and how efficient we were in meeting them. With this position being brand new I will have no shortage of objectives and goals to conquer-- thus letting all of the management in this company know that I am a “go getter” and can handle whatever comes my way! Really and truly exciting stuff! I am sitting at my desk filled with energy and excitement for what this will mean for me and our future. It isn’t a huge pay raise but a pay raise none the less and the truly exciting thing is the fact that I will be once again in control of my own destiny!

I love you so much and can’t thank you enough for your support and willingness to understand my sometimes scatterbrained needs. You are my queen!

Love,
Ryan
______________________________________________________________

As you all know, Ryan had been in hopes for breaking into the sales department at his company. We thought this change would be happening even before Christmas break. However, he still doesn't have a clear answer on if or when this would occur, so he began considering something else. A new position has been created called the Return Goods Coordinator, and he was offered this job today. He had seen the posting, but wasn't really considering applying for it due to his hopes of going into sales. After thinking it through, he decided that making some sort of movement and building on his skills was better that being frustrated in his current job and waiting for the sales team position which may never happen. He applied last night and when he got in this morning, his new boss, Brett (who we LOVE!) met with him and immediately offered him the job. Ryan will still be working with customers, but will be his own team with a new boss. No more being tied to the phones and other people's schedules--he will be able to truly create how this new job will work and is excited to take on this challenge. It will be a key position for the company, so he will continue to build his resume and move up within the company.

As a bonus, he will be getting a pay raise (not huge, but more $$ we can put into savings!), and in addition, our landlord agreed to lower our rent by $100 a month! We re-signed our lease for another 18 months at this fantastic rate.

We are feeling very blessed and we trust that the Lord has his hand directly on this promotion. We always wonder why things don't work out, and perhaps it was just not a good fit for Ryan to be in sales at this time. Please pray for him and celebrate with us as he moves in this direction! This transition of roles will be coming very soon--probably within the next two weeks!

Thanks for your prayers and for loving us!

Ryan & Kristi