As you probably know by now, Ruedi and I got married in March of 2009 – which is where our update will begin! At the time, Ruedi had just graduated from LeTourneau University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Aeronautical Science and was looking for full time employment. Our search was coming up rather dry when an opportunity was presented to us. We were introduced to a company that fly’s UAV’s (unmanned aircraft) overseas in support of military operations. The pay was great, as were the benefits. The downside was that it would require about 4 months of stateside training and 11 months of deployment overseas. As difficult a decision as it was, we felt this was where God was leading us, so we moved forward and Ruedi left for training on June 11th, 2009 and shipped out for his first deployment on October 27th. He was able to come home for a month of R & R in April and then went back for his final 5 months. He arrived back to the states on October 27th of this year.
Meanwhile, we decided that I would continue with our plans in Longview – live in our apartment and continue working at LeTourneau University as the Facilities and Event Coordinator/Summer Residence Manager and House Manager for the Belcher Center. These jobs kept me sufficiently busy and allowed the time to pass quite quickly. I continued spending time with friends and family in the area, traveling for work and leisure occasionally and keeping Ruedi up-to-date on life in the states via our continual e-mail communications.
As I said, he came home at the end of October, at which point we began our ‘leaving’ process. He had interviewed and gotten a job within his company at their headquarters in Hunt Valley, Maryland (just north of Baltimore) as a Senior Flight Crew member – serving as (simply put) a test-UAV pilot. I finished out my job at LeTourneau on October 26th, the moving crew came on November 11th and left with all our belongings on the 12th. Luckily, we had been able to take a ‘home finding’ trip to our new home at the beginning of November, so we had an apartment lined up and a destination in mind. We said goodbye to friends and family and got on the plane (with one way tickets!) for Baltimore on November 15th. And a whirlwind it has been since! We have gotten moved in and are working on getting unpacked. We’ve gotten new driver’s licenses and registrations, the whole nine yards.
Ruedi started his job on December 6th – so, thankfully, we had quite a bit of time to get things situated in our new home before he had to get to business. At the moment, I am searching for jobs in the area. We’ll keep praying and looking!
When Ruedi first left for training, and then his deployments, the situation seemed never ending. Now that we have finished it, we are amazed at how fast it went and how beneficial it was for our relationship. We worked hard to stay connected and appreciate each other however we could. We had good days and bad days. But we made it! Now we have to readjust to being together! Here’s to a great 2nd-first year of marriage!
Grace and peace!
