He Said: The Call...

So here we go... the first post on a blog that will keep track of Steph and my adventures over the next few years. It would probably be useful to give you all a little bit of background, as it's been a pretty crazy five days since this whole adventure began.

On Thursday, February 5th I was working at my client's office, getting ready to give a presentation. I was reviewing the file of the group we would be meeting with, and I needed a little break, so I checked my personal e-mail to get a short mental breather. Since I get about 75 spam messages a day, I usually check through the e-mail pretty quick. This time I was about to whip through the junk, when all of a sudden I saw a name that I recognized, but I wasn't sure from where. I looked at the e-mail and it was an appointment notification for the Foreign Service; they had reserved a seat for me in the March 2nd A-100 class (the training course you take to enter the Foreign Service).

Flashback: In April of 2006 Steph and I both sat for the Foreign Service Written Examination, the first step in entering the Foreign Service. We thought that if either or both of us got in that it would be such an amazing opportunity. For those of you who are not fully aware of what the Foreign Service is, it is the goverment corps that staffs and runs all of the US embassies and consulates across the globe. More information can be found at either the Department of State website: http://careers.state.gov/officer/index.html or of course on one of my favorite sites, Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Foreign_Service

About 5 months after taking the written test, we received our scores. I had passed the test. In February of 2007 I moved on to the next selection round, the Oral Assessment. The OA is a day long examination of the skills that the government deems as paramount to a Foreign Service Officer's (FSO) success. Broken into three parts, the day consists of a group exercise, a writing test, and an interview. At the end of the day I was notified that I had been selected as "eligible for employment" and that I would now need both a medical and security clearance.

Moving forward a few more months, both my medical and security clearances came back with flying colors (or at least I like to think so...). In the summer of 2007, I was officially on "the Register," the official list of applicants that are eligible for duty in the Foreign Service. When you finish the oral assessment they give you a score that sets your place on the register. If someone scores higher than you, they sit above you on the list; pretty simple. With my score, I was fairly confident that I would never be called. I did all of the necessary things to keep my candidacy alive, but I never really made a plan for if it actually did happen. In fact, at the end of the OA, one of the senior officers gave us a piece of advice. He said, "If I can tell you one thing to make this easier, it would be to go home and live your life as if today never happened. Be ready for the call, but if it doesn't come, you'll be much happier." I took this advice to heart, as Steph and I continued down the same path and never looked back.

Back to Present day: So here we are, almost 3 years after first taking the written test, and I've just been offered the chance to represent my country overseas. I was honored, shocked, excited, terrified... and I had to give a presentation in a half hour!! All I could do was stare at my computer for 10 minutes or so to gather my thoughts. I went into the meeting, but my mind was definitely somewhere else.

On the way home that night, Steph had forgotten her keys to the apartment for the first time since we've moved in. We usually don't talk while I'm driving home, but tonight since she was stuck in the lobby I figured we had the time to chat and this might give her an opportunity to think before we really "hashed it out." After telling Steph that I had gotten "the call" neither of us really knew what to say. To top it all off, we had church group that night, meaning we went tubing until late and never had a chance to really talk... in fact, neither of us were really ready to consider if this was even an option for us anymore. After moving away from DC and being in Minnesota for 6 months, we had a really good life. Were we willing to really give that up?

The next morning, after very little sleep for both of us, we began the conversation. We wrote down what questions we had, and figured out if answers to those would be available over the weekend or if we'd need to call someone in Washington to get the answer. Thus began the weekend of the big decision. We spent the entire weekend mulling it over. We talked to our parents, our siblings, our friends, and our pastor. It seemed that every hour or so we'd have to just pause and check with each other where we were at. In the end, on Sunday, we decided that the right decision for us was to go for it. We were excited, relieved, nervous, and TIRED!!! A short celebration dinner at my parents' house and then on to a new week.

Monday was the day I submitted my verbal acceptance. I actually replied to the offer e-mail on Sunday night to make sure I was the first one in on Monday morning. After a few hours, a voicemail message, and another e-mail that included my resume and salary information, I finally heard back from the State Department... my information had been received, but they hadn't yet reviewed my files. I think I had an upset stomach from Monday morning until Tuesday AM when a copy of the official offer came in e-mail (the actual letter is coming via FedEx tomorrow). When I finally read the offer, a sense of real peace came over me. We were finally there.

This has definitely started off as an unconventional journey, but I am confident there will be many more exciting stories to share. I'll keep posting about what's going on leading up to my first day of training, March 2nd. The time is already going fast, but Steph and I are excited to head down this new road together.