Yes, I know it's pretty freaking ridiculous that I haven't updated my blog since New Years! I don't really have an excuse either. Other than the fact that ...I've moved, got a new job, sold a home......which sucked..and am now living in fabulous Phoenix, AZ.

Here's how the story begins:

USU was announcing serious budget cuts after the new year. But the I.T. department was said that it would be un-affected and no layoffs were proposed. This was in January. In February, they announced that the budget cuts were even worse than they had previously thought and that some jobs would be set to the chopping block in the I.T. Department. Of course they stated it in a much nicer, bum kissing tone... With the layoffs came a voluntary separation program where employees old and new could apply for a bonus and forfeit their position at USU. Well, 3 people in I.T. took it and 14 more were laid off. Yes the people that were laid off could apply to the separation incentive as well but that was just wayyyy to big of a cut for me too be comfortable.

3 weeks later, USU announced mandatory furloughs throughout the entire university over spring break. Basically 5 days without pay. Meh, whatever good vacation time. Oh wait we can't use vacation or sick leave for it. Well screw that I'm heading out of town anyways. So the wife and I headed out to Phoenix for a few days to visit some friends and just get in the sun. Winters can be really depressing when I'm not out snowboarding more. A few days before we left, I had put up a new resume on monster.com and applied to several jobs. Knowing that even more budget shortfalls were on the way I didnt feel comfortable staying with USU. So off to AZ for some fun.

On the way down, I got a phone call from a prospective employer. It was a prescreening call, basically I was asked a ton of technical questions and we had to start the call 4 different times since I was on a cell phone in the middle of no-where!!!! Well after the call they actually had time for me to have an interview........weird...it's like this was supposed to happen.

So basically I really didnt even have an interview. A few of my current supervisors were who interviewed me basically just looked over my resume, asked me 2 or 3 questions, called their upper lvl management and said I would hear from them in a few days. I thought on my way out oh great I blew it!!! But actually the interview went really well.

After returning to USU I got a phone call from the Apollo Group and I had a new job!!!! WOOOWOOOOOOoooooo...... Awww crap now I have to sell my house! So I put in my 2 weeks notice at USU and needless to say my manager was not happy. The proposed to give me a counter-offer but despite from the fact that I was getting paid more, the thought of not having to shovel my driveway was seriously motivating.

So after a month of being separated from my wife since she was finished up school and I had to start a new job, living with one of her cousins during that time, selling my home which was almost a disaster (don't ever trust your tenants to be honest), packing an entire house into a huge penske truck and drive to Arizona. Luckily I had several friends come to help me pack up. We are now living in Mesa, Arizona!!!!

Apollo Group was created by John Sperling who is also the creator of the University of Phoenix. Apollo supports over 290 campuses worldwide for the UoP, 400,000 students, and 50,000 square feet of infrastructure devices.......hehe I had 1 campus before at USU. Can we say huge jump?

So I'm starting out low on the totem pole which I expected, but the greatest part is that after all the motivation and encouragement I have received from family to get more technical certifications, I am the only one in the IT Operations Center with a CCNP certification...BOOYA! So yes my head grew a size for a moment. But I was still lost considering I had to learn their entire infrastructure design before I even was able to support it. Apollo group also hires pretty heavily internally which means I can move to other departments that I am more interested in and specialize with. I work on the night crew right now which has been an adjustment from my normal 9-5 but honestly, the night crew is much funner to work on. The guys during the day are really uptight and always peaved about something.

But, here is where we are living for now. It's a nice complex in the Dobson Ranch area that is close to our friends and only like 10 minutes from my work. But, neither of us like living in an apartment after owning a home. So we are going to start looking asap for a new home. Which means I'll be looking forward to a 30-45 minute commute but honestly, home prices down here are insanely low. You can't afford to pass up the opportunity.

So now I have to hide from the sun instead of bundling up in the cold. That was quite the change.

Last weekend we had some friends come visit us from Logan, UT and we decided to a tubing trip down the salt river.

3.5 Hours on a river, sitting in a tube, with 3 other people, eating food and just laughing our brains out, me losing my shirt to a tree, getting chased by a water snake which made me scream like a little girl, getting stuck in several spots, caking myself in sun screen and still turning into a lobster, It was a blast! Megan hardly got burned and immediately went to a tan. I'm still babying my legs.