Jace started researching and applying for firms late
last Fall. He compiled a detailed Excel spreadsheet of firms, their location,
the contact person, when he sent his resume, and the date and response from the
firm. When I say firms, this includes both accounting and law firms. As a tax
attorney, there are three main tracks for employment: government, law firms,
and accounting firms. Jace chose to focus on accounting and law firms and he
sent over 50 letters to firms. The firms he sent letters to were located in:
Atlanta, Jackson, MS, Lexington, Louisville, Jackson, TN, Bowling Green,
Nashville, & Memphis. Honey, we were a letter sending machine. Jace folded
and signed his name, I stuffed and put on stamps. I felt like every week we
were buying stamps and praying that one of those letters would come back with a
potential lead.
November and December 2013 were hard months. We had
sent letters and weren’t hearing back from many but when we did hear from firms
it was basically, “your resume is impressive but our firm is not hiring right
now”. Those were some hard days and made us feel the same emotions we had when
he was applying to law school.
Jace was really good about telling me where he was
applying and we would talk about the benefits and drawbacks to a particular
city where the firm was located. Several were located in Atlanta and I was
scared of living in such a large city and commuting to and from work. I
distinctly remember one night, while doing the dishes, the city of Dallas was
brought up. I filled that sink with tears and told Jace I just couldn’t go that
far away from home. I hated to tell him no to a potential job that he may love.
I felt as though I was squashing his future in some way by saying no but knew I
had to speak up because I didn’t think I would be happy in Texas. You know when
they say that marriage will be filled with decisions and you must work together
as a team, well honey we did just that! Big decisions have been made so far in
our marriage, decisions that affect the other person but there is no one else
that I would rather make these decisions with than with Jace.
The holidays came and went and Jace received his
grades from the first semester (they were stellar by the way!) and we sent out
another round of letters with his updated GPA. January brought more dark days
and the roller coaster of emotions kept us on edge. One day, one of us would be
optimistic and the other would have a bad day. One day we were all about
accounting firms and the next moment we were all about law firms. We even toyed
with the idea of going back to Paducah but that idea was short lived.
At this point I knew the law and accounting firms by
name and where they were located. We talked about them all the time like they
were family members and it was a sign that we had both gone crazy. I was so consumed
by worry and tired from the waiting game that I just broke down one day, on the
elliptical of all places. I know I scared the poor girl in the gym when I was
choking back tears. I just couldn’t handle the ups and downs of this process
much longer and I reached out to Lauren and Whitney and did something that I
never do: I asked for prayers. Those girls emailed me scripture faster than
anything and I felt their love immediately. I also texted a lot with our dear
friend, Haley. Her husband and Jace went to law school together and they just
went through the job process last year and she could relate to every emotion I
was feeling. Those girls saw me through some rough days and I won’t forget
that.
Around February the tide started to turn and honey
that is when the ride really started to get fun. Our first job lead was from a
law firm in Jackson, MS. Though nothing materialized from the call it sparked a
new sense of hope within us. Shortly after the MS call, other firms started
calling and wanted to set up Skype interviews. A law firm out of Nashville
wanted to set up a Skype interview with Jace and another accounting firm based
out of Atlanta had invited Jace to dinner interviews. We finally had leads;
leads that we had been praying about for so long. I swear to you one day, Jace
called me every four hours with an update on a job lead and interviews and it
was hard to keep up with what all was going on. Ernst & Young (EY) was one
of these job leads.
EY wanted to set up an in person interview at their Nashville location and they would pay for our travel! Honey, I was in the car with my bags packed when he said this. The interview was on a Wednesday but first he had an interview with a law firm out of Chattanooga on that Monday. I remember we left Gainesville at 6 AM and drove all morning until we got to Chattanooga. We stopped by Kennedy’s and Elizabeth’s house before the interview and Kennedy showed me around Chattanooga while Jace was interviewing. After Kennedy’s tour, I had basically moved us to Chattanooga, mentally, and was ready to look for homes on the North Shore side of town.
From Chattanooga, we drove home and spent less than
24 hours in Graves County. We didn’t anticipate getting to go home that early
after the holidays and it was the nicest treat to be back. Tuesday night we
drove to Nashville and Wednesday morning Jace went to the interview. He met
with five individuals and y’all the second he called me after the interview was
over I knew we had a good shot. Jace was so excited and said it went so well. The
following Tuesday the job offer came in. We had two weeks to make our decision
and during this time we waited to see if the Chattanooga law firm would come
back with an offer. Now, I’m not going to lie, I was ready to forge Jace's signature on EY’s offer
and didn’t see the point in waiting. EY was so incredibly nice to Jace
and I knew he would be happy there. However, Jace wanted to give equal weight
to both firms so we waited for two L-O-N-G weeks.
All Jace and I have ever wanted was to be close to
our families and we felt that Nashville was the best place for us. Nashville
provides the job opportunities that both he and I are looking for and was just
a short drive from home. We can’t forget about the Teak too! She is only 3 ½
hours from Nashville! Throughout this whole process, we prayed; oh did we pray.
We prayed that our will would match up with God’s will. We prayed for patience
and understanding throughout the journey. Our motto was, “You {God} lead, we
will follow”. Well, he lead us straight to the place we had been praying for
and we both felt God’s peace wash over us and knew without a doubt that EY was
the place for us. Jace signed the contract on March 17th and it was a great day!!!!
I don’t care what you tell me, a job search is a process
and it is spiritual. We were completely out of control but knew that God was
walking this journey with us. I laid my burdens on him and you know what, he
took up my yoke and helped me. Even on those hard days, He was working behind
the scenes creating something far greater than we could have imagined.
Though this process has been emotionally draining,
Jace and I came out stronger. Eight years of being apart makes you learn how to
communicate and work as a team and we did just that. I shed many tears through
it all but I wouldn’t do this with anyone else. I am so happy to know that Jace
is going to work for a great company that treats him well and respects the
education and knowledge he possess.
We will be boxing our things up and leaving Gville
June 2014. By this time, our school days will be behind us and we will both be
working. So long are the days of writing papers and studying for finals. I told
Jace after this first year of marriage that was filled with two moves, a
graduation, and a new job that maybe we should take a year off and just do
nothing but work. No major changes or life events; just work.
I do want to go on record and let it be known that
just because we will be living in TN I will not wear that God-awful TN orange. Is
there a tackier color than that orange? (However, I will wear UT apparel if I
am employed by UT in the future) In addition, the words to Rocky Top will never
be sung. The only volunteering we will be doing is at the church! Lord help us,
Jace and I are already worried that the babies will want to go to college at
UT. So if you have moving boxes, send them our way. If you know of good places
to live in Nashville, let us know. Watch out Nashville, the Stampers are
coming!
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