westward ho
i wanted to wait until all of the details were worked out, but i can't anymore. it has been way too long since my last post and i have been dying to share some news that i've been holding in the last week or so.
jim and i are moving to arizona! jim was selected for a 6 month detail to be a special assistant u.s. attorney (sausa) as part of a push by doj and dhs for prosecutions of alien smugglers across the southwest border. 5 people were selected from our agency to take part in the detail, going to san diego, arizona, new mexico, and texas, and jim is one of them! jim will be just like an ausa but will basically be owned by dhs and on loan to the u.s. attorney's office. we aren't completely sure whether it will be phoenix or tucson, but we hope to know this week. since it is in arizona, we decided to just outright move instead of having him detailed there on a temporary basis. hopefully at the end of the 6 months the detail will be extended or a permanent position will open up for him.
i am completely thrilled! this is something jim has always wanted to do, and it is so nice to see him be able to do it in our home state. i think jim will be amazing. aside from it being something he has always wanted to do, it gets us back to arizona right in time for the little bean to be born. with katie and matt there now, and of course all of our other family members, it just seems like where we need to be. both jim and i thought it was such a long shot that we never really thought it would work out, so i think we are still kind of in shock. i think it won't really sink in until we are actually out there.
so how will this all work? jim is leaving in less than 2 weeks. he was originally told that he would begin on oct. 2, but since that is a week away and they haven't even told him phoenix or tucson, we are doubtful it will happen. no matter what he will be there by oct. 9. that is insane! and i am trying to figure out when i'll be there, but i think i will probably move about 2 weeks later. i don't want to be apart for long, and now that i know we are going to be living in az, there are so many things i need to think about that i just want to be there to get started. work has been great so far, and we are trying to figure out a way that i can keep my same position and just telecommute from the az office until the bean shows up. SO awesome. i will also get the final thumbs up on that this week, but i am pretty confident it will happen. that's what you get when you work in a tiny little obscure area (students) of another obscure area of law (immigration) and your client happens to like you as a person. they have been more than accommodating and i feel very loved and valued as an attorney. :) once i have unloaded this baby from my belly and taken a nice long maternity leave, who knows what i will do? they are trying to work something permanent out for both me and jim in positions similar to those we had in s.f. when that time comes (if his detail ends and he is still with the agency), but we will have to see what i want to do. for once in my life, i am not the least bit worried about what my next step will be. i just can't wait until february 11.
so that is the news. pretty big! i have been avoiding the subject for a long time with all of my west coast friends because i didn't want to get anyone's hopes up if it didn't work out. our east coast friends have reacted to the news in different ways. some are teary, others won't discuss the situation with us because they don't want to be sad, some have done nothing but tell us how excited they are for us, and others seem to be mad that we are leaving. but i think everyone understands and agrees that they would do the same thing if in our places. it is pretty much an ideal situation.
so more on the details in the coming days. i promise promise promise i will keep the blog up to date now. i just couldn't write about anything else when i had such huge news at the tips of my fingers!
jim and i are moving to arizona! jim was selected for a 6 month detail to be a special assistant u.s. attorney (sausa) as part of a push by doj and dhs for prosecutions of alien smugglers across the southwest border. 5 people were selected from our agency to take part in the detail, going to san diego, arizona, new mexico, and texas, and jim is one of them! jim will be just like an ausa but will basically be owned by dhs and on loan to the u.s. attorney's office. we aren't completely sure whether it will be phoenix or tucson, but we hope to know this week. since it is in arizona, we decided to just outright move instead of having him detailed there on a temporary basis. hopefully at the end of the 6 months the detail will be extended or a permanent position will open up for him.
i am completely thrilled! this is something jim has always wanted to do, and it is so nice to see him be able to do it in our home state. i think jim will be amazing. aside from it being something he has always wanted to do, it gets us back to arizona right in time for the little bean to be born. with katie and matt there now, and of course all of our other family members, it just seems like where we need to be. both jim and i thought it was such a long shot that we never really thought it would work out, so i think we are still kind of in shock. i think it won't really sink in until we are actually out there.
so how will this all work? jim is leaving in less than 2 weeks. he was originally told that he would begin on oct. 2, but since that is a week away and they haven't even told him phoenix or tucson, we are doubtful it will happen. no matter what he will be there by oct. 9. that is insane! and i am trying to figure out when i'll be there, but i think i will probably move about 2 weeks later. i don't want to be apart for long, and now that i know we are going to be living in az, there are so many things i need to think about that i just want to be there to get started. work has been great so far, and we are trying to figure out a way that i can keep my same position and just telecommute from the az office until the bean shows up. SO awesome. i will also get the final thumbs up on that this week, but i am pretty confident it will happen. that's what you get when you work in a tiny little obscure area (students) of another obscure area of law (immigration) and your client happens to like you as a person. they have been more than accommodating and i feel very loved and valued as an attorney. :) once i have unloaded this baby from my belly and taken a nice long maternity leave, who knows what i will do? they are trying to work something permanent out for both me and jim in positions similar to those we had in s.f. when that time comes (if his detail ends and he is still with the agency), but we will have to see what i want to do. for once in my life, i am not the least bit worried about what my next step will be. i just can't wait until february 11.
so that is the news. pretty big! i have been avoiding the subject for a long time with all of my west coast friends because i didn't want to get anyone's hopes up if it didn't work out. our east coast friends have reacted to the news in different ways. some are teary, others won't discuss the situation with us because they don't want to be sad, some have done nothing but tell us how excited they are for us, and others seem to be mad that we are leaving. but i think everyone understands and agrees that they would do the same thing if in our places. it is pretty much an ideal situation.
so more on the details in the coming days. i promise promise promise i will keep the blog up to date now. i just couldn't write about anything else when i had such huge news at the tips of my fingers!
posted by little bean at 6:12 PM
2 Comments:
Yipee for the Knapps!! Sad for the Scandlens ;) I am so excited you guys have this opportunity-- and that baby Knapp will be born in AZ close to his or her family!
Doing so many happy dances right now! knapps are coming home! Knapps are coming home!
And this is all just for my own selfish reasons! Bring that baby Knapp over here right now.
XOXOXOXOXO
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