Here We Go Again, Eh?

As many of you know, Greg was accepted into the Leadership Development Program at Evraz a few months back.  Starting in December, this program will send him to Moscow several times over this next year for leadership training.  Greg worked so hard on the application, interviews, etc.  It was a true honor for him to be selected, and we are so proud of him!

In light of this new training experience, Greg approached his immediate management about a month ago to talk over future career plans.  Greg has been in Finance since he graduated college, but was wanting to move into some Operations work.  Another executive heard about this and had just the opportunity for Greg...General Manager of Navajo Metals.  Reminder, Evraz's main function is producing steel - plates of steel, railroad track, pipeline, etc.  Navajo Metals is, to put it bluntly, a metal scrapyard.  This will be quite a new challenge, and one that Greg has accepted!  He will manage many more employees and is looking forward to being responsible for this yard.  It also means some changes.  For instance, those dress shirts, ties, and suits that fill his closet now will be replaced by flannels and steel toe boots.  Don't worry, there will be pictures coming of his new look for those who can't quite imagine!

Which leads me to the other major change associated with this new role...it is in Calgary, Canada.  Yep, we are preparing for another ex-pat adventure!!  Greg will actually start his new role in Calgary on October 8th and travel back on weekends to be with us when possible.  We really wanted Ben to finish out his first semester of kindergarten here, and so we will all join Greg in Calgary in early January.  What does this all mean for the Zabikow family, you might be asking?  Well, here goes...as best we know right now.  Greg will be doing some initial house hunting and school research while he is there in October, and I hope to fly up for a week in early November to finalize our new home and Ben's new school.  Some of you may remember when we moved to Amsterdam that we kept our home in Illinois and found a furnished place to stay in Amsterdam.  This time, we plan to put our home on the market when we leave in January (would love your prayers for a quick sell!), and bring many of our own furnishings with us.  Not only does this mean less to store in Illinois while we are away, but our hope is that the transition for the kiddos will be easier as well...sleeping in their own beds, watching movies on their own couch, riding in a familiar car, etc.  We do intend to move back to Illinois eventually, probably summer of 2015. 

So, needless to say, we are in the thick of purging items we don't need anymore, starting to pack  up what we'll bring with, last-minute home improvement projects, and more.  It will be a busy 3 months (don't forget there are 3 holidays and both kids will celebrate birthdays...yikes!!), and we will miss Greg terribly while he is away.  But, we are truly looking forward to this next journey that God is blessing us with and excited to explore a new place!  And of course, we would love visitors!!!

Will leave you with a view of the Calgary skyline and some fun Calgary facts:

-Calgary is the largest city (1.3 million people) in the province of Alberta.  It is north of Montana, in the Mountain Standard Time Zone.
-The city is about 50 miles east of the Rocky Mountains.
-They speak English (YAY!!!!)
-Weather is as follows:  COLD!  Hee hee.  Actually, they have long summer days and then long winter nights.  Lots of sunshine and low rainfall.
-Calgary has a 'cowboy character' to it, and the city's most famous festival is the Calgary Stampede, hosted in July.  So, y'all plan to come visit us for some bull riding, roping, and steer wrestling, ya hear?  :)