Friday, June 6, 2008

Another Life Changing Adventure

Well hold on to your hats everyone!! We have earth shattering news

Gayle and I are off on another life changing adventure.
It all started on May 1 when a group from Calgary bought the Hotel. We knew for months this was going to happen and were somewhat concerned that his j0b would just evaporate into thin air, but when he addressed his concerns with the new owners they said, "Don't worry. We are investors, not hotel managers. We still need you." So they took over May 1 and things were progressing well. But there still was one nagging problem. A family group of six East Indian people kept coming around the hotel and asking questions, wanting to be shown things, etc. Gayle thought maybe they were part owners who had invested with the new owners.

Then on June 1, the other shoe dropped. The group of six moved in as new owners. The group from Calgary had flipped it. We are sure they made a nice profit in the process. The new owners are a family group and they plan on running the hotel themselves. They offered Gayle less than half his salary to stay. You don't need to use your imagination for long to know what his answer was. So they offered him a bit more. That told us they did want him to stay but their offer was laughable.

Coincedentally, the very same day they took over, we got a phone call from a Head Hunter. Two men who had left Royal Host, the original owners of the hotel, had recommended Gayle as the manager of another hotel. The offer sounded very interesting and was so well timed that Gayle listened intently. The offer is VERY GOOD! It is more money than we have ever made and has an incentive bonus that will bring his salary up to more than we dreamed. If we take it we will be able to retire sooner and in way better shape than we planned. We really don't think it is all coincedence. We know that when Heavenly Father shuts a door, he also opens a window. And in this case the window is way better than the door was. So off to Edmonton he went on Tuesday of this week. He met with the Vice President in charge of personell and he sold him on it.

We only had one big concern. The job is in PEACE RIVER. We don't want to sell our house. In today's market we worry about how we would replace it a couple of years down the road. When he addressed this concern with the VP he said, "We have a company plane. We will fly you and your wife back and forth as needed."

So we started looking into the community of Peace River. First we checked to see if the church is there. There is a branch. It is part of the Grand Prairie Stake. It is a small community but it looks like a thriving community, lots of businesses, lots of services, and looks like a worthwhile adventure.

Gayle starts work there on June 23 (Neil's Birthday). On Monday he will tell the people here, "Thanks, but NO THANKS." and we will be knee deep in another voyage into parts unknown and experiences new and exciting. We will keep you all posted on our progress and our adventures.

Do you all think we are CRAZY??!! or need I even ask???
Love
LA

3 comments:

Colleen said...

Pretty exciting news! Congratulations to Gayle! We will love and support you to all ends of the earth. With today's technology....miles are much shorter. We just can't hug you as often, but we can always chat and talk on webcams, etc. Good luck in your new adventure!
Colleen

Shirley Wilson said...

Hey that sounds great. You will just be travelling more. Who knows we may see more of you anyway.

I think that is wonderful news. Grande Prairie is a thriving city of opportunity. Congratulations to Gayle. He deserves it.

How many mroe days to retirement??

Shirley

Shirley Wilson said...

I read that wrong. Peace River is a littler further away than Grande Prairie. OOOPS!!!