Here's the Backstory

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away....
OK, OK! Maybe Atco, NJ isn't so "far, far away"

We have been talking about moving to Texas for quite some time. Ramon's grandparents live there and we have been wanting to go visit but just never did. One day we just decided to stop talking and start doing. So Ramon put his resume out on monster.com to see what would happen.

We figured it would take a couple of months to find a job but we started getting offers for interviews right away. Although, most were in every other state but Texas. We did find one place on monster called TML IEBP (Texas Municipal League Intergovernmental Employee Benefits Pool) that was located in Austin and they set up an over the phone interview.

The first interview with the IT Director and the CIO went well so they set up a technical interview with one of their technical people. I passed that interview with flying colors and before I knew it they were flying me out to Austin for an in person interview.

The in person interview was more like a meet and greet. I left the house in the morning around 3:30am so I could be in Texas around lunch time. As soon as I got there we went out to lunch at the Texas Land and Cattle Steakhouse with the HR Manager, CIO, and IT Director. Great place to eat! After lunch we went back to the office and introduced me to everyone in the department and even showed me their systems and what they did. Then it was off to the airport so I could get home around 11:30pm. I was in 5 different states across the country in one day.

So by this time I was ready for them to offer me the job. When they finally did, they had to check references first, I accepted. and the $15K raise over what I was currently making didn't hurt either.

Oh, and everyone is also asking...why Texas? Why do you want to leave NJ? Let me give you that before I sign off as well. First off, while I know every state in the country has its downsides, NJ sucks! It's run by the mob, it's a very liberal state, taxes are outrageous, the cost of housing is so high we could never afford a single family home, should I go on? Oh, and did you hear about the 2% exit tax?! Don't get me started. But our family is here aren't they? Kinda...Ramon's parents are moving to Texas soon, Erin's parents are thinking of moving to Washington in the near future, Melissa - while she doesn't know where she is going - is going somewhere, Diane and Eric live in CO. Sure there are cousins and Aunts and Uncles on both sides that are still in the area but we gotta do what we gotta do.

Texas on the other hand, is a lot more conservative as a whole, is nice and warm, has no State tax, property tax is better, cost of housing is like 40% better, schools are better, etc. So yeah....off to Texas!