Two Weeks

Matt has now been in Spain for two weeks and two days. I miss him so much! It really hit me over the weekend how much I missed him. I think the hardest thing is not having a day to look forward to when I will see him again. Hopefully I can book the flight soon, though!

Tonight while I was on Skype with Matt, FJ called. Basically, it sounds like FJ is meeting with some of the Fuenlabrada GM's tomorrow and may even have the contract for Matt to sign at the game tomorrow night! It sounds like they added some things to the contract, like Internet, our flights, meals for Matt and possibly me, and of course the apartment. It's not anything luxurious, but as long as it is enough for us to live on that is all we need this first year to be happy with the contract. The awesome thing is it sounds like there is a clause that says the contract is renegotiable in 3 months, which gives Matt a chance to earn more if he does well. Now we just have to pray he gets a chance to do well; I know if he gets a fair chance (reps in practice and a decent amount of playing time) that he will do great. He's such a hard worker, I've never doubted his ability to do what ever he wants because I know he will work as hard as he needs to in order to accomplish it.

Avila had a pre-season game on Saturday and they started Matt! He said everyone got to play an equal number of minutes, so it was about 18 min a person, but he said he played well and he scored 10 points, 5 rebounds and a steal and a couple assists. Sounds good to me! :)

I've been working a ton with the September 15 deadline coming up (corporate extensions are due). Every night I'm working late I just can't wait to turn in my notice! I am actually going to turn it in tomorrow morning though! (I can write this because no one knows about my blog yet...so no one will hear the news until later.) I cannot wait.

Cool God story below - sorry - kind of long:
It was really neat how I felt like God has been with me in deciding when to turn my two weeks' notice in. Last week, we thought I should turn in my notice on Thursday when Avila seemed to be negotiating Matt's contract. For some reason I just had a bad and worried feeling about it and did not want to turn it in. We tried calling Emilio to ask his opinion, and he didn't answer. Later that night, I was just sitting listening to some worship music and praying, and while I was still praying, God answered me! Emilio called me back and gave the perfect answer - he told me to wait to turn in my notice, and that the contract would be final in the next day or two, so I wouldn't have to wait long. I felt so good about that answer and about waiting, and I felt like God just gave me His peace about the whole situation. He built my faith that He hears our prayers by answering mine so quickly.

Well, then it was a rough weekend. I really missed Matt and was in a bad mood because of just being frustrated with not having a contract yet and Matt being gone and work. So there was more and more talk about the contract, but nothing final yet. Matt and I really miss each other, and decided Sunday night that I should turn in my notice today, Monday. Mostly just cause we want to get the two week clock started so we can be together sooner. We agreed I would wait til the end of the day today because the partner I want to inform first about all this was out of town until Tuesday. So I went to the HR office, and the lady had left early today! As I was walking toward her office, I was wondering if I was disobeying what I felt like God had told me last week. I just wasn't sure what I felt and where it was coming from, me or Him. So I felt like He protected me from disobeying him by the fact that she wasn't even there, so I could not even turn in my notice today if I wanted to! Then tonight on Skype, FJ called and gave us all that information, and I feel perfectly great about turning in my notice in the morning! The partner will be back in town, the HR lady will be in tomorrow, I feel the "go-ahead" from the Lord, Matt should finalize his contract tomorrow. It all worked out in God's perfect timing. I don't understand why this couldn't have happened a month ago like we thought...but He has been with us all summer in every decision, and I have to keep trusting Him, even though I failed today, but luckily He saved me. I just know if I had turned my notice in today, I would have wondered if I should have waited and if it was disobedient, and I wouldn't have felt right about it. But I feel great and excited and not worried about turning it in tomorrow.

God really has been with us all summer, teaching both me and Matt faith and trust, this is just one small example. I need to write down all the ways He has shown Himself and answered our prayers so I won't forget.

Hopefully I'll have definite news tomorrow!

24 Hours

For anyone who doesn't know, this summer Matt has been pursuing the opportunity to play professional basketball as his career. We signed with an agent (Emilio) in June, and Matt has been working hard on his game all summer and gotten some pretty cool opportunities to play with some NBA players through the Pro-Am tournament. Matt went to the National NBA Developmental League try out in July and was recently offered a contract with the D-League. We considered the contract, but we felt like an opportunity to play in Europe might be a better path to take. Emilio felt like he could get Matt a contract, probably in Spain. He's been in contact with us all summer, keeping us updated on his efforts, but basically because of the NBA lockout this summer and because of the economic crisis in Europe, things have been moving really slow this year.

This past Friday morning Emilio called Matt and said "I know this is crazy, but how do you feel about being on a plane to Madrid tomorrow?" Emilio had gotten Matt a tryout with two teams right outside of Madrid, one of them a top team in the ACB (top division) in Spain. He felt pretty confident that if Matt could go over there and they could see him play that he would get a contract.

Matt called me at work and we discussed it, and felt like we should take the chance. After talking to his family, we booked the flight. I came home for lunch, but then had to go back to work while Matt ran some errands. We were both so excited, nervous, worried, anxious, happy, surprised...all at the same time. My stomach was in knots all day, and it was hard to focus at work. We've been waiting for this call all summer, and now it was here! After work, we went to the Rollins soccer game where some of Matt's teammates were so he could say bye to them. Then we went to Verizon to take care of phones, and to the Nike outlet to get him some things he needed. It was so much fun, Matt doesn't spend a lot on himself, so I made him buy a couple pairs of Jordan shorts, a dry fit work out shirt and some other fun stuff. I told him when he got to Spain he could see all the nicely folded new clothes in his suitcase and think of me :). Then we came home and a couple of Matt's Rollins teammates came over to say bye, which was so nice of them. They hung out for awhile and helped us pack, which actually didn't take too long. We didn't know how long he was leaving for...if he gets a contract this could be him moving over there, so we packed a lot. We managed to fit it all in a big black rolling suitcase and a big duffel bag, and also a carry on. By the time we finished packing everything we were so exhausted from being so nervous and excited all day that we were able to fall asleep pretty easily. We woke up the next morning, finished packing some last minute things, made copies of important documents, and then I drove him to the airport.

I was so excited that this opportunity was here that I didn't even realized he would be leaving. I didn't have time to be sad until after I left him. It was weird dropping Matt off at the airport having no idea when or where I would see him again! It could be when he comes back, or it could be when I go to Spain and meet up with him!

So that was our crazy 24 hours, but we are so grateful for this opportunity and so excited! Hopefully it will work out!

On the way to the airport

My handsome man (doesn't his new haircut look great?)

At the airport (notice the new shorts) :)