South Dakota

We missed our flight into South Dakota by about ten minutes.  We ended up getting to hang around the airport for five hours to get on the next flight.  Fortunately, there was another flight to Rapid City on the same day.  (I was strongly thinking that there would not be!)

We stayed in Rapid City for the night instead of making the three hour drive to where HH would be preaching.  We had a very warm reception from the church.  HH's sermon was awesome.  A girl in her mid-late twenties took four pages of notes from it.  Afterwards, we had a fellowship potluck lunch. 

The area is very poor.  The homes remind me of where I work, except they are spread out, and not in an urban setting.  There is nothing here.  A grocery store, one cafe, a Dairy Queen, and a Taco Johns.  We tried to go to the grocery store at 6:30 last night, and it was closed.  On our drive in from Rapid City, there was no where to stop to go to the bathroom.

What I Like So Far:

* The people are very nice.
* There are three women here who are my age, two of which are teachers.  This was a huge plus for me.  I need some friendship with people who are close to my age, and can relate to the stage of life I am currently in.
*  I told HH that if we moved out here, I would HAVE to get my city fix.  Meaning that at least twice a month I would go into Pierre, Rapid City, or Bismark, ND.  They range from 1.5-3 hours away.  He was fine with that.
* Funding sources have increased through a partnership with a national mission organization.
* I heard good things about the public schools from the three teachers that work at them.  They have all the technology I am used to.  Get this....the fourth grade teacher has FOURTEEN students in his class! 

Today I am going to meet with the person who might be able to give me a job.  I sent out my resume, job evaluations, college transcripts, etc to her two weeks ago.  In my cover letter, I stated that I would be available today and Wednesday if she wanted to talk.  I have not heard from her.  :(  I asked the three teachers what they thought about me going to seek her out today since I am here.  They all said it was a good idea.  I am hoping that today's meeting goes very well.  That would put me in a much better position about considering the move to SD, because we could afford little luxuries like bread.  (HAHA....the budget is so tight without me working we seriously would have to tell people we don't have money to go out to dinner, etc.  There is no room for frills right now.)  If I get this job, I will be making close (perhaps more) than what I currently make.

Tuesday is a big day for HH and I.  We have our interview/dinner with the pastor search committtee.  We have already met each of the members.  HH has historically done very well at these Q&A sessions, yet the slightest off comment that someone doesn't like, and they move on to another candidate.  I mainly just sit, smile, and eat.

The wind is crazy here....with nothing to break the wind up, it howls.  Last night and today are supposed to be two of the bigger wind days, but it has been howling non-stop.  That has taken some getting used to.  There were many great photo ops on the drive in, but my camera doesn't take good pictures at 70 mph.

Our host keeps on asking if I have Prairie Madness/Fever yet.