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Chicken, Family, and Sweet Tea--We're Heading South Y'all!

Hello my friends! In case we haven't spoken since we've added another baby to our family, here's what us Bradleys have been up to as we've adjusted to our new normal.

Shortly after Knox was born in June, Brent entered a contest with the new Middletown Chick-fil-a location that would open early July. I caught a glimpse of a fb/Instagram photo contest while Brent was at Target picking up his new, toy Velicoraptor claws. (These claws play an important role in the events leading up to our future.) I sent him a text and told him he should enter since he was close to the Chick-fil-a (the contest involved taking a selfie on their new campus and the most creative pics would win). He used the claws in his pic and ended up winning a VIP experience for two before the restaurant opened. He took Ella on a special Daddy/Daughter date night with a behind the scenes look at all things Chick-fil-a! They sampled most things on the menu and some employees shared different things about the company. Their spiel caught Brent's interest and he decided to look at the company's job listings online after arriving home. Brent applied for a job with Chick-fil-a a few years ago while we still lived in TN, but he only got a phone interview and no job offer. When he looked online this time, there was a role for a Data Scientist which was a perfect fit for Brent's qualifications!

With Humana (where he's been for the last 2 years) getting bought out by Aetna, my postpartum emotions everywhere without having my family around to meet Knox, no close friends locally (lots of acquaintances and potential, but no deep connections yet), and several other contributing factors, this job listing seemed to come at a perfect time.

From day one in June, when he first filled out the application, we've struggled with whether or not it would be a good idea to consider a move to GA. There are many things we love about Louisville-- Brent's family is a little more than an hour away, there are so many family friendly things around, it is beautiful(there so many places available to go hiking, walking, horseback riding, and being in nature), I love living in the place my husband proposed to me, the Derby is so exciting, and I could go on and on. I've fallen in love with Kentucky and I had no idea that was possible after my love affair with Tennessee. In the beginning, we felt like we didn't want to move even if he was offered a job, but we also felt it would be a bad idea to turn CFA down if they did make an offer. Our heartstrings were pulled back and forth over the last five months and we felt mostly alone in our struggle.

The interview process with Chick-fil-a is rigorous (and that might be an understatement). Chick-fil-a  really wants to make sure you are a good fit with their company- background, family life, how you're giving back to the community, morals, religious views, etc. Brent had the phone interview, and then they flew him down to Atlanta for an on-site interview in August. From there, they decided they wanted to contact his references. They called and spoke with five of the six people Brent listed as his references. After that, they called him in for a second round of interviews on-site in Atlanta in September. At this point, we thought he would either get an offer or rejection, but they called him in for a third round of interviews in October. At this interview, they also brought me down and we scoped out their childhood learning center and looked around at places to potentially live.

A couple weeks ago, Chick-fil-a offered him the job and we accepted! We are excited about this new endeavor, but also sad to leave a good place. Chick-fil-a places importance on family and we believe this company will help spur us on to grow in our faith, grow as a couple, grow as parents, and as a family.

I'm also excited as my side of the family will have more opportunities to get to know us and our kids once we move to Georgia!

Please be in prayer for us as we transition. Moving is hard in general, but add four kids ages four and under and an anxious wife who doesn't like change and it can cause some chaos. ;)

Movers pack us up the three days before Thanksgiving, and then we head down on either the following Friday or Saturday.

Thanks for sharing in our ups and downs.

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