So much has changed in the past two weeks! After 41 years of business, Big Sky Transfer & Storage has sold it's assets to another (much larger) United Van Lines agent called Mergenthaler Transfer & Storage. Mergenthaler is based in Helena, MT with agancies in Bozeman, MT; Kalispell, MT; Salt Lake City, UT; and Portland, OR; they also have a large freight division called MTS Freight.

So....what does all of this mean to the Kersey family? WELLLL...Vern and I were both offered positions with Mergenthaler, but I am the only one of us that opted to stay aboard. It was a hard decision; mostly because they don't want me to go to school for the first year (at least) because they need a full time commitment to get the new agency up and running. After all of the blood, sweat, and tears - and HOURS of homework - devoted toward my goal of applying for nursing school next spring, I had a hard time accepting the fact that my plan would be interrupted. Since we can't really afford for me to drop my income all together and go to school, it seems that the choice was made for me. I must say, however, that after the reality started to sink in, I felt a huge sense of relief. The past two years of juggling work, family, and school has been really tough on me and the family. Now that I have had a chance to think about it; I think the break will be good for all of us. After the year is up I can re-evaluate the situation and decide where to go from there!

I am really excited to work for such a great company. I am both Operations Manager and the Move Coordinator, which will definately keep me busy! I am thrilled to have the structure and resources to do my job the "right" way. I will be doing the same thing I have always done at Big Sky, but in a different way; Mergenthaler has a system and a checklist for everything, which I love. This is an opportunity for me to learn alot and to expand my skills.

Vern has actually been casually looking for a new job for quite a while - not agressively, but keeping his ear to the ground. He has had his eye on a particular company, Food Services of America, for about a year because they are a great company with great pay and benefits. FSA is also a (Teamsters) union shop, so the union benefits that Vern accumulated at Big Sky (before Big Sky withdrew from the union last summer) will just pick right back up. FSA only has 26 drivers in Montana and it is a really hard company to get hired into because they have very little turnover. Anyway...the very week that we found out that Mergenthaler was buying Big Sky, Vern was offered a job at FSA! We are adjusting to his new schedule and to not being together 24/7, but we are ecstatic! Vern began working last week and LOVES it so far! The best part about it is that it is almost totally STRESS FREE! At the end of the day, he sets the brake and walks away!

So; there you have the "nutshell" version of what is going on with the Kersey bunch! The kids seem to be rolling with the punches as usual...I am so blessed to have such great kids! We had alot of fun hiking, camping, and rafting in June and over the 4th of July, but summer is going to be cut short for us because I am going in for some "female" surgery next week that will severely limit my activities for the rest of the summer. I will miss two weeks of work, so I will be at home going crazy...actually I will probably be drugged up and sleeping most of the time. Vern will be changing to night shift sometime in the next two weeks, so we will also be adjusting to him working from 4:00 in the afternoon to about 4:00 in the morning. Hopefully, he will get a day route soon but until then we are just sooooo happy that he has a better job.

I'll try to fill in details about the kids and their activities with my next post...whenever that may be!