Life Before the Band Director Life...

Oct 15, 2017
5 min read

So, when I got married to my husband, I had no idea what to expect when it came to his career. I had never experienced what it was like being behind the shadow of a band director, but I would soon find out. I graduated in 2015 with my Bachelor's in General Studies with focuses in Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences from Harding University, he graduated with his Bachelor's in Music Education in May of 2016 from Lamar Univeristy and that was just the beginning for us! We had both finally receieved our degrees and the wedding was coming up fast, because it was in June of course!

It was a wild ride getting to this point. We had already been engaged nearly 3 years when our wedding rolled around, and it had been a challenge since our schools were definitely not close. But, we made it through and we were extremely happy and excited for what was coming for us. We had faith God would lead us to the correct lifestyle.

June 10th came and our wedding party was arriving from all over the place. From California to Arkansas we had friends coming to stand by us as we said our "I dos" on June 11th. One thing that we both vowed to each other was that we would always support each other in whatever we chose as our path in career and life. That's one thing that was always a big deal for us throughout our relationship and it was something that kept it extremely strong throughout our time together. We had no idea what kind of ride we were in for after we got back from the honeymoon, but let me tell you, it seemed like we rode on it for years and it had only been a month, haha!

June 11, 2016 finally arrived, the day we had been patiently waiting for since the night of our engagement almost three years before. It went by so fast, but it was so much fun and full of love.

It was a great day! One we are truly thankful to have shared with our friends and family. The next day, we flew to Maui, Hawaii and had an awesome week in paradise!

When we arrived back in DFW we stayed with my parents for another week. We had no idea where we would be going because get this, Connor got a job offer from Tarkington High School which was over an hour away from where we planned to live, which was Orange, TX. Since he had planned on possibly going there we turned down our rent offer and our landlord rented it to someone else. Tarkington fell through only because he did not want to pull us away from being close to his family. Another offer came up while we were staying with my parents from Liberty High School, closer to Houston. He did not really want it but it was the only other offer than came up for him, so he started the interview process. A few days later, after the interview, they called to tell him they had chosen to go a different route. He and I weren't completely devastated but we were back at square one. The last night in my hometown, I hung out with three of my four best friends from high school and just laughed and had a good time together.

June 20th was my last day in Roanoke. A town I had been raised in and had been so accustomed to that it was extremely hard for me to leave. That morning we met up with my other best friend, Krista for breakfast tacos at Fuzzy's. We chatted and talked about what could be next for Connor and I. Then it was time for all of us to part ways and get back to my parents house to finish packing the car.

As I put the last box in my car, I turned to look at the house I grew up in and had so many memories inside and tears rolled down my face. I wasn't ready, but it was time. We drove to my grandparents and said goodbye and we picked up our dog, the ventured to my family's business to say goodbye to my daddy and we left. As I looked in the rearview mirror, memories of growing up flashed through my mind, I smiled and quietly said goodbye to my home and left to start my chapter with my husband in a new one. Our new "home" would be in Beaumont, Texas with Connor's dad and stepmom until we could move into our rent house. It wasn't what we expected but they kindly offered to let us live with them until we got everything figured out. We did not have much with us, because we would be living in Connor's old bedroom for a bit so we brought our clothes and a few other knick knacks. We struggled trying to get used to the fact that we weren't completely on our own yet, but loved every moment we spent with my in-laws.

We settled in our little bedroom in Beaumont and spent some time job searching and with the family. July 4th came and went and soon after Connor got a call from his old mentor teacher, Tim about a job opening in Bridge City ISD for an assistant band director position at the middle school. Bridge City was 30 minutes from Beaumont and he had heard nothing but good things about the band program there. He was so excited and I was just as excited but we had to stay calm throughout this process. The thing was, the head band director at the high school had accepted a job at Texas A&M and his assistant wasn't sure about the head director position. If the potential head band director candidate impressed them enough, then they did not need an assistant at the middle school. If it didn't then Connor may have a chance at being employed there. Let me tell you, it was stressful! We were eager to find out the outcome. The head band director candidate had to be interviewed first before the rest fell into place. Later that night, he got a call from the middle school head director that the head band director candidate didn't work out and that they had to interview his assistant director of the high school and they would go from there. We were so excited, God was answering our prayers and blessed us with this awesome place that was close. He got a call later the next day and they wanted him to come in for an interview. Then he had one with the superintendent. Later in the week he got the call, he had been hired on as the Assistant Band Director for Bridge City Middle School and would be taking over the drumline and front ensemble for the high school marching band!! I cried just a tad because we finally had him secured with a good job with coworkers that would soon become wonderful friends to us.

He had his first day with his kids on July 18, 2016.