What we can tell you is what happened over the last couple months. At the end of the year, someone purchased the condo we were renting in Alexandria, and we were forced to relocate. We searched and searched for nearly two months, looking at rentals houses, condos, and apartments, but everything in town was just way too expensive or way too crummy for us to even consider bringing Will into. Eventually, through a friend of mine at work, we found a place 15 minutes south of Alexandria in the small town of Woodworth.
If you're looking for Woodworth on a map, you won't find much. It's basically one of those single red light along a highway kind of places. It's quiet, and it's only reason for existence besides being a country alternative to Alexandria is that it is adjacent to both the Indian Creek Reservoir and Kisatchie National Forest, both of which offer wonderful recreational opportunities.
So, at the end of the year, we packed up our belongings and moved to a cabin in Woodworth. Yes, I said cabin, and when I say cabin, I mean a Little House on the Prairie, oldest structure in town kind of dwelling. It was cute, affordable, and owned by two of the sweetest people we met in Cenla (Central Louisiana), John and Judy McLure. Our first week in Woodworth was a cold one! Due to the fact thath this home is so old, it wasn't quite up to the task of keeping us warm... at least not little Will. When the temperatures dropped to the mid-teens for several days, Krissy and Will bolted for Lafayette and left me by myself for a cold 5 days.
Our Little House on the Prairie.
"It's cold in these old houses."
While I was in Woodworth, I received a call from Art Hawkins, a man I met randomly on the golf course in Lafayette during Thanksgiving break. Art and his father-in-law were placed with me, my Dad and my Grandpa to fill a fivesome. As I talked with Art, he told me that he was the Scout Executive for the Evangeline Area Council Boy Scouts of America, headquarted in Lafayette. What perked my interest in his job, seeing as I wasn't a Boy Scout, was the mention of a project they were hoping to land that focused on developing the Atchafalaya Basin as a Scout recreational opportunity. Knowing that my current employer, Moore Planning Group (MPG), had once worked on a master plan for the Basin, I was very curious about how I could get MPG involved with the Scouts.
Back to Woodworth. So, I'm sitting alone in the cabin, in the cold without cable, and I get a call from Art. He wants to interview me, and potentially offer me a job as the leader of the Atchafalay Basin Scout Program. I was very suprised at the opportunity and went down one weekend to meet with Art and the Council President. Though Art liked what MPG had to offer the Scouts, he was more interested in hiring a single person with recreational planning experience to run the the program. Thanks to my time with Design Workshop in Asheville, and the project experience I had in designing recreational packages, along with my newfound strategic implementation knowledge from MPG, the Evangeline Area Council offered me a full-time position that needed me to start in one week.
Making the difficult decision to leave a great job and amazing friends in Alexandria, the Pierces left Cenla, after spending only 9 days (4 for Krissy and Will) in our new place in Woodworth, to head back home to Lafayette. I began my job Friday, January 15th and will immediately start working on the planning for the Council's Centennial Celebration of the Boy Scouts of America which will take place on February 20th. Not a lot of time and from what I've been told, a lot to do! It should be exciting!
So here we are, back in the town that our families are in, and the place where we grew up. It's been 10 years since we permanently lived in Lafayette (if you count the 5 years at LSU and time in Asheville and Alexandria) and we're ready to experience the city as adults and a family. Welcome home.
"Brace yourself Lafayette, I'm here to stay!!!"
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