I get to meet some pretty incredible people in my work, like Kendra and Justin Cook. When we first met, they delighted me by speaking in Mandarin! I helped them find their home in Pasadena and gained good friends in the process. Now, almost a decade later, I helped them sell that same home so they could move to their ranch in Montana. How and why the Cook Family came to Pasadena in the first place is a story worth hearing, as is the reason they chose to leave.

“I’m from Montana,” Kendra said. “And when I was only five, our teacher wheeled a TV into my kindergarten class and we watched the space shuttle Challenger explode, live on national television. I know I was young, and I didn’t understand the importance of responsibility and ethics to my life yet, but it was at that moment I knew I wanted to design and build spacecraft.”

“When it was time to apply to college, I wanted to attend Boston University’s Aerospace Engineering program. But my father made it clear there was only enough money to send me to Montana State. If I wanted to attend BU, I would be responsible for the tuition myself,” she said.

“So I joined Boston University’s ROTC program. It eased the financial burden of college and started me off in the right direction for my career,” Kendra smiled. “It was in the officer training program that I met my husband, Justin, who had the same love of Aeronautics and Aerospace that I did.”

“We knew it was time for a change.”

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“After finishing college, the Air Force paid for my two Masters degrees. Then the war broke out and I was soon doing foreign capability assessments on enemy warfighters for Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

“In 2011, Justin and I left the Air Force. We were invited to live overseas when Justin became a diplomat in Taiwan. I used the opportunity to advance my career and became the U.S. Government’s liaison on a joint weather satellite project with the Taiwan Space Agency. We lived there for two years then commuted back and forth between D.C., Taiwan, and our Montana ranch for the next four,” Kendra said.

“Our oldest daughter had just turned 3, and was not afraid to use her new found abilities at speech to express exactly how dissatisfied she was with our constant commuting and lack of presence in her life. We knew it was time for a change.”

“We needed help, and quickly.”

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“Fortunately, some colleagues convinced me to apply at JPL. After six weeks of interviews, I accepted their offer and our family packed our things for Pasadena,” Kendra remembered. “I became a systems engineer and am currently sending a probe to Jupiter’s Moon, Europa, to search for life and habitability. And Justin joined JPL a few years later and works on the Mars Rover Missions.”

“When we arrived in Pasadena, JPL was kind enough to put us up in a hotel room for two months while we looked for a house. It was Justin, me, our two children at the time, our nanny, two dogs, and a cat all staying in a single hotel room! Obviously we needed help, and quickly,” she said.

“That was when we found Eva,” Kendra continued. “It was relatively early in her career, but she was so smart, and so knowledgeable, and most of all had an amazing work ethic that Justin and I immediately recognized as special. Eva worked around the clock to find us the right house, and sure enough, before the sixty days were up, we were Pasadena homeowners!”

Kendra emphasized the point by placing her hand down on the table with a loud clunk. “Oh, that’s my Order of Engineering ring,” she held up her hand to reveal a stainless steel band adorning her pinky. “We wear it on our dominant hand to remind us to always put ethics and integrity first.”

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“Thinking about it, I realize it was exactly those traits that drew us to Eva in the first place. It was also why there was no question that we wanted her to sell our house nine years later.”

Kendra mused, “I love Pasadena. In fact, after moving 17 times in 20 years, Justin and I view it as the best place we’ve lived, but it’s ultimately not home for us. So when JPL offered us the chance to return to our ranch in Montana and telecommute to work, we took it.”

“We called up Eva and asked her to sell our house. Her response was to suggest we wait. She predicted the market would increase significantly in about a year, but when we told her it had to be now, her response shocked us. She said, ‘Well, then given the current market, it better be in the next six weeks.’ Eva knew that was our best chance for a great outcome. And sure enough, we had a strong cash offer that exceeded our expectations before the home was even published for sale!” Kendra exclaimed.

“Since then we’ve moved back to Montana. Justin and I can finally relax, and our four children get to grow up with more stability, a real sense of home, and a 40-acre ranch to play on. And I truly believe we have Eva to thank for that.” Kendra grinned from ear to ear.