The past few months have been cRaZY!!
My emotions have been up and down.
My soul tormented with questions..
My heart broken and repaired numerous times.
My mind wild with questions and answers.
Where to start? First, Geoff didn't get the job in Colorado. Is it a lost hope? No. They could hire him . . . sometime. But for now it's not happening. They hired a part-time, 'fresh out of college' kid for less money. We understand, in this economy, but we were very heart broken! Our faith was shaken a bit but we know the Lord must have something else in store for us. On the other hand, Geoff is back at the plant (only a 3 mile commute to work) again, which in turn saves us gas. And within the first 2 weeks back, he's clocked over 60 hours overtime. With a company that has told employees for the past year "NO OVERTIME!" numerous times - we are very grateful and feel very blessed. Poor guy has been on 12 hour shifts for the past month and extremely tired but he is a hard-working, amazing man who loves his family enough to sacrifice in order to provide for his family. We are hoping with this overtime, that the bills and Christmas will be an easier load this year. He's anxious to have Thanksgiving off and be back on normal hours.
BUT . . . guess what? We're moving! We were in hopes it would be to Colorado but instead it will be just a couple of miles north. We have been renting the home we're in for 4 years. We love the ward, the neighborhood and the people that surround us (well, most of them) and it's been a difficult decision but there are so many things that we must consider. First is our income vs debt in this home! It's ridiculous what they are charging for this "area". We knew it going into it, but we were desperate to get out of the situation we were in (that's a whole other story) and we needed to move our family to place where we'd feel safe and secure. This opportunity opened and we are grateful for the time we have been here. We've prayed and fasted and prayed and fasted some more about this and we know it's right for our family at this time but can I tell you how hard it is? I'm so sad to 'pull' my kids from the friends they thought they'd have forever. We had planned to rent for 2 years and then buy the house. But the economy hit and the owners aren't in a position to sell and we are 'stuck' renting a house that has repairs I'm not wiling to pay for and they can't or won't do for us. So, it's time to bail out and find a new home. Everything seemed to fall into place with our new home. A childhood friend found me on FB and we had lunch a few times in the spring and kept up with each other through emails, posts, etc. One morning I saw on her FB status that her husband got a job in Oregon and they were moving. She also mentioned that she was needing to rent her home. I emailed her about the exciting but sad news that he got a job (that's always great) but that she was leaving after we just reconnected again. We planned to meet and catch up. I asked her about her house and she gave me a few details and invited me over to look. A few days later I went over to visit and see the house. I loved it but there were some concerns. Nothing big but my girls have had separate rooms for 5 years and she only had 3 bedrooms. I looked at the rest and the floorplan was great for my teaching, it has a basement which will be nice for the hot summers, and I loved how open the floorplan was. I let her show me around and then I waited. She told me what they were thinking for rent and I about committed to it then without asking Geoff! It was just what our budget needed and I was ready to do anything to get into it! I wanted so badly to leave right then and call Geoff and tell him all about it but I needed to stay and visit. :) Don't you hate when your excitement outweighs your plans for the day?? LOL
Needless to say, Geoff was much more level headed and the first thing he asked before I could even tell him about the house, was how many bedrooms. Grrr! Why does he always ruin it for me? I avoided and avoided it until he finally stopped me and asked me again. I told him and he immediately answered no. I pleaded with him to just take some time and think about it. We really needed to get out from under the debt this home we're in and this might be the answer. He shook his head but agreed. I used every waking moment over the next few days to figure out 'my side of the case'. I measured rooms, I measured beds, I wrote out our income/debt, I wrote pros/cons. You name it! I just knew the Lord didn't us to buy a home in Arizona right now, and He didn't want us in Colorado just yet but He needed us in this home and He put it in our path at just the right time! Geoff finally agreed to go see the house and he liked it . . . a lot! He agreed, if we could get our girls to share - it would be perfect. We presented the idea to the kids. We always include them in decisions and this one was no different. It's always with the understanding that Mom/Dad have the final say but we want their input. We hope it's helping them to learn how to make decisions and weigh the options. There were tears, there were upset girls but they agreed to pray about it and join the family fast about it. We were to go see it that Sunday evening. To make this long story just a tad shorter - we are going to move there! The girls are ok to share and actually excited to have a new room to design. They kids love the basement and the big backyard that has NO pool. Whodathunk!? They don't like having a pool. They want a big grassy backyard with a trampoline. LOVE IT! That I can give them! We will move the week between Christmas and New Years and I'm anxious to start new and fresh! It's only 2.3 miles door to door and yet it's a new ward and stake.
Here's to new beginnings!!
