Supper was a little salty tonight.

During the last month, I guess you could say I've been on an emotional roller coaster. In fact, I can guarantee that you could say that. Today was one of those emotional days. The next phase in this move began. Hubby went to live with his parents while the boys and I hold the fort down back here. He starts his new job tomorrow and we'll be joining him in a couple of weeks. He left right before supper. I cried. Hence the name of this post.

I suppose it won't be all the different than when he would travel for his previous jobs. Except for the fact that Big is now in Kindergarten and is counting down the days until his last day there. He's a bit sad. And I have literally almost nothing on the schedule because we've said goodbye to almost everyone and have departed from all our involvements. And I'm going to be kicked out of the house with the boys so it can be inspected on Tuesday. And most of the boys' toys have been packed away. Oh, and Hubby is living with his parents. But I'm trying to pretend that this is just a normal business trip. I like normal and keeping things as normal as possible really helps me cope. I hope it works for the boys as well. Tomorrow Big and I are going to make a chain to count down the number of days until we move to be with Hubby.

Side note: Making a chain out of construction paper links is a great way to help kids understand the passing of time. This has helped Big a lot with counting down the days until holidays, trips, visitors, etc. And it keeps me sane because I don't have to constantly hear, "How many days until....?" because he can just count the number of links left on the chain. It not only keeps me sane and helps them understand the passing of time, but is a great way to practice various skills. They can practice counting, subtracting one, cutting, creating patterns out of the colors of paper used, and practice writing their numbers.

Thank you for indulging me. Sometimes the elementary teacher from my former life likes to come out and play. But I digress...

We went to Nebraska Furniture Mart yesterday to begin looking at some flooring. There is so much we want to do to our new house, but we're going to try to pace ourselves. Odds are, this will be our forever house, so we don't have to get it all done right away. Thanks to Pinterest, I felt somewhat prepared.

So what's next on the agenda? Tomorrow our "new" house is being inspected. Tuesday, our current house is being inspected. Hopefully, by sometime next week, we'll be closed on both. Amen that would be heavenly.

Hubby made a video of the boys giving a "tour" of our current home so that we can always remember it. It is about 45 minutes long. Not kidding. It is the cutest thing you've ever seen. I would post it on here, but really, it is too long. You can only imagine what sort of shenanigans goes on with a five and two year old little boy giving the tour.

Well, I'm off to start my Christmas lists. I know, I know. You don't have to tell me. But with the move and crazy schedule we've got coming up, I seriously need to start now. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Unemployed

Yesterday was Hubby's last day at his current job. He is now unemployed until Monday, which means we have no health insurance until Monday. (Praise Jesus that medical coverage begins the first day of employment!!!) Which means, someone will inevitably get sick over the weekend.

He is at Big's elementary school right now doing the Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads Of Great Students) program. I'm sure they're having a ball. I'm at home with Little. He's napping - but since I'm trying to post I'm sure he'll wake up any minute now - and I've been cleaning. But, then I got distracted by Pinterest. I'm just so excited to have a new place to make into our home. There is a very good chance that this new house could be the one Hubby and I live in until we die. So, we better make it how we want it.

Thankfully, my sister has very good taste and I've already started emailing her my ideas. Boy, is she going to get sick of me! But, we're sisters and best friends, so she'll just have to deal with it.

In other news, our house will be inspected on Tuesday and the house we're planning on buying will be inspected next week, as well. Yea for progress!

Yesterday was the first day we didn't have any showings. I was so thankful. It is hard keeping the house ready to show people with two little male humans around. It has been nice to just let them be boys.

Well, I"m off to enjoy my last few moments of peace and quiet before Little wakes up. If you don't hear from me in a few days, I've probably been eaten alive by Pinterest.

Patient Progress

We were pleased with the appraisals and found a Realtor we like. The house went on the market on Halloween and we started showing the house on Friday. It was a rainy, dreary, crazy few days. We worked our tails off. Many thanks to our parents who helped out tremendously and thank you to our sisters for watching the boys.

Prepping for the first showing was the hardest. It was physical, mental and emotional. I didn't think I'd get it all done, and technically, I didn't. But, I did accomplish "good enough" and that is all for which I could hope. I started crying right before the showing. Our Big boy comforted me. He told me I shouldn't be sad because us moving would mean I'd get to live closer to my mom and dad. He was right. I told him I wasn't necessarily sad, just thankful and overwhelmed. This house truly became our home. It was the first home Hubby and I lived in together. It is where we brought each of the boys home from the hospital. There are so many incredible memories here.

But I seem to be over that emotional valley. We accepted an offer for the house on Monday! Isn't the just incredible? Now we just need to get the ball rolling to actually move out of this place.

It appears Hubby and I have decided on the house we want to purchase. So, there is progress, but still an overwhelming amount of unknowns. We need to get our house inspected and finalize negotiations. We need to get our "new" house inspected and finalize negotiations. We need to figure out when to close both houses and figure out the timing. We have a moving company moving us, which we have to schedule three weeks in advance, but we don't know when we want them here. Our buyer wants to close Dec. 5th - which we agreed to - so we know we have to have our stuff out by then. However, the house we want to buy needs some work done. Do we store our stuff for awhile and live with our parents which we work on the house? Oh, and to further complicate things, Hubby has to travel to Michigan for work for two weeks right before Christmas. Heaven help us.

And although I may not be in an emotional valley right now, surprisingly, (Note to self: Don't go back and read the above paragraph) our Big boy is in a bit of a valley. Last night he cried at bedtime about Hubby moving before us to start his new job. Then, he started crying about leaving his school. Breaks this Momma's heart.

We can do this. I know we can. One day at a time. One day at a time.

Hurry up and wait!

That's pretty much our mantra around here. Hubby got the job two weeks ago now and I don't feel like I know any more information about our move now than I did two weeks ago. Currently, his start date is November 11th. Originally, it was November 4th. Thankfully, they are relocating us. Thankfully, they are hiring movers to come pack our house and move it for us. However, several things needed to happen before we could know exactly what our relocation package is. And although all those things are done, we're still waiting. Hubby and I didn't exactly think they could expect him to start working there so soon without providing us any information about relocating our family.

We did receive some information yesterday, but tomorrow at 1:30 is when we should (hopefully) get all our questions answered. And although we can't put our current house on the market (yet) and we don't know if we're going to rent or buy a new home, we're trying to get as much done in preparation for the move as possible. In fact, the whole family is involved....see??

Big brother made this last night as I was making dinner. He was sitting at the table and kept asking me how to spell words.

In case you can't tell, he wrote are house is for sale. The color (and then he colored a brown blob) and then House #16611

He read it to me and said, "When we're driving to our new house, I'm going to hold this out of the window of our car." Gosh I love that kid.

See, each member of the family is doing his part to make this move happen.

Friday, our house is being appraised. We still need another appraisal and then hopefully we can get this thing on the market.

Post Script: I wrote this over a week ago now. We got so busy getting everything ready to put the house on the market that I literally didn't have any time to finish this post and publish it.

So, How Did This Happen?

Well, we have to back waaaaayyyy up for this one. There's a bit of background needed here. It actually started way back in high school. 

Oh dear, that probably just made you stop reading. I'll try to make this long story short. Just hang in there with me.

As I was saying, it all started way back in high school. When it was time to think about where to go to college, I knew I didn't want to go to the nearest college, that most of my classmates were going to. It was the college almost everyone who graduated from my high school went to. Call me a rebel, but I didn't want to go there. So, I decided on a college a bit farther away, in the big city. But, the college was very small, so I wasn't completely out of my comfort zone. Although, I was horribly, horribly homesick. I remember crying on the phone to my mom one night and she asked if I wanted to transfer back to the college close to home. My answer was "no." I didn't care how homesick I was, I was not going to go back home. 

I eventually got over my homesickness and ended up living in various parts of the city until now. After Hubby and I got married, we never had a desire to move back home. I never had an inkling of the feeling until we got pregnant with our first baby. One Sunday we were driving back to the city after a weekend "home" to see our families. I remember telling Hubby it would be nice to be closer to our parents once we had kids. But the conversation never went farther than that. 

Fast-forward to this January. Hubby was contacted by a company close to "home" and we started the discussion of whether or not we would ever really want to move back. I remember during that entire process of interviewing, I was sick to my stomach. I couldn't imagine moving back home. But then, the more we thought about it, we realized it wouldn't be that bad. Right?!? But secretly, I was relieved when he didn't get the job and we could stay put. I love Sonic and Target and I wasn't quite ready to say good-bye. Neither were they.

So, we happily moved on with our lives. We enjoyed getting to know our life group from church, I continued coordinating our MOPS group, Big started Kindergarten, Hubby started serving as Deacon at church, as well as leading a Big's group at church on Wednesday nights, etc. In other words, we were involved! And then one September afternoon, I got an email from Hubby telling me another company from "home" contacted him. My reply was, "Aye, aye, aye. Here we go again!" But this time, something was different. I was peaceful. And so was Hubby.

He began the process of interviewing again and we again started the discussion of possibly moving. But this time, we felt an overwhelming sense of peace. I truly felt God's hand over this. I knew that He was in control and had it all figured out. 

We didn't tell anyone. Personally, I didn't think everyone else would have the same peaceful feeling we did. I didn't want to cause disruption in other people's lives if nothing came of it. Also, we didn't want our families thinking we were actively looking to move back. 

When Hubby went up for the on-site interview, as luck would have it, the first person he saw was a cousin of mine. So, we had to tell our parents. We didn't want them hearing it from anyone else but us. 

For the next week and a half we waited and waited. But notice I didn't say we anxiously waited. Again, more peace. I kind of had a feeling Hubby would get the job, but that's a story for another time. My prayer was simple. If God wanted him to have the job, it would have to be an offer we couldn't refuse. And God delivered. 

So, there's no turning back now. I would like to say things have continued to be smooth sailing, but that isn't 100% true. Hubby getting the job has been the simple part of the story so far. But I'll fill you in on the rest later...

It's Me Again

I know I "quit" this blog three years ago, but God is at work in our lives and I need a place to write it down. I want my boys to be able to go back and read about this time in the life of our family. And, I want any of our friends that would like to, to keep track of us during this journey.

Please don't stop being my friends. I need you.

So what's God been up to? Well, we're moving. Technically, we're moving "home" - back to where my husband and I grew up. Although, this move feels nothing like moving home. Honestly, where we live now feels like home. Where we're moving to might as well be a foreign country.

See, we're moving back to rural America after living in the city for about 12 years. And frankly, I'v grown accustomed to city life. There are some aspects that I won't miss. For example, there are people. People everywhere, all the time. Also, all the people feel the need to constantly be doing something. Going somewhere, being involved in some way. I'm a homebody and I always have been. And, I like my privacy. Chances, are, I always will be that way. At least in those ways, I'm excited about moving back to the middle of nowhere.

However, there are some things about city life that I'll miss.
Like Sonic.
And Target.
And our public libraries, doctors galore, being five minutes from anywhere. But what I'll absolutely miss the most is our church and our friends.

Where we're moving to I don't really know anyone, regardless of the fact that's where I grew up. Even the people I used to know extremely well, I don't know hardly at all now.

So, you might say, I'm a bit apprehensive about the move. But at the same time, there is complete peace. I know without a doubt this is God's doing. I know this is a move He wants us to make. So, I'll follow in obedience with faith. Faith that this is what's best for our family and faith that He'll provide a place to live (more on that later).

To be continued is the understatement of the century...

Bye!

My new blog is up and running. This is officially my last post on blogspot. If you didn't get the email with the password to our new blog, please comment on this post.

Thanks for reading!