A New Life We Were NOT Expecting!

Oct 2013 would mark 6 years we have lived in College Place, Wa. We love the area and have really planted ourselves here. College Place is home. Some family is here, our church family is here, our friends are here. We planned on raising our kids here, sending them to school here and planned on building a house one day here. We have so many dreams of our life in College Place that we never even pictured ourselves outside of CP. We were home and we weren't moving again.

So we thought.

God thought differently!

About two months ago, a friend we met through Becky and Jason posted on his status that his company was hiring for a software engineer position and a couple other areas. I looked at it, thought of Jake and then moved on. We dont need to look for a job. We aren't moving. Sure we are struggling financially but we don't need to look into it. See, this job was at HP and would relocate us to Vancouver, Wa. We definitely did NOT need to look into this! But as I scrolled on, I got the nagging feeling I needed to say something to my husband. So I scrolled back up finally and reread what he wrote and proceeded to tell Jake. And man, did that open up something we were not ready to explore! He asked the friend questions and got some details, and applied for it. Probably a week later, he had a phone interview, a week after that he had an in person interview, and I think it was a couple days later, he was offered the job. 

We were completely flabbergasted with how quickly it went, how fast everything came together. And how emotionally involved the whole process was. Why would God allow this job to fall into place? Doesn't he WANT us in CP? Aren't we suppose to stay with our church?? We can't leave them! They are our family and we want to see the changes in the church! We love this area! How can we leave?? 

However, while Jake was the one who really struggled with those questions, and was completely unsure of what to do, I knew in my heart that we were moving to Vancouver and I might as well start getting use to it right now. Sure my best friend is there and that would be awesome to live near her again, however, that is definitely not my cup of tea! I am so not a westside girl! I love my heat, I love my sun! And I loved living in a small town! This would be a HUGE change but I knew that it was what God wanted for us and I couldn't find a reason of why only that we were to go.

Jake went back to his work *he'd kept his boss in the loop* and told them about the offer and basically gave  them a chance to counter it. Which they didn't. They said it was a great opportunity for Jake and that they didn't want to stand in the way of him moving forward! We kinda expected it but then again kinda hoped they would come back with an offer. But they didn't and Jake knew that God was moving him in a different direction then we had originally thought. He accepted the job at HP and told them we would be there in 2 weeks. 

Now like I said, I knew this was going to happen. However there is only so much you can act on when nothing is final. Since we didn't have an offer in hand, I knew that we could look at places and check things out but couldn't settle on anything till he had an offer. So when he accepted the job, we had two weeks to completely pack up our house, move our family 4 hours away, and find a place to move said family into! Oh and remember, I am 8 months pregnant! We also have to find a new dr for me and for the kids preferably soon since I am about to pop out #3! So we got to work! We found a place, and was able to secure it and move in the same day Jake started work. We have some cleaning and landscaping to do on the house but it for the most part is done, cleaned out, and soon, will be put on the market. Oh and the irony in all this? My best friend who is now like 15 mins away instead of 4 hours, will be moving 2000 miles away to Michigan to start a new chapter in their life! Yeah, not cool! 

We've been here almost 2 weeks. We live in a condo now. And really, despite it having stairs, its a really nice place. And the stairs aren't all bad and would be better if I wasn't pregnant! It rains here more then we are use to but we have seen the sun many times and getting out and checking things a bit. We know of a couple places close we can take the kids to play outside, we have checked out the various places we can shop at now, and we are slowly unpacking and getting moved in. We are still on the look out for a new ob for me and ped for baby but that will happen soon. I hope!  We haven't done a bunch of exploring as we have been busy on the weekends but plan to go to the coast and the zoo and check out the aquarium they just put in! 

It's weird being here. I have these moments of, oh yeah, we live here now. Its not home, and I know it will take a while to be home. It's bigger and more overwhelming but we are enjoying it so far. Kids are mostly handling the adjustment well. Some days are better then others. Chloe talks about the 'blue' house in CP and how she liked that one but she's also excited about her 'new' house! And talks about it too. We have explained to her that we live here now and I think she understands that. We also had to explain that her friend Kayla was moving away as well to another state and I think she is slowly understanding that as well. Josiah just knows things are different here and that has kinda thrown him a bit but really both are handling it well. We are all adjusting, and it will take us some time to get plugged in and make this home too. Until then, my home is in CP with all my family and friends there and regardless of where I live, I will always have a place in my heart for CP. It's where Jake got his first out of college job, where we bought our first house, and where we started our family. It will always be home!