Preparing for the move

Today is Sunday. In what has become a typical Sunday over the past few weeks, we have not gone to church and instead have worked around the house to get things ready for the upcoming move. This coming Thursday, the movers will be here to pack and load our house into a truck, and we will be heading out to Washington State, my home state.

A little background to bring you up to speed -- Sandi and I moved here to North Liberty, Iowa after living almost 2 years on the "Eastside" of Seattle. We were pregnant and had decided that it would be beneficial for us to move closer to her family here in Iowa. After 3 years of living here, 2 beautiful daughters and a few extra pounds around my middle, a job opportunity with my previous employer came available in the Tacoma, WA area, and I was offered the job.

There was a lot of prayer and thinking that went into this whole decision. Sandi and I had talked about the possibility of moving to the Portland area to be close to my Mom and Dad, as my Mom's health went downhill during our time out here. When visiting my parents, and after the trip made to Seattle in 2009, we would reminisce about our days living out on the west coast, and how beautiful it is, and how we actually did miss it. The idea of moving back out there seemed like a far away possibility, but something that we would definitely like to pursue at some point down the road.

Fast forward to Nov 1st, 2010. On a whim, gut instinct, or from a God breathed suggestion, I looked at the careers website of my previous employer. Posted on Oct 28th, were TWO openings in Washington. One in Seattle, and one that said "Tacoma/South Sound". I was floored, as for the past 3 years since I left, there had been only 1 opening out there, and it had been filled earlier this year. I immediately started getting in touch with my old work buddies out in Seattle to get the scoop. Apparently, there was only the Tacoma position available, as the other position for Seattle should not have been posted. I spoke with Sandi about the job, and she expressed some very real concerns. I of course had concerns and fears of my own, but I also had excitement that this might be the opportunity to get back out to the west, and to be close to my parents. We took the rest of Monday, and all of Tuesday to think about things. Wednesday I got the go-ahead from Sandi to call the District Manager out there and inquire about the job, and see where this could go.

During this whole process, my prayer had been that if this was the right thing for us to do, that God would pave the way.. and if we were supposed to stay here in Iowa, to shut down this job opportunity for us. After speaking with the DM at length on Friday, then again on Monday, it was clear that they were interested, and excited to have me back. At every point along the way, every concern seemed to just be smoothed over, and I really started believing that God was, in fact, paving the way. Nov 19th I received an official offer letter, and after a few details to work out, January 4th, 2011 became my start date.

I honestly could go on and on with every little detail, but my point of this first post to our blog is to give a quick outline of what has happened and to introduce you to what we hope will be a good way for us to stay connected with our long-distance friends all over the country. We look forward to this next step in our life, and to sharing some of these adventures and experiences with everyone.
-Matt