The News!!! duh duh duh....

Well, I'm sure you have all been sitting on the edge of your seats waiting to hear about my big news. :)  I guess it's about time I shared.  Have any guesses?  I bet you'd never guess what it is.  So here it is......

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WE'RE MOVING!!!!

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TO TEXAS!!!!!!!

   It's true.  I wouldn't trick you like that.

I'm sure (if you know me in real life) you are beyond curious about how we arrived at this decision.  I'll tell you!

You may or may not know, but my boss lost her job back in April.  (Shortly after Michael lost his.)  Thankfully they chose to keep me on.  I continued getting paid my salary, but was able to work less hours.  I basically went in to work from about 8:30 or 9 to 3 every day.  I was there to take Little Man to his activities, play dates and classes, and then remained until he went down for nap.  K searched and searched for jobs and went on a ridiculous amount of interviews, but nothing was coming up.  The few jobs she was offered were out of state (LA and Portland specifically) and she didn't want to move so she declined them.  Well, that takes us to right now.  She was offered a very good job in Texas, and has decided to take it.  She's been out of a job for six months now and that just doesn't look good for a higher up.  She knew nothing was coming along here in Ohio.  Unfortunately, the economy sucks here!  The offer was too good to refuse, so with lots of encouragement from G she took it.  That leaves me...

She gave me two options.  Option number one, which is what they were hoping for, was that they could convince Michael and I to move with them.  They would pay to relocate us, I would get a rather large raise, and they would put us up in a 30 day extended stay place once we got there so we didn't have to worry about finding a place right away.  Immediately I thought, "Well that's not going to happen!"    I was sure Michael would want nothing to do with it, but I heard her out and planned to tell him everything I learned.

My second choice was to stay in Ohio, but lose my job.  They would pay me my salary until I found a new job.  Also, they would want me to go down for the first month or so and help get Little Man settled and help interview/choose a new nanny for him.

HOLY BOMB BATMAN!

So I went home and told Michael.  When I told him that they were willing to pay to relocate us he got a little smile on his face and said, "Wow, really?" Then he told me that it speaks volumes for me and what they think of me.  He said, "It's worth considering".  Umm... what?  Did my Ohio born and raised husband--the one who left for the marines and missed home terribly--just say he'd consider moving to TEXAS?!?!  Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would move to Texas.  Honestly, I love Columbus and I was pretty sure I was going to be here the rest of my life.  I had actually told people that.  But God had other plans I guess.

Let me give you a little back story--you may have read some of my posts about decisions we needed to make and trying to be content in my current situation.  You may have read posts about knowing that God has a plan and is going to work all this crazy stuff out for good, but having no clue what that meant for us.  We have both been feeling unsettled for quite a while now.  There really wasn't any reason.  We just sort of felt stuck.  We were ready to move on to the next stage in our life--house and family--but by all accounts that we could see that was not happening any time soon.  We have prayed and prayed AND PRAYED for answers.  What's next?  What is Your plan?  Which way do we turn?  Do we start trying to have a kid?  When do we start trying to have a kid?  You get the point.  We felt unsettled and stuck.  Let me tell you, I am a pretty content person.  Plus, I have always had a plan or an answer.  So to feel these emotions and have no direction was no fun for me.  But, I judged Him faithful!  Then......... God drops a move to Texas in our laps.

At first glance the move might not make sense.  They are going to pay to have our stuff moved down there.  So what?!  I get a huge raise.  So what?!  Well, it's more than that.  After Michael and I talked and talked about it and explored every angle and possibility, I sent K an email with questions.  Two HUGE things that were answered through those questions were 1) I would have a job as long as I want it.  I wouldn't be done working for them when Little Man goes to school full time.  I will continue on during his elementary years--taking him to school, picking him up, going on field trips, being full time in the summer, etc. and 2) When we have children I can bring them with me.  HELLO!?!?!  I don't know if you know just how big of a deal that is.  I have dreamed of being a stay at home mom since I was a teenager.  Honestly.  I always knew I was going to go and get my teaching degree.  I always knew I'd be a teacher.  But when I had my own kids, I really wanted to stay home.  I know it's not for everyone, but it was my heart's desire and God knew that.  I will essentially get paid to be a SAHM.  Little Man will be at school from 8 to 3 or whatever and I will have that time with my child.

Not only that, but if we did choose to stay it wouldn't be good for us financially.  There is no way I would find a job making even close to what I'm making now.  Plus, they most likely wouldn't have a car for me to drive.  Also, I couldn't find a similar situation as far as family goes.  I have it good and I know it.

There are so many more details, but this post is getting long.  K starts her job on December 13th.  She will just commute at first.  We will most likely move around the first of the year if all goes well.  We will be moving to the Dallas area, more specifically Plano.  Which, by the way, was voted number one safest city in the US in 2010 by Forbes Magazine.  Just sayin! :)