We Moved!

It has been a crazy first half of 2019, and so I thought it was about time to write a post about it and make the official announcement that We Moved!  It isn't official until it's on the blog, right?  

Today I wanted to fill you guys in on the past few months of our lives, where we are now, and what our plans are.  We have some really exciting things going on around here, so much going on behind the scenes, I'm excited to give you a peek into the backend of our lives.  Some of you (ok most of you) will probably think we are nuts.  And that's ok. I am ok with that.  So if you are ready to be a little shocked, keep reading, because we are really turning things upside down around here, and it's about to get CRAZY EXCITING!

We Moved

We lived in Indiana for almost 9 years.  It was a great place to live, a great place to raise our family, we loved our time there.  But about 2 years ago, we started to feel like our time was coming to a close there. 

If you have never felt that, pull, that draw, that feeling of being unsettled in the town you've loved for the last nearly decade, you might think that sounds weird.  But it is not the first time that happened to us.  

Before we lived in Indiana, we lived in California.  About two years before we left California, we felt the same thing, that our time was up there.  It took us about two years to figure out what that meant, and how, or should I say what would actually get us out of CA, but once we figured it out, we knew it was the right thing. And that's how we ended up in Indiana.  

We initially thought we would live in Indiana for 3 years, then it turned to 4 years, and then it became indefinitely.  We were ok with that though.  It was a great place to live.  

But nearly two years ago, we began to feel the same thing, our time was coming to a close in Indiana.  I knew it wasn't quite yet, but it was coming.

I like to believe that the Lord knows that change and I don't always get along very easily, so He was kind enough to give us (me) a little prep, to warm our hearts up to the idea of big changes that needed to happen.   

Logically, there was no reason to go. We were living a COMFORTABLE life in Indiana.  We had people, we had friends that were like family, we had community, we knew where Costco was...all the important things, right?  

But God had a different plan for us and we were being told that our time was coming to a close in Indiana. We didn't know what that meant, or how we were leaving Indiana.  So we kept our eyes open and we PRAYED a LOT, that the doors for the RIGHT opportunity for us would open up.  

We knew we needed those prayers because transfer opportunities for my husband are very rare.  So we needed the right door to be opened, at the right time.  

About a year and a half ago, an opportunity came up that would have taken us to Seattle, WA.  We looked at it briefly, and we both prayed about it a lot.  But the answer was a clear "no."

So we moved on.  No other opportunities were coming available, and we began to look just to make a move within the state.  We found a gorgeous piece of property, 10 acres of woods about 20 minutes from our current home.  

10 acres of woods is not a "thing" in the part of Indiana where we lived.  It was a rare find.  And it came with a home that had so much potential for renovations and updating!  Oh man...it was amazing.  We got super excited about it.

We began to dream big about life in this home.  

But we were told a cold, hard "No, this isn't it, I have different plans for you."   

So we kept our eyes open. 

The funny thing about how God works (at least how I have found He works in my life) is He often plants a seed.  And then we have to do the work to make that seed grow.  He will plant the seed, and open the door, but we have to walk through that door and work to grow that seen.  

The seed had been planted that our time was up in Indiana, and we were doing the hard work to figure out how to make that change, but we didn't yet know what kind of tree that seed would grow, where we would end up or how we would get there.  So we kept watering and caring for it, looking and searching for the RIGHT door to open for us.

And that was our exact prayer, that the RIGHT opportunity would be opened to us. 

But here is the funny thing about THAT.   It isn't just the right opportunity, it is also the right timing too.  

NOT getting the home on 10 acres in Indiana taught us a LOT.  We went through a lot of things with that process of finding, wanting, trying to get, and then ultimately not getting the home.  It changed us.  

It changed us in ways that made it possible for us to explore fully the next door that was about to open to us with the right perspective.  It armed us with a set of experiences that we NEEDED in order for us to take the leap into the next door.

About 6 months after not getting that home (we seriously went through patches of grieving NOT getting that home for almost that long), another opportunity came up. 

It was an opportunity that would take us to Seattle.  Again. This was around Christmas time of 2018.  

Yes, we had been down that road, and we were told "no."  But the opportunity came up again, and this time we both knew that we needed to look into this again.

But it was a big scary move.  And to a place that neither of us had ever been.

So we made arrangements to visit Seattle before making a decision.  I felt that I would immediately know whether or not we were supposed to move there upon stepping foot in WA.  Ha, boy was I wrong.  

The circumstances that surrounded us making that trip to Seattle are still amazing to me.  Things that shouldn't have worked out, did.  The Lord's hand is truly in every detail.

So in January, my husband and I spent 10 days in Seattle.  Actually, we stayed in a town to the east of Seattle because we wanted to get to know that particular town and see if it was not just the right state, but also the right town for us.  Yes, we hadn't even stepped foot in the state and we were already drawn to a particular area to live.  

Those 10 days were not all easy.  I posted lots of pretty smiling pictures of me on Facebook and Instagram, but behind that smile was a lot of unrest.  I was struggling BIG time. 

I had been praying to know if this was the right move for our family.  There were tears, prayers, all the emotions and I still felt like I wasn't getting the answer I needed. 

Until I DID. 

It came in a big, undeniable way that is very personal and very sacred to me, so I won't be sharing the details of it here.  

But I will say that the Lord does answer our prayers. In His own way and in His own time.  

So at that point, mid-January, both my husband and I knew that Washington was where we needed to be. 

We knew it would be hard, we knew there would be challenges.  But we were both on the same page as the Lord and that brings a certain level of comfort and peace.  It was at this moment that things started to come together a bit more for us.  

After that, while still in Washington, we stumbled upon a gem...an amazing piece of wooded land tucked away, almost hidden.  It was beautiful in the way that it was someplace you visited for vacation...but I will talk more about that later.  

As I started to trust more fully in the Lord with this potential move, my fears started to subside.  I won't say all my worries went away, but my big fears were calmed. 

We applied for the transfer, were offered the transfer and accepted the transfer all within a matter of months.  

We put our house on the market, knowing that it was a bit early in the season, but we wanted to have enough time in case it didn't sell right away. And within a week of listing it, we had multiple offers over asking price.  

A month later we were out of our home and living in a hotel near our home so that we could let our kids finish the school year. 

Through it all, we saw the Lord's hand in all things, but that doesn't mean everything was easy or has gone smoothly.  

We have children who weren't all excited to move, and so I was trying to manage my own emotions as well as those of the little people in my home. 

I tried to help my children understand that you can be sad to leave a place, but also excited about a new adventure all at the same time.  I started asking my kids to tell me something they were looking forward to about the move.

All while living in a hotel for two months, trying to make it through the end of the school year. 

Living in a hotel came with its own set of challenges.  But we had a common goal in mind and felt so blessed that our home sold so quickly. 

And during all that time, we were also trying to figure out where would we live once we got to WA!  Eek!

Whew.  I think it's time to take a little pause, I have shared a lot and this post is getting long.  Cheers if you read all the way to the end!

Don't worry though, I am going to share more about where we are living and what our big plans are in my next post!  And this may be the post where ya'll think I've completely lost my mind and am CRAZY!  So stay tuned...it's going to be a good one!

In the meantime, you might enjoy some of these favorite posts and DIYs from my previous home while waiting for my next post in my We Moved series:

We Moved...But Now What?

The Ultimate Guide to Full-Time RV Living With a Family

Tips to Quickly Paint a Room

How to Build a Porch Swing

How to make a custom DIY Baby Gate

Homemade Sugar Scrub Recipe