Our Next Chapter

We are getting ready to start a new chapter in our lives with lots of changes on the way. In less than 2 weeks we are moving to Houston, TX for Steve's job.

We spent the four weekends after Ella's birthday working very hard around the house, preparing to pack, move out, and and getting it ready to sell. We moved out the first week in February, and it has officially been on the market for the last two weeks.





Ella and I have been staying at Mom's house since we moved out of our house, and I went to Houston a few weekends ago so that Steve and I could unpack the apartment we'll be living in while we wait for our house to sell. Steve already has his car out there, and he is driving mine out there this weekend with Cory, and then Ella and I will fly out there in a few weeks.

I am definitely sad to be leaving NC, I had hoped we'd be here for good. I am going to miss so much - my friends, Ella's friends, her school, our church, our house, and most of all, I am sad we're going to be so far away from our family.

We've lived here for more than six and a half years and everything is just so familiar and comfortable, it is really going to be such a big adjustment to start over somewhere completely new and unfamiliar.

But - there are many positives. Best for me, is that I'm able to keep my job and will be working from home. I am looking forward to having more of the most precious resource in extremely short supply -- TIME! Most of all, I am excited to spend more time with Ella and not feel like we're always rushing during the week.I love my job and have been with my company for more than 6 years, so am very happy to be able to keep my position and make it work with our move. I plan to come back to the office for three days every two months, so will still see my team and my co-workers and I'll be glad to have a reason to come back and visit regularly.

This move is really great for Steve's career. He is finally in a position that he loves and is really challenging, that he is really good at, and where the sky is truly the limit. He's been doing this job since June, and while this is not the way we would've chosen for things to go if it were up to us, it is the path that God has paved for us and I do believe it is His will. You just never know where life is going to lead. I have so many thoughts about all the twists and turns our lives have taken in the last several years and hope I have some time once we're settled to really reflect on everything.

On an unrelated note but one that will always be entwined with our move in my mind, a good friend of mine from when we lived at Ft. Leonard Wood, was killed in a tragic freak accident in her home several weeks ago. She was a really, really, really wonderful person. A selfless mother of two boys, dedicated wife, fantastic friend, just an all-around great person. I try to keep this blog to things that are Ella-related, for her to hopefully look back on one day and enjoy, but am making an exception in this case.

I of course realize that bad things happen to good people all the time. But when tragedies happen that are just so heartbreaking and wrong, when a loving, caring person is taken away from the world many years too soon, a husband has lost his wife, young children have lost their mother, parents have lost their daughter, etc, it is so hard not to want to demand answers from God on how he can allow such terrible things to happen. I do not know the answer to this and the answers aren't for me to know. All I can do is pray that God will grant the family peace and comfort in the midst of a situation that is just too terrible to begin to express.

In any way that I can, I feel compelled to learn from this horrible tragedy - that to not take any piece of 'good' out of this would be an insult to her memory, and she deserves so much better. I do not know what life will bring and there are no guarantees even for tomorrow. I want to be grateful for each and every day, and make the absolute most of each one. I hope to enter this next chapter in our lives with a spirit of adventure instead of trepidation; with gratitude instead of questioning; and with peace instead of anxiety over the uncertainty.

Our countdown to the move is on, and I am trying to squeeze every bit out of our last two weeks in NC. Although I don't know what the future holds for our family, I am excited to find out.