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Just in case you haven't heard it through the grape vine, or on Facebook, we are moving. In fact the picture of Times square above is where Randall will be working for the next year or two or three, who knows. We do know that this is a great opportunity for not only him and his career but for our family. No, we will not be living in Manhattan, we're not that crazy, not to mention you have to be a kazillionaire to live there. Right now we are looking to live somewhere in New Jersey that is a close commute and a nice place to live.

I wish I could say it's all excitement, and there is a lot of that, but I'm nervous and down right scared at times wondering how things are going to work out exactly. If you know me much at all then you would know that I'm a planner. That means when something like this comes up I don't just think to myself, "how fun we are moving", instead my mind goes wild of every single minute detail like, are we going to rent or sell our home? Where are the best schools? Where is a nice, affordable neighborhood? I need vaccine records to register the kids for school. We should probably get our teeth cleaned here while we know a dentist. What should I get rid of? I need to get the carpets cleaned, how will we get the house rented? will my dental hygiene license transfer? Is there an Ikea?

Randall knows me well enough to know that after any big change or decision to just give me 24 hours to let the idea settle in and then I'm fine. This doesn't mean I'm freaking out and crying or anything I'm just saying I feel like my brain just might explode wondering and worrying about all the many changes and things now on my "To do list".

The older I get the more "comfortable" and "settled" I become. A few years ago I was chomping at the bit to move on to "our next adventure". Just the other day I was thinking how on July 24th it will be our 2 year anniversary of living in this home and the longest we have ever lived in one place. I wondered how long we would actual be in this home. Days later I got my answer of oh, 6 weeks or so.

You may be wondering how all this happened. Well, a few months ago Randall decided to interview for a new position at work. Throughout the long and exhausting weeks and 8, yes 8 interviews later( I guess they like to be thorough)he was not offered the position. Of course Rand was disappointed but through those weeks and that process we prayed that if it was right he would be offered the job. So when that wasn't the case we felt like there had to be a reason. It all becomes complicated after that so let's just say in just over a weeks time it was decided that Randall should transfer to the NY office, and strange enough we feel really good about it. The hardest part is that we will be leaving both of our families and some very good friends as well. That's no small thing. But, we feel right about it enough to still do it.

The good news in all of this besides the fact that this is a good thing for Randall, is that it will be a good thing for our little family. Utah is a great place and has many perks but we have lived in different states and places before and always had very positive experiences and met many friends that became our family. We are excited to have our children experience other cultures and religions as well as the history and culture of the East. I'm sure it will be hard and require some adjustment time but we are really looking forward to it. The great thing is we already have friends from grad school living in New Jersey, as well as Randall's sister and family in Baltimore(when they aren't researching in Africa :) and friends moving to Brooklyn this summer and friends and mission companions in D.C., North Carolina etc. Also, since New York is such a fun place to visit I actually think we will get a good amount of visitors coming for a free place to stay to see the city. So, if you are one of those don't hesitate, well at least wait until we know that we aren't in the Ghetto somewhere.

I wrote to a friend expressing my fear and concerns and this is what she wrote " I think it's those times that we have to really step into the dark that the Lord tries our faith. Sometimes, we are then given a flashlight, other times, I feel like we've stepped into the dark and are given a birthday candle. In other words, the bigger picture is still too far away to be seen..we may just get a faint glimpse, or wax on our fingers."

Let the adventure begin.