Our Lives Are Totally Changing…

The past week was a great one for us……

We found out that Chris got the job he applied for and we will be moving to Connecticut!

This is long! :) And a semi-repeat from Facebook. 

Background: I am originally from CT – but after going to college in Ohio, then getting married and moving to WV for 9 months while Chris was in grad school, then to PA for 3 years, I haven’t lived full-time in Connecticut since I was 17. I have missed it SO much. Having lived in the Midwest, the upper South, and another state in the Northeast, I can attest to the fact that New England just has an indescribable feel to it! I love the small suburban towns, the rich history, and did I mention THE OCEAN?! Of course, my family lives there, too – and I am *SO* ready to be done with the tearful goodbyes each time we visit!

My DH has been working for his BIL for the last 3 years (and through college and in high school) as the manager of his landscaping company. Unfortunately, Chris had reached the “top” of the company. My BIL was paying him what he could, but we have been living extremely frugally and we have basically no wiggle room in the budget. As we think about our future and the possibility of more kids down the line (adopted or not), we were both concerned. Plus, I have to have private health insurance (which is horrible, with huge deductibles), and my DH is not insured at all. We are all about trusting God but there comes a point when you just need a Plan B! We both came to that decision simultaneously one day, and I made a phone-call to my dad, who has worked his way to fairly high up in the company he works for.  Chris interviewed last week for an opening and was hired on Friday for the job! It’s a great entry-level position with tons of room for growth and promotions. 

We both love the culture of Connecticut and think it’s a great place to raise kids (for privacy I will never mention what part we will live in – but it’s beautiful!). There are about a million reasons I could list why I’m so excited to start our lives there. I’m excited to have a sense of finality instead of always talking about “Should we move there? Should we stay here?”  Connecticut, God willing, is where we will raise our kids and see our grandkids grow up. I could just die with happiness!

Of course, we are sad to leave our family and friends here. My best friend lives here, as does all of Chris’s family. We have had a lot of really, really sad moments in the past week and a half as we told all of them personally what was happening. It’s not fun. We wish that our families could live near each other, but that will never be a reality for our marriage. I wish Lindsay could always live 10 minutes from my house.  Thankfully, though, we will be back to visit every other month, just like we’ve done now (except in reverse).

God has done soooo many cool things for us in this whole process – big things like a job opening up the day after we called to ask my Dad, and small things like my pediatrician randomly leaving the practice (Luke will just go to my old pediatricians office now!). It is absolutely terrifying and thrilling all at once! I can’t wait to have a brand-new house to decorate! :)

Our big focus now is get our house ready to sell. We bought a big-time fixer-upper 2 years ago that still needs quite a few repairs (we didn’t expect to leave PA for years, if at all  – we just refinanced our mortgage in January!). Chris will be working for about 2 more weeks, then he will be taking off about 3 weeks to concentrate solely on the house before we move to CT mid-August. (Our parents are letting us stay with them until our house sells and we can find another one. )

That means 3 weeks of no pay, which scares the heck out of me! We also have to sell our house in a recession. You know, while living out of state.

But every time I go into freak-out mode, I know that God’s got everything under control. If you are a praying person, would you pray for us? I would really appreciate it!

And who out there lives in New England?  I know I “met” some of you during the Ultimate Blog Party but I can’t remember now!  If you live in NE let me know! Maybe we can meet someday! :)