Thoughts on Moving

We moved to Texas a month ago. It's been quite the month, I must say.

We drove from Colorado to Texas with all the kids and our stuff. We intended to drive straight through (16+ hours) because we're crazy like that, but we ended up with a flat tire on the trailer carrying the car somewhere near Memphis, TX and it took 3 hours for a repairman to come out and change the flat (since we were renting the trailer we weren't allowed to change it ourselves and had to wait for a service company). Always never get a flat tire near Memphis, TX it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

We stayed in a hotel that night and got up and drove the next morning. We had to drive straight to closing so we signed papers looking like we hadn't slept, because we mostly hadn't, and like we'd been driving for two days, which we had. That night we slept in our house sans furniture. Luckily, we had a couple of air mattresses.

And thus began our move to Texas.

We did get furniture and now all have beds to sleep on.

We proved we were actually citizens of the US so we could register kids in school (who knew you needed a driver's license, social security card, closing documents and a first born child to register kids for school here).

And while I'm on the subject of school, all the schools are within a mile or so from our house. In CO, a mile = about a minute of driving. In TX a mile = 10-30 minutes when trying to drop off and pick up kids from school. No kidding. For both elementary and middle school, parents line up in their cars and you wait in line for sometimes 30 minutes just to get your kid. It's insane. Surely there's a better way to let parents pick up kids from school. I drive my elementary kids to school and take them into the school. Then my 7th grader and I walk to his school. I really love that because it gives us time to talk and bond and also allows us to both get some exercise.

I've never seen so much water. Seriously. People were talking about how this area was just in a drought. I had to laugh. Everything is green. People have water. It rains. I know drought. I lived in a drought for most of the last 19 years. Drought = brown, dead plants, no grass, and 2 minute showers (if you're lucky). I've seen more rain in the last month than in the last 19 years combined in CO. So, please, you want to talk drought? Let me tell you what a real drought is.

I love that it's so green here. I love all the trees and the beautiful flowers. I love that it's still summer, I love that we are blessed to have a pool and can cool down when it gets too hot and humid. I love that everything is so close.

I've grocery shopped at Walmart for forever. I know Walmart. I know that in Walmart it's next to impossible to get someone to help you. I know that I have to pack my own cart and load it into my car. I know that in exchange, I get low prices. At least I knew that until . . . I shopped at HEB. And don't pronounce it "Heb" it's "H" "E" "B." it's like grocery shopping heaven. Same prices as Walmart. Helpful employees all over the place. They not only pack the bags and the cart, but load it into the car. I didn't even know what to do with myself. And they have yummy samples so if you're hungry when you're shopping, you can get snacks throughout the store. And the people are so nice. And this grocery store is around the corner from my house.

We've also met some very kind and helpful people. Our ward has been awesome and made us feel so welcome. The teachers at the school have been great. We enrolled our youngest son who has Down syndrome and the school personnel keep telling us how they've all fallen in love with him. I'll have to blog about his school experience separately.

I also love that we are only an hour from the coast. We went to Galveston and had a blast at the beach. Galveston is the cutest place. Totally touristy and fun.

Where we live now is about as opposite as we could've chosen (unless we went to a foreign country). We're in a city, it's hot and humid, it rains all the time, we only have half an acre, we have green grass, we're close to everything, there's a ton of traffic, TX doesn't measure distance in miles but rather in time, the schools are ginormous.

And it's awesome. Yes, we're still adjusting, but it's awesome.

We're Moving to Texas?

Last summer, we planned to build an addition onto our home. Though our nuclear family isn't growing (which makes me sad), our extended family is and we wanted to have a place that is comfortable when all the kids and grandkids come home to visit. We put together plans, got bids, and even had the financing ready to sign.

Then we got nervous. The election was looming and were were worried that if President Obama were re-elected he'd continue with his plan to close coal-fired power plants. We decided to wait it out and when he won, we put our plans on hold indefinitely.

In December, the company my husband works for announced they would be pulling out of the area because the coal-fired power plants would be shutting down, hopefully only partially, but enough that it is no longer profitable for the company. We learned that in 3 years, the company for which my husband has worked for 24 years, will no longer be in the area.

We had decisions to make. Can he find another job in this area? What about his retirement? Our healthcare? Should we move? Can we leave family and friends? How would our kids react to moving? What other options do we have?

We have a great life in Colorado. We've worked hard for 19 years on our home and property. We were in the midst of changing over to solar power. We have animals. We just built the barn my husband has been dreaming of for 15 years. We live across the highway from my sister and her 12 kids, who've all grown up together. My husband's family lives here. We know what it's like to live here--we know how to ration water in the summer, what teachers are good and not-so-good, how long it takes to get to town, where to shop. We have a doctor we love and a dentist we love. We know the weather patterns. My son, who will be a senior was going to be a yearbook editor and seminary co-president. And, did I mention, my sister lives across the highway? Right across the highway.

We've spent months thinking about it, talking about it, praying about it. The bottom line is, in 3 years we won't have a job and we risk losing everything. So, we've decided to move. To Houston.

I hear it's hot down there. And humid. And h-u-g-e. Probably a little bigger than the 20,000 that live in Durango.  Not a small town feel like we have here. Lots and lots of people. And it's hot. Really hot.

But, Houston is thriving and it's full of opportunities. And it's the only other spot in the US where the company for which my husband works is located. So that's where we're going. We can hang onto our retirement, keep our healthcare, and we know this company.

Everything will change for us, but we hope there will be good changes. Our youngest will have more opportunities. He's right on the cusp of starting to speak more. We hope we can find a good school with teachers that will help him blossom. Our other kids will have new opportunities--new friends, new schools, new classes. My oldest son at home wants to go into aerospace engineering--we'll be right next to NASA and close to Texas A&M. My kids will have more choices for community colleges. We can save them each 3 hours of their lives every day by not having to ride the school bus. Schools will be within a mile of our home. The church building will be within a mile. And a temple within a few miles. We can go to the temple on a more regular basis because it won't be a 7-hour commitment.  There will be a grocery store within a mile or so, too. I won't have to calculate a 45 minute drive to everything. We can go on day trips to visit losts of new places. Go to museums. The coast. I'm sure there are many more things we'll learn about as we live there.

We are excited for this new adventure. We hope things work out well. We hope it isn't too hard to adjust. We hope everyone can make friends. We hope we can deal with the heat. And the humidity. And the big city.

But, did I mention, I have to leave my sister and her family? Yeah, that stinks. No matter how I try to look at it, that part doesn't ever get better--that's just going to be hard, hard, hard. But, we plan to come back to Colorado for Christmas and summer, maybe that'll make it a little less painful. Or not.

So, say a prayer for us that all will work out!

We're Sneaky--Not

Over Labor Day weekend we helped our oldest kids move to Provo. We decided to make it a little family trip so all of the kids could spend more time together, especially since my son just returned home from his mission.

We spent most of Saturday moving boxes, grocery shopping, and helping our kids get settled.

Sunday we were exhausted. In Provo, it seems as if there's a chapel on almost every corner so we decided we'd pick a time and then find a chapel. Since we were in a hotel close to BYU, we chose the chapel right across from where my dorms (Deseret Towers) used to be. (It was a little unnerving to see an open field where my dorms once stood--it was as though they never existed).

We got there right at 11:00 (punctuality isn't one of my virtues) and we rushed all of us into the chapel where we thought sacrament meeting was just beginning. As we attempted to sneak into the chapel (yeah, all 12 of us are pretty sneaky) a sister who was standing at the pulpit to say the prayer waited for us to get seated. We were a bit embarrassed that she was waiting for us but found a pew and tried to shush the kids. As we listened to her prayer, we discovered that we were not listening to the opening prayer, but in fact, it was the closing prayer. Yep, we'd snuck in just in time for the closing prayer of sacrament meeting. Since it was obviously a BYU young married ward, I'm sure they were all watching us thinking, "Wow, is that what happens when you get old and have a bunch of kids, you sneak in just in time for the closing prayer?" So, yeah, that was just a tad bit embarrassing.

We found another ward to attend and then drove to Ephraim to see family. Boy, are there ever a lot of turkeys in Ephraim.

Monday we drove home and I felt sad because I abandoned my babies in Provo. It was only the other day that they were both toddling around the house, climbing up on my lap for a story, and falling asleep in my arms. Time just goes by way too fast.