Here we are. I posted over two months ago that we were moving to Georgia. Well, we did it. We. Did. It.
Here is the play-by-play version.
July 17: Email from Atlanta, Georgia : "You serious about moving down South to work?"
July 23: Phone interview with folks in Atlanta, it went well...
July 25: Another phone interview... These guys like Tim.
July 30: Skype interview, during the interview, they plan on Tim coming to Atlanta for an in person interview.
August 6-7: Interview in Atlanta, went well. They say they'll let us know in a week, but we don't think they'll offer us the position. Time to move on.
August 10: Email from Atlanta, " We need more time to decide on a candidate."
August 17: Phone call from Atlanta with an offer of work. Blew our expectations of pay and benefits.
August 18: We tell our family we are moving across the country. Lots of tears shed (both happy and sad)
August 20: I give my 2 weeks notice at the best office I've ever worked in. I cry. A lot.
August 24-26: House hunting trip to Atlanta, looked at some dumps, but found a gem!
August 29: Last day of work, many tears shed all week. Movers come and pack up our stuff
September 2: Send off party for Harper Family at the Harper's. Lots of amazing friends, family, laughs and tears.
September 3: My last run in AZ for a while. I sob the entire 3 miles. Finish packing for the 3 day drive.
September 4: Leave AZ. Lots of tears, Tim drives our truck, I drive the van with the kiddos. It was an adventure for sure, but if I could do it again, I would do it without a deadline.
September 6: Arrive in Woodstock, GA and sign for our rental house and stay in another motel, because we don't have our stuff for 3 more days.
September 7: Get kids registered for school.
September 8: Ward social, meet lots of amazing families and friends that are kindred spirits for sure.
September 10: First day of school/work/moving truck arrives/ Life in Atlanta begins, only two short months after offhandedly applying for a position as the Associate Facility Manager for the Atlanta Georgia Temple working for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Wow.
And the long version of it will come from here on out as I attempt to resurrect this blog and get out my feelings as I take on a whole new challenge of at-home parenting and Tim works a very rewarding but very difficult job; all very far from home, family, and many things familiar.
I hope this blog will be noticed and read and sometimes enjoyed by those dear to us that aren't near to us for the time being.
We don't know how long we'll be here in Georgia. We don't know how long Tim will be in the position he is in, he wants to advance and improve his skills and broaden his working horizons. He has great goals, but we also want to keep our main priority of doing and going where the Lord wants us to go.
I know we had it pretty sweet and easy in AZ. We were blooming there (which is why I put the beautiful cactus blooms on the background of the blog). We were happy and could have been happy there indefinitely.
I chronicled our experience of losing our home here, and that was a huge life changing event in our family. That was 2 years ago this month. We handled that well, knowing that it was part of the Lord's plan for our family. It was hard, and a long dark tunnel we had to go through, but we had faith it would be for our good. And it was. We are stronger and more faithful because of it. Now, here we are, with another life changing opportunity laid in our path, and we chose of our own free will to take the chance to have some faith and make it grow. It reminds me of a message shared in General Conference by President Henry B. Eyring called "Mountains to Climb". Well, that is a little bit of what Tim and I felt when we quietly received this job offer. We knew it came from Heavenly Father. We knew that this was an opportunity for us to grow our faith, strengthen our little family unit, and smile in the face of adversity. We knew that all the events that have happened in the last few years of our life have prepared us to accept this opportunity to grow and move and struggle and be blessed.
Well, we are. All of that. It has been a challenge for all of us, and I think the biggest challenge of all, is remembering that we chose this. Remember that we chose to move away from family, to get closer to family out here. Remembering that we chose to leave our friends and make new friendships here. Remembering that Heavenly Father has His hand in our lives, and that when we have faith and let Him lead us, we will be happy through the difficulties we face.
Now, I'm not professing to be a great writer, but I feel the weight of necessity to record our experiences here so that we can remember, enjoy and also look forward with faith in this plan for our family. I hope I will be able to balance my time spent here as well as on my new full time job of at-home-parent and through my records and reflections, I may be able to enjoy, learn, grow, but most of all... Remember.
So, here at the beginning, I want to remember. I want to soak up ever last drop of joy, heartache, growth, tears, laughs, and memories. And I want to share it here.
So I can remember.
