The first day of the rest of our lives...

Today
(as of April 7, 2014)

The first day of my dear husband's coaching career.  

He's dreamed of this for nearly 20 years, and today he began living his dream.

My handsome stud of a husband. 

It's interesting how things fall into place long before you know why they are happening.  Before you get any inclination of God's plan, He is shifting us around.

Just when we think we are comfortable and where we ought to be, we get shaken up a bit and repositioned.  Sometimes that repositioning is antagonizing and uncomfortable.  Sometimes it feels right from the very beginning, and this is the way it was for us.

Two years ago:

We were comfortable (or so we thought) in our previous home and neighborhood.  We had been there for 8 years, knew many people around us, and adored the small town feel of Herriman, Utah.
Until one day when my mom planted a little seed in our hearts.

Her suggestion that we move to Sandy was immediately rejected with things like:

"We love our neighborhood!"

"We are comfortable, why would we want to leave?"

"We built our home and landscaped our yard just how we want it, I even have my little white picket fence at the entrance to my luscious (200 sq. foot) garden!"

This is the entrance to my old garden.  I loved the landscaping we had done in that yard!

Within the month, we had some of our best friends ask us why we don't just move to Holladay already.  Again, we rejected the idea immediately, until we got in the car to go home that evening.  We entertained the idea, a little, then didn't talk about it again for a few days.

A few days later, Andy and I decided that if we were going to move, we may as well do it soon so we could be settled before school starts the following school year.  It was near the end of April at this time.

I didn't know what to think, so I knelt down and prayed as soon as we got off the phone.
What happened next was so vivid and real and intense, I will never forget it.  It immediately became very clear to me that we were to move.  Tears flowed from my eyes.  Partly out of sadness to leave the people I had come to love so much, and partly out of pure joy in the experience I'd just had.

As soon as I stood up after that prayer, the home no longer felt like mine.  I felt like an intruder in my own home.  I knew it was not where our family was to remain.
Andy and I discussed it that night, decided to find a realtor and scheduled a meeting for Wednesday.  Our home was put on the market Friday evening, and by Saturday evening we had 8 offers on our home.
At this point we were so overwhelmed and in shock!  We accepted the offer that made the most sense to us and felt right, and we began our search for our new home!

Each of the concerns I had about selling the house and moving were slowly replaced by confirmation that we were doing the right thing.

My only major request for the new home was that it have a garden, or a place to put a garden, AND a large kitchen (large enough to do my canning) with a window that looked over the backyard so I could see the kids playing.  Andy's request was a large family room.  That was pretty much it.
We looked for only 2 weeks before finding this charming little 50's home.

Our new (to us) home!

We fell in love immediately!
And look at the garden I got!  It's nearly 2000 square feet, 10 times bigger than our previous garden.  Slightly overwhelming, but a glorious sight once I cleared all the overgrowth.

Before cleaning it out.

After cleaning it out! 

There was a lot of work to be done in the entire yard, so I got started right away.  We bought a chain saw and I got busy pruning the trees!

Watch out for a woman with her chainsaw...

I also have a large kitchen with 2 windows that look out into the backyard, and the family room is just the perfect size.  The home is a very special place for us, there is a feeling here that is unlike any home we've lived in before.  It's a blessed place for sure.  We know we are here for a reason, we felt like we were led here.

We are lucky enough to know some of the family members who lived in this home, a lot of history about the family and the land, and my sister was good friends with the man who owned the home when she lived in this ward a few years ago.  None of which we knew until after our offer on the home was accepted.

Now that we are here, things are happening that never could have happened if we stayed in Herriman.  The most recent and exciting at the moment is the fact the Andy was hired as the Linebacker Coach for the Skyline Football Team!  This is his lifelong dream!  He's wanted to do this since he played football at Skyline back in 1995-1998.  He has spoken of this ever since I met him.  His dream was always to coach football, and at only 34, he is living his dream.  He is working with his lifelong best friend John Rowbotham as well!  It's pretty amazing.

Andy's football helmet from high school.

Watch out Oly, you have another thing coming once Coach Selcho and Coach Rowbotham get the boys at Skyline whipped into shape!

God is real.  He has a plan for all of us, I know that.  There were many times along the way, and I'm sure many more are to come, where I just don't understand why things are the way they are.  Things get hard, trials come and drop me to my knees.  Every day I have struggles, just like anyone else.
But I have found that the more grateful I am, the happier I am.  There are many ways we could look at our lives, but I strive to look at the good.  The divine.  The blessings.

I love what President Uchtdorf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints said at the latest General Conference.  "Gratitude is a way of life."

I choose gratitude.

In other news...I got a new job as Executive Assistant with a company called Incorporate Massage.  I love it, and it's so nice to be working again.  It's part time and it's from home, and my boss is an amazing woman who I called a friend first.  Things seem to be falling into place for the time being.

Oh, and I took up drumming again!

Go. Be grateful.