It's real and it's creepin' up on me....

It's so real that I can actually blog about it now.  We're moving to Louisville in about 3 weeks.  Not only are we moving to Louisville in 3 weeks, but I haven't even started packing.  Like, I'm not joking.  This move has been a long time coming and it's also been a huge testament to God's timing and sovereignty.  If you're looking for a good story to divert your attention from whatever you need to get done, have I got the story for you!

Some of you may recall that I moved to Chicago from Lexington, KY a little less than 2 years ago when Stephen and I got married.  We felt strongly that Chicago was where we were supposed to be at that time.  In doing that, my life completely changed and I would be lying if I told you it wasn't hard.  But, I clung to the fact that I had, indeed felt as though Chicago was where I was supposed to be and that it wasn't going to be forever (I didn't know how long it would be, I just knew Stephen wasn't diggity-down with forever).

I started grad school in January, 2010 and by March I was started to get more connected in my new world around me.  In May of 2010 I had the privilege of accompanying my old school and my sweet friend, Anessa to Washington, D.C. for their class trip.  While I was gone, Stephen got the news that his current job was moving to Salt Lake City, Utah.  They didn't know when the actual move would take place, but they were estimating that it would be in 6-9 months.  His alternatives to moving to Salt Lake were: move to Jersey City, wait out the move knowing that if the job ends severance will be awarded or simply to find a new job.  Talk about heavy stuff that Stephen had to tell me, his wife who had just left her old life to move a mere 6 months prior and had just finished her first semester (out of 5) of grad school.  Ay yi yi.

I returned home from Washington, D.C. and Stephen broke the news to me.  "Say what?" I believe was my response.  After a lot of prayer and a long time of being unsure of what we were going to do, we decided to stake it out.  We would stay in Chicago until Stephen's job ended OR until I finished grad school and then we'd do what we knew we'd do all along (we just didn't think it'd be so soon) and move back to Kentucky.  If Stephen's job ended before I finished grad school then we would figure out how I could finish - we were creative, let me tell you.  So, for the past year and 2 months, Stephen and I have been praying that his job would hold out until late spring.  We had figured it out that if we could make it to late spring, severance would cover our booties to the end.  As soon as we made this decision, we immediately gave it to God and because He is so mighty, He literally took our fears and uncertainties away.  I can honestly tell you that I have not lost sleep over this and if I've thought about it, it was never more than for a couple of minutes.  I tell you that, not to act as though I'm so full of faith and whoa is me, but because I firmly believe that God took that anxiety out of our life - it was all Him and to Him be the glory.

January, 2011 came and we prayed feverishly that the job would last a couple more months (at the very least).  April came and went with no sign of the job moving.  Heck, it's the middle of July and the job is still going strong.  However, we know that it's time to go.  Stephen broke the news to them this past Thursday, making it official.

Things that make us feel at peace with moving to Kentucky:
1. Even though Stephen's job hasn't ended, it is going to end, it's just a matter of when.  Stephen could get another job in Chicago, but ultimately we know KY is where we want to be.  He doesn't want to get another job and have it for 1-3 years and jump ship - Stephen's one dedicated little cookie.

2. In 1.5 weeks I will be completely finished with my grad school program - PRAISE THE LORD!

3. I am SOOOOO ready to be back in the classroom and I just don't feel called to try and find a job in Chicago Public Schools.  The politics and craziness that is CPS is something that I don't want to mess around with - just the idea makes me tired.  I highly respect teachers here for what they go through for a job that they love, but I don't feel as though I've been called to do the same.

4. Both of our families live in Louisville.  I have 2 older sisters who are both married and they both reside in Louisville.  Stephen has a brother and a sister that are married and they, too live in Louisville.  My oldest sister just had a sweet little baby (you know!), Stephen's sister is expecting their first baby, and then Stephen's brother and his wife have 2 cute kids - not to mention both of our parents.  We want to live by our family!

5. Stephen has a job lined up for him in Louisville where he will be working in personal finance - he couldn't be more excited to work with and help individuals with their money.

6. Just to get it out there - Salt Lake City wasn't for us.  It's a beautiful city that I love to visit, although it's just too far from home.  We both feel as though if you can't drive the distance to home in a day, we're probably not going to want to live there.  Also, Jersey City is an entirely different lifestyle that neither one of us really wanted to change to.  Great people do great things in Salt Lake and Jersey, we just knew it wasn't for us.


Okay, this is super long so I'm going to wrap it up.  I gave you the facts: In 3 weeks I need to finish up grad school, pack up our apartment and head to Louisville.  Tomorrow (yes, I will need to blog about this repeatedly) I'll be back to blog a bit on how I'm feeling about the whole thing.  Until then, I have to keep on doing what I'm doing even if I am leaving :)  Finish strong!