Staying Put

Whew.  I don't even know where to start with the whirlwind our summer turned out to be.  I'll start in late May, when Corey started talking with a company in California about the possibility of a new job.  From the start, it was intriguing and sounded like a good opportunity.  Then, they flew him out a couple of weeks later for a day full of interviews, which went really well.  After some talking and negotiating and a bit of finageling, an offer was given.  We thought and prayed and decided to take it.  A new job in a new place with new opportunities.  Plus, the locale was Irvine, California which is supposedly one of the best places to live in the U.S.(and 10 miles from the ocean).  We were excited to find out if it really was.  It was going to be a quick relocation, much of which we'd be doing ourselves.  The house was on the market, we shifted our planned trip to Utah a bit, packed half the house, started selling off some of our bigger items that would in no way fit into our apartment in Irvine that we had lined up (it looked like a resort...gorgeous, seriously), and I'd reserved a moving truck for the big day.  We were even asked to speak in church, just by chance, and gave sort of farewell talks.   It was crazy, crazy and super stressful.

Flash forward a week and a half.....Corey's boss asked him if there was any way he'd consider staying.  WHAT!? We'd made our decision, or so I thought.  After some more talking, negotiating, and further discussion, we finally received word of what opportunity his current job would offer.  California was more lucrative, New Mexico was more opportunity.  So we thought and prayed some more, and after a wrenching few days, we'd made a decision.  Again.  This time it was to stay.  It was definitely the right choice for Corey and for our family for the time being, and we both felt really good about it!  After looking at homes for a few weeks, we ultimately decided to just stay in our home for a few more years.  We just couldn't find what we wanted and I didn't really want to deal with moving once school started, so we took it off the market, and I moved our garage full of boxes back into our home. Ironically, a week after our decision to stay, I received a call to be YW President, so I can only believe that this whole mess of a summer had some kind of reason for being, even if I don't see it all right away.

SO, we are here, in NM, where we've always been, doing (for the most part) the things we've always done and are happy and well, minus a few belongings that, I'm finding, I may not need so much afterall:)  Life is such a funny surprise sometimes.  This whole experience of moving staying put has reminded me yet again that we only have so much control over what happens in life, and that if you have faith and try to make the right decisions, Heavenly Father will help it all to work out the way it's supposed to.  I am sad that I wasted much of the summer stressing out and working on moving, but happy that it all worked out and we get to continue our journey here in NM.  I have a feeling that the summer we were robbed of will be made up for in the forthcoming years.

You just never know, you know?