Transitions

Yes, my last blog was in April. I realize that it is the middle of May, but wow we have had a lot going on lately! I feel like we have barely had time to breath and it's not going to get better any time soon! I will try to get it updated next week when Ella goes to stay with her Nonna.

Last Sunday in church Brent asked what we were willing to do for God? It was all about transitions and listening to what he was telling us, even if it wasn't the most logical or reasonable choice. I turned to Jimmie and just smiled. Later, talking with my Dad I realized that we had an entire row of transitions going on! Sara just started a new job and work on her masters ON THE SAME DAY! Becca just graduated from Vet school and is in the process of buying a house and starting her new job. Craig graduates in a couple of weeks and will start his residency. My parents are getting ready to build a house. My grandpa moves back home from the rehab hospital after back surgery.

Jimmie graduates this week and then in July we will be moving to Connecticut where Jimmie will start his  new job. Then we learned that we are going to have another baby in late November, early December. Talk about turning things upside down! I feel like it might not be the most reasonable or logical choice to move our family halfway across the country to an unknown place with few friends and no family anywhere close, especially pregnant and with no job for me! I do feel however that this is what we are supposed to be doing and so I am excited to see what He has in store for our little family!

I am so excited about all of these changes and scared at the same time. I am in mourning a little bit for my friends and life here in Lawrence. This is the place where Jimmie and I truly became adults. We bought our first house, started school and "real jobs", paid off all of our debt, and started our family. We have made some lifetime friendships in this place and I am sad that we won't be seeing some of these people very often any more. We have made friends that have become our family while in Kansas and I can't say often or well enough how thankful I am for you!

 For the first time in my life I feel like I can truly be myself. I don't have to change for those around me. I can be the same person at home that I am at work and with my friends. I know that my beliefs, ideas and things that I enjoy are different from many around me. I have always felt that I was never quite on the same wavelength as everyone else. But for the first time in my life I am ok with that. I don't feel the need to be something that I am not or to try to please everyone around me anymore. Don't get me wrong, I do like it when you are all happy, but I am not going to change who I am anymore to make you happy! I don't feel guilty about things and I have very few regrets in my life. I have tried to reconcile with those that I feel I have hurt and feel at peace with my life right now.

While there are a lot of things that I will not miss about my job, I will truly miss the friends that I have made there. I can say from experiance that you don't find good friends at every job and I hope that I can find some people as wonderful as my "Purple Peeps" on the next leg of my professional journey. You have carried me through some less than fun things at work and I wouldn't have survived there without you!

So I guess, in a way I am saying "Goodbye for now", not forever, but "I'll see ya later". Thank you Lawrence and Olathe friends for making this a home. You have changed my life in unimaginable ways and for that I feel truly blessed.