Transitions

Hello! Well, in honor of our new adventure of packin' up and headin' west, I thought I'd start fresh with a new blog. It's gotten increasingly difficult to keep up with everyone as far as the progress that's being made with the move, so I thought I would blog about it and that way everyone is up-to-date...that is if you choose to be!! But now at least it won't be my fault anymore! So, things are happening fast and we are experiencing a lot of emotions as things come together.

We put the house up for sale on April 14, and on April 30, had 2 offers come in. We accepted one of them so the selling process is officially underway! We feel so blessed for our house to be going through this process so fast, we really had no idea what to expect with the market these days. We've always been told that the market in Wichita is still really good, one of the best in the country, but we'd also heard horror stories of ppl who have had their houses on the market for over a year. We prayed and prayed that it would sell quick and it looks like it's going to. The inspection was today and it went great. Now we have the appraisal, which should be sometime this week, and then we are closing on May 30th. FAST!!! But that's the way the buyer wants it, and that's how we'd like it so we're on the same page there.

We've just started working out the details of the move. John's company is taking care of all of the relocation, so the movers will be at our house on May 15th to pack us up, they'll load the truck on the 16th, and we'll head out on the 17th (Saturday). We will drive about half-way (it's an 8 hour drive total) and stay in western Kansas, and drive the rest of the way the next day. We'll have the dogs and the cat so we don't want it to be too rough of a trip on them, so we'll be making stops and just taking our time getting out there. We move into our new place on Monday the 19th, so that will be a fun day.

THEN...things get even more hectic. That Wednesday, I fly out of Denver back up to WI for one of my BFF's weddings! John will stay the week, see the movers into the house and then he'll fly out to meet me on Saturday just in time for the wedding on Sunday.

I'm so excited to get back home for a little bit. It's been so long since I've seen my family and friends, I miss them all so much!!! It will be a short trip, but we'll get lots of hugs and pictures and laughs and "I love you's" in so that should be some good quality time!!! So then on the 27th we fly back to Denver and FINALLY get to spend some time in our new living quarters! I say that b/c it's our new house, but we are renting it, so I hate to claim possession of it like we bought it. It's wierd to be renting again, but I'm glad it's a house and not an apt, we need the space what with all of our animals!!! :)

I'm getting sad as I think about leaving the people here that we have grown so close to. It will be hard to not have that support system anymore. At the time I'm missing my support system here I'm going to have to dive right into developing a new one out there. I should plan like a week mourning period...no outings designed to meet people until I feel fully ready to engage in that!!!! J/K! I'll be okay. I moved down here and did great, and I feel a lot better about this move than I did the last one!

In each post I am going to post some pictures of some of the pseudo-family and friends we have grown to know and love since our time here. Thank you to all of you for enriching our lives and giving us so much joy! We are going to miss all of you so unbelievably much!! In this post we have Dave & Debbie Miller, our mentors and friends who have become more like second family as they invited us into their home for weekly dinners and on holidays we didn't make it home. We are forever grateful to them for their love and support. And we also have the Hiltons, Dean, Dee, Andy, Hilary & Taylor. Their presence has been like Home away from Home as we were over there for most holidays. As you can see we attended a K-State game with the Hiltons (in which JP is wearing his Badger shirt). It was a great time and we have memories with both of these families that will last a lifetime. Both of these families have seen us grow from newly married to preparing to celebrate our 5 year anniversary, and we couldn't have made those adjustments without their support!!! We love them so much and know we'll stay in touch as they both have family in Colorado. :)

Well, that's all I know for now. I will keep everyone updated throughout this whole process, even into developing our new life out there.

Enjoy the Blog!

SJE

Prayer Needs:
For a smooth transition from here to Colorado
That the movers act with integrity and care for our stuff as they would their own
That we would be blessed with great neighbors
That we would find wonderful friends
That I find a job
That John has a smooth transition into his new position and is accepted by his new co-workers

Prayers Answered:
Our house is selling just as we had prayed that it would!
A very close family friend of ours was accepted into Denver Seminary, so we will continue to see this family much more than anticipated!! We had prayed that we would be able to maintain relationships even across the distance.