A Rocky Start

We arrived in Utah Saturday night.  The drive went well.  I took Emmie and Brenden took Peter.  We told them it was a race but in reality I followed along.  There was obligatory crabbiness involved in any 12 hour car ride - but the kids did pretty well.  Brenden got really lucky, and Peter was a little angel!

We were told by our moving company that our stuff would be delivered Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday so Pete and Linda came out to help us unpack.  After a conversation with the moving company on Monday they told us that there was no driver and all of our belongings were still in Lincoln, NE and wouldn't be delivered until Friday.  We called again yesterday only to find out more bad news... there was no driver and wouldn't be until next Wednesday!  That means we will have been living out of suitcases for 2 weeks! 

We knew we were going to be living out of a suitcase for a week and so we were prepared.  We brought clothes, sleeping bags, a frying pan, a spatula, a cookie sheet, a knife and a cheese grater.  So far we have been fine.  We had some friends loan us some camping chairs and some other people from church lent us a table and chairs.  I am seriously wondering what I really need in that truck since we have been living with so little!  The kids have been great and haven't even complained about not having their toys.  Brenden is supposed to start work on Monday in a suit and tie, which we didn't pack...so we're working on that.  Actually, they pay us $ for every day it is late, so I guess there's a silver lining there.

Yesterday at about 8AM we got a knock at the door.  It was our new couch!  We were so excited to have something other than a camping chair to sit on.  We unpack it and it is the wrong color!  Black and not brown like we ordered so we made a phone call and they were going to deliver another that afternoon.  The doorbell rang again and we were so excited to get a couch to sit on but again it was the wrong color!  Black and not brown.  So here we sit on our camping chairs staring at a black sofa we are all too scared to sit on. 

At least Brenden got the internet up and running (after an hour talking to tech support). Our utilities were all turned on, so that is a plus too.  When we moved to a house in Lincoln in 2010, the hot water didn't get turned on for 2-3 days.  Brr.

And, we can pick up our new dining room table tomorrow.  It'll probably be the wrong color though...

It's finally happened- warning LONG post

Brenden and I moved to Nebraska 2 weeks after we were married in July of 2004.  If you do the math, that makes 9 years we've lived here!  This boggles my mind to think about. 

We moved to Lincoln so Brenden could do his masters degree in History at UNL.  We planned on moving right after the masters but that obviously wasn't the Lord's plan.  We stayed in Lincoln to do his Ph.D.  

There was a job opportunity at ASU right after he finished his Ph.D. coursework.  I just knew this was the opportunity for us!  I was pregnant with Emmie and had it worked out in my mind just how perfect it would be to live right by family, but this obviously wasn't the Lord's plan.  After they flew him down to interview, the job was shortly cut so we stayed in Lincoln and Brenden finished his dissertation.  

Brenden finished his dissertation and graduated in 2010.  We just knew this was our year and Brenden would get a tenure track job and life would be grand, but this wasn't the Lord's plan.  We stayed in Lincoln yet another year while I had Peter and worked full time.  This was by far the hardest year for us, but we have fond memories of that year. 

 In 2011 we had planned yet again to get that great tenure track job, and yet again the Lord had different plans for us.  We moved to Kearney, NE where Brenden got a job as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the History Department. We have lived in Kearney for 2 years now and have loved every minute.  We have made friends here that we were supposed to make. 

After 5 attempts to move and 5 years on the job market, we finally got that permanent job.  Like every other time we have attempted to plan, the Lord had different plans for us.  We didn't get that tenure track history job.  Brenden will be working as a historian for the LDS church working on the Joseph Smith Papers.  We are delighted!  We get to move to Salt Lake City which is the perfectly located between Arizona and Washington.  We will see so much more of family, we will get to live in a beautiful place with mountains, we will be reunited with great friends from Lincoln, we will have a Costco... 

We have been blessed.  The Lord truly knew what was best for us.  I don't think our plan would have even compared to the experiences and memories we have made in Nebraska.  I cried when I moved here and I will cry when I leave!

You would think that after that many years Brenden and I would clue in to whatever the Lord was trying to teach us.  I do think we learned some valuable lessons from our time here.  Here are just a few:

1.  The Lord will answer your prayers.  Just an example- I was terrified to move to NE.  I had never lived outside of Arizona.  I remember praying that I would make good friends.  I can not tell you how many times over this prayer has been answered.  

2.  Bigger isn't better.  I thought Lincoln was so small when we first moved there.  There wasn't enough to do or so I thought.  I couldn't understand why people had lived there... forever.  It took me a long time to get it.  There is something to be said for smaller town life.  You get to know your neighbors and have friendly conversations with strangers in the grocery store line. When we moved to Kearney this was even more apparent.  I began seeing the same people everywhere I went.  I love it!  I also like having a 2 minute drive everywhere I go.  I will miss this. 

3.  It made me grateful for what I had.  Even though my life didn't pan out the way I had planned it, I was always blessed.  We have 2 delightful children, we always lived in a comfortable house (not always the most up to date), we had great friends and had fun!  These last 9 years forced me to slow down and recognize my blessings.

4. Patience, patience, patience.  Blessings will come as long as we are patient and have faith! Despite all of our best efforts the Lord always knew better. 

   Whoever came up with the state motto is correct.
Nebraska: The good life. 

One last hurrah

We have lived in Nebraska for 9 years!  I can't believe how fast the years have gone.  We have grown to love it.  One of the best things about Nebraska is the good friends we have made.  We have kept in touch with the Hulses and Barreras through the years.  I can't express how much I love these people.  They have made Nebraska home by being our family.  We were able to attend Ella's baptism in Omaha last week.  I was so happy we could be there for it and see the gang one last time. It was fun to be with everyone but so hard to say goodbye.  These are our adopted sisters, brothers, cousins, aunts and uncles to our kids.  I am so grateful for the memories we have made and am grateful for their friendship.  You will be greatly missed. 

The girls posed easily for a picture.

The boys did not. 

 

The gang!

p.s. We expect you to visit.

Preschool Graduation

Emmie graduated from preschool!  We loved her preschool and her teacher.  She is prepared for kindergarten thanks to these ladies!