Dear Friends,
By now you have most likely heard, either from us or from the grapevine, that we are moving to "the Zona" (as a good friend has said). While we have tried our best to explain our reasons for moving out of state, we both feel that it has not been said succinctly and so we'd like to take the time to attempt to explain better through this letter.
Before we got married, Anthony brought up the possibility of moving out of state, in which I had a mild panic attack and said simply, "no". So when Anthony brought it up again months ago, he was not expecting my immediate reply of, "ok let's go." My heart has obviously changed on the matter, and I can't say as to why other than God has been working on it - quite frankly, I wasn't even expecting to be so ok with it, especially knowing my first reaction at the mere thought of it. We have spent the past 4 or so months praying multiple times a day – every day-- about this - for God to guide us, direct us, and for His will to ultimately be done, and we can see Him moving in our lives in this direction. These are some of the things that we have gone through in preparation of this decision:
Let's go back to the beginning of the year....some of you may recall me talking a lot about feeling unsettled or like I was missing something - I was lacking a peace in my life that before then had been there pretty constantly. My immediate thought was that it was because I wasn't in school - so I started researching going back to school and different programs and trying to figure out what I want to do with my time before we settle down and have little kiddos. While that was very informative and a time of great learning and growth about myself - we encountered closed door after closed door in that pursuit. We sought God before, during and after this time asking Him to guide us and show us what He wants - and still I felt like we weren't really getting anywhere (or so it seemed). The closed doors were frustrating, and I'm sure a few of you remember my tears over that. After much thought and counsel I then thought that it was that I was unsatisfied with my job - it's hard work being a nanny (though it's still the most rewarding job I've ever had). I then proceeded to fill out any job application I could find that was available, whether it was in pursuit of something in the Make Up Artistry industry (which is ultimately what I’d like to be doing) or in an area where I have no desire to be - thinking that I was just burned out from my present job. Again, we got closed door after closed door. And I know some of you remember my discouragement through that as well - as I'm apparently unqualified for everything according to the computers that now screen job applications. So after months of that, we decided that that was probably not what God was trying to tell us through the obvious closed doors. But, through that He did enable us to start my own make up business with the support of my wonderful Hubster, which I'm excited to continue to pursue through this new adventure! At the peak of my discouragement, Anthony came to me and said "I think we may move out of state." Now the state in question had not been discussed, but my anxiety at the thought of it was absent (so not normal for me), so I told him I'm on board and we got to researching. We initially started looking at moving to Texas, but through much prayer - God directed us to look into Arizona. We spent most of free time in May researching everything we could think of about Arizona - from average temperatures, population density, crime statistics, neighborhood ratings, school rankings, possible employment, houses, apartments, churches, things to do, etc. We have spreadsheets and information documents up the wazoo concerning these things from all over Arizona (and Texas) as we tried to narrow down where we might end up, should God bless this. We decided on the Phoenix/Scottsdale area, mainly because it's where our work industries thrive in the state and secondly because we both have family and friends between 20 minutes and 1.5 hours from there.
In June, we went out to Arizona to "check it out". While we remained positive when discussing our travel/visit plans with friends and family, I know that I personally was apprehensive and completely convinced that we would go, hate it and that would be the end of it. Much to my surprise, we both loved it (even when on crutches)!
We were able to stay with good friends, check out a biblical church which we both enjoyed and agreed with the message of the pastor, visit Auntie S and Grandpa and Grandma P, tour salons - in which Anthony received a job offer pretty much that day, got very familiar with the 101 and 202 loops, had a great visit and time to catch up with good friends, and take a mini vacation. The people in other states are a lot different than in Cali - something I forgot about since I stopped traveling at the end of my high school career.
Other things play into our decision as well, the cost of living is a factor, but please, please do not think that is the main reason we are going. While it is a factor - our biggest reason for going is that we are going where God is leading us; and it just so happens that my job as a nanny to my favorite little ones will be ending before we move as they are moving as well - only a couple weeks before we have planned to move; and God has graciously provided us with a residence in Arizona already.
We have sought counsel with God and a number of older, mature Christians, and we firmly believe that this is where God is leading us. We know that this is going to be hard work to start over, but we believe this is the best thing for us and our future family at this time. We won't be gone forever - we will definitely be back to visit as often as we can - because we love you all and hold you all near to our hearts. We wanted an opportunity to explain to you as best as we could that the main reason we have decided to move is because this is where God is leading us at this time in our life.
We know that this is a lot to take in, but know that we have been and will continue to pray for God's will in this matter along with peace, understanding, acceptance and a smooth transition for our family, friends and our selves.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, we do appreciate it and we are definitely looking forward to seeing you all before we make the move. Again, we love you all so much - and I'll do my best to keep this blog going and update you during the process of moving and after we're there.
All our love,
A and S
((Now let's enjoy the last few weeks with fellowship, fun, food and pictures!!))
