We're Moving!

To Utah! 

In two weeks. 

We have a lot to do.

Kurt was accepted to Weber State University in Ogden, UT and will be getting his masters in teaching. (The only drawback to attending Weber?  The school's acronym is WSU.  Very unfortunate.) He doesn't start until January, but we decided to move sooner rather than later so we can begin getting residency and eventually pay less in tuition.  The plan is he'll teach high school French!  And hopefully coach some baseball too.  We are extremely excited for this opportunity and I can't wait for Kurt to start the journey to a new career!   

I'm  also excited to live near the Roths!  My sister Megan and I haven't lived in the same state for several years now.  And when we did we were in very different places.  I was 13 when Megan graduated high school and left home.  We have grown much closer over the past few years and have much more in common; we're both married and have little girls.  Hattie and Olivia are only 8 months apart.  I'm so excited that Hattie has cousins her age! 

Also, Sarah Hammond...err...Fletcher!  My best friend and housemate from college.  She and David live in Salt Lake, about 45 minutes south of Ogden.  And I'll be much closer to my grandparents!  Hopefully we'll be able to visit them often. 

I'm also excited to explore a new state.  I've never been to Arches, Zion, or any other national park in Utah.  That's all I've got off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are many more things for me to explore :)

But moving is bittersweet.

Kurt and I have both lived in the Pacific Northwest our entire lives.  It's the only place we've ever called home.  Our families, friends, everything we're familiar with is right here.  I'll miss the ocean, the trees, the mild weather, the culture, but most of all the people!  It's so hard leaving those we love; we will miss them tremendously.  And they will miss Hattie :) 

I will also miss my job!  Even though I didn't want to go back to work, I'm glad I did.  I work in a great office with wonderful people!  Since going back to work, I can't tell you how excited I am at the end of the day when I get to come home to my beautiful, wonderful baby girl.  As they say, separation makes the heart grow fonder, and this has definitely been the case. Someday when I am able to be a stay at home mom I know because of this experience I'll appreciate it so much more.

I'll miss my ward!  Kurt and I have loved being in the Bothell Stake.  I feel like it was within this ward that Kurt and I grew into a family.  When we moved to Bothell Kurt and I had only been married 11 months.  We've now been married 3.5 years and have a child!  I've learned much about being a wife, mother, and how to be an adult in family ward (it's much different than being a kid in a family ward!).  I've learned from my callings in Relief Society and Primary- from the callings themselves and from those I've worked with.

I've grown up here.  From infant to child to adolescent to adult.  A young adult anyways.  Washington is a part of me and it's scary leaving.  Especially when we don't quite have everything worked out.  Kurt still needs a job, we need our apartment here to be rented out, and we'll need a place to live in Utah (we're staying with friends initially).  But I trust in the Lord.  So it's with a leap of faith that we leave home and embark on a new adventure.