Drum roll please

Have you ever been asked to go somewhere you never knew existed? Or maybe just when you got settled, you were asked to quit your jobs, find a place to live, new jobs, say goodbye to friends, and do so within 3 1/2 weeks? Or how about vowing to never live somewhere or with someone and then being asked to do so anyways? Well, that's my life in a nutshell. Packing a bag or a car and moving across the country in three weeks or less has been common place for that last 10 years and I wouldn't change a thing about it! My first big move happened the summer before my senior year and I haven't stopped since. I never really knew how much I liked change until it happened. 

Moving to Louisiana, I realized that I could be someone new. No one knew who I was. That's not to say I was invisible however. If people didn't know I was new from by the looks of me, they knew by the first word that rolled off my tongue. I learned about the culture of the south and I feel in love with their hospitality. To me, this was the thrill of new adventures! Not only were you in a new place, but there were new expectations, common knowledge, new phrases, new friends, and many adventures I would have never dreamed of! 

Since that time I have lived in Idaho (in 6 different places), Oregon (in a town where most people live there because they either work for the railroad or took a wrong turn and never found their way back out). Most recently, we

lived in Idaho Falls while I finished my bachelors degree. 

As of two weeks ago, I am a college graduate of BYU Idaho and earned my degree in Marriage and Family Studies. 

About a month before graduation, we had every intention of staying exactly where we were and were planning a dream vacation to Florida. One night, my husband and I were talking about where we would live is we HAD to live with either of our families? We had decided that we would want to live in California with his parents. Little did we know that that little conversation was a foreshadowing to the near future. 

In the following few weeks the impressions started coming. Impressions that I have felt several times before. I knew that our comfortable lives were about to be turned upside down. 

I had tried so hard to stay out of the state of Nebraska. Don't get me wrong, it's a great place, its just not my favorite place in the world. Ever since I was in high school, I've been running. Running away from things that happened there. Things that I have swept under the rug instead of working through them. I guess you could say that it was my way of coping. As you might have imagined, or maybe even experienced yourself, this is not a suggested, nor effective, coping strategy. 

Although I was extremely hesitant about this move, I reflected on the blessings of my moves in the past: Louisiana introduced me to my best friend, Idaho helped me find those who helped me get through school and made it possible to help me serve a mission, and Oregon brought me the greatest blessing of all, my husband, Jorge. In thinking about these blessing, I found my faith in the Lord and His plan for me, and it helped me gain the courage I needed to press foward in peace.