Just In Time.

our moving trailer at our house in Spanish Fork.

Driving through Houston after landing.

It already seems like a lifetime since we moved from Spanish Fork (Utah) to Texas.  But in reality it's only been...two and a half weeks... I can't say that our moving experience made me super keen to move again any time soon.  I know part of what made it so crazy was everything else we had going on at the same time; trip to Arches, Kevin's graduation, Lee's birthday, family events, lots of goodbyes, etc... But I found myself seriously wondering if I was going to make it through sometimes.  To spice things up we also seemed to have every step of the process be up in the air until the very last minute; we got the ok from the landlord here at our furnished apartment AFTER Kevin was on his way to Texas, just in time.  I was cleared to leave by my OB/GYN a few days before my scheduled flight, just in time.  All in all it was a really crazy, emotional time.  It was really hard to leave, not only were our two years in Utah most likely the only time we'll live close to most of our family and lots of close friends, but we really loved our ward family (church congregation) too and it was hard to leave them as well. I didn't even get to "goodbyes" with some of my closest friends.

*sidenote: I worked in the YW Presidency and I can't get it out of my bones, the youth in our new ward did a musical number during church last Sunday and I had to remind myself that I wasn't working with them. (maybe I'll get a chance to someday soon.)

I fight anxiety and pessimism and, of course, a cross country move, new job, house hunt and a new baby on the way all at once in a new and completely foreign place gave me lots of things to want to feel anxious about.  I can say that though I've had and have my very anxious and stressed moments I have felt such overall peace come as I've daily turned to the Lord in prayer and scripture study.  More peace than I could ever hope to have on my own.

One of the most anxious things for me since we got here has been looking for a house.  So many factors to consider, things you can only guess about, AND a seller's market. Literally just in the weeks leading up to us coming, I noticed that houses for sale in the area, in our price range, that we liked, would be available for sale for one day at the most.  Well that has continued to be true.  Of the 4 houses we liked well enough to put an offer on or try to put an offer on, each seller received multiple offers within the first 24 hours of putting it on the market.  What an emotional roller coaster; like a house well enough to be willing to buy it just to find that we're never going to be able to compete with a cash offer or an offer 2 hours after it's listed without the buyers even seeing the house first. Most of the time there just wasn't anything worth seeing available.
We of course, really wanted to have an accepted offer in on a house Before Kevin started working if at all possible since otherwise, in this market, not only would I need to see a house "we" liked alone, but I'd have to put an offer in on it before he'd even be able to see it after work.  Well, as per standard for this moving adventure, we saw a house we really liked (REALLY liked) come up online on  the Sunday before Kevin started work, we decided to see it first thing Monday morning (holiday) and when we saw it, we loved it.  Well, by the time we got an offer in, we found out that two other offers were also made and that the sellers would let us know their decision by noon the next day. We adjusted our offer a bit, considering the competition, but again we're really not in a spot where we can be very competitive. I thought for sure we had no chance. I didn't doubt that we'd get into a house in the area we were supposed to be but I did doubt that a house we liked in an area we loved would be that house, something I continue to struggle with, believing that God wants to bless ME with miracles.
I went to bed so frustrated with myself for my faithlessness, "how could I be this doubting?" I kept thinking, we have a huge miracle sleeping in the other room and another that is about to join our family.  WAY bigger miracles than getting a house.  As I was expressing my frustrations in prayer I had the feeling that I needed to believe that God could/would bless me with this miracle when it was right. 
Well Tuesday morning, to my complete shock, we got a call from our realtor telling us that they'd accepted our offer.  So, just in time, if all goes well, we will be first-time home owners at the end of June. (just in time for baby Drew to join us.)

Parts of this talk from the latest General Conference from our church have been so timely for me.
Here's one of my favorite quotes;

"Brothers and sisters, do we really think the critical factor in the salvation of our children is the neighborhood where we live? The apostles and prophets have often taught that what happens inside the home is far more important than what our children encounter outside. How we raise our children is more important than where we raise them."

-Elder Stanley G. Ellis


Beginning to love it here;
We feel so good about being here and, because of the distance from family,  having a chance to establish ourselves as our own family unit.  The independence and freedom that results from living far away from family has already been really good for us.  We're excited to be able to make our own family traditions and schedules. (though this doesn't keep us from missing family quite a lot sometimes...we're so grateful for technology that makes "seeing" family and keeping in touch so manageable.)

greenbelt by our apartment.

park in the part of town we'll ^^hopefully^^ be living in.

Overall, we are LOVING it here. (In spite of the challenges that have come with the move.)  We love The Woodlands.  It is one of the most beautiful places I've lived. (And hottest, one of the hottest for sure. Not used to the intense humidity yet.)

Things that have made us love it;
*In spite of the humidity we've been trying to go for walks out on the greenbelts or at one of the (literally) hundreds of parks here in the city.  It is such a change from the mountain and dessert landscape of Utah I'm accustomed to.
*As always, it's really good for the soul to get out and about in nature for at least a little while every day.

At a pond our first day here.

Evening greenbelt walk.

*Getting to know a place with a different climate is really fun.  I can't believe how different it feels to live in the middle of a forest.  We always hear birds chirping and see them in the parks, at the ponds and on the greenbelt trails.  It also makes for a whole new adventure trying to get my bearings here.  There are no landmarks, only trees, you can't see anything from the road except trees, even store signs and street signs are right off the ground. (thank goodness for GPS)
I'm sure it will all become so commonplace that I won't think about it eventually but for now I'm enjoying the newness of it.

The apartment complex we're staying in.

Driving down the road.

Parking lot.

* We have loved being able to spend our free time taking Lee to playgrounds and parks. He loves being out and playing with us.

swinging.

Slide with Dad.

* We are trying to find humor in all the things that have come with living in a different place and being in a transitory state until we move into a house. Like Lee's constant sweaty status.  He is a champion about it, but he almost always looks like he just got out of the bath. Getting lost consistently. And the "classy" furnishings in this furnished apartment.

matted, sweaty head.

shower curtain rings.

* In spite of the stress of house hunting it Has been fun to see lots of different houses and think of putting down roots in a more permanent way than we've ever known.

Lee in a model home.

* Time with friends has also been SO good for us.  We have a friend from our mission that works as a Geologist for the same company as Kevin and having a few dinners with them and getting to know them better has been a great outlet for us. We've also been able to see Kevin's best friend from his undergrad in Rexburg. (who is interning for the summer in Houston)

ice cream mustache on Memorial Day.

yum.

 

* Being able to try new foods and see some family has been a blast.  Kevin's cousin and his family are in Fort Worth while he goes to med school and they happened to be in the area this weekend, it was so fun to see them. The food and atmosphere at Snookie's Fish Camp and Grill was awesome too.  We had the most attentive and kind server I've ever had, true Southern hospitality.  (and we loved the greasy food, even though our stomachs didn't quite as much) The deep-fried cornbread balls, known as "hush puppies", served with spicy nacho cheese sauce were surprisingly delicious. And I loved the fried catfish, which I did NOT expect.

Cousin Dan, baby Mason, baby Lee, Kevin.

All of us outside the restaurant.

grilled catfish=delicious!

all you can eat appetizers on the house.

blackened, grilled tilapia and onion rings.

Lee totally soaked himself at the splash pad across the street from the restaurant.