One year ago... (Part Two)

If you didn't read part one of our move to Colorado click here.

So we moved to Colorado the beginning of June last year. To say it was wonderful at first would be an understatement. Our first few weeks in Colorado were like a vacation. Because we moved with no jobs, we put all of our belongings into storage and moved in with my parents. So literally, it was like a vacation. I was still technically working, so I did work from my parents house and in mid-June we returned to California to wrap up my job. One big part of my job was helping with VBS at our church. VBS at Venture is a BIG deal- lots of kids, lots of volunteers, and lots of logistics. So I was going to back to help and to train my friend, Allyson, who took over my job when we moved. Our time back in California was busy and wonderful. Both Luke and I worked with VBS in the morning and sometimes part of the afternoon. But we had lots of time to see our friends and visit our favorite places and restaurants. :)

We came back to Colorado at the end of June and really began the job hunt. Since we were actually living in Colorado, it made job hunting a lot easier. Luke had a couple of great potentials, but nothing came together. He had one ministry offer him a job two times, but the pay was literally poverty level. They wanted to pay him more, but the money just wasn't there. So he turned it down knowing that he could not support our family with that job. He continued to hunt for jobs. I continued to scour the internet daily for jobs. And nothing. The disappointment started to grow. We came to Colorado on faith and things were just not coming together as we had hoped. And on top of that, I found out I was pregnant at the end of July. (Side note: Levi was truly a "surprise"baby- and oh. my. goodness. The BEST surprise ever! Maybe that is just how surprise babies are, because I was a surprise baby too. And I am pretty sure I am my parent's favorite... :) At least that is what I always tell them).

In Mid-August, Luke got an email from a guy he had previously talked to about a job at a church here in the Springs. Josh wanted to hire Luke for a contract position. Obviously, this wasn't ideal for us. A contract position meant no benefits and no regular salary. But something is better then nothing, so Luke took the contract job. But we continued to search for a full time job at the same time, knowing that was what we ultimately needed.

After contracting for almost 3 months, the church offered Luke a full time job. We were THRILLED! The offer was a little different then what we had anticipated, but we knew that it was the right fit. Luke started officially on December 4th and we began hunting for a house to rent. We moved into a townhouse at the end of December and Colorado began to actually feel like home.

This past year has been a roller coaster, which I honestly didn't anticipate. (Which was pretty naive on my part!) Moving is never easy. It's lots of work and lots of changes. But it's also an adventure. Some days the adventure has been exciting and somedays I just wanted to go back to California. But we are where we are supposed to be; we know that. For this season of our lives, Colorado is home. And it's finally starting to feel that way.