The past 3 years.

When talking with friends, the same questions pretty much are asked.  "Are you excited to be back in Texas?" "How was Oklahoma?"  "Where are you going to live?" I thought it might be easier (since we definitely want to update family and friends) to just do a blog post about it even though technically I stopped blogging and have every intention of taking the blog private.  Plus, selfishly, writing this out would be very therapeutic for me:)

How was Edmond?

To sum up OUR experience in Edmond, OK in a general statement would read something like 'very nice people but not the right fit for our family'.  It was very evident from pretty much the first few weeks we lived there that this would not be a long term move.  Erik really liked his job and so we definitely went all in and tried for 2 years to love it there thinking we just needed a little time.  We always wondered why it was such a struggle for us to make it work, after all, we thought we were outgoing so that was never one of our concerns. Moving from Frisco;  such a young, new area didn't help either.  Life really slowed down which was partly welcomed.  We didn't worry about what others were doing or what people thought which helped us grow in so many ways! It really forced Erik and I to establish our family goals and priorities.  Luckily, we agreed on all of them.  I can see how problems could arise within a marriage if you find yourselves at a crossroads and you disagree on your goals/preferences.  We literally went from having something going on 5 days a week to NOTHING going on except the boys' MDO.  We went from having a million restaurant choices to eating at On The Border every Friday night (which the boys loved haha).  We spent A LOT of time at home together which again, was PARTLY welcomed.  It took me about 18 months to realize the lessons God was teaching Erik and I.  #1-Life IS NOT always about us.  #2-What does my faith look like when I'm out of my comfort zone? #3-Joy should not be determined by circumstances. Honestly, I set a poor example on all of these lessons and it took me WAY too long to get the message!   

Our neighbors were wonderful and loved the boys.  We had AMAZING MDO teachers who truly loved on Jack and Jacob for which we will be forever grateful!  I had a couple of friends that we always had play dates with which was nice.  Jack and Jacob had the best time playing with Gage and Stella, and Noah and Gavin---will miss them so much!!!!  We also made it a priority to travel so we made fun memories on our trips.  BUT, I was really struggling because I knew we longed for something different as far as day to day life went.  

The story of Erik's job.

Erik turned down several jobs that would have been lateral or backward career moves and had been trying to get in to External Wholesaling.  He was told by several headhunters that this would NEVER happen without wholesaling experience.  After a year of applying for positions,  I was frustrated, he was frustrated, so we decided in March that we would plan a family vacation to Cabo to "get away" May 12-16.  Long story short, Erik gets a call on May 7ish for a job he applied to in Sarasota (forgot to mention we thought we were going to have to move to Chicago or Florida or some other state, which would have been fine).  The recruiter tells him the Sarasota territory is filled but they need someone for Houston.  Ok.  3 Interviews in 2 days and he was scheduled to fly to Houston May 10 to receive an offer.  Not only was it 2 days before our trip to "get away" BUT they told him in one of the interviews that they want him to be home officed and live in the Dallas area!  WHAT?!?!?!?!?!  He accepted the job offer as a Regional VP External Wholesaler for an investment firm based in Santa Barbara on our way to the airport to leave for Cabo.  We booked this trip MONTHS before...God's timing was so PERFECT that we didn't tell anyone except close family about the position because surely it was too good to be true.  Thank you, Lord for opening and closing doors according to your perfect plan.  

BEST. VACATION. EVER.  

After 3 years of nothing seeming to go our way, this particular week in May 2012 totally made up for everything we'd been through.
I'm a sports lover so I like to think in those terms, and sports are cyclical.  Life is also cyclical.  The down times help us truly appreciate the good times.  All you Baylor fans know exactly what I'm referring to:)

Now.

We are trying to sell our house in Edmond and very hopeful that will happen soon.  The market there is good.  We are staying in McKinney, TX with my brother and sister in law who have so generously given us their upstairs to live in until we find a house.  But life is good.  We flew back to Dallas from Cabo and the next day we joined a gym, signed the boys up for swim lessons, signed up for 3 day a week preschool, got groceries at MarketStreet:), and renewed our Costco membership (God bless Costco).  We haven't wasted any time getting in to a routine:)  I know I will want life to slow down again but I'm enjoying all the activities and so are the boys!  I started yoga classes and they are proving to be very helpful in calming the anxiety I had built up as well as occasional high blood pressure from living in transition.  We usually go to Lifetime around 10 and get home from the gym/pool around 2:30 so the days are passing quickly!  Most evenings we have dinner then either go hit golf balls or go fishing.  The boys are in heaven.  Erik's job requires him to travel at least every other week so that has been an adjustment for sure:/    We are looking to buy a house in Allen and that seems to be the last piece to our move.  

Hopefully that VERY long story helps catch everyone up on us and we can focus on re-connecting with old friends as well as making new ones!  

This was taken in Cabo on Mother's Day.  I will never forget this wonderful day.  I love my boys more than ever.  Sometimes being the only girl isn't so bad:)