Moving on...

" For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord... to give  you a future and a hope " 

Jeremiah 29:11

I have looked pack over the past 15 months and we have experienced so much of which I have often wondered how God's plan could contain goodness amongst so much sadness and hurt and anger I had felt. Of course all I had to do was quickly look into the faces of my beautiful, healthy children and know his plan for us contained so much more than just goodness but hope in the future.

Over the past several months there had been lose talk around Drew's work about him possibly making a move into a management position at a different location. Of course as I was getting prepared to welcome our 3rd baby all I could do to keep my sanity was to put my head down and ignore any ideas of us uprooting the life I had come to be used to and moving. Drew and I had been praying that God's will would be made clear and had decided to table any discussions about work and moving until after we welcomed Rory. As we sat in the hospital two days after welcoming Rory, Drew got a congratulatory call from his boss and the proposal to move to a manager's position in Odessa,TX. God was making his plans for our family abundantly clear. It helps that Lane & Neeley's family lives in Midland, TX the adjacent town to where Drew would work. Our heart's desire since they moved from Amarillo has been to be back together to raise our kids along side each other and experience life with one another. So two weeks after getting Rory home we made our first trip with her to Odessa/Midland for Drew to check out the branch and see if he would want to take on the manager's role. 

I tend to be a creature of habit and can get extremely overwhelmed with the idea of change, even good change that I have prayed for. Looking back over some of the biggest and ultimately best "changes" in my life have come with so much speed and force that I simply wasn't able to try and stop them. It has been no different with this one. After working out some details and less than two months since having a new baby we have a start date for Drew's new position and have just put a contract on our first house in a completely different city.

I am incredibly proud of Drew and his work ethic to be given this opportunity. It is so telling of the man he is that in 6 years he has gone from warehouse driver to branch manager. There is no doubt in my mind that this move will be life changing for our family and bring us so much joy and happiness for the future. However there is a lot of sadness about leaving this place I have called home for the past 10 years. Not only are we as of now leaving behind family, hopefully Tammy, Kelsey, and Nana will be coming to Midland soon after we move, we are leaving great friends and a church community who has loved our babies since the day they were born. I am also leaving the places that I have the most recent memories of my Mom and I together, our driving routes, our ice cream stops, the places we used to walk and hold hands. 

So as we look to the future with uncertainty and anxiety about how it will all work, with pride and fear of owning our first home, with excitement of being with our buddies again. We are also reflecting on all that Amarillo has meant to us and the familiarity of this town and the people in it.

5 year anniversary trip

I wrote this before Rory arrived and forgot to publish it... 


In the midst of the chaos over the past few months Drew and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. We managed to sneak away for a quick weekend getaway back to Santa Fe for an anniversary  / pre-baby trip.

We went with absolutely no plans but relax and enjoy time together. There is something truly wonderful about just getting to walk and explore while holding hands with the love of your life. The urgency of loading and unloading kids from cars to wherever we go and escorting them around often denies us the simple luxury of holding hands while out on adventures and it was so nice to just get back to being what we started out as... a couple!


The past 5 years of marriage has brought with it alot of life changes for Drew and I. Some we anticipated and others we did not but I can say with 100% confidence that through all the highs and lows I love and adore that man more today than I did 5 years ago! I am thankful every single day that he asked me to be his wife and that I got the most amazing partner in Drew!

I often find myself wondering what my parents felt for one another during the happy times of their marriage and welcoming their children to their lives. I have lots of family members say how much my Dad loved to be a father in the early years and how fun and amazing he was. I know my children's story with end up far different from mine because they will have not only a father that sticks around but an example of parents who love one another through thick and thin and they won't have to wonder like I do. But I want to write to them down the road for a minute about what an incredible person their Dad is.


Everett, Haven and Rory, your Dad could not be prouder of anything in his life than to get to be your Father! He makes decisions every single day with the single intent to make your lives better than ours is. He works tirelessly to provide for us not only what we need but all that you could want as well. At the end of a days work your Dad comes home to give kisses to us all and spend time wrestling, reading, and playing with you. Your Dad has had to overcome alot in his life and choose to be a different man than the example set before him in his parents. He does this every day by not only working hard to make something of himself at work but by his devotion to being the best dad he can be, an incredible loving husband and trying to follow God's guidance to the best of his ability. Sweet babies I want you to know that your parents are deeply in love with one another!  Your Dad does things daily to make your Mom's life a little brighter and easier. He has been my rock since I met him and the greatest supporter of all my desires. I have the utmost respect and love for your Dad and I want you guys to know that every day we fall more in love with one another. He is my best friend and brings laughter to me daily. The best thing though is knowing that through my highs and lows, my good days and bad, make up covered face or not he sees me for the best that I am and loves me through it all! I think it is important for you to know not only how much he loves being a Dad and how amazing he is at it but how much he loves your Mom and I him!