The scoop...

   So, Barry and I had officially decided to stay in Carlsbad, NM for good. We made all these plans, Barry was going to work at the mines, and teach Martial arts on the side, and I was going to start working at developing a local children’s theatre. With these plans, we got under contract to buy a bigger house for our growing family. We tried to sell our house on two separate occasions. Everything kept falling through, to the point we realized that this probably wasn’t the right path for us.



   And then my dad lost his job. As my parents searched for job opportunities, they kept joking that we should just up and move with them. At first we joked about the idea of moving with my family, but this lead to some serious conversations about where our lives were headed. After a lot of discussion and prayer, we decided that Barry really didn’t want to stay at the mines, because of its horrible environment. Secretly, we applied to New Mexico State University and got in. Then we decided, if we are going to be completely insane and uproot our family to go back to school, we might as well go somewhere we want to be! So we applied to a bunch of schools up north.


    When we got the acceptance e-mail from BYU-Idaho, it just felt so right. We finally announced our plans to my family… who were way excited and supportive. (When I expected them to freak out and worry.) And then for a third time, we put our house up for sale in November.


    Our realtor told us that November and December were dead months for sales, and warned us we probably wouldn’t sell our house until after the year was over. But within two weeks, our house was under contract, to everyone’s GREAT surprise! BAM! We sold our house!


   Through the advice of a friend (THANKS CAMBREE!), we got on the BYU-I bulletin board to look for apartments. We were set to get a two bedroom apartment because three bedrooms were WAY out of our price range. But we found a couple trying to sell their contract to a CHEAP three room apartment. We emailed the manager and she told us that someone had already taken that contract but there would be another apartment available and she put our name down for it. BAM, by chance, we landed an even bigger apartment than we were planning!


    We decided to sell our second car, thinking we would just leave it in a parking lot (where everyone sells their cars), and if someone was interested, we would have my parents handle the transaction for us. Barry mentioned it at work and right off the bat, someone offered to buy it right away in cash! BAM! We sold our car!


     I had to have some serious emergency dental work done, and Barry and I were so distraught because all the money we had saved up for the expensive move was going to have to go toward the dentistry, but through a HUGE AMAZING BLESSING, I ended up not having to pay a cent for the work. BAM! We still had money!


   EVERY SINGLE LITTLE DETAIL FELL INTO PLACE. We know without a shadow of a doubt, that this is exactly where we are supposed to be going and what we are supposed to be doing. Outside of our family and most of our friends, people have been so skeptical and judgmental of our choice to go back to school.


We’ve heard it all.


“Why can’t he just do online school?”


“You are going to hate being poor, it’s going to be so hard on your marriage.”


“You are crazy.”


“I can’t believe you are doing this with three children!”


     But I just smile at them and let them think what they think. Don't get me wrong, I know this is going to be hard. But never in my life, have I felt so loved by my Father in Heaven, and I’ve never felt his guiding hand so strongly. And I am also extremely proud of my husband. Almost every man he worked with at the Potash mine told him that they hated their job, but when he asked why they stay, they always sigh and say “the money’s too good.”


     I’m so proud that my husband will never be one of those middle-aged men who sighs and looks back at what could have been. What a brave studmuffin I married!

Here’s to new adventures!