Friday, August 01, 2008

it's REALLY happening....

sandia mountains

after living in oregon for 8 years we are going to say goodbye to the state that we said we would live in for only 5 years! it only took us three years longer to really make it happen! we have loved living in this beautiful, green state, but it is time for us to move on!

 

as many of you close to us know, we have been talking about an impending move for the last, i don't know, has it been 2 years now? you've listened to us as we planned to move to chandler, arizona which was a happy middle ground to be closer to family (mine in orange county, california, mitch's in albuqurque, new mexico).

 

then, we decided we didn't want to be in arizona so mitch took the gmat and we applied to byu to get a second masters for mitch. when he got accepted, we thought about what it would mean for our family. reality finally set in, thank goodness, and we decided we didn't want to be starving students with 3 kids and no income for the next 2 years. so, those plans went out the window!

 

our ultimate goal was to get closer to family (and away from the rain), which seemed like an impossibility! for one, my family is in orange county, california where you need to make more than a small fortune to own a very small home (although that is changing slowly). mitch's parent's live in albuquerque, new mexico, a city that, from the beginning of our marriage, i said i would never live in!  so, you see the problem!

 

as our plans continued to change, the only thing that stayed the same was that we knew we needed to leave oregon! with each passing year, the rain got to us more and more! don't get me wrong, it is gorgeous and green and there are trees everywhere, but we are sun lovin' people. as the rain slowly, drop by drizzly drop, creped into our brains we continued to just crave to be closer to family.

 

for sometime now, mitch has been wanting to make a career change! he has been working as a chemical engineer for intel for the last 8+ years and is fabulous at what he does, but he wants to be his own boss. he doesn't want to work for someone else. we've known that this was not the end all and knew we would be making changes in the near future. he had started looking for a career change within intel to get him closer to his end goal. with patience, the perfect opportunity opened up here in oregon, but like i said before, we wanted to move closer to family! then, he found out that the same position was opening up in albuquerque, as well.

 

well, back in february, for some reason, i began to think about albuquerque quite a bit. it wasn't the horrible city that i had vowed never to live in, instead it became beautiful and i realized and accepted without difficulty that that was where we were supposed to be. so, i casually mentioned to mitch that he should apply for the position in albuquerque. when mitch told his parents that he had applied for a job in albuquerque his mom's reaction was, "but i thought mahina said she'd never live here!" mitch's reply, "i know! i was surprised too!"

 

he applied and we waited. being that it was a construction managing position and he was a chemical engineer, we were unsure if he would even get the position. but after a long wait and many prayers, mitch got the job!

 

so, this time it REALLY is going to happen! we REALLY are going to move, and we REALLY are going to move to the city i said i would never live in, but it feels so right and we know that this is where we are supposed to be for the time being. we are very excited for the move (and for the average 300 days of sunshine per year). of course, it will be very sad and hard to say goodbye to all of our wonderful friends, especially after having 8 years to cultivate such great friendships! but, hey, we've got blogging to keep us close, right!?

 

so, now we are back to the business of putting the house on the market, selling the house, packing up the house, and leaving. thank goodness mitch doesn't start until the end of september. so, we have some time, but i am not naive and i know that the time will fly by and we will be gone before we know it!

22 comments:

Ilene said...

Congratulations!

Moving is SO much easier when you know it is the right thing to do- even to a place like Albuquerque... or in my case, Boise!

I LOVE Oregon in the summer. No place is prettier and more pleasant... but yeah, I feel your winter blues (I'm a So Cal girl too). Sometimes you forget that the sky can be blue instead of gray.

Melissa-Mc said...

Congratulations to Mitch and your family for making this big decision. When we are suppose to do something, Heavenly Father sometimes gives us the desire. It's made a little easier when you know it is what you are suppose to do.

I may be passing through Beaverton the week of Aug 17th and would love to see you. When do you move?

Erika said...

How exciting for you! Moving is tough, but when you know it is the right thing, it seems a little easier :-)
Congrats to mitch for getting the job, congrats to your families having you closer.
Yay!

Amanda D said...

Congrats! I hate to see you move after we have only met in person once, though. You will be so glad to be by some family, I'm sure.

Good luck getting the house sold and getting everything ready!

Michal said...

that is so exciting! i swore i'd never move to sacramento and the lord changed my mind, too. and even though the first three months were a little rough on me, i held tight to the knowledge that heavenly father knew we should be here. and it didn't take me long to love it here, to make wonderful friends, to put some roots down.
congratulations! how nice that you'll be kicking off your albuquerque days with a gorgeous fall and winter.

Sarah said...

My Grandma always told me never say never. It always seems to make you eat your words. ; ) I'm sorry to see you guys go, but happy that you guys feel good about it. Thank goodness for blogging!

Anonymous said...

Being by family is so wonderful, I hope you enjoy New Mexico, but I know you will be dearly missed here in Oregon. (I know Rowdy will miss seeing Mitch when he comes home from his mission.)

As beautiful as Oregon can be, that darn drizzly rain sure is a pain! Even though I grew up here, I detest the weather. In my opinon beaches should be warm, and you should be able to wear your bathing suit in them in August. I too am a warm weather gal and hope to someday get back to sunnier days.

Good luck with the move and packing, our family, and I'm sure my parents, would be happy to help if you need anything.

tutu lady said...

Tutu's happy! Give yourselves our love! Happy packing and we wish you a quick sale on the house.

Malia said...

Yay! and you know what I love the most.... it gives you an excuse to have me out to visit while you guys go look for land! (Just as I typed look for land... i pictured in my mind you guys with a flag and planting it in the ground making it yours like in Far and away hahahah!)

See you in just over a week! can;t wait!!! Love you!!!

paula said...

I'm very sad to see you all leave. But know when it is time to move on. We lived in salem for 8 years and I felt like I had moved across the country when we moved to hillsboro. BUt life moves on and man have we met some awesome people and had done some amazing things by moving and so will you!! Good luck with the sale of your house. God speed on that one . I hope I get home before you move. Michelle is doing good we just moved her and Brig and kids yesterday. She is mad a work unpacking and getting settled and waiting now for the baby to come.

Elizabeth Dimit said...

Ahhh. Sniff, sniff. We're sooo happy and excited for you! It's been a huge roller coaster for you to come to the right decision...as it is for all big decisions. To say we will miss you is an understatement, but we know you will love the sun and coming even closer to fulfilling your dreams!

Bridget said...

I'm with Elizabeth. Boo-hoo for us but Yippe for you! Can't wait to hear all about it on your blog. What would we do without blogs?

jessica said...

WOW! What an ordeal! I'm glad that you have the spirit guiding you.

I'm a little sad because my dreams of actually meeting you someday have pretty much been shattered. Two of my brothers live in Portland so I thought one of these days I'd go for a weekend. I guess I can still go, but now there will be no Mahina to meet :(

ashley said...

wow! how exciting! i can see how the rain would get to you, i totally understand! i think that will be a great move, more sun and closer to family. is it easier to travel to home from there?
congrats, and good luck with everything!

Sara said...

Mahina, my brother and his wife used to live in Tualatin and when I went to visit for his graduation from law school, after 3 days, all I could say is, "this place is totally beautiful, but I could NEVER live here - it rains way too much." Anyway, as hard as it will be to change, it's exciting too. We were in Albuquerque visiting my sister last October and we took our kids to the balloon fiesta (have you ever been?) and it was AMAZING! You should try to go if you're not too crazy settling in to your new life. Anyway, I might be a little bit biased, but albuquerque is a great place and I know you guys will be happy there...especially if you're willing to be there when you never thought you would. So, I didn't mean to write a novel or anything, but congratulations on the new job and good luck with selling your house and everything. I'm really excited for you guys. And with my sister there, maybe we'll even get to see you sometime...

Rachel said...

Great. . . whose going to take our Christmas pictures now? :) We'll miss you guys!

Rich Vial said...

I am excited for you. I love your family and know you have a great future. I will miss seeing Mahina with the girls. Love, rich

Melissa said...

oh congrats! So happy for you. I am sure you will miss Oregon, but think of all the new adventures that you are going ot have :)

Rachael said...

I really can't believe it is finally coming to this. I hope you know I will miss you terribly. You are family to me and will miss you like a sister. I just think you will have to come compete in a triathlon with me EVERY year. The blog with help but not quite the same. I will cherish our great runs, bike rides, and talks while working out. I wish you all of the best. Lets have a party before you go!!!

Hailey Vial said...

I hope everything goes well. I know that moves are fantastic ways to see what we are made of, and find so many more friends.
Good luck and God Bless you and your beautiful Ohana.
Hailey

Lauren in GA said...

That is so great that you feel good about the move and know it is right. I am really happy for you :)

And...the sunshine will be fabulous! I really think our family would struggle with that much rain. My husband struggles in the winter when it is darker outside so...I didn't want to move to Georgia but, it has been great in that way :)

Katie Smith said...

Wow! Congratulations to you guys. That is exciting. You know that Mike basically grew up in Albuquerque and he says he wouldn't mind living there someday (if we ever get out of the 'starving student' days). So, who knows...maybe we'll see you there some time in the future.

I sure will miss seeing you and your cute family when we go to visit Oregon!