one year later

i can't believe it has been one year since we left utah behind and started our new life in texas. as most of you know it was really hard at first. we were in a total culture shock (it was weird being a minority instead of a majority), a little apartment with a terrible neighbor, no friends or family and i had a 2 month old and a terrible two year old. there were lots of tears, anger, frustration, and sleepless nights. once we bought our house thing were better. waxahachie felt like home (including the non stop wind that cedar city has). the kids adjusted, we made friends, and minus missing family, i was ok with the way things had worked out (our ultimate goal is still to get back to utah one day :). we were also able to buy a car recently (that we all fit in with room to spare) so curtis and i no longer had to coordinate the car situation which was so great! one thing that didn't change much was how many hours curtis was working. when he was going to school full time and working full time i didn't see him very much but the situation was so much different. i have learned to adapt, deal with all household duties, doctor appointments, and sometimes even church by myself. sounds stupid, but i have grown up a lot. i felt like i finally had my groove and things were settled down. then, a few months ago curtis was contacted by pepsi. they were impressed by his resume and wanted to bring him in for an interview. although we didn't even apply for a new job (they found his info through a business type website called linkedin) or even think of a different job at this point in time, we figured it wouldn't hurt to see if he got the job. not even 24 hours after his interview, curtis recieved an offer. curtis has recieved several good raises at white wave but the starting salary at pepsi was almost $10k more than he was currently making. no, we are not just in it for the money. issues with curtis' current job along with many other reasons lead us to take the job with pepsi.  so, here we go again. at least we don't have to move (the pepsi plant is located in mesquite which is about 45 minutes away...white wave was already a 30 minute commute). i think this job will be great for curtis. he is such a hard worker and everyone appreciates him and his contribution. i bet he could get a job anywhere being the charmer that he is :) even though our lives have changed greatly and it never goes as planned, i know we are supposed to be here. not only have i grown as a mentally, i have grown spiritually. i think i took advantage of the church in utah. everyone was lds (well...most :) and going to church on sunday was just what we did. i had family 10 minutes away and friends just down the road. when you move away from the only place you have ever known, you really rely on the church. ward members helped us move. ward members invited us over for christmas eve. ward members became friends. ward members became our family. i have also really been studying my scriptures. i was a 4 year consecutive reader in seminary but i think i have learned more the past few months than i ever did those 4 years. i believe by the time we leave here, my testimony will be stronger than ever! (it already is :)

anyway, thats life. watch for more posts soon :)