i choose us.

{Finally... all the details for those that have been waiting.}

I am a small town city girl. I grew up in town. I loved living in town. I've always pictured myself living in town.
Corey is a farm boy. He grew up on the farm. He loved living on the farm. He always pictured himself living on a farm.
We knew that this would be an issue when we got married. We actually included it in our wedding vows, "Whether it's on the farm or in the city, I will make the most of our life together."
We came to our little town here right after college. I have loved this little town.
I love our house. I love our neighborhood. I love my job. I love my friends. I love our daycare. So many, many things. I could have lived in this little town forever.

"The Family Man" with Nicolas Cage is one of my all-time favorite movies. I love it. This is my favorite clip from the whole movie. You can probably figure out why...


A few years ago, I started praying that God would change one of our hearts.
And He did. He changed mine.
Not in the way that I thought he would... but He changed things.

We've talked for a couple years now about "Someday."
Someday we would move back to the farm. Someday we would build a house at the farm. Someday...

So this spring, I started asking around, made a new resume, and applied to my old hometown school district. Our two hometowns are about 14 miles apart, and the farm is right in the middle of them. My plan was to apply to both and see what happened. There weren't really any openings and both districts can be hard to get in to. There just isn't a lot of turnover. Kind of one of those "you take whatever grade level you can get and hope to change in a few years" situations. But my heart was set on 1st grade.

Long story short... two openings came up. Both districts. Both of them 1st grade. I found out about both of them at the exact same time. Literally. I had applied to one district, but not the other. (The district I hadn't applied to yet had hard questions like "How do you feel teachers are viewed in society today?" and "If you couldn't teach, what would you do?" Questions that required a lot of thought and since it was the last two weeks of school, my brain was pretty occupied with that. So that application was on my list, but it hadn't happened yet. But that was the district that was moving on things first.

It was 8 days total. 8 days from the time I found out about the opening until they offered me the job. There were several phone calls with the principal... a 5:00 interview after school one day... lots of praying... lots and lots of talking/texting/phone calls with a variety of people... more praying.

I am a planner. I always have been. I remember being so stressed at the end of college. Just the unknown... where would we be living in a month? It drove me crazy not knowing and not being able to plan. So you would imagine that last week would have been crazy stressful for me, right? But here's the thing... it wasn't.

Never have I been so sure of a decision. So sure that this was God's plan for us. It's an amazing feeling.

Before my interview, as I was driving into town, I told God that I was trusting Him. Whatever His plan was, whatever His will was... just make it clear to me. I asked for clarity... for a sense of peace and for doors to be opened and other doors to be closed. I asked, and He delivered.

So this fall, I am going to be teaching at a little country school in the district Corey grew up in. There is only one of each grade level and I got my wish... 1st grade. Sophie and Lawson will be there with me. Sophie will make student #10 in her class. Lawson is #16. (Somehow I still ended up with 20. But that's okay. I can do 20.)

It's going to be a different world, that's for sure. But I'm ready. A year ago, I would not have been ready. A year ago, just the thought of moving made me teary. But this year...  I have felt nothing but calm and peace and assurance about the whole situation. And if you've known me for long, you know that this is not a situation when I would normally be feeling any of those things. The only time I've gotten teary this year is when other people have cried. (And there have been a few...) I can't be around crying people without getting teary myself. The tears will come, though, I know. There are a handful of people that I simply do.not. want to say good-bye to.

My relaxing summer has flown out the window and my summer list now consist of 4 main things:
1) selling our house
2) finding a house (we will build eventually at the farm, but will rent something in town for awhile)
3) finding a new job for Corey
4) finding new daycare for Gretchen

Just a few minor things. =)
Any and all prayers would be greatly appreciated. There is so much to be done in the next two months. We are TRUSTING HIM that this is all going to work out and everything will happen just like it's supposed to.

A year ago, I was teary at the thought of moving.
A year ago, it stressed me out to think about it too much.
A year ago, I was only in it for the new farmhouse.
A year ago, I thought "someday" was a few years away.

But now that "someday" is here...
I'm not teary.
I'm not stressed out.
I'm still kind of in it for a new farmhouse (just being honest).
But I'm mainly in it for my farm loving husband.
I love this town. I love our house. I love our neighborhood. I love my job. I love my friends. I love our daycare.
But I love him more.

And I choose us.