Going to Montana?

It's been a bit of a whirlwind this week. Every once in a while life turn upside-down and leaves you wondering if you meant it when you prayed for answers.

About a month ago Josh was offered a position with Redbox in Montana that would mean enough money that I could stay home. He turned it down because we didn't think we could sell our home and move. We didn't really think about it and we certainly didn't pray about it.

Over the next few weeks, people Josh works with here in Utah were filling in the vacancy in Montana and I was kinda coveting their adventures. It's just so beautiful there, and I briefly wondered if we should've thought more about it. Oh well, they knew the guy they wanted in Montana now and it was just a matter of time before he started.

I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but somehow "guy they wanted in Montana" is not taking the position and it's open again. The Regional Manager called Josh on Tuesday and asked if we were sure we didn't want to move to Montana. Josh said he'd talk to me and we'd let him know.

That night when Josh told me and I kinda did a double take. He looked at me, I looked at him and we both smiled a little. We were driving so I told him to "keep your eyes on the road Jode!" (I don't know what Jode means, it just rhymes with road...) We talked about it on the way home from work and I reminded him that Montana sounds better than Wyoming and we considered going there....I told him it almost felt like we were being given a second chance to make the right decision.

He sorta smiled like he does when I give him the right answer.

We agreed we'd think about it and talked about it the rest of the night.

Bottom line? The ONLY thing that makes either one of us nervous or uncomfortable about going to Montana is what to do with our house. We agreed that finding someone to buy (or rent) our house if we moved was the kind of thing people "leap in faith" about all the time and we could certainly handle that. If we were really supposed to be in Montana and it would be the best thing for our family, the house thing would work itself out.

We prayed that night that if Montana was best we'd feel excited and happy about it, and if it wasn't good for us we'd feel uncomfortable and uneasy about it.

That night I woke up 3 or 4 times with that "Christmas morning" feeling in my stomach. About the 3rd time I woke up, I realized that the "excitement" I was feeling was actually Baby Thomas wiggling around. :) Still, it felt good and exciting.

Thursday Regional Manager (RM) called Josh and asked what we'd thought. Josh told him we were leaning toward going, but of course there were still details to work out.

RM said that since he needed somebody up there this week to fill in, and Josh needed to get a feel for the area to decide if it would be a good thing, he thought Josh should go (with me) and we could get a feel for the area and the job and make a decision by the end of the week. Josh called me at work and asked if I could take next week off. I laughed at him a little because who does that? Then requested the time off - which was approved.

So, we leave before dawn tomorrow and we'll be spending the week in Montana. We've made no official decisions yet, and technically he hasn't even applied for the job, but it sounds like it's ours for the taking if we want it. We're hoping that being there will enhance our feelings of excitement or scare us away from there forever.

The advantages to going? I could stay home and be mommy to Sweet Baby Thomas (and isn't that what I've been praying for since February?). Fresh start. Being away would hopefully help us grow together more and rely on our families less. Mountains. Lakes. Rivers. Fishing. For some reason I think the entire state of Montana is filled with small towns and is a little country-er than Salt Lake, and that is really appealing to me. Promotion for Josh.

Disadvantages? We'd be leaving our families. (but we'd still see them) Figuring out what to do with this house. (but we can do the leap of faith) Leaving our ward. (but everybody has a blog) And for me the biggest one is leaving the people I work with. I was all excited about going, until I had to talk about it at work and then I cried all day long. Since they aren't technically family, it's not like I'd see them at Christmas or....maybe EVER. And that breaks my heart. (there's not really a but on this one. It just plain breaks my heart and makes me cry.)

So, this week we have some serious life decisions to make, and we're both hoping that our answers come clearly and quickly. They haven't had anybody in that position for about a month now, so I have the feeling that if we go, it will be fast.

Chances are you'll be seeing plenty of beautiful pictures of Montana, and since I'll be sitting in a car all day long while Josh works, you'll probably feel like you just took a trip to Montana too. So, yay for blog-road-trips!