Moving Part 2

Not only did we have to fly me out there, we had to break it to my parents that we were thinking of moving. We decided not to tell anyone about it until after we had made the decision but we needed to tell my parents because we needed them to watch our kids while I went out there. We sat down with them and let them know that this is what we were talking about. It wasn't a decision that had already been made but it was a very real possibility. They were sad but they understood we had to do what was best for us. Thankfully my dad has layovers sometimes in Atlanta so hopefully he and my mom would be able to come visit at times.

We flew out to Georgia in late July. Jim flew out a couple days before I did. We first went to visit Athens. We had talked to a couple people and they said Athens is awesome and we would love it there. We went down there on Friday (I think. It's been awhile lol) We walked around downtown near the college and I hated it. lol - No offense to anyone who lives in Athens or loves it there. It just wasn't where we fit. There were tons of cute coffee shops and stores and bars and it looked like a great place to live if you were a single college student - not an almost forty year old couple with three kids. We were looking for something COMPLETELY different. I took my camera and got a couple pictures. This gargoyle was super cool!

We spent about 2 hours in Athens. I just had that "pit-of-your-stomach" nauseous feeling. (Besides being super anxious about moving, I just didn't feel at home in Athens) 

We left Athens and drove around some of the other small cities around there. As the day wore on I got more and more anxious (and car sick) I just kept wondering what the hell we were doing. Was this really something that we wanted to do?  We got back to the hotel and I just laid down. I had a pounding headache and didn't feel good at all. I slept for a couple of hours and felt a little better when I woke up. Jim said "lets drive to Lawrenceville and Auburn and some of the towns closer to our hotel"  He knew I needed to get out of the hotel and he was worried about me. We drove down to Lawrenceville and when we got there we noticed hundreds of people in the park next to City Hall. They were having a Concert in the Park!!!  So many people showed up and it looked like everyone was having a blast. The main street had tons of neat little shops and some of the buildings were hundreds of years old. It was awesome!

We decided to go back the next day and walk around. It was beautiful

This was a complete switch from Athens. I felt so at home here and comfortable. I still wasn't 100% sure. I couldn't bring myself to actually say "Yes, we should move to Georgia" It sounded good, everything lined up on paper, I loved the city and the homes (Oh my goodness the homes were amazing!) but I couldn't stand the thought of leaving our friends and family. My anxiety makes me freak out at new things. 

We drove around some more and everything we saw that day we loved. 

We spent Sunday going to church at the local ward and it was really nice. Monday came and it was time to fly home. We still hadn't made the complete decision to move. I knew we probably would be moving but I still couldn't say it. We got to the airport in Vegas and I sat in the airport and just cried. I had so many fears:

• Leaving family and friends
• starting over in a new place
• the effect the move will have on the kids
• being so far away
• meeting new people
• being lonely
• not having people to rely on
• what if I wasn't accepted?
• it was a huge change
• telling everyone we were moving. 

Jim and I talked a lot about it. He told me he needed me to be 100% on board with moving. I told him I couldn't be. I told him if we made the decision to move I wouldn't change my mind and I wouldn't let the kids know that it freaked me out but I couldn't be 100% at peace with it. I told him that if he knew it was the right thing for our family I would put my trust in him and have faith that it would be wonderful. So we made the decision to move. 

We got home and got the kids and let my parents know our decision. (They pretty much knew what it was going to be although I know they hoped that they would stay)

Jim called the new manager and let him know we were on board with it. They told him that his starting date would be Oct 6th! We knew that Jim would have to move out there first and we would move later once the Moreno Valley house sold. We were pretty sure it would be just a couple of Months. We even thought that maybe it would before the new year. (boy were we wrong!) Cont...