I've been holding this in for far too long!

The other night I ran to the grocery store to get some milk. It was about nine o'clock when I got home. Brian was laying on the couch watching a basketball game. Typical. I set my bags on the counter and began taking my coat off. Brian casually looked over at me and said,

"What are you doing in September?"

A suspicious look came across my face. "Why?"

"Do you want to move to Portland with me?"

Then I started screaming and jumping around. Brian was still just laying on the couch, but I could see a pretty huge smile across his face. He didn't get up and jump with me, so I had to jump on him. Then I thought, "What if he's messing with me?" and I had to make him swear he was serious. He actually got the call. And then I screamed some more in a pillow, because our kids were asleep.

Brian has been accepted to the Oregon Health and Science University(OHSU) Nursing Anesthesia graduate program. We are moving to Portland in September. WE ARE MOVING TO PORTLAND IN SEPTEMBER! Oh my goodness!

I'm so proud of Brian! He has worked so hard to get here. He has supported a family, gone to school, worked full time and gotten himself into graduate school. And he's done it all with ease.

I am feeling so relieved. Anyone who knows me well knows that this whole waiting period has been driving me a little bit crazy. Not knowing our future. Not knowing whether we're moving or staying. Not knowing if our plans will be delayed. I'm a planner. It was killing me. And now we know. And after I stopped jumping, I started thinking. I started thinking about what this all meant. We will be leaving our tiny condo, which I am SO ready to leave, but at the same time, it's still home. It's the house we brought both our babies home to. It's been our home for five years. And I like it. A little sad. I started thinking about moving away from our families. Our parents. Our siblings. Cousins. Our family. A lot sad. I started thinking about the rough two years we have ahead of us with an insane workload for Brian. Scary. Then I thought about being in a new state, a new town, not knowing anybody. A lot scary.

But then I thought about how lovely Oregon is and how much it seems to be the very best place for us to go. And I thought about how all three of my sisters and I have the same cell phone network. And I thought about how we are moving forward with our plans. And I thought about how good this could be for me and Brian- two Utah kids on their own, out in the world. And I thought about how we can probably rent a bigger house than we have now, with a yard, and a garage. And I felt happy. Really, really happy. And still scared. But happy.

And the "rumour" (for you Lisa) is that Brian and I will love Oregon so much that we won't ever come back. I don't know. I kind of like our families a lot. And McKay kind of needs his grandmas. And Brian kind of has to run marathons with his dad. And I kind of can't be the only sister who lives away. But who knows, maybe Oregon will win us over.