Closing A Chapter

Just before I sat down to write this, I packed a carry-on bag for my 14-month-old daughter, packed my husband’s dress clothes with plastic in the middle to stave away wrinkles, finished staging our house for MLS photos, scarfed down a burger, finalized our travel plans and emailed out our itinerary to my mom. I feel as though I’m in the middle of a whirlwind right now, but I know that my feet are planted firm and the things will all blow over soon.

See? I’m typing a hundred-miles-an-hour just like the pace of my thoughts. Let me catch you up to speed. My husband, who is a pastor, recently was offered a job as the pastor of a church in Silicon Valley. We love Dallas, our friends here, our nearby families and our church but we kept moving forward with this potential job as we felt it was the right thing to do. So, after much prayer on our part as well as the part of the new church, they extended an offer and we accepted it. In just 3 weeks from now, we’ll be moving half-way across the country with our daughter, Halle- who is an active 14-month-old (you all know what I’m talking about!), our little Westie, Bauer, all of our belongings and my big ol’ 6-month-pregnant-belly.

This is definitely an exciting time and we are up for the new adventure that we’re about to embark on, but it’s definitely not easy. Of course all the little details can be stressful- trying to sell our house, researching moving companies, changing doctors, finding housing on the California side of thing, etc. but it’s what all of the details mean that really bring tears to my eyes. Selling our house brings back the memories of friends that have lived with us, memories of all of our Bible study groups and Christmas parties we’ve had and especially it means saying “bye-bye” to my daughter’s nursery. The moving companies, the doctor’s office calls- all of it- it really means that we are truly saying good-bye to all of the facets of our life here.

One of those facets that is dear to my heart and that I look at with pride is starting Dallas Moms Blog with Lauren. I remember her talking to me about the idea and I was still kind of on the fence. Then one day, last May, we met a stay-at-home mom through one of the classes at Bookmarks, in Northpark Mall. She had just moved here, her husband had already started his new job and she was home with her little girl. She seemed so eager for other mommy-friends that I realized Dallas Moms Blog could fill gaps in people’s lives and not just words on a webpage . Lauren and I poured every spare minute into this blog- trying to get the header just right, searching for some good giveaways and writing, writing, writing. We finally asked for help and signed on some fabulous and committed contributors. I am so thankful for the friendships I’ve made through DMB playgroups, a free Kindermusik class and even through the comment section!

Lauren is still, as always, very committed to the success of DMB and is blessed to have the support of other great contributors. But as for me, it’s time for me to close this chapter of my life. I’ve shed tears and pinched my self time and time again, wondering, “am I really doing this?” but as I answer emails from our realtor in Dallas and a realtor in California, reality assures me that I am! So keep building community among yourselves and use this blog to connect to other moms and to this city. I’m praying for a blog just like this in the area I’m moving to.