Port Orchard

We are here now in Port Orchard, Washington. We've been planning for months now for Rob to work with another doctor here, and we're excited that it's finally here! 

Our last weeks (months?) in Portland were so busy, and really stressful! I'll just summarize some of the main stressors of the time, for our own memories:

With the plan to move to Washington, Rob had been working on his application for a Washington license since October. We knew the application would take 6-10 weeks to process after everything was turned in, so we were really anxious to speed things along. He had also applied for a postceptorship to allow him to work before he was licensed, but that was denied, so waiting for a license was all we could do. The problem was that they needed his school transcript, and he wouldn't have one until he received all the visits he needed in the clinic, and that was taking longer than we had planned. So he took on extra shifts to try to speed the process, and was finally finished on the 8th or so. Almost a month after graduation.

 I was losing my mind knowing that every day that the application couldn't be turned in yet was another day he wouldn't be able to work. On top of that, we had been misinformed about finances and loan limits at the time, and were planning to be able to take out one last student loan to get us through until work would start, but found out we couldn't. So, we were looking at 6-10 weeks before work would even start, and knew our money would deplete quickly with moving expenses. 

Another stress was housing. We had a really hard time deciding which would be more wise: moving into a little apartment temporarily then moving again (ahhhh!) when we had a better income, or paying a little more to rent a house that we could comfortably stay in for a while. If we didn't have 3 little kids, it would have been an easier decision, but I really tried to picture how I would ever go anywhere if we lived on a second floor apartment, or one without parking nearby. . . and no Washer/Dryer was definitely a dealbreaker. But then again, I would also feel sick moving into a nice place and then potentially having no paycheck for 2 months. We went back and forth so many times, and we were quickly approaching the end of our 30-day notice without a place to move into. 

Then there was the responsibility of packing and cleaning our entire house with 3 little boys who still needed lots of attention. Moving is the worst. Add the emotions of leaving our home, friends, and city we've grown to love, and it was a hard time. 

Now that I've complained about all the stress we had, I'll share some of the miracles that followed:

Even though our 30 day notice should have ended on the 11th, our managers said it was fine if we delayed it. We were so glad we could delay because we weren't ready, but still felt like we needed to move as soon as possible, even though it would cost more.  It was a leap of faith, but we gave ourselves just one more week to finalize everything and move. We were definitely inspired to move at this time and it worked out perfectly.

We ended up getting accepted for the house we wanted. We felt good about it because the price wasn't drastically higher than the apartments we were looking at, but it still had the things on our wish list: 3 bedrooms, a nice flat yard, and a garage! It's nothing fancy,  but it feels spacious and we love the neighborhood. 

We had lots of friends help us move out, and it went smoothly. Rob's parents came to help with everything, which was a huge help. A few men from our new ward came to help us move in, and made it go quickly. 

We spent a few days working hard to get settled in. Just a few days after moving, we got the best news: Rob's license was processed and active already! It took less than 2 weeks. This was what we had been praying for the hardest. We had one week with him home helping unpack, then he was working the next Monday. It couldn't have worked out more perfectly. We know that we were guided in our decisions and blessed through it all.

We're feeling more and more settled in to Port Orchard. Rob really likes his job and the people he works with. We really like our house and neighborhood, and we've met a few friends. We like our ward a lot. We've discovered that Rob has relatives in the ward, so it has been fun meeting them. And Collin loves being a Sunbeam! Collin also loves having his own room, and the twins did pretty well with all the changes. We've taken a few pictures since we've been here:

Three blonde babies in a wagon. Checking out the park down the street from us!

Reading time in the play room!

Just sitting on their giraffes, watching some TV. . .

Elliott was sick one day and just needed me to hold him all day long. I was so proud of Collin and Truman for entertaining themselves so well. Collin was being so sweet and sharing his tools in this picture. And yes they stayed in their PJs all day because we had furnace issues that day and it was cold.

Reading in their new little robot chair.

One thing I'm so happy about is that the Ottos moved to Washington as well! A little over an hour away from us. We got to see them for Asher's birthday party, which they held at a relative's house that was only about 45 minutes away. We're glad we'll still be able to get together with them on occasion. I really wish we were still neighbors though! We'd be hard pressed to ever find friends as good as them.

We are excited for this new adventure! Hopefully now that most of the craziness is over, I can attempt to update the blog more regularly.