Goal 29. Move

Wow! So this is the only one word goal on my list, but it is probably the most life-altering one on here! We are currently in the middle of planning for our move which takes place on July 1! Yup, we have both given notice at work, have told our manager (but not technically given notice, which we should do!) and are searching for future jobs. Prince Charming is going to University of Alberta for a Bachelor of Education and I will be working as an LPN in Edmonton. I just got my notice that I am eligible for licensing in Alberta, and so the job search begins.


There is a lot of work going on right now, both in finishing things well and planning for future things. And this requires a lot of waiting, patience and communication. Which are not things that I am great at but here are some things I have been learning.


1. Waiting
It is simply not useful for me to do things too early. One of the first things I read while researching and just reading bits about moving and how to do so gracefully (Simple Mom and Small Notebook were great sources of inspiration) was that most people start packing boxes far too early and then live in a sea of chaos for a very long time. Right now we have 2 boxes of books that we are planning to sell and a few other boxes I got from work. These are going to be our "personals" boxes where we can store things that we don't want to get packed.
We also have been waiting all year to know whether our "big risk" paid off. You see, Prince Charming dropped out of school on his first day of classes and decided instead to apply to Uof A. It was only last week that we finally got his acceptance letter. This has been an incredible test while we have battled with feeling terrified, overwhelmed and at times just plain stupid. But somehow I have also felt a sense of peace about it. We started telling people we were moving LONG before anything was confirmed, and yet somehow it just seemed like it was the right thing to do. I really think that this move is going to be a big step in our lives and help us in ways that I can't even imagine.

However all this waiting has come to require a lot of .....
2. Patience
Ask my husband, I don't have any. In fact when I was little I wanted to name my first daughter "Illeanna Patience Brooke" which my husbands says is so that I can finally have some patience in my life. However, I really feel like the requirement of so much waiting, and hoping and just resting in what peace I can find has helped me develop my patience muscle just a little more. I am much more content to recognize that "God has a plan and his plan is good" (which is a phrase I have been known to repeat like a mantra), and that my responsibility is to simply respond to this leading. I have tried to be proactive in the time leading up to this and think we are both mentally ready to go and have a solid plan for making things work.

Talking about the plan leads me to talking about...
3. Communication
If you actually knew me, you would know that one of the defining features of my marriage is that we fight. But see what we would call a "fight" most people call a discussion, I think? We just bicker and argue, but really actually are kind of having fun. I think the real reason we do this is because we have absolutely no filter around each other. We say everything we think and feel. When we were 18 and dating in college we used to say we had an "honest and open" relationship. And one of the things that I LOVE about my husband is that he is willing to fight back and always sticks around to the end. We really do love each other through our fights.
So for us to get through a stressful time with the least amount of fighting and the highest rate of efficiency takes some prep work. And here enters "THE LIST". I have written a list (on COZI) of every single thing we need to do between now and our move date (July 1st!!) and spend a few moments each week assigning things on the list to each of us. This way we know what we need to do now, and know what is overdue. Since I have been working Evenings at work, we actually don't have lots of time to talk face-to-face and so this list has really helped things happen. I am happy to say I feel pretty ok about where we are on the list and feel like things are moving smoothly. I think that the list is helping us realize things that need to be done now, have our fights and then move on. Instead of trying to end all fights, I am just trying to work with our communication styles and use it to make things happen. Maybe this is part of the personal growth part of developing patience. I don't know.

So that is what has been happening my life and my thoughts for these past two weeks. I will have a new post for you soon showing the results of my first 30 for 30 challenge!

Have you ever taken a leap of faith that could alter your life? What did you learn from it?