Photos From Our Trip and An Update

scenes from our trip to San Antonio

Since returning from our trip to Texas, we have had a busy weekend around here. Packing up, hiring a moving company, getting our new apartment in order...

It's exciting but a little scary, too. Even though we'll still be living in Los Angeles, we'll be about 20 miles from most of our family. Because it's LA, 20 miles can sometimes mean an hour or more of drive time to see any of them if there's traffic. I just keep reminding myself that moving out of state (which we eventually would like to do) would mean an even longer trip to see our families, so it's really not too bad right now.

Speaking of moving, boy do I want to move out of California. Actually, I mostly just want to move out of L.A. I went through a time where I just loved Los Angeles and everything about it. I couldn't imagine what the heck anyone else did for entertainment or how they pretty much survived anywhere else in the country. Oh to be young again... :P

Don't get me wrong, I do still like L.A. (not trying to bash the city or the people in it!) I have a lot of family here, I have a few good friends, and Michael has a great job here. It has it's perks. But it's just not for me anymore. Have you ever felt that way before? Like a place--physical or not--that once was THE place for you, no longer isn't?

We've talked a lot about moving and where we might want to live, and what we would do once we got there. It's amazing to dream. I love the fact that I even have this dream. I remember being a little girl and thinking of things I wanted to do one day, the places I wanted to go, the people I wanted to meet. But as I grew up, my tastes changed, my life changed. I stopped dreaming as much and just focused on getting myself through things like college, jobs, becoming an adult, etc.

Now that I feel like I've come through a lot of those bumps, I feel like a kid again! I just have all these hopes and dreams of places I want to live, the sort of home I want to raise our children in, the farm I hope we can have one day. It's amazing and terrifying at the same time. Sometimes I catch myself wondering (and sometimes getting frustrated, if we're being honest here) why God still has us here in L.A., when we both want to move to a more rural and family-friendly area.

Then, I remember this verse: "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." (Rom 12:12 NIV) And I am reminded that the life I have now is not the life I would have chosen for myself, but it is better than any of the situations in which I could have imagined myself. Why wouldn't the same be true of the gifts and joys that Christ has planned for us?