Home. Sweet. Home.

Karma.  God’s will.  Destiny.  Fate.  What ever it is you want to call it, has brought us to this place, in this exact moment, right where we are supposed to be.  Sitting on a little couch in our living room while the kiddos sleep snuggled together in their new bed after a full day of school.

To get to this point it took courage, faith, craziness, and a dash of insanity.  Levi and I both had an idea that our journey would not be easy but felt in our hearts it would be worth the change we were making.

We had specific criteria that we were looking for in our new home town. Things that are important to us and would not be sacrificed.  There were numerous times along the way when we questioned if we were doing the right thing; when the kids were bored and screaming, saying goodbye to family and friends, when the car needed new breaks, when the car blew a spark plug, when we were driving all day and getting minimal sleep at night just to wake up early and climb back into the car for another day on the road.

We felt that the time was now for this adventure and if we didn’t see it through to the end we would one day regret settling somewhere.  Some called us adventurous, thrill seekers, or free spirits. Others thought we were being irresponsible and reckless.  Then there were the peeps that believed us to be hopelessly lost in need of direction or someone or something to save us. While we may have appeared less than organized or prepared, we had a plan, an agenda, and a desire to make a better life for us and our children. It would have been easy to stay where we were comfortable or return to a place that we know, but where is the fun and adventure in that?

As the old saying goes, “a comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing grows there.”

I am a bit of a free spirit but we were never lost, wandering yes, but not lost.  I am also a planner obsessed with lists.  Every day was planned down to each stop, interview, media request set up ahead of time, boxes filled and mailed beforehand to various locations for the kiddos to receive their own toys to play with and feel a sense of connection.

So where are we now?  Port Angeles, Washington! A place that was not originally on our list but was mentioned along on the way and instantly captured our hearts. We have the snow covered peaks of the mountains, the views of the sound over the Strait of Juan De Fuca, Seattle and Victoria are a few hours away, and the weather is never too hot or cold. The school system is fabulous and the job market is strong.  It is a town that is up and coming and we are excited to meet new people and grow with Port Angeles.

While prepping to visit Port Angeles, I looked for a spa management position on Indeed.  Nada.  Not an esthetician or spa job listed within a 25 mile radius.  Out of curiosity, I googled local spas.  Two seemed like they had potential.  I sent cold emails to the owners of both of the spas, attached my resume, and the days I would be in town.  The very next day I got an email asking if 5:30 would work for in interview.  The spa happened to be looking for a manager.

“Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

The owner of the spa where I accepted the management position asked where we would be staying when we came back to town, in the same sentence mentioning she happened to have a VRBO vacant for the next month.  She left out the part that it was a brand new two bedroom gorgeous water view remodel.   A completely furnished little apartment to be able to park ourselves for a bit while we searched for our new home.  Are you kidding me?

After getting settled into the VRBO and starting work, Levi started looking at homes to rent.  It didn’t take long until we found a cute little 3 bedroom house that was within our budget and was in a great school district and in walking distance to downtown and the spa I would be managing.  To top it all off, the house is located 2 blocks from Claire’s school and 3 blocks away from Henry’s daycare.  It’s so nice to walk the kids to school in the morning and then go home and get ready for work. 

Now that we had found a home, it was time to call Pods to see how much it was going to cost to get all our stuff delivered.  OUCH!! We were going to need a miracle as the cost was more than we could come up with at the moment. When we told Levi’s dad Bill, and step mom Nancy, we were choosing Port Angeles, they were very excited and glad we had found a place to call home, even if it did change our route from heading towards them in California.  It just so happened Nancy’s dad, whom lives across the sound in Victoria, British Columbia, a short one hour ferry ride away, was being moved into assisted living in the next weeks.  Bill and Nancy had a trip scheduled to move him out of his little fully furnished two bedroom apartment.  The original plan was for them to store/donate all of his belongings, but after hearing about our PODS delivery cost and knowing we needed beds to sleep in sooner rather than later they mentioned perhaps bringing the furniture our way.

As fate would have it, they were scheduled to pick up a u-haul and start their trip back to California the same day we were scheduled to sign our lease agreement on our new home.

The day we completed our walk thru on our new rental home Levi’s dad and step mom arrived and helped us unload beds, chairs, a dining room set, dressers, end tables, a couch, a recliner, and all sorts of house hold goodies to get us started.  What a blessing that was!  It was great to see them and it was an added bonus that they were able to help us out and furnish our little house.  Thank you Papa, Nona and Don.  We are treasuring all you have given to us in starting to make this house our home.

Things fell into place so perfectly that it feels like this is exactly where we are supposed to be.  We still have all of our possessions in storage in Texas but we have furniture and essential living items to get us by until we can save up for the PODS to be delivered closer, arrange for a private company to bring our possessions home, or convince Levi that he needs to jump on a plane and sort through our stuff than drive a u-haul 2,500 miles.

Now that we have the kids enrolled in school/daycare, I have a job, and the house is furnished, it’s time for Levi to find a job.  He has been the “stay at home dad” the last week or so, running car pool, setting up utilities, meeting the neighbors, and getting familiar with the area.  He had a great interview midweek and about 5 minutes after leaving the interview he got a call and was told that he was their preferred candidate. Once references are checked and a background screen completed they will be offering him the job.  As long as their are no red flags in his past, but as we all know he is a kick ass and stand up guy with no skeletons in his closet so he should be hearing something back early next week and will be starting a new job in no time.

So there you have it, thank you for following our journey along “The Road Knott Taken”.  Now it’s time to eat some delicious smelling chocolate chip cookies my sweet house husband just made and snuggle in with Netflix.

Good night and God Bless.