Wow! I said in my last post that changes were coming my way. The big changes are that my husband has accepted a new job in Sheridan Wyoming. We have always talked about coming back here...the last week in June we had a great discussion on a quick road trip to Rapid City about where we were going with careers, life, dreams, etc. We kind of threw it out there....I remember his words, "I want to move back to Sheridan" I sat in the passenger seat and looked at him and said "me too." When I was dating Reo, I came to Sheridan every weekend to visit him the summer after we met in Casper. I fell in love with Reo that summer and knew there was something about this man that I couldn't live without. I fell in love with Sheridan that summer as well. The beauty of the mountains, the valleys, and the feeling of this small town had me smitten.
When you open the doors, it is amazing what happens. It wasn't a week later that Reo's friend let him know that there was an engineering position coming open at a coal mine. And within 2 months we are now "living" in Sheridan. I say "living" because I am staying in an extended stay hotel with 2 kids, and the dog.
We are searching for a house and hoping that our house in Gillette sells quickly. Here it is...I love our home so much but I am excited for this new adventure.
So where do all of these changes leave me??? Well, I am officially employed as a stay at home mom. I left my job as an Early Intervention Instructor where I provided children ages 3-5 with special education. I worked there for over 6 years. There were so many aspects about my job that I loved! But there were things that I didn't always love. What I did love was those kids and my co-workers. It's funny how you really realize how much you were loved until it's time to say good bye.
This past year was tough on me. I can't explain what happened but I felt this longing to be home with my kids more. The school where I worked is a year round facility so summer was tough on me. I wanted so badly to have some time off to be with my kids. I felt myself slipping into a place of complacency at work. I wasn't the same employee that I prided myself on being. There wasn't enough time in the day to get done what I needed to at work the way that I liked it to be done(I am a bit of a perfectionist and super tough on myself...a true virgo and first born qualities) and also go home to be a good wife and mother. When I say this past year was tough on me....it might have been tougher on my husband and kids. I took home every ounce of stress, deadlines coming closer, time crunches, paperwork, situations with families, ideas that I wanted to implement, and the feeling of not being able to get to it all. I was rarely present at home because my mind was on work. I didn't like the path, I was headed on through no fault of my own. I took on new committees, more kids, more challenges, and I never said it was too much. Through this weight loss journey, I have prided my self on a transformation of mind, body and spirit, but I was struggling in the spiritual part. My emotional health was not ok, and I needed to make changes.
When we sat down to discuss jobs for me in Sheridan. Reo looked at me and said, "let's set our lives up there so you don't have to work" I remember this feeling of pure relief and like a weight had been lifted off my chest. Reo has been so incredibility supportive to me finding what I want to do and to not settle for a job that I don't love. This has me so excited. I have an idea of what I want to do, but now I need to figure out how to make it happen.
What I am excited about is to spend some time with my kids. Time that is strictly devoted to them without my mind being on work. I am excited to make our home and life here in Sheridan. We are so blessed to have so many family members here and I love that my kids are going to be close to cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents, 2nd cousins, and new friends. I am excited to take time to take my dad to Denver for appointments without worrying about what I am missing at work. I am excited to live near the mountains. I plan on doing something every month in the mountains. I am excited to be out at Reo's dad's ranch. Kenley loves horse riding, so hopefully we can get her some riding time. I am excited for the possibilities that I have to do exactly what I want to do.
Here are a few pics of our life so far in Sheridan...
Avon playing flag football. He made the paper with this run!
Kenley drew this house of what she wants our new house to look like in Sheridan.
Av on his first day of school at Big Horn Elementary!
