Our Next Adventure!

So, I am writing this while texts are flying in from family and friends wondering what the heck this whole rumor of moving is about. Before I dish out the "goods" I want to  first address the last couple of years.

This is how little our children were the first Christmas Andy lived in Chicago while working for Champs Sports. He moved in October of 2014 (around Halloween time) and our kids were 5, 2 and 16 months when he left. I look back at that time in awe as I truly didn't think I could get through it. There is NO DOUBT I had a TON of help. My mom still lived with us, dear friends in our ward (church congregation) and other family in the area made it possible for me and the kids to get through not having our favorite guy around. Without getting into all the emotional detail of the last couple of years, I will say it was hard. The hardest thing I have ever done in my life and I am confident in saying Andy thinks in his too. I tried understanding the life of a single mother/father or a military spouse and I simply could not wrap my brain around the fact that so many people live like this each day. I had "a light" at the end of the tunnel and that still made it tough. Originally when he went to Chicago, we were given a year to 18 month timeline. Well, I have learned to not hold my breath when "corporate America" speaks because he left in October of 2014 and finally moved back home fully in October 0f 2016. I am not the best mathematician but that's a little bit more than 18 months. 😉 Moving back did not mean we got him home for good. His position changed from store manager to District Manager in Training or DMIT and that meant he needed to travel various districts in the country to be able to learn from others who are already full fledged District Managers. So once again, he was gone each week and only home on Saturday's and Sunday's. I counted my blessings though because while he lived in Chicago, we were lucky to see him once a month so having him each weekend was AWESOME! When he finally moved back we were told that this DMIT position is about a year to 18 month assignment, until they can get a district available....noticing a pattern here. 

So after lots of trips back and forth to Chicago (I have the route memorized on I-65) we settled in to this "new normal" of daddy home on weekends and gone throughout the week. In the meantime, my mom and brother moved back to California and I was truly rocking the single mom gig, again with TONS of help from other family and friends in the area. It seemed to be getting fairly easy to simply count down the days of each week and breathing a big sigh of relief each Friday morning I woke up knowing Andy would be home at some point before that day ended.....Friday's became my most favorite day of the week!

Then came holiday season and rumors started circling "around the office" at Andy's job that some big changes might be coming to Champs. Now, just so we are clear on the shoe empire....Foot Locker owns Champs Sports and Foot Action and therefore the shoe world! Sorry Finish Line, you just can't compete. So when a company of that magnitude starts talking big changes, everyone is on edge. I mean truly ANYTHING can happen and in my mind, no one is secured in their position at that point. So, we started praying and thinking and creating our own big changes to pass the time away. We could not have imagined what the changes had in store for our little family. Towards the end of January, it became very clear that something was happening but that no one would find out until a very specific meeting after the start of the company's fiscal year which starts in February. So Andy and I found out last weekend that a very important conference call was to take place on Tuesday, January 31st and of course Andy was to be on this call. Well I had to go to work and kids to school but let's face it, I didn't get any work done that day. Then it happened, Andy called me and asked if I could guess what had just happened. Pretty sure the conversation went like this: 

Andy: "Well, just got off the phone with Dave and Max." (Dave is his boss, Max is everyone's boss)

Me: "Uh-huh. So what!?!?"

Andy: "Do you remember where I said I might want to go if I had a choice?"

Me: "UTAH! We are going to Utah?" (We had talked about this and it truly was neither of our first choice but we thought it might be cool to go there for a while since we know so many people that live there.)

Andy: "Never mind, you are never going to guess so I'll just tell you. I am being promoted to a District Manager and I have the Washington, D.C district. We are moving to D.C babe."

Me: "AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" (followed by tears)

You read it right folks, we are relocating to the Washington, D.C area shortly after school gets out. Of course, like any other job, Andy needed to report much sooner than that to start work overseeing his 20 stores he is now in charge of. While he does not work directly in the store in everyday operations, he runs a district now and has to keep 20 managers excited, upbeat and customer ready to not just do well for their stores but for the company. If anyone is up for the challenge it is Andy Stearns! I know I may be biased but truly, there is no one more qualified and ready to run a district and lead a team like my husband. He is an AMAZING manager and mentor and finds a way to meet people where they are so they are coachable and want to work for him and do well. When I tell people he fly's under the radar, I am not kidding! He has incredible talent! In any event, he left this afternoon to start working tomorrow in his new district. The company is helping with housing for him until we move out there in May and thankfully Andy's older brother and family live in the area so we have plenty of options when it comes to staying somewhere for a short time. 

For Andy, this is going back "home." He grew up in D.C and knows the area and people well. For me, it's taking a West coast girl and making her an East coast one.....however, no worries, I won't be cheering for Brady anytime soon! 😊

I cannot express the amount of emotions that have been running through our household since Tuesday. This was much sooner than expected and a location we didn't think would even be possible but, everything is possible when Heavenly Father is in charge. The timing of everything, Andy coming back, my mom moving, me ending my time at one job and looking to a new one, changes at Andy's company and the opportunity for me to work remotely....ALL OF IT was in Heavenly Father's hand. Whether you are religious or not, our family believes that all of this was not a coincidence and we simply do not get to pick the Lord's timing of things. 

SO thankful for the last seven years in Indiana. We have met some of our most dearest friends that have become family. We have had career experiences, spiritual experiences, family experiences and the list goes on that would not have happened had we been anywhere else. We will definitely miss the many "Hoosiers" who might be reading this and we will try to get together with many before we officially go. In the meantime, feel free to stop by and help me paint or repair some dings in our walls as I will happily take all the help I can get in getting out home ready to sell. 😍

We love Indiana, and this state will always have a piece of our hearts. I mean, I have two Hoosier born children so I have to have some loyalty to the state. Know that we are very excited for this new chapter in our family's life! Adventure for sure......and even more opportunities to learn and grow and add to our book of life here on Earth!

Watch out D.C.....The Stearns' are coming!!