Big Plans: All Tentative

Summary:
In answer to the flood of questions about our future plans: (1) yes, we're still moving to Utah; (2) yes, the house is still up for sale; and (3) no, we don't know the rest of our plans.

Details:
Well, we've had an enormous amount of people asking about our plans but I haven't been able to blog them because Matt had not yet announced to his job that he'd taken a new position in Utah. We didn't want to chance someone from work reading the news before he'd formally resigned!

So anyway, it is a bitter-sweet goodbye. B&V has been a really good company to us--especially through Brynn's volatile NICU stay, Matt's Graduate Degree, and all the other things that have happened here in KS. They even offered to do what they could to keep him--even if it meant moving us to UT--which made the resignation even harder for Matt.

We're sad to leave our Ward, too. Although the draw of UT is the number of family members we have on both sides living there, we feel in many ways that we're leaving our Ward Family here in Olathe. Matt is so sad to leave his Young Men, and I am equally sad to be leaving all my Young Women and Deaf friends. We'll also miss all the other good friends we've made while living here.

But even with all the sadness of leaving, we are excited for our new beginning. Utah is still home base for both our families, and it will be so nice that Brynn and Heidi will know their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Matt's new job opportunity at WECC (Western Electricity Coordinating Council) is a fantastic step for his career. His title will be "Renewable Integration Manager," which in short means he'll be overseeing all the renewable energy sources as they come into the Western Energy Grid. Although we don't know everything about his new duties, it is a high profile position that will swiftly put Matt in the "know" with anyone working in Utilities on the Western Grid. We are very excited for this new opportunity.

So anyway, the house was (and still is) up for sale, and Matt was (and still is) starting work on August 30th. Those are the only two plans that have remained constant. Everything else is up in the air.

The honest truth is, I don't know when I'll be out of the hospital. I don't know when the baby will be out of the NICU. I don't know when the house will sell and if we'll have to move into a temporary residence for a short interval. I don't know when we'll be boxing up and hiring a moving company. I think the soonest we can optimistically expect a move for the whole of our little family (if I can get Heidi to 32-34 weeks) is sometime in mid to late October. If she comes tomorrow (perish the thought), we could hypothetically be here until around December or even later.

Matt's work is already showing great flexibility by offering to fly him back and forth on a regular basis, and the current plan is to have some sort of "week in Utah," "week from KS" work arrangement. Thank heaven for technology, video conferencing, and internet! Even still, we have no guarantees that Matt will be here when the baby is born . . . and we are helplessly reliant on the generosity of good family members to fly to KS and help with Brynn.

What a crazy transition!

But I just know . . . I KNOW . . . it will all somehow work out. Things always do, don't they?

My hospitalization was certainly a huge kink in our plans, but we are still grateful for every day I am still pregnant. And that is priority number ONE right now. So everything else will just have to fall in line.


~Natalie