Goodbye Minnesota

So...we moved! To Illinois!

We knew the day would come quickly, but it feels like our time in Minnesota flew by.  And we were supposed to move back in March, but the babies gave us a slight change of plans :)

Our time in Minnesota was truly amazing, we loved it there.  

It's interesting to look back on when we first moved to Minnesota, like in this and this post.

SOOO many blessings came our way because we were in Minnesota at that specific time.

I remember having a really hard time when we first moved there because of being in a new place, not knowing anyone, and having such a hard time finding a job since my teaching license didn't transfer to Minnesota.  Little did I know what was waiting for me...

I got to be a nanny for an incredible, and I mean incredible, family with 2 darling little boys.
They blessed our lives in countless ways and became our family away from family.

As I was looking for jobs in MN none of the offers I got felt right and I just did not understand what was going on.  When I was offered the job as a nanny for this family it felt very right and everything started making sense.  Shortly thereafter I found out I was pregnant with twins and so many blessings came our way because of being with this family.  Michelle (the mom) is super woman.  I was the one supposed to be taking care of her family and she ended up taking care of ours by making us meals, giving us countless baby things, helping throw me a baby shower, and much much more.  I miss those darling little boys and their family!


We also made some of the best friends we could ever ask for while we were in MN

Cami, Becky, and I were pregnant at the same time and that was definitely a bonding experience! The types of friendships we built were incredible - the kind where we were good enough friends to just walk into each others houses and were willing to change each others kids' diapers.  Now THAT's true friendship :)

And another major event that took place in MN - we found out we were having twins there
and they were born there!

I don't have pictures of this, but another I am so grateful for are the people we met at church in MN.  We were part of an incredible group of people.  I absolutely loved getting to be a leader for the teenage girls, they taught me so much and I am amazed by their strength.

I can't convey the awe I have at how things fell into place as we settled into our home there.
We truly did love it there and are so grateful for the people we met.  I remember praying and praying that we would make friends and be able to recognize opportunities to get involved in our community.  Those prayers were certainly answered.  I met some of the most genuine, compassionate, and fun people I have ever met in my life while we were there.  We miss it already.


Moving is definitely a whole new world with 2 little babies!  But, with the help of a bunch of people, we managed to pack up our apartment and head to our next destination, Illinois!  Martin is in a program that gives him experience in different areas of the company, which means moving every 8 months or so for a couple of years and Illinois is our second stop.

I'm not gonna lie, our first impressions of Rockford weren't too great.
We learned that the crime rate here is very high, which made it interesting trying to find an apartment in an area that we'd feel comfortable in.  It didn't help that someone told us that they recently went to a lake, but were sent home by police because they found a body in the lake....comforting, right?

Well, if I learned anything from our move to Minnesota it is that attitude is everything...not that I'm sayin' attitude will make the crime rate go away, but you know what I mean.  We get to choose how our experience will be here!  And we are diving right in to make the most of it!

A perk of moving around so frequently is that it has really encouraged us to get involved, be outgoing, and explore the area as much as we can. Knowing that we are only here for 8 months makes us want to see the surrounding area as much as we can.

I am extremely grateful for our church too. No matter where we go we know that one of our congregations will be there and that they will give us responsibilities, opportunities to get involved, and that they will have our backs when we need help.  Like how we were able to contact the bishop before moving out here and coordinate help unloading our moving truck - which was SO nice considering the babies screamed for half the drive and we were two tired parents.  With everyone's help the truck was unloaded, our furniture assembled, and a family brought us dinner within 2 hrs of pulling into our driveway.  What tender mercies.

Here are some pictures of our new place.
Oh, and going from a 1 bedroom to a 2 bedroom has been FABULOUS!
The babies no longer live in the living room :)

The view from our front door into our kitchen

 Hallway leading to the bedrooms

 Our living room

 More living room

 And our porch!

*Shout out and special thank you to Kandace and Chad Hyland for the tip on the clearance on Target patio furniture, we found a great set that works perfectly with our porch :)

So, we are adjusting well and are even making some friends! We really miss the people we met in Minnesota, but we're excited for our new adventure here.

And one picture of the babies, just because :)