In July we are moving to...

..

MICHIGAN!

Are you thinking, wait...isn't that where you already live? You are correct! We have been so excited to share our big news but wanted to wait until we knew exactly where we would be going. Back in October, November and December Mike was interviewing for jobs (early, right?). We were so blessed to have 5 awesome offers in that short time of preliminary interviews. Mike has worked his tail off these past few years: school, grades, networking, connections, you name it and it was so exciting and such a relief to see that it all paid off. 

We ended up doing something we were not planning on...funny how life has a way of always ending up like that for us. We thought we would take a fellowship after school, and Mike was offered a great one (it's kind of crazy too, fellowship offers require a yes or no within 24 hours because they are so competitive). Literally 1 hour before we called to say yes,  he received a consulting offer that was too good to not consider, so we turned the fellowship down and he continued the interview process and ended up with 3 more offers over the next month.

After much prayer, fasting, thinking, late night conversations and evaluating, we chose to accept the offer with Accenture where he will be working in their Health Care Consulting Practice. After accepting the offer, we had to decide which big city we wanted our family to settle in. Our gut said, D.C. since we'd lived there before, so that is what we told them, then all of a sudden, I had a major change of heart and told Mike that I felt like Michigan should be our home and to see if they could change his first choice to the Detroit office. 

Luckily, it was not too late and we are now Michiganders for life (or as long as this part of our life lasts)! We have really grown to love so many things about the area we are in and feel it is a wonderful place to raise boys. The people, the landscape, the education, the opportunity, just the greatest. We honestly couldn't ask for better (okay, milder winters, less humidity and about 2 days closer to family would be nice). We found a house to rent in Saline, Michigan which is 10 minutes from where we are now. The boys will change schools and wards but it is a delightful community of great families, beautiful surroundings, top-notch schools, streams, wildlife, and a charming downtown. Plus, we are only 15 minutes from the University and everything it has to offer. It's the perfect suburb next to a thriving college town and we are so excited.

There is a downside...Mike's job will be heavy on travel and we will miss him being around all the time, but we are grateful to be only 20 minutes from the airport and settling in a place where hopefully he'll have the chance to be on some local clients too. I'm ready to be a tough single mom for 3-4 days a week (watch for break-down posts in the near future) and then have him all to ourselves over the weekend.  We are ready for the challenge and know we can make it work. It's not ideal but in this economy we are so grateful for a job that will provide for our family while I stay home with the kids, and we honestly feel nothing but gratitude for a great opportunity.

So, get out your address book and watch for our updated address before Christmas Card season. Hopefully we'll be back out west for a visit soon ;)