The Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth

I had a blog a couple years ago and have since forgotten how nice it is to write my thoughts and feelings out.  It is therapeutic and calming for me.  One thing you will need to know about this blog is that I will be very real about our experiences.  So let me start by telling you about our vacation this week.  There were ups and downs.  It was great to be with my family and enjoy island life.  We ate well and the kids had a ton of fun together.  But a large part of the week for Dan was spent finding a place for us to live in California. The timing of his first placement has been rough on him.  Things just moved slowly in California.  Until today (Friday), we had no prospects on finding a place that would house all five of us for a short term lease of 13 weeks.  Dan spent many hours on the internet and phone searching for something.  We also, today, signed a contract for his job at the hospital in Porterville.  So you can imagine the stress that we both were carrying this week.  I kept thinking.....we are leaving on Saturday with no set job and no place to live.  We could arrive in California and have no where to go.  When I said we had ups and downs, I meant we had UPS and DOWNS.  Some moments I wanted to quit and say, "This is ridiculous!"  "Why are we doing this?"  And other times I just knew that our faith would get us through.  This is one of those times in life when pure faith is all we have to lean on.  We are on a journey of complete uncertainty.  I have to remember why we are doing this and that Dan has our best interest at heart.  He is paving the way for our kids by getting us out of debt.  But finally, as of tonight, we have a faxed application to the apartment complex and a signed contract.  Once we are on the road tomorrow I can finally relax a little.  Until the kids wake up and need our immediate assistance to feed them, clothe them, and meet every little need that they have.  All in all, it is a tough start to our journey, but I know there are good things in store for us.  My first question is......."Are we there yet?"  At least we all look put together, right?  Below are some pictures from our trip.