Its been a few months since I sat down to write up a blog post. We have been quite busy over here in the Olson household! Over the last few months, we made a really BIG change. WE MOVED TO ARIZONA!
I know I know. It sounds a little crazy right? I mean moving from Minnesota to Arizona isn't really a "normal" move. LOL! SO... I'm sure you are wondering WHY at this point. What made us decide to pick up and travel all the way across country to start a new life in the desert?
Let start with a little back story!
Flash back to January of this year when Jackie started college and I started working again... Jackie was a stay at home dad in college and loving his time with the kids but he kept saying that he just wasn't liking school. Which I get it- school is hard especially when doing it with TWO kids! Working for me was hard. I missed my kids, I didn't feel myself. I wished everyday I was back at home taking care of the family, and my home. We were just not happy. Things were off! Roles were reversed and let me tell ya... We like our roles normal!! 😉 Just a little gender roll humor because I always have to be controversial!
His first semester of college was coming to an end and it was time for him to pick his next classes and schedule. Work for me was getting really crazy- we lost a lot of employees and i was having to do the work of 3 people. Work that I was not trained to do yet! Jackie asked me if he could go back to working and I said of course- anything you need! He wasn't really actively looking, he was still going through with college and I just kept on working. One night J and I were laying in bed watching a movie and I paused it and said to him "we're moving to Arizona this year". To say J was shocked would be an understatement. I had told jack from the beginning of our marriage that I never wanted to move back to Arizona. I had ended that chapter and didn't want to go back. BUT something over the last few months kept pulling me there. I felt like there was something missing and honestly that missing piece is my dad. BUT every time I thought about what could fill the void Arizona popped up in my mind. It helps that Dad is buried here too. His family is here and so is Jackie's. My best friends are here, my best memories as a kid are here.
Jackie was all in. He loves AZ. He has been wanting to move back since before we married. We didn't because of my needs. Now we decided that what our family needed was a change, a huge change. AZ it was.
We made the decision to move on April 28th. The house was sold a day later. Jackie had 2 job offers the next week. All that was left was to pack, find a house in AZ and to tell my job. LOL- I waited far to long because honestly I was terrified of leaving my job. I loved my coworkers. They were all so happy for us though! I mean they cried but they were happy for me. Packing was honestly way easier than I expected it to be. We did it slowly (well had to be done within a month) packed a room at a time and got rid of SO MUCH! We were downsizing for sure. We had a 4 bedroom 2 story house with a basement so we had A LOT of junk. Two living rooms, 4 bedrooms of stuff and a whole lot of toys! We probably donated enough furniture and household items to fully furnish 2 small apartments. I mean y'all we had a lot. Any who, we donated, trashed and pack our lives up. We talked to the kids about this change and explained to Camden that we were going to have a new house in AZ (where Nana and Papa live) and that we have to put our things away in boxes so that we can have them in our new house. We showed him photos of the house, talked to him about his new room and he was generally excited. A little confused. He was so sad the day we left that Blue house. We all cried. We loved it so much. That house was everything I ever dreamed. We built it to our specifications. We truly were heart broken about selling. But we knew that this was what was right for our family.
Jackie's mom and step dad drove up to MN on June 13th, they brought 2 trailers with them and we started loading our stuff up. We got the trailers loaded up and on the 16th of June we were headed out. We kissed the house goodbye. Literally. I kissed every wall, every door, every countertop, my fridge, gas stove- okay you get the point. I cried and cried. I'm even crying now thinking about that house. Oh blue house.
The drive was long, exhausting and emotional. We were all stressed. It took 3 days 2 nights of driving. We are so thankful for Jen and Lloyd for all of the help during this move an still now. They have been absolute angels. We couldn't have done this without them. We are forever grateful! We camped along the drive, to save money and make it easier on the dogs. Overall camping was good! The first night was rough on McKinley because she was hot and tired and couldn't relax. But I sang her to sleep and held her hand and she eventually slept. The second night was waaaaaay better. No humidity and the kids slept great! The days were long though. We had to stop every 3 hours for gas and snacks, diaper changes, potty breaks and energy! So our driving days were about 8-9 hours. We survived though, with almost no big hiccups. Crazy talk I know. We only had one throw up event, 2 poop blow outs and 3 big tantrums. 1 of those from me...
Flash forward to today! We are settled into our rental, really enjoying our new live here in AZ! The kids love it! The heat is really not that bad. ITS A DRY HEAT!
We are so excited to be raising our family here in the desert, and excited to see what else life has to offer us! This new season of life is so amazing!
Jackie is working for Gray's Engineering. He is thriving. He loves it! I am back as a stay at home momma, and LOVING IT. Don't get me wrong though - the transition has been a little rough. Pretty dependent on coffee and diet coke lately. HAHA! Camden started preschool 2 weeks ago and he si doing absolutely AMAZING! I am so proud of him! McKinley is walking- yup walking. Who gave my kids permission to grow up?
Life has sure changed for us. However, we are loving the changes and all the adventures to come!
There you have it, our update on life. We love you all and thank you so much for the support! Hope you enjoyed this blog post!
Talk to you soon! Love,
Momma Olson
