It's all come down to this!

Well friends, I can't even believe these PhD years are coming to a close.  It seems so surreal.

It's so funny: five years ago, Gainesville was the. last. place. I wanted to go.  UF accepts four to five students every other year into its Finance PhD program, so on the one hand, we were thrilled at the fact that Stace had been accepted, but... 

Gainesville?!...Really? 

That word almost tasted bad coming out of my mouth. You see, I grew up in Seminole Country, and there "Gainesville" is pretty much a curse word. But moved here we did! And less than a month after doing so, the reasons why it has been an incredible blessing to be here in North Central Florida started knocking us over the head time and again. But I don't want to get into a whole shpeel about all of those reasons. That's not what this post is about. (Though I should make one of those!)  This is a post about the future... 

buh buh nuh nuh....

Stace has recently accepted a job offer from the Sam Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas!  Wow! A real, grown-up, big-boy-britches job! Craazy! We are SO excited!!!

I shared this news via the social media interweb today, and thought I'd share a little more here on the ol' blogster-journal.

Stace submitted his applications for jobs back on Labor Day. I remember going to the beach husbandless that day with some of our bestest friends. As I sat there soaking in the rays with my kiddos on beautiful Butler Beach, Stace was at home submitting applications like a maniac. Soon afterwards he started receiving phone calls to schedule interviews. We started getting so excited as these calls came through each day! And as each call came and as each day passed, our prayers increased in fervency that we would just go wherever we were supposed to go.  I learned my lesson last time we were moving that I shouldn't bank on my own plans. I learned that if I just asked that we could go where He would have us go...where He knows it would be best for our family, then that is the absolute best thing I could possibly hope for...and that's all I wanted.

So then in October Stace went to a big conference in Chicago where all of the "1st round interviews" took place.  He had 23 interviews over the course of two and half days. IN.TENSE. While Stace was still at the conference, he was offered flyouts from two superb schools: we were over. the. moon. Later six more flyouts were scheduled.  (One of the schools-- good Ol' BYU-- offered to fly me out too...it was SO fun! Truly, one of the best experiences of my life.) So Stace was running himself ragged in airports and on the campuses of America for about a month and half.

One of the schools that offered to fly him out was the University of Arkansas.  Stace was quite excited about Arkansas from the get-go.  I could tell he was pretty darn pumped by the way he talked about the school and by how much he enjoyed his Chicago interview with them.

However, my first thought was "Arkansas? really?" (hahaha...it sounds awfully familiar, right?!) Now the reason I thought that this time is because I don't know anything about Arkansas! Do you!? I mean, I don't even know anyone who knows anything about Arkansas! (At least, I didn't think I did:)  But before I knew it, I started to hear little things here and there that started opening my mind and heart to the idea of AR, and even got me excited! Albeit shallow, the very first thing that got me excited was looking at homes online in the area. I found one that I absolutely L.O.V.E.D. So when I saw that house, I said "ok, Stace. We can move to Arkansas!" ha!!! ;D (Of course, they took it off the market a few days later, but still...it served its purpose for me. ;)

The next thing that got me excited about the idea of being a Razorback was that Stace got an email from a man who is not a member of our church congratulating him on the U of A interview. In the email he said he used to work at the Sam Walton College of Business with David Bednar.  Well, "David Bednar" is pretty much one of my very favorite people in the whole wide world.  I read his books and I love his talks. :) Before moving out west to become the president of BYU-Idaho (which he did until he was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles), he worked at the University of Arkansas. Stace's colleague told him in the email that Elder "Bednar moved away for a year, but then decided to move back to AR because he wanted to raise his family there." So! Now I knew of one person who had lived in Arkansas, and that one person just so happened to be one of my favorite people (no, I've never met him...it's my goal in life to meet him, Elder Holland, and President Eyring...but that's another story;), and he must have really, really liked it. That sounded promising! :)

Then we started to hear how beautiful the area is...about the Ozark Mountains...about the mild climate...about how nice the people are...about the low cost of living.  Every time we'd hear something, we got a little more excited about the possibility of Arkansas. (We have yet to hear a negative thing about the place! If you know something, don't tell me;)

Another interesting factoid is that out of his eight flyouts, Stace only sent me pictures while he was in one place: Fayetteville, Arkansas. And the pictures were so beautiful. I even posted those pictures to my Instagram with the caption "future home?" Could this place that I know nothing about really be our future home?  The trees sure looked beautiful in the fall...

When Stace got back from AR he told me "I was surprised by how much I loved it out there."

The waiting game was the worst. Not knowing if any offers would come through was in a word: awful. The days seemed to drag on, and in the midst of all the sleepless nights of worry, I searched for peace through scriptures and quotes from prophets and apostles. One of my favorite quotes that I found went along with a Youtube video narrated by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. He stated: "God loves us. He is good, He is our Father, and He expects us to pray, and trust, and be believing, and not give up, and not panic, and not retreat, when something doesn't seem to be going just right." It gave me a lot of strength and I tried to hold onto those truths when fears would start to creep into my mind.  I just knew Heavenly Father was aware of our situation. I knew that even if it all didn't end up perfectly, it would all end up alright, and what's more...it would all end up better than we could have planned for on our own in the end.

I knew that Stace had done all that he could do. He has worked SO hard over the last five years: oftentimes, all day and all night. He set up a work station at home where he worked after he got home from work. The nature of his program is not one where he can "leave his work at work." When we'd go on the road (which has been quite often), I would always drive so that he could work. It has not been uncommon to see Stace at our pool or at a get-together with friends with his computer. He has done his best to be an amazing dad and husband by always being there for the kids and I, but he's also done his best to be an amazing student by simultaneously working his heart out. Over the last five years, he has juggled his computer, his data, his own research papers, his professors that he has worked for & their data & research, his children, and his wife.  And may I just say, he's an excellent juggler. I am so proud of him. One close friend here in Gainesville remarked to me once that she didn't know anyone who worked as hard as Stace. He's given it his absolute all. And I know that when we do that, God can and will step in and take care of the rest.

As I reflected on my worries and fears and then back to my faith, I kept coming back to the fact that I know that God is in the details of our lives. I see it in his sweet tender mercies that happen all too often. I know it. I know He is there in the details. So if He is in the details of our lives, which He is, then surely He has to be in the big, huge, life-changing occasions of our lives, also. This was not only life-changing for Stace and I, but also potentially for our children. And if I know nothing else, I know for certain He loves them too much to just leave this up to chance. It was all going to work out.

And then it happened!!! On a cloudy day in mid-December, Stace received his first job offer! (The same day he received this offer, he got a phone call from one school that we loved saying they really liked him and that he was the leader in their running, but that they wouldn't be able to extend their offer until February, which was too late for us.) Fast forward to a week later and it was the afternoon he had to make his final decision. I was a hot mess with a serious fever and the kids were running a muck; meanwhile Stace was negotiating back and forth on the phone between two schools. It was not a pretty sight (maybe we're lucky either of the schools still wanted him;) Finally, the hour of truth had come and we ended up accepting the offer from Arkansas!

It all seemed so surreal. (It still kind of does:) We told my siblings that weekend at the family Christmas with my dad. Then it was Christmas, Christmas, Christmas. Then it was New Years. Then it was "oh yeah! We should order Arkansas gear and take a picture wearing it to share the news!" I asked Stace "why don't we just wear cardinal//black and call it a day?" and he was all "no, that's not nearly as cool." (Ha! Proof that I'm not the only cheeseball in this marriage;D) I was excited and ready to share our news, so we ordered some shirts. When they finally came, I realized I'd ordered the wrong size for J-Man...

So then I ordered him another shirt.

Fast forward to last night.

Last night we met Stace's grandma, uncle, and mom at Chick-fil-a in Gainesville after his grandma's doctor appointment at Shands. When it was time for my mother-in-law to get back on the road, J was not having it that he was not going back to her house. So he twisted her arm into letting him go with her;), and she came back to our house so we could pack him a bag. On the way home I realized that if J went with her, we wouldn't be able to take our Arkansas pic-- the shirt was supposed to be in our mailbox that day, but we hadn't yet checked. So when we got back to the house I asked if she would mind if we ran and checked to see if his shirt had come. If it did, we asked if she would be so kind as to take our family picture inside. Sure enough, J's shirt had arrived so we all got ready lickety-split and snapped a couple quick pics.

 

 

Finally! I could share the news online with a little festive family pic (the way Stace requested;) with those who may not have yet known. It has been so fun to share our news with everyone. Thank you for your kind words of love, support and encouragement as we begin to embark on this next big chapter of our lives.

I continue to pray that this is the right place for us to begin this post-graduation journey, and I have to have faith and believe that it is. We will miss our family and friends in Florida and Georgia dearly, but we know that we are going where we are going for a reason, and we are excited to find out why.

Playing "this little piggy" with my girl...