I am now a Texan.  I have Texas license plates, a Texas driver’s license and I just got our boys enrolled in their new Texas schools.  We signed papers on our Texas house three weeks ago now and we are just loving it!  Most of the boxes have been unpacked, I just need pictures hung on the walls to make it feel more at home.  This is our view from the backyard <3  

How did we decide to totally transition our lives from Southern California to here?  Well a lot of you may not know that I am originally from Indiana.  I feel like I have that small town built into me.  My sister moved to New Braunfels about 10 years ago and we have been visiting ever since.  Every time that we would get close to being in her town when we would drive out for a visit, I would get this overwhelming feeling that this is where we should be (God speaking to my heart).  New Braunfels is growing, fast, but it still has the small town feel to it.  The downtown area is all original.  It is a tourist area with the rivers to float and the Schlitterbahn Water Park is here (we were just there yesterday).  It has a lot of cute little restaurants and shops where you can park and walk along the downtown main area and check them all out.  I told my husband we should be good on trying new places for at least a year!

This city is rich in german heritage (which is neat because we are german) and to date they still celebrate Wurstfest which is like an Octoberfest from what I’ve been told and they also do a Wassailfest which is an apple cider type drink, we grew up on calling it hot toddy which my grandma would make every Christmas.  Both events my sister says are a lot of fun and a good way to celebrate this area.  I can’t wait to experience both!

A few years ago we were going through a difficult time in our lives and a job opportunity arose for my husband but in Houston Texas.  He asked me if I would consider it and I wasn’t sure if it was the right move at that time. Since then the Lord has just spoke to my heart and over time I fell in love with the idea of getting out of CA and being close again to my sister.  We have been apart for about 16 years.  Life just took us different directions and it’s been so hard celebrating holidays without one another and our families.  It’s been hard only seeing them maybe two times a year, if that.  Our kids are all one year apart so it’s been tough not being able to raise them together.  We have a special bond.  She is my best friend and is one of my biggest cheerleaders as she runs a small business as well.  Another reason we decided to make the move is California has been going in a direction that we are just tired of paying the high taxes and not seeing any changes for the better.  Things there are changing at such a fast rate and the cost to live there is becoming again so hard.  The housing prices are going crazy and the politics will never go the way we believe in.  This country was founded on God and out there they are pushing Him out of everything possible.

Over the past year we have made some changes in our lives not knowing God was leading us this direction but as I look back I can see all of the puzzle pieces going into place.  It gives me goosebumps knowing He does have a plan for all of us.  Sometimes He wants us to just be still and know that He is in control.  Our finances lined up in order for us to sell our home and to purchase our TX house (we bought right before the market crashed so we have been underwater for years).  We have been talking since last fall/ winter that we will list our home in the summer so the boys can start school in the regular school year.  We listed our house the week before Memorial Day and it sold within 2 weeks!  We already had our trip planned out to TX to house hunt right after the boys got out of school and on that trip we found our “forever” home.  We looked at a lot of houses and my husband and I couldn’t agree on one and then the very last house we walked through we both agreed!  It is perfect! The process on buying the house here went seamless, on the other side of selling, that was definitely stressful.  Thankfully we had a great agent that walked us through everything.

 We are raising our boys still and the manners and respect that you see out here is nothing like I have ever seen in Southern California.  I am not saying it isn’t there but here in Texas you see it everywhere with the young and old.  Yes ma’am, yes sir is something they are taught and being here in the short amount of time my boys have already picked up on it because everywhere we go that is how people talk to us.  I didn’t hate Hesperia, I actually have some roots there with the friendships I’ve made with some really great women and my boys were born there so their roots have grown as well over the years with their schools and friends.  This was such a big decision in our lives because of the boys.  They are 10 and 13. It’s funny because these were the same ages as my sister and I when we moved from Indiana to California and it was very hard for both my sister and I to start new schools and make new friends so that thought of my boys going through the same is scary!  We were very shy as kids and we were surrounded by a large family so I don’t think we were taught how to make outside friends since we had built in friends as cousins.  But thankfully our boys are not shy, plus they are boys, and they both have good personalities and they know how to make new friends.  Both had to do it last year with my oldest starting middle school and my youngest was in a classroom with kids that he hadn’t been with the years previous.  My heart will be a little more worried when it comes to the first few days of school but I have faith that they will be just fine.

I just want to say that if you feel like your life isn’t going the way you have planned, give it to God.  Make sure your relationship is right with Him first and foremost.  Let your light shine always (this is something I am trying real hard at).  And maybe just be still and listen.  I came across a verse maybe a few years ago and I knew this is what I was doing wrong.  Mark 11:24  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.  I was asking but I would always have doubt that it wouldn’t happen.  There have been many set backs to us moving but until I started to believe that it was finally going to happen, the doors just kept opening.  And another door has opened!

A few weeks before our move date my sister called and told me that a prime building was available for a space for her shop.  This is something she has been wanting for a few years now.  I was so excited for them.  She then told me that there is another building behind hers that she was going to try and get as well and that there is space for my studio in there.  The excitement set in that once we moved I could already have a possible studio space waiting in a great location!!  When we finally got out here we went by to take a look at it but was told the owner wasn’t leasing that building out at that time.  Then a few days ago I received a voicemail asking me if I wanted to look at another building on the property.  I did agree to take a look but my heart was set on the one not available.  That morning was a tough one for me before the phone call.  I was missing my husband and missing my friends.  I had just unboxed some gifts given to me right before the move from my friends so my emotions were high.  I just kneeled and said a prayer asking for direction and then bam, I didn’t even hear my phone ring, I just saw I had a voicemail.  After viewing the other building I did tell her that my heart was still set on the other one and if it ever becomes available to please let me know.  She then said “oh, I thought your sister was already leasing it”  and I told her no, she hadn’t heard anything, so I then spoke with the realtor and she told me that it is now available and if I wanted it, we could move forward!  Talk about another answered prayer!!  So it looks like I will be moving forward with the studio space.  It’s a super cute building and I can’t wait to share it with ya’ll.  It is a little scary knowing my lease will be much higher then my other studio but this is a prime location and places for rent are hard to come by in that area.  So this is my Jump!!  I signed papers and I plan on opening by September 1st!

I keep telling my sister that I know God didn’t bring me this far to watch me fail so my faith and trust is in Him as we make these changes and move forward.

I am looking forward to what all God has in store for us.  And I am excited to share my journey in my little corner of the internet with ya’ll 😉