2013 Christmas Letter

2013 has been a big year for our little family! It started last year at Christmas, when we seriously started thinking about the possibility of leaving our home of 6 years in Cordova, TN, and finally moving home to Oklahoma! We always knew we would come home at some point, but it just seemed like the time had come. So, with months of planning and looking, and planning and looking some more, we found and bought a home in Bethany, OK! It was a home built in 1964 and we began making plans to remodel the home and make it our own.

This is the house before updates. We love our trees but the rocks are going!

All packed up and ready to hit the road!

Justin was still flying with Pinnacle Airlines because he could just commute to his base of Detroit. I began my targeted search of a teaching job in OK. I set my sights on just a few districts, with a main target of Bethany Schools. I had done my student teaching there when I was in college and I knew it was a great place for teachers as well as students. I began calling on all of my connections (I had spent 6 years without connections out in TN, so I used everything I had now!) After many phone calls, FaceTime meetings, and flying to OK for an interview, I got the job teaching 3rd grade at Bethany Elementary! I was so happy!

It was bittersweet leaving all of our friends, church, and Jason & Ashley (and kids) in Memphis. I spent many nap times, evenings, and weekends excitedly packing our house. It was hard for me to believe we were actually getting to move home! At the end of June, my family was able to come out to TN to help us drive the 2 moving trucks, a truck with a trailer, and my car to Oklahoma! We were home!! We were so grateful to Justin's parents for letting us move in with them while we remodeled our home. We did ALL of the work ourselves!! (with lots of help from family of course!) This involved tearing out and moving walls, tearing out and rebuilding all cabinets, adding an office, rearranging a bathroom, and more! It took about 15 weeks to get our home ready to move in. During that time, I got to move into my classroom and start the school year, as well as plan and have Madison's 1st Birthday party in September! (see earlier post) We finally moved into our home the first weekend in October!

The week before we moved in, Justin got a call from a friend in Memphis who had a connection to someone looking for a Pilot in OKC. Justin has always flown commercially for an airline, but this was a private Jet job. The more we learned about the job, we knew it would be amazing! He got the job flying the private jet for the CEO of American Fidelity Assurance. He is now based out of Wiley Post airport! No more commuting to Detroit!!

The poor guy had to go to Maui during our winter storm here at home. 

So now we are happily settled into our beautiful home in an amazing neighborhood in Bethany, OK. Our neighbors have been so welcoming with lots of good food! I am blessed with my job at Bethany with amazing students and parents. Justin has officially started his new job, and started off with a trip to Maui! We have also found a great Sunday School group at Bethany First Church. Madison is now walking and we are enjoying her first Christmas as a little one that can somewhat understand! We are so very blessed to be back around family and for Madison to grow up in such a great place! We wish you and your family a Merry Christmas this year!

 P.S. Bella has been the same sweet little floppy eared dog she has always been and has loved every bit of the change! We have a nice big backyard with tons of trees and squirrels to chase!