Blessings... :)

It's so humbling & amazing to see all the many ways we've been blessed throughout our almost 18 years of marriage. We have no doubt worked very hard to get where we are. We've scrimped & saved & made a lot of sacrifices, Neil worked hard to get his Bachelors degree & went on to get his Masters degree as well. He has worked hard in all of his jobs, and along with many blessings and doors that have been opened for us, we are so grateful for all that we have been blessed with!

We started out as poor newlyweds & college students, trying to just squeak by on next to nothing & working hard to pay our way through school, without going into debt. Then Neil got his first job out of school, as an environmental scientist, at the Central Utah Health Department in little Fillmore, UT. We decided once he graduated from college & got a full-time job, I would quit my job as an escrow officer at First American Title & stay home with our kids, because that was important to us. Again, we scrimped by, I babysat one child a couple days a week, and did some online data entry for a few years, for some extra cash to help pay the bills & buy groceries. Those extra little jobs came right when we needed them, and were an answer to prayers, and allowed me to stay home & still earn a little extra to get by. For several years, we simply didn't buy any extras, we didn't eat out, and only spent $25 on each other for Christmas a couple of years. If we couldn't afford it, we just didn't buy it, but we were okay with that. We figured it was our responsibility, and we needed to figure things out & work hard to get where we wanted to be, without relying on others. And going through those tough years helped us to become more self-reliant, and to appreciate things even more now.

Neil continued to work his way up the ladder, moving to the Utah County Health Department in Provo, Utah, and then to the Salt Lake Valley Health Department in Salt Lake City, UT, going from an environmental scientist, to a program manager. During that time, he went back to school to get his MBA. At that point PJ was 2-1/2, and Tessa was just 3 months old, and then we had Jonah just a couple years later, about the time Neil finished his Master's Degree. But we again lived in a very frugal, conservative way, so that we could get by without going into debt. Neil also took on a couple extra jobs, teaching food safety classes for the local school district a couple nights a week, and did some independent restaurant inspections for a company based out of California a couple times a week. Needless to say, it was a very busy time...but we managed & all of these things continued to open more doors for our future & we were blessed in so many ways.

We moved several times, based on new jobs, new homes, etc. And it's funny because our first home in Payson, UT, we figured we'd be in for a very long time, but just a few months after we moved in, Neil got a better job offer an hour away, in Salt Lake City, so after 2 years of commuting, we moved again, to Saratoga Springs, to be closer to his work. Well, we LOVED that house, the neighborhood, the ward, the view...everything. We had Clay there, and we figured we could live there forever. We absolutely LOVED it there. But, again, Heavenly Father opened up more doors & had other plans for us, which we were so grateful for & excited about, but also very sad to leave our beautiful home & all that we loved in Utah.

Neil was hired by Walmart, so we moved to Bentonville, Arkansas. We never, in a million years would have guessed that we'd be living in Arkansas, working for Walmart! Funny how things fall into place & work out, in ways that you know, without a doubt, that Heavenly Father guided you there. We figured we'd only be there a couple of years, and then move back out west, to be closer to family. But Neil was quickly promoted from a Food Safety Manager, to a Director, to a Senior Director, and we grew to really love that area, the people, the ward, the community, etc., so we ended up staying there for 6 years! (The longest we had ever been in one place!)

Well, last year when another incredible opportunity came that opened up even more doors & greater advancement for Neil's career, we jumped at the chance, and moved to Canada! There was definitely some challenges & it was hard for our kids to leave a place that they had lived for 6 years (and all that our 3 younger kids really remembered). And again, we never would have dreamed in a million years that we'd be living in Canada, and Neil working as the Vice President of National Food Safety for the 2nd largest food retailer in Canada! And through that whole process (and for the past year that we've been here), we've had so many blessings & things that have fallen into place & worked out for us, that we know we were brought here for a reason. And Neil was even promoted a couple of months ago, so he now reports directly to the CEO, and has even more responsibilities, and opportunities for his career.

It's so humbling to see where we started & where we are now, and all the blessings along the way! Who knows how long we'll be here...it could be just a couple of years, or it could be until we retire. Who knows! (I've stopped trying to guess how long we'll stay anywhere). I'm sure that Heavenly Father will continue to guide us & bless us in amazing ways, if we continue to have faith in His plans for us. :)