Denver vs. Dallas

Years ago, Josh and I talked about the day when we would go out into the real world..not as students. It seemed like deciding where to settle down and plant roots would be so exciting. 

Not so...it has been nightmarish! Josh finishes with his residency here end of June. We will be moving mid July. I have already started packing..without knowing for sure where we will go. We had talked about a few different states but narrowed it down to Colorado and Texas. They both seem like good options. 

(Found these at a vintage craft fair and bought both..not sure which I will hang in Teeg's room. ha!) 

On a date night at a Chinese restaurant way back in January, Josh and I made this list comparing our two options. Our waitress voted on Denver. :) It didn't really help much..we just realized that we have to choose from two great places. Big decisions are the worst! 

So...we booked a couple of trips. Researching a location on the internet can only get you so far. In March we flew to Denver..the mile high city. It felt a lot like home. We drove around and explored a bit, then went to Colorado Springs. Oh my...it was gorgeous! 

Aside from exploring different areas, we wanted to have some fun. We rode a Cog train to the top of Pike's Peek at 14,000 ft. The views were beyond amazing! I'm pretty sure Josh had a smile on his face the whole time. Mountains are kind of his thing. We loved getting to know the couple from Ohio across from us. They were hilarious. The ride was 2 hours one way..so we really got to know our neighbors sitting around us. 

   

A view from the top. Supposedly you can see four states from way up there. There was a little gift shop, so after feeling like we were going to freeze or blow off the mountain, we went inside for hot chocolate and donuts.

 

Seriously could this place be any more awesome?! We loved it. Our last full day there we went to visit some friends who lived across the street from us in Richmond, the Sherman family in their new home in Parker, CO. I am bummed we didn't get pictures. They were so sweet to spend time with us and give us a little tour of their town.

On Sunday before our flight home, we caught a Sacrament meeting. I noticed a lady kept looking at us.  She finally walked over to us and introduced herself. When we said we were visiting she asked, "where y'all from?" Come to find out she is from Texas, so she was the perfect person to talk to about both places. Not only that but she was actually from the area that Josh served in..on his mission and he knew her dad who was stake president at the time. Small world!

Half way through the meeting she had her daughter deliver a note to us. On the back of her program, she had a whole list of references. She comes from a family of dentists. At the bottom she wrote that she felt prompted to come and talk to us and was glad she had done so. No doubt..the Lord is very mindful of us and our situation.

So now onto Texas..the lone star state.
We just went a few weeks ago. It has been 12 years since Josh served in Dallas. It was fun for him to show me around and see where he did what. (Below was one of his apartments). I was surprised by how green and lush it was. I wasn't expecting it. I also loved all the wildflowers and tall grasses that grew along the interstate.

This is Sandra. Josh baptized her all those years ago. She had no idea we were coming. It was fun to surprise her at work. She was so incredibly sweet and friendly. I feel like i've known her awhile. She insisted we stayed with her, but instead we went to her home our last day for dinner with her family.
Exploring is always fun. I would move to Mckinney, TX in a hearbeat if I could move into this neighborhood tucked under the trees. It reminded me or Richmond..which brings happy feelings!
 
We drove to San Antonio for a dental conference. It was a good opportunity to go meet with a few dental companies all at once. We had a lunch appointment to meet with one company who had a postion available. We went to some fancy italian restaurant where Josh and I couldn't understand anything on the menu.

Afterwards we went to see what the Alamo was all about..

Then did the river walk and had dinner. It was such a fun setting! We were slightly distracted while eating by some very persistent ducks.  
Biggest highlight of the trip..was meeting up with friends. The Hinrichs, who we met up with at dinner..meeting their new baby and staying at the Dalling's home for two nights. I could have easily kidnapped these cute babies. ;)

We stayed up way later than expected both nights eating ice cream, talking, telling stories, and laughing until our sides hurt (David's cat story was my fav!) It felt just like old times. Emily was a great hostess..she even had a box of trail mix waiting for us on our bed. Man..they made it hard to want to leave! 

One morning we made it to Claire and Preston's baseball game. Love these guys!

We hoped that these trips, getting a feel for the areas we are interested in would give us some clarity..but not so much. It has been several months of long (sometimes tearful) discussions, weighing out the pros and cons, wondering what the Lord has in store for us, where our family will be happy and kids will make good friends. 

Ooohh..the stress takes a toll. I told Josh I would love nothing more than to go into a coma for a couple of months, and wake up to Josh saying, "Welcome Home!" wherever that may be. 

I was naive about this process. I assumed we would make a decision and have something lined up months in advance. I like to have a plan. Dental jobs come and go so quickly. If a job is posted, they are usually wanting to fill it immediately. So it makes it hard to plan ahead of time, when you really have to wait patiently. 

So...we have less than a month to figure out our lives. We'll see what happens. 

Special thanks to my parents for taking on our crazy kids and Murphy's for always being our transportation to and from the airport!