We're moving to Salt Lake, and other Jensen updates.

A photo from a nice summer night we enjoyed outside as a family a few weeks ago (we couldn't get Annalise to take her eyes off the dogs and cats)

Hi friends!

I figured I'm long overdue for this public announcement. We're moving to Salt Lake City, Utah in a few weeks. August 13th to be exact. And before you ask, no, it's not for Bryce's job, it's for mine, actually! Let me tell you the story behind it, and then maybe you can be excited with me instead of just filled with misery over the fact that we're moving. Yes, I am sad to be leaving Idaho, especially since we just got here and I didn't think we'd ever leave again, but God seemed to have other plans for us.

As most of you know from my blog post a few years ago about our infertility issues, I knew the Lord was leading me towards pursuing a degree that allowed me to practice Natural Procreate Technology (NaPro). At that time in my life I had been specifically praying for direction and purpose, which I didn't feel like I had in the work I was doing. When I heard about NaPro and that there wasn't anyone in Idaho that practiced it, I felt a strong call on my heart to be the first provider NaPro provider in Idaho. Yes, I know you know most of this...so fast forward a few years. We had a baby (yay - NaPro works!) and I graduated as a CNM (Certified Nurse-Midwife), now the work of figuring out how to actually do NaPro in Idaho! It's harder than you think. I thought through the possibilities of working at either St. Luke's or St. Alphonsus, but I didn't feel good about that and was fairly certain that I wouldn't really be able to do what I wanted to do there. Besides the fact that I just couldn't really bear thinking of working call. Being on call in school was SO hard! It's hard on a Type A personality to just be ready to drop everything at any moment for a birth. Another possibility was doing something with the birthing center I did my last semester of clinicals at, which actually did seem promising as they were very excited and supporting of my vision and dream. The last option was to just start my own thing all by myself.

Frankly, all of these terrified me. And it's not that I'm not going to do something because of fear, if you know me at all you know I'm a go getter. The thing that worried me the most was that I have little practical experience with NaPro or as a CNM. I absolutely know NaPro works, but if I don't implement it right, it won't work. Bryce asked me a few months ago my ideal, dream thing to do after graduation and I told him that I'd really love to go do a fellowship of some kind with Dr. Stanford in Utah (he was the doctor I transferred to after leaving Massachusetts), but I wasn't sure he would even do such a thing. Just a few weeks after that I had a follow-up visit with him to go over breastfeeding cycles and I said something about going to school to be a CNM. He replied that he was actually looking to hire a CNM to work with him at that moment.

My heart skipped a beat.

Lord, is this you? Is this your hand preparing the way ahead of me?

I figured I better at least apply.

Bryce and I talked A LOT about it. Logistics, moving, traveling...the works. Dr. Stanford would want me to start as soon as possible, but he only works one day a week. The thought was that if I got the position I could commute down for the one day a week over the summer while I was training and that in the fall when I started my own day of clinic or two that we would move down at that point. I prayed desperately that if this wasn't the Lord's will that I just wouldn't get the job. I didn't know how I could turn it down if I got it. The other fortuitous thing about this position is that Bryce's firm, Parsons Behle & Latimer, is based out of Salt Lake and we were fairly certain he could just transfer to their Salt Lake or Lehi office.

And then we found out I did get the job! Excitement and sadness rushed in as co-owners in my heart. Excitement because I literally just got my dream job, but sadness because I would have to, once more, leave our families. I still feel the same, but I'm at peace with it. It's not going to be easy living away from family, especially with Annalise, but in all our years of traveling, school, and new jobs, God has always prepared the way ahead of us. I don't think anything will be as terrifying as it was to move to Massachusetts! I also keep reminding our families that it's a 5 hours drive, not an 8 hour flight. Easy peasy!

Our timeline of things changed a little. Instead of moving in the fall we opted to move in August as our lease in our current apartment is up and it just seemed simpler. Plus, driving to Salt Lake and back each week this past month is EXHAUSTING. I'm already over it. I've been going down Tuesday, working Wednesdays until around 2, and then driving home.

We also opted to buy a house! Well it's a town home, but I'm so thrilled. It's in the cutest neighborhood EVER! And it's 2414 sq.ft. It's going to be glorious. Also, I've missed owning the place we live. I can't wait to do little DIY projects, small remodeling sorts of things, painting, or whatever Pinterest passions take hold of me.

Because I can. Because it's ours.

I guess on other updates, our family is growing rapidly this summer (no we're not expecting)! We welcomed a new nephew on the Carter side a few weeks ago, little Andrew, to my brother and sister-in-law, Michael and Carolyn. My other brother and sister-in-law are due with their little girl in August. The C-Section is scheduled for August 12! I would tell you her name but I know I'll botch the spelling (CJ and Charisa will have to remind me again of the spelling - insert shameful embarrassed emoji here). Lastly, Bryce's sister and our brother-in-law, Ivy and Alex are due with another nephew ANY DAY! It's a fun time!

Annalise grows and changes every day. She is so sweet (most of the time). She is practically running around now. She's so adventurous and wants to explore everything around her all the time. She's still itty bitty (last appointment she was 0%ile for height and 3%ile for weight). We're seeing an endocrinologist and they will be doing some testing here in the next few weeks to ensure everything is ok. The big things we're ruling out are: acquired hypothyroidism, Turner's syndrome, and abnormal growth factor. We think she just acquired all the short genes from both of our families, because there are plenty!

I guess that is all for now, I have to make the most of nap time, and I have some other things that need to be done. I'll post pictures of our house when we move.

Love you all!

Ashley, Bryce and Annalise