As many of you know, my husband Justin got out of the Navy in the beginning of 2013 after serving for 12 years. His military career was full of excitement, achievements, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. It is definitely something to brag about, even though he hates it when I do. Since then he has been working on his bachelor’s and trying to figure out what to do “when he grows up”. Now that he is almost done with his degree, the past few months have been full of stress, anxiety, and hope as the time to find a new career grew closer.

Starting a life outside of the military is not always an easy transition. I mean, you can’t really compare most civilian jobs to all of the thrilling and rewarding things done in the military. I have always known Justin is destined to do great things, but neither of us knew what those great things were or how he could find the path to get to those great things. During his search for his calling and passion, and a career that went along with it, we prayed God would give him the guidance he so desperately needed.

One of his friends he served with told him to check out this great company that works closely with the military and provides exciting and rewarding careers. They were looking to fill deployable positions and he would receive great training that would lead to many exciting career options. He applied for the job and had an interview right away. Everything was going great until he found out he would need an active security clearance. Because it’s been a few years since he was in the military, his security clearance was no longer active and the job possibility was no longer an option.

Before the end of the interview, he was told the company was looking for instructors and his resume was a perfect fit for the job…the only catch? He would have to move to Washington state where the company is based. Of course, he said he would have to discuss it with me but was pretty sure it wasn’t a possibility. We didn’t talk about it too much, Justin knew my huge family is all here, we love being close to them and we love the area, so he told them he wouldn’t want to move. In the meantime, he kept plugging away at school and kept his eyes and heart open for other opportunities.

A few months later, for some reason that option popped back into his head and he wondered if we should give it some more thought. After a lot of sleeping on it, we both decided it would be an awesome career opportunity and maybe moving somewhere new, even if it was across the country, wouldn’t be so bad. We decided if he interviewed for it and got the job then it was meant to be. I’m a big believer in things happening for a reason so I knew if he was offered the job, it would be a sign that we should go for it. It would be the sign we’d been praying for.

With no surprise, Justin was offered the job quickly after his interview. Holy cow! This meant we were really going to do it! I didn’t really know how I felt about it yet. Those of you who know me know that I’ve never lived outside of Chesapeake, VA…that sounds pretty lame as I type it out. This meant we would be leaving my awesome family, our friends and our house we’ve lived in for 5 years. But somehow I felt peace about it after it sank in. I am excited to announce we will be moving to Washington!

So, starting today we are making the drive across the country! Justin starts his new career a week from today and even though it stinks we will be traveling during Thanksgiving, we are ready for this new chapter in our lives. Justin will be moving out there first while I stay behind in Virginia for a few months until we sell the house and prepare to move all of our stuff and the dogs 3,000 miles away.

We will be back to Virginia to visit a lot and would also love lots of visitors in Washington, so if you’ve ever wanted to go to Washington or Oregon (we will be right on the border) let us know and we can start planning! I’ve heard it is beautiful out there and I’ve never driven across the country either, so keep up with me on Instagram and SnapChat (@catherine.crane) this week to follow our travels. This will be such a huge new adventure for us and I cannot wait to create another chapter in our story.

P.S. If anyone knows horse people out that way I’d love to connect with them, you know I will need my horsey fix!