New Beginnings

My  family has lived in the same house since I was  five years old. Really, it is the only home I can remember. But things are about to change. My family will be moving to a new home in the spring. It will still be in the same city, just a couple neighborhoods over. We will be in a different ward, but still the same stake. I'm a little nervous about the change, but I realize I am fortunate in that my family isn't leaving my hometown!

The house is currently under construction. It's still in the early framing stages. My family has made many many trips to watch its progress and walk through its skeleton. At first, it was hard to envision it as a house, but the framing is nearly complete, and now as we walk through it I find myself imagining what it will be like in a few months, when we call it home. I think we are going to like it there, but it will be hard to give up our old house. That's all I've ever known!

Hopefully this isn't too cheesy, but the whole thing struck me as a parallel to my life right now. For the last six years, I've been at BYU. I've loved it there. But next year I am graduating. In a few short months, I'll be leaving behind the life I know now and moving out into the real adult world.

It's exciting... and terrifying at the same time. I've been scrambling a little bit trying to figure out what the next step of my life would be. PhD? Get a job? Move back to Colorado or stay in Utah? I am a person who always tries to work upstream... I try to plan several steps ahead. But it's hard to plan when you don't have any idea what's coming.

But like our new house, my future is beginning to take shape. I have a tentative plan laid out. I won't be going on for my PhD just yet. Instead I'll be looking to get a job in my field. I am willing to go where the job takes me, but if at all possible I want to stay in the Provo area. I love Provo, and I'm not ready to leave just yet. Shauna is there with me now, and my brother will be coming next year to start at the Y. If that doesn't pan out, I've got backup plans in place for returning to Colorado, including a backup job if I can't find one in my chosen field. If I can't find a job in my field... next year I will consider applying to a PhD program after all.

Life isn't so scary anymore now that I know (sort of) where I am going. Things are going to come together somehow. I'm actually starting to look forward to my post-BYU phase. It'll be exciting to see where life takes me!

A year from now, my family will be safely established in their new house. It will be complete and beautiful and they will have been there for long enough to get used to it. A year from now, I'll be several months into my new life. What seems a little foggy now will have taken shape. Looking back, all my fears and worries will seem silly.

Here's to the future!