30 Days of Thankfulness Day 5

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been holding this in for so long and I am so thankful to finally share:

NELSON GOT A NEW JOB TODAY!!!!!!

I am over the moon excited!!! He started applying back in May, so we have been playing the unsure-of-our-future game for several months. And this afternoon, the wait is over!

This means so many changes are in store for us. It is a new area of work for Nelson. He has worked in admissions offices ever since college graduation, both under grad and grad and was really worried about getting stuck there the rest of his life. But, his new job is in the advising office at Portland State! He is excited and I'm so proud of him! This means we can move back to OREGON!!!!!! I am over the moon about that. It means a pay increase, which is fantastic. (not a major one, but it will make a huge difference!) The only detail is that we signed a lease until June, but I am hoping to talk my way out of it first thing Monday morning. These are the new changes coming soon:

~We will be temporarily moving in with my parents. They are wonderful to let us do this, especially with an 18 month old. They have a large house, so it won't be too bad, but I still feel bad intruding. The plan is to be out by March. We hope. I have offered to take over cooking dinner every night, which my mom is thrilled about, since she's still teaching full time.

~The majority of our house will go into storage, for now.

~Once we get out of our lease and save up for a couple of months, we will be meeting with a financial advisor to figure out what we can afford as far as loans go....

~....so that we can buy a house!! This feels like such a major step, so adult and so exciting. We are going to take it slow and make sure we have a down payment of some kind, but we hope this will happen early next year! We are so ready to be done with renting and ready to have a house of our own!! We're hoping to buy in Northwest Portland/Beaverton, so our kids can go to Beaverton schools. Crazy to already be thinking about that, but we are hoping to be settled in our new place for at LEAST 5 years, if not many more. It's also near our church and my parents.

~Dependents of Oregon state school employees get 75% reduced tuition, so I will be going back to grad school, at least on a part time basis. Though, this probably won't happen until spring term. Which means I have to transfer credits from WOU or transfer to Portland State. Most likely, I'll transfer.

~I will be nannying 2 days a week for a new family, but not until May. The baby isn't even born yet : )

SO, I am very, very, VERY thankful for new jobs. Hopefully next week, I will be able to be thankful for breaking leases. But, one thing at a time, right?