Bear Lake Community Health Clinic

WE ARE MOVING!

Wait a second, did I just type that?!  

Seriously.  

I cannot believe it - but it is true!

Story time.  The last six months have been kind of rough.  Let's be honest - the last eighteen months have been kind of rough for us!  I truly believe that I have never had such a "refining" time in my entire life.  But here's the story.  

Post grad life was difficult for us.  We had been told for four years (while in school) how the blessings would just pour for us once we were done.  And we believed it would - we didn't know how but we believed that it would.  It didn't quite work out that way - or at least not in the time table that we imagined. 

We moved in with Mark's parents and lived with them for five months which was so kind of them but was obviously not what we had planned.  We struggled to find a job and it was a discouraging time.  Finally, we decided to go with Walgreens and take a job in Idaho.  Mark originally signed up to be a floater pharmacist within the Eastern Idaho district of Walgreens.  We felt strongly to move to Idaho Falls.  We felt like it would not only be a good fit for our family but that it also made sense for Mark's job.  Six of the ten stores within the district were within 30 minutes of Idaho Falls and so it seemed like a great spot.  

After we decided this we contemplated our living situation.  We actually were planning on renting for a while but then just kept coming back to buying.  We felt like it was the right move for us.  We found our home and were beyond excited to have our first home!  Our neighborhood and ward have been phenomenal - never in my life have I felt such genuine kindness from a group of people.  We immediately felt such peace about picking this particular home and that this could be a place where we could lay down some roots.  

Truly, everything was pretty perfect.  Everything, that is, except Mark's job.  From the day we moved in Mark has worked every single shift in Twin Falls.  We never felt like it was what he signed up for.  About a month or so after we moved they decided to make him manager with the promise that he would be transferred to Idaho Falls in the spring when one of the managers here was retiring.  It seemed great and we felt like we could manage this schedule into the spring.  

I could go on and on...and on about different events that happened in between but promises weren't kept and Mark grew steadily uneasy about his job.  Mark was unhappy and exhausted with his schedule and always being away from home and definitely wanted to make a change.  We definitely didn't want to move and leave our new home but we started investigating other options.  

Right after Mark and I got back from our San Francisco trip at the end of February he saw a listing for a job with Bear Lake Community Health Clinic.  This was the company Mark had worked with as a tech for almost three years before doing pharmacy school.  He had really enjoyed his time there and it was always his dream to be able to go back and work as a pharmacist.

This opening, however, was for a new clinic that they were opening in Montpelier, Idaho - which is where Mark grew up (about 30 miles north of Garden City)!  He was thrilled at the possibility to work for this company that he respected and to an area that we both love.  

We were hesitant to apply because we knew we didn't want to leave our new home but we decided that we would always wonder "what if" if we didn't pursue it further.  So Mark applied for the job and the whole process took quite a while.  Which ended up being a good thing I think because it let the idea really settle with us too.  Plus, we weren't in too big of a hurry ourselves!

Last week though, Mark was officially offered the job and we have accepted!  It still blows my mind.  I keep waiting for the day when it is going to feel "real" and it still has definitely not hit me yet.  I really believe that this is going to be such a great place for us.  Mark and I have always wanted to raise our family in a small community.  And this is Mark's dream job which makes me so happy for him.  Working in the clinic gives him both the retail side of things but also a clinical side as well as he works with the PA's and others in the clinic.  It is also a Monday through Friday, nine to five job which feels like a dream to us right now!  I can't wait to SEE Mark every day and have dinner as a family every night again.  We can't wait!

The thought of moving again makes me a little nauseous.  This will be our fourth move in eighteen months (seriously, cruel and unusual punishment).  I guess I am glad Mark talked me out of throwing out our moving boxes that we have used over the last five years!  

So now, we get to go through the process of selling our first home (insert tears here) and we are hoping to find a place to rent for a while in the Bear Lake area.  We are moving on to yet another chapter in our lives.  I swear, one of these days, we are actually going to be able to settle down!  But for now, here's to another adventure!

I will say, though, it doesn't get much more beautiful than this, folks!