Thursday, May 24, 2012

How Blake and Amanda Decided to Change Their Lives

Blake and I deliberated over a big decision for a long time.  We decided on it about two months ago or so, and I'm excited to share it with you all now because it is freaking awesome.  What is it, you ask?  Let me show you!







What, you don't know what this means?  Let me make it a little easier on you.







 Still don't know?  Here, let me make it obvious...






Our big announcement is.... WE'RE MOVING TO HAWAII!!!  Quite a while ago we started hearing rumors of Blake's boss Ryan bidding on contracts in Maui and other exotic places.  Early this year, Ryan came to Blake with the offer of managing some school bus routes on the Big Island.  We spent so much time and energy trying to figure out if this was going to be right for us.  We started fasting and praying to know the answer.  It was going to be hard to uproot ourselves and start everything over again from scratch.  After a couple months Ryan came to Blake with a different offer, this one that we couldn't resist.  He won a contract with Hanauma Bay, which just happens to be my favorite place we visited in Hawaii.  It didn't take us very long to know that it was the right decision.  It also made me feel better that Blake's cousin and his wife will be coming with us.  There are other people as crazy as us after all.  Blake will be managing the tram that takes people up and down the hill at the bay.  I will be working as a cashier, and probably driving as well.  We have agreed to be there for one year.  After that, it's up to us to decide if we want to stay or go back home to Utah.


Moving to an island isn't easy.  We have packed up almost all of our earthly possessions except for about 1/10th of our clothes and a few random things.  I am going to miss one of my best friends/cousin leaving on a mission (most likely).  I will miss another best cousin coming home from her mission.  I will miss my family terribly.  We are leaving lots of good friends behind.  I will not be here when my brother comes home from his mission.  I am very excited though that Aaron has decided he will come to Hawaii too in December, about a month after he gets home!  One of the biggest concerns about moving is that I will be leaving my business behind that I have spent the last few years working so hard to build.  I already have to come back to Utah in August for a wedding that I had already booked.  We decided that we will keep the business open and I will just come back for any weddings that it will work out for me to do.


I said we're moving to Hawaii, but I really should say I'm moving to Hawaii, because everyone else has already moved there.  I have to stay here because there are a bunch of weddings I had booked after Blake had to leave.  Blake left on May 7th, and it's been a very long two and a half weeks already.  I can't believe I still have another two and a half weeks left.  It really feels like forever, and it's getting harder and harder the longer we've been apart.  If anyone has any suggestions for surviving without your spouse I'd love to hear them.  I've actually been surprised at how busy I have been.  For some reason I thought I'd be bored all the time, but the work that I need to do before I leave seems never ending.  I feel left behind right now because I'm the only one that hasn't moved yet.  I can't wait until it's finally my turn to go.


All of our friends should come visit us while we're in Hawaii.  You know you want to. :)  I'm so ready to move on to our new adventure in Hawaii!