It finally happened! We’ve been trying for years, praying & hoping, wishing & working and it FINALLY happened. (No, not another baby… why do people always think that 🙂 ) We left Colorado!! For about seven years now we’ve talked and prayed about it. My husband has applied for hundreds of jobs and dozens of transfers over the last few years. Finally, something happened and we are so thrilled.
It Took Less Than 2 Weeks!
My husband found out 11 days before we moved that he had gotten a transfer. This is in no way standard procedure for his company, usually, it’s a few weeks. However, it was totally God’s perfect timing. We actually had to leave our long-term spot in Colorado about a month prior. They started crop-dusting the fields near where we were staying and I got sick again and my son’s cough returned. Back to campground hopping we went. It was lovely for a bit but we really need the stability of something long-term. Plus all the campgrounds were booked weekends through Labor Day so we were doing Monday-Friday at a campground and then weekends at friend’s houses in their driveways. Not exactly fun to move twice a week. When my husband got the transfer we decided to take off quickly. He already had a 10-day vacation scheduled so we seized the opportunity and took off.
34 Years Minus A Day As a Colorado Resident
We moved the day before my 34th birthday. In some ways, it felt really fitting to start my new year in a new place. My hubby had taken some vacation and we had planned to go camping at State Forest State Park for my birthday. Instead, we moved to Washington state. It was lovely because we took our time getting out there and I got to celebrate my birthday in Park City. I don’t drive much so the first day through windy Wyoming was rough. There were some tears from me, and a couple learning curve moments for my hubby on towing.
We arrived late the night before my birthday in Park City and spent a lovely day there. The first stop was the Olympic center where we went for a great hike. I was bummed because the ski show hadn’t started yet but we still had fun looking around the museum and watching people tubing. Next, we went to a park and then met a friend at the new Whole Foods for lunch. She’s a friend from college who happened to be driving through on her way to CA. It was such a blast. Then we enjoyed a walk, waving to trucks on the highway and a relaxing dinner at our beautiful campsite.
To Boise
Our next day took us to Boise where we spent 3 nights. Some of our life-long friends live there with their three boys. They used to live in Colorado with us and we did missions work with them in Romania. We have missed them terribly so it was really fun to spend a weekend camped out in front of their house. They took us to see the beautiful green belt where we played by the river, to a great splash park and we had fun at their house. I hung out in a house!! It was the first time since August that I’ve really spent much time at someone’s home. Their house is a newer build and we all felt fine there. My son had a ton of fun playing with his buddies and we enjoyed catching up. We also got the chance to catch up with a friend from college who lives there and see the blue Broncos stadium at Boise State.
The Long Road to WA
A lesson we learned on this trip is: Don’t trust Google maps time estimate when driving. My husband towed the Airstream and I followed behind in our Prius. For someone who doesn’t drive much, driving nearly 1,500 miles solo was huge for me. It was a huge sign of my healing and the emotional healing I’ve done. I wouldn’t have been willing to do this in the last few years. It was actually kind of fun in parts. Mostly it was pretty desolate and boring. We found out when we got to Oregon that my husband’s last grandparent had passed away. That made the LONG drive to Washington even longer. Google maps estimate was about 7.5 hours. It took us around 10.5 with having to tow over the steep mountain passes.
Once we got to WA and the landscape changed, it was just beautiful. It was fun to see the steep mountain peaks and all the green! I had no idea Washington was so green. The drive was LONG. I was over it with 4 hours to spare. My body was weary and didn’t like all the elevation changes but we pushed on and made it.
Getting Settled
Why Washington? Doesn’t it seem like a horrible place for someone with mold issues? These are what people keep asking. “Because God.” Is pretty much our answer. We’ve followed dozens of leads. At the beginning of May, we had 7 possible options and have been praying for months that God would open one, clear path. This was it. Some of our friends from college have property that we’re living on and they have 4 wonderful children that my son is adoring playing with. Both my husband and I have extended family in the area and several friends here.
When my husband was laid off in 2016 God put Seattle on our hearts and we have been praying about it ever since. Fortunately, outdoor molds are not an issue for me or for my son. This area is actually really dry for the summer so it’s a great time to arrive. I am hoping that come the rainy season I will be able to handle being in more buildings and able to enjoy some of the indoor opportunities here. However, we’ve been told that life doesn’t stop here in the rain. I guess nothing is ever canceled, they just do everything in the rain!
What Now?
It is our hope to finally get started on working our way out of debt, again. We’ve accrued so much debt from my health issues and replacing everything from the mold that we now have more debt than when we first started. My husband got a raise with this transfer and our cost of living is going to be a lot lower here. Our hope is to soldier through and pay off debt, get back on our feet and go from there.
I’ll continue healing my body being here too. We continue to use Homeopathy as our primary form of medicine and I am feeling a lot better. I had a couple mold exposures on the move and only had very minor symptoms, and a couple major chemical exposures with the same results. I can also get free care from a naturopath through Bastyr so we will all begin care there as well. I’ve been adding foods back in, joyfully! I’m also doing some neural retaining and that’s been helping a lot.
Processing My Experiences
Something I realized while I was driving was that I’m having a HARD time talking about our experiences. I know many fellow moldies want, and need, to hear my story. Sometimes it feels too darn hard to write about. It was traumatic, overwhelming and scary. I know I need to do more, however, because I process and debrief through writing. I want to share more with you to help you and help process & work through it all myself.
Right before we moved I started an amazing new scheduling method for work. It’s changed my life, I’ll share more about it here. It has helped a lot and I look forward to using this method to share more here and keep up with work.
Thank you for your prayers as we’ve been on this road. I can’t believe we’re finally in a new place! It’s such a blessing. Please keep us in your prayers and keep an eye on my Instagram to see pictures of our adventures (we saw whales yesterday!)
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