Joseph arranged for our neighbor to come and undo our gas dryer and our washing machine, so I was madly doing every last bit of laundry I could find trying to beat the clock until he came. One of the boys wet my bed, so I had to take off my sheets and wash them and use my upholstery cleaner to clean the mattress. I sent the baking soda home with my mom so I had to make a quick run to Fresh and Easy to get some to sprinkle over the mattress to bring the odor out. We snagged some English Scones and drinkable yogurt for breakfast tomorrow since our refrigerator is completely bare.
On the way home I decided to take a few pictures of the fields surrounding our neighborhood. We live on the very norther edge of San Diego County. In our backyard is the Arrowood Golf Course, to the north of us in Camp Pendleton Marine Corp Base and we are surrounded by nurseries, orchards and avocado farms galore! The rolling hills are beautiful! (But we've definitely had to pay the price in brakes because of the rolling terrain of our area!) Here is the view we have up the street from our house.
We sorted and packed our belongings that we will take to Grandma and Grandpa's house (until we find a home to purchase) until about 5 p.m. and then we headed out to get some dinner at Souplantation. While we were eating dinner I realized that it was Monday night, and many members of our ward get together at the beach on Monday nights for Family Night. I decided it would be fun for the kids to play outside and see some friends again. I am so glad we went! It was lots of fun. Afterward, I took the kids to our neighborhood pool to get all of the sand off of them before taking them home for a bath. As I was doing my last load of laundry today I looked at my machine and laughed. It has seen more sand in the last year and a half than I ever thought a washing machine could handle. It will be a reminder of our time here for as long as we have our machines. :)I will really miss this place. My mom asked me today which place was harder to leave. I was far more emotional when we left Woodland than I am about leaving here, but I can't say if one is harder to leave than the other. When we moved here I was filled with all kinds of anxiety about whether or not we could make it in Southern California because life here is pretty expensive. I could hardly function I was so stressed out. I have never been more stressed than when we moved here. It was really hard at first to jump in and give it a go because of the stress. I felt like we were starting over and I lacked the faith that things could really work. Joseph received an offer to go to Sacramento again (with a completely different company) right after we moved here, and it was seriously tempting to accept because it felt more familiar, but we didn't accept it. We realized that the potential was greater down here and and I am so glad that was our choice.
I have loved so much about our experience here and I have seen so many tender mercies that have been evidence of the Lord's love and watchful care over us. Joseph did remarkably well with work. He took an unprofitable building and got it running smoothly and profitably to the point where we actually realized we could have a good quality of life if we chose to stay here. I have never been more stressed than I was when we first moved here. I think I'm still hanging on to those 6 cortisol pounds that all that stress brought on. But it's amazing the peace I feel now. Even though he's taking on a new challenge with his new assignment, I am filled with more faith that I was before. I learned alot this year about putting your trust in Heavenly Father and realizes that he really will lead you. I have prayed for specific blessings and have received answers to those blessings with multiple options. It makes me want to keep better record of all of my asking and receiving to show proper gratitude.
I remember so many nights in bed talking with Joe about things I was worried about and then saying to him, "But you have to know that I would rather be going through this challenge than any other challenge." That's honestly how I felt. I know that our challenges aren't over and the stress isn't over, but I feel like I've been given an added measure of faith and hope in the future. I have faith that we'll find the right house an that Joseph will create a strong team at his new building and the Lord will continue to lead us. It reminds me of a quote by our past prophet President Gordon B. Hinckley, "It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning. It will all work out. If you do your best, it will all work out. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. … If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers." While my prayers were never specific to moving back to Utah, I feel that this opportunity is an answer to a plea I had several months ago.
Now as I sit on the deck outside my bedroom, I realize I'll miss the bullfrogs at night. It really is remarkably gorgeous down here.
Now as I sit on the deck outside my bedroom, I realize I'll miss the bullfrogs at night. It really is remarkably gorgeous down here. 
