The Grand Canyon!

"Visit the Grand Canyon" was one of those things we wanted to do while we were living here in Vegas, so last weekend we packed up the kids and hit the road!  We stayed in Williams and rode the train to the Grand Canyon.  We swam in the pool, ate at a surprisingly good Asian buffet, and enjoyed the "shoot out" in the morning.  The train had entertainers, and even train robbers!  And of course the Grand Canyon was incredible, even if it was a little cold..

We're Moving!

I met Brandon twelve years ago, when I was 17 and he was 22.  Even then, Brandon knew he wanted to be a Chiropractor with his own clinic.  So we got married, finished up undergraduate school, and moved our family of three to Portland so Brandon could go to Chiropractic school.  We spent three rainy years in Portland while Brandon went to school non-stop.

Nearing graduation, we knew that we weren't ready to start a clinic right out of school, and we spent a lot of time looking for the perfect job.  We tried everything to get a job anywhere except Las Vegas.  Brandon had job interviews all over, Seattle, Orange County, Portland, Denver, and even Kentucky.  Nothing was coming together right.  Until Julie and Lisa convinced us to "just apply" for the job in Vegas.  The job at Neck and Back came together so perfectly, and we just knew that it was what we were supposed to do.

So we packed up and moved our family, now of four, to Las Vegas.  The plan was to be in Vegas for two to five years, gain experience, and then move towards business ownership.  We have loved living in Vegas.

Two years ago, we started the process towards our 10 year old goals.  We decided that Denver, CO was where we wanted to be.  They had favorable laws for small business and Chiropractic, and we liked the idea of raising our family there.  Except for two years, nothing worked out right.  We looked at two practices for sale, and moved into lease negotiations (lasting as long as six months) three times.  Finally, in early February, we thought we had found it.  We had picked a space, ironed out all the kinks, and we were ready to go.  But at the last possible moment our lease fell apart.  Again.  We knew we had to do something different.

So that weekend we drove to Santa Ana, picked out a space and 17 days after our lease fell apart in Denver, Brandon signed a lease in Santa Ana, CA.  So we're moving our family, now of five, to Southern Orange County.

This is a strange reality for us.  For twelve years Brandon has been talking about this, and for two years we thought we were moving to Denver.  We bought winter coats and a four wheel drive car.  I don't know why it was important for us to try the Denver thing for so long, and I don't regret it.  Just like Las Vegas was where we were supposed to be, I know Southern California is where we're supposed to be.  So with faith, anticipation, and a healthy dose of anxiety we are moving.  In June.

For years, we talked about where we wanted to live and what we wanted to do.  You can read some of our waverings and thought processes in these blog posts:

Where would you want to live?

Seattle vs. Spokane, WA

50 Hours Later

When I Grow Up

Near Alicia Parkway

When I Grow Up Part II

Paducah, KY

Faith for Kentucky

Can I Tell You a Secret?

I didn't realize there were so many of these, and I certainly don't expect anyone to go back and read them, but they're there.  After 2011, we couldn't be social media public about our processes because we didn't want Brandon's bosses to know that we were trying to leave.