Hard to believe

So two Saturday's ago, the 6th, marked one year since Evan and I loaded up the U-Haul truck and the Explorer, to start a new chapter of our lives in Bend, OR. Some days it seems like this was forever ago, and others it seems like just a couple of months ago. It's amazing how many things change in a year, and it's amazing how much God can do in a year. When I first moved to Bend, and for the first few months, I will be honest, I was really sad and depressed most of the time. I had left my friends and family in California and so many exciting things were happening. Friends were getting engaged, my mom retired, and a close friends got pregnant (and just had their baby yesterday! :)) I felt like life was going on without me, and I was left to figure out what to do with my life in a new and strange place. Evan started out working for his uncle painting, and all I knew was that I needed to be in school, working on my teaching license and masters.

My life had been all planned out before the move. I was accepted to Sac State's teaching program and Evan I were going to live in Davis...until God revealed His plans, and that he wanted us in Bend, and wanted us to serve/be a part of Antioch Church. I was unemployed for the first month and a half, missed my friends, and didn't want any part of creating a life in Bend. All I could think about was the life I was missing in California. On top of everything else, we were poor. We still are poor as newlyweds, but the first few months we were really poor. I never knew what it felt like to make dinner with whatever we had left in the pantry because we couldn't afford to go to the store. I had to cut out Starbucks (one of my favorite little things in life) and couldn't even afford stamps to mail our wedding thank you notes. I couldn't understand why God would want us here, when I was so miserable. I never thought I could be happy here and especially, would never call Bend home.

Well, a year later, I do call Bend home and I'm no longer miserable and sad haha. On the other hand, I feel like once again, God completely provided for us in ways that I never could have believed. He knew, as always, what we needed more so than we did. Evan got a job in December with Whole Foods, where he is now the Specialty Team Leader and loving life working with wine, cheese, beer and specialty foods and people on a daily basis. I am happily half way through my Masters in Teaching and teaching license program where I have met some of the most amazing people. I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. I still miss my friends and family every day, and on a day like yesterday where one of my best friends gave birth to her first baby with her husband, my heart aches some because I wish I could be there to celebrate in their joy. However, Bend is now my home where Evan and I have made some amazing friends and have made a pretty neat little life for us. God has completely challenged me this past year, but I can see now why we needed to pushed outside our comfort limits. I feel like I have grown so much to the point that even in my disappointments (see a few blogs ago) and sadness, God has a plan greater than I can see. I am thankful for my life here in Bend, and for God's faithfulness. I am to the point where I can willfully and happily offer all of me and my life to God and know that where He leads us in the future, is where we need to go.
Just a few, fun pictures from the last year in Bend.

Our first house
Deschutes River in the Fall
My first snowy winter
Cutting down our first Christmas tree!!!
Our first Christmas as a married couple!
Ben and Katie came up to celebrate New Year's Eve with us!
Evan and I were in Katelyn and Charles' wedding!

Valentine's Day!
Second Honeymoon in Napa in March

Our first trip together to beautiful Seattle and the Historic Columbia river highway
Watching the fireworks on 4th of July with Kip and Kristin

Hiking the Metolius River in Sisters with my parents who visited us for a week!


We were in Ben and Katie's wedding!!!!

So there are many other pictures that would depict our last year in Bend, however, these ones give a pretty good overview :)