moving pro...not quite!

 I have moved 19 times in my life.

1. Saudi Arabia to the U.S. (Brea, CA) when I was 18 months old...(1979)
2. Brea, CA (southern) to Danville, CA (northern) when I was 3 (1981)
3. Danville, CA to Littleton, CO when I was 5...just a wee Kindergartener! (1984)
4. Littleton, CO to Spring, TX when I was 12...at the start of 7th grade (1990)
5. Spring, TX to Orem, UT two weeks after I graduated high school (1996)
6. Orem, UT to Tempe, AZ at the end of that summer to start college (1996)
7. Tempe, AZ to Spring, TX  at the end of that school year (1997)
7.5 Spring, TX to Spring, TX when our house was struck by lightning and we had to move out (1998)
8.  Spring, TX to Murray, UT a few months after moving out of our burned house (1998)
9. Murray, UT to Salt Lake City, UT to be closer to campus (2000)
10.  Salt Lake City, UT to SLC, UT - from an apartment to a house in the avenues (2001)
11.  SLC, UT to Midvale, UT - to my first apartment with Brad when we got married (end of 2001)
12.  Midvale to Midvale, UT - to a different apartment to escape the chain-smoker below us because I was pregnant with Jakob (2002)
13.  Midvale, UT to Sandy, UT - to a bigger/nicer apartment now that we had Jakob!  (2003)
14.  Sandy, UT to Fountain Valley, CA - into Brad's parents' home so he could start working with his Dad's business (end of 2003)
15.  FV, CA to FV, CA - to our first place on our own in CA, I was pregnant with Joshy (Jan. 2005)
16.  FV, CA to HB, CA - the owner of the last place decided to sell...so we moved again... (Oct. 2005)
17.  HB, CA to FV, CA - Both cars broken into and some crazy/shady stuff going on in our neighborhood, plus the smoker next door and the dogs/dog poop/flies from the other neighbor next door made us want to move again...oh, and I was pregnant with Drew! (June 2007)
18.  FV, CA to HB, CA - being sucked dry by rent and not enough income...so we moved again to save money...(sept. 2009)
19.  HB, CA to HB, CA - just down the street, but to a bigger apartment...now that baby #4 is on the way, this is a huge blessing...even though it's my 19th move!  (2011)

So, you might think after all of those moves that I am a pro, right?  No.  Not at all.  I have definitely learned a lot...since some were long-distance moves, but many were local moves-- I think they are all incredibly difficult physically, emotionally, mentally...it's a lot to handle.

Because of all of those moves, I went to 4 different elementary schools, 2 junior highs, 1 high school (thankfully), 3 colleges, and have been in too many different wards to count!

BUT...because of all of those moves, I have been blessed with so many wonderful friends and amazing opportunities to grow.  That is what makes moving exciting.  Now, when it's local, it's a bit different...however, here in CA I've been in 4 different wards within the same stake...so I have been able to get to know lots of different people which is pretty awesome!

Even with the perk of making new friends...it is still really hard to say good-bye to old friends and old places...and even though I have good intentions of keeping in touch with everyone, it just doesn't always happen.  So, my friends, old or new, I hope you know how many times you all cross my mind and how thankful I am for your friendship...and I especially love knowing that if and when we meet again, we will pick up right where we left off!

This move feels different to me for some reason.  The last one felt very temporary...the entire time we lived there, I treated it as if it was just a quick stopping point for us...and thankfully this bigger unit became available for us!  Now that we are here, I can see us staying a while.  It doesn't feel temporary like the last place.  Jakob is stoked to have is own room...Drew and Joshy are enjoying their room together and in a few months we will have a baby in the empty room!  Hard to believe that there will be another little Hanson boy growing up with our family...hope he knows what he's getting himself into!  :)

Anyway...if you've made it this far...you must be really bored.  ha ha just kidding.  It's been a while since I've just babbled on and on...so thanks for being interested!  And if you're one of the people who have helped us move...THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.  And I hope I can return the favor in some way, someday.