Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Our BIG announcement!

I think we have the biggest news to share since we announced we were having twins!

About six years ago, Keith and I graduated from ISU, got married, packed our few belongings and hit the road to start our lives in New Jersey. And after a little bit of life and experience under our belts, it’s time for us to bring our family back to Iowa! YES…..WE’RE MOVING BACK TO IOWA!!

Everything is happening really fast and it hasn’t really set in yet! Last Monday Keith accepted a position with Syngenta in Slater, IA as a Purchasing Manager. He will be purchasing capital equipment for the Midwest facilities. Keith has been with Lockheed for over 5 years now and was ready for a change and is really excited about the new opportunity.


{Good thing we have a lot of strong boys to move boxes here}
So here is how the next couple months look.  Luckily Keith won’t begin his job until December 6th.  So he will stay here until that weekend, then move to my parent’s house.  I will keep working at JT Mega until the end of the year and stay here with the boys and focus on selling our house.  (With the help from a couple great grandmas)  Keith will come back up on the weekends.

Fortunately, Syngenta offered a GREAT relocation package and they will be taking care of realtor fees, which is huge for us!!! This takes a lot of pressure off of us, so now we should be able to price competitively and as long as we can get a bona fide offer, the relocation company will buy our house.  Now we just need to find somebody who wants to move to Minnesota in December!  We are hoping to get a realtor out to our house ASAP, learn what improvements we need to make and hopefully have an open house soon.  In the meantime, we have been cleaning closets and trying to pack up anything we don’t need to make all of our cupboards and closets appear much larger. 


{we have a pretty good moving team, they have moved these hangers all over our house}

So where will we live?  That is the great debate and I change my mind every day!  As of right now, we will either live in Baxter, my hometown, or Ankeny.  Keith doesn’t seem to have a strong opinion either way.  There is something special about living in a small town, but there are a lot of great conveniences about living in a bigger community.  I would certainly take recommendations on any other community or friendly opinions on big town versus small town living.  We plan to live at my parent’s house for a few months and will get a feel for living in a small town again.  And really, it’s the daily commute, which equates to time away from the boys, that bugs me the most.


{Did I mention they label boxes too}

And what will I do?  Like I mentioned, I plan to stay at JT Mega for the rest of the year and see out some of my projects, but just officially started my job hunt.  So if any of you know of any great openings in marketing, advertising or food I would love to hear about it!  I’m hoping to find something downtown Des Moines, but we’ll see what happens!  



What to think of all this?  I’m having mixed emotions with the entire move.  Certainly, I have always wanted to get back to Iowa and wanted the boys to grow up there.  However, we’ve been living here for about five years, so right now I am having a really hard time letting go and leaving things behind.  Here are a few of many things I’m really sad to leave…

Our first home!  As much as I dream of a new home, this house is our baby and we poured a lot of blood, sweat and tears into our home and this is what our boys know as home and where we experienced so many “firsts” with them.

Our neighbors!  Can’t even begin to say how amazing living next to Beth/Mitch and Wade/Kellie has been, we were so lucky to land next to them and they have certainly been like family to us.  Stella is going to miss her boyfriend Bruiser too. 

My work! It’s going to be really difficult to let go of the Di Lusso brand, as it is something I really committed myself to and it is one of those things you never stop thinking about even after you leave work. Most of all, I’m going to miss my co-workers so much!  These are the people I see and talk the most and many have become great friends and I’m having a hard time even thinking about not talking to them and seeing them every day.  I will also miss the Hormel group I work with, they have been great to me and we’ve had a lot of fun together over the years! 

Cradle Club.  I’m really nervous about taking the boys out of their daycare.  They spend more time there than they do with us, so I hate taking them away from that steady environment and I know a lot of the teachers will miss them too! 

Amazing Location.  We live within 10 minutes of about 5 Targets, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Ikea, The Mall of America and about 20 other great stores.  I often sneak out for a little retail therapy after the boys go to bed. 

So a lot to adjust to, but certainly really excited to be closer to our friends and family!  Just a little crazy right now packing up our lives at the busiest time of the year with so many unknowns right now as to where I will work, where the boys will go to daycare and where we will live and how quickly we will be able to sell our house!  Good thing my mom and dad our letting us live with them while we figure everything out!!!

15 comments:

Mom said...

We can't wait to have you! Too bad you can't pick-up all the good people and things in your lives and move them with you!

Jon & Jennifer said...

WOW that is BIG news but so exciting for you guys! We'd LOVE to have you in Ankeny, as neighbors, we ARE right on Highway 69 which close to Slater and a 20 minute commute for me to downtown! But we MISS the small-town live and are hoping to get back to it before the boys start school! So I'd love to talk sometime, give you some ideas about good spots to live in Ankeny and why we want to get out of the "city" life eventually! Best of luck on your packing and you sure do have some GREAT helpers!

Bormann Family said...

We are sooo excited for you guys:) Let us know what we can do to help! I heard Norwalk is a great place to live and a house is for sale next to the best neighbors you could EVER meet...just kidding! Hang in there!

jill said...

what about bondurant? it's little, but growing and close to the city life. i'll ask my dad about jobs...he's in the food/meat industry and has a few connections. good luck with everything.

Anonymous said...

We will be so sad to see you leave JTM. You have been such a great asset to the Hormel team and such a pleasure working with from a Studio standpoint. You are an amazing worker, friend and mom - Iowa will be thrilled to have you back and you'll find a job in no time! You will have tons of recommendations! Take care and let us know if you need anything! I can always take the boys for a day so you can pack or show the house if needed! Keep in touch.
Cindy

Kyli said...

Come to Bondurant!!! We'd love to have some more friends in town! It's only about 20-25 min. to Slater and 15-20 downtown. Lots of houses going up around us too!

The Woods Family said...

Congratulations!!! Really excited for you guys and your new adventure. We'll miss having you guys in Minneapolis. I'm thinking a going away party is a must! Best of luck with selling the house - let us know if there is anything we can to do help.

Kyli said...

Also wanted you to know that I teach in Ankeny, so I have lots of insight to the schools if you have any questions. Lots of changes in store for a rapidly growing district.

Unknown said...

Congrats! That's so exciting! I would love to get back to Iowa just to be closer to family. I am jealous! :) Best of luck on your move, new jobs and moving in December!

TJ, Kaylan, Miles, Perry & Simon said...

How exciting!! What about Huxley? T.J. and I always used to talk about that it would be nice to live there. It's close to the big town, and small but not too small.

Congrats to Keith on the new job! Looking forward to Saturday and hearing all about everything!!

Our Crazy Filled Life said...

That is awesome! Josh works at Syngenta in Slater in the winters bagging seed in the warehouse! Huxley would be a great place to live and has a really good school system unless your wanting CMB. Either way Yay for moving back to the area!

Unknown said...

I'm so sad to see you leave, JT Mega and the Retail Products Group sure won't be the same without you! You have been a great mentor throughout my two years here. Enjoy the new adventures and be sure to visit if you are ever back in the city! We'll miss you!

-LS

Mike and Sarah said...

I am so happy for you and your family! What a blessing to have things falling into place. The best thing about Des Moines and the surrounding area is you really won't be too far from anything. Best of luck with all of the exciting things to come!!

eSchulz said...

Is this where I put in my vote for Ankeny? I've got homebrew to offer...

The Annis Family said...

Congrats on the big move! I know what you mean about DDC, it's in your blood once you work with it. Know that all the people at Hormel will miss you just as much as you will miss them. Take care!

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