Some Big News

So, a lot of life changing decision making has been going on in the Stratford household lately. 

After some initial inspiration, a lot of talking and researching, and a lot more prayer, Ben and I have decided to move to Logan, Utah at the end of April/beginning of May. 

I've just been plugging along towards getting my degree in elementary education down here at Dixie. With the move to Logan, I've been working on getting my credits transferred. I've been in contact with an advisor and some professors at USU, trying to get as many credits to transfer as I can. And I've been pretty successful. There are a couple of hoops that I'll have to jump through to get into the program up there, but it's nothing too big. Mainly I have to take a few more prerequisite classes and take (and pass) the Praxis in February. 

We are really moving to Logan for Ben's sake. Ben graduated from Dixie with a B.A. in Music. His original plan was to go to grad school for composition and become a composer. But with tough economy and high competition, he was unable to get into grad school. So we tried another route.. the military. After that whole fiasco was over, he started meeting with a career counselor at the college and he discovered that he has the skills and personality and interests that match up with a career in engineering. Long story short, Ben has decided to go into mechanical engineering. Dixie doesn't have an engineering degree. The original plan was to stay here until I graduated with my ed degree and then we would move to Logan so that Ben could really start going at his second bachelor and I would work to put him through school. But now that we are moving to Logan, Ben can start digging in and going to school full time a year earlier than planned. That means he can graduate earlier. And get into his career earlier. Happy day. It will take me a bit longer to finish my degree, but I am okay with that. 

I'm excited to move to Logan. It will provide us as a couple an opportunity to really grow closer to one another, out of necessity. Because we'll be far away from our family and our friends. It will be the first time in my life since I was a toddler that I will have lived outside of southern Utah. I have heard that it is absolutely gorgeous in Logan... in the summer

But I'm not so excited for this...

Except sometimes it can be pretty.

But still a pain to drive in, walk in, shovel from the sidewalk...