Ohio… are you ready for us?

8BYU MBA 2 BYU MBA 4acollage5

I look back on our last two years as a family and I’m overwhelmed with gratitude.  If only I could have seen then what I know now.  Brian has worked incredibly hard and I’m beyond proud.  He’s pushed himself to be better not only as a student, but a leader and father.  He wasn’t only dealing with the pressure of school, which was daunting I’m sure, but he was consistently supportive of me and my goals.  That usually meant there wasn’t any dinner on the table, or that he needed to watch the kids right when he got home so I could work.  I can’t tell you how many times he went to the grocery store, folded all the laundry and put the kids to bed by himself.  He encouraged me when I was making my album, he spent his spring break taking pictures for my hair book and we spent our nights together dreaming of the future and how amazing it would be.  What I’ve now realized is that even though these past two years have been incredibly challenging for us, these have been the best moments of our lives.  These are the years we’ll look back on.  These are the years we will dream about.

This weekend we officially accepted an incredible job opportunity from Poly-One out of Avon, Ohio.  It’s definitely not where I saw us raising a family but I guess that’s where you trust that the Lord knows your path better than you do. We will be leaving our family here and moving nearly 2,000 miles from everything we know.  We’ll be leaving the safety of the beautiful mountains, the community that we rely on and love and also the sweet family above us who have treated us like their own.  To say I’m scared to leave Utah is the understatement of the year.  I’m terrified.

Through my anxiety though, I’m comforted knowing that the Lord has a plan for us.  He’s been guiding our lives and we can see His hand in all of this.  I’m holding onto hope that Ohio is going to be amazing.  Hope that there will be friends for my kids to play with.  Hope that there’s a family out there who will need us just as much as we need them.  I know that as long as I have Brian and my two mini-me’s I’m going to be just fine.  I’m so excited to finally have a plan.  We’ve been living in limbo for the last seven years — it’s been exhausting!  I’m excited to finally buy a home and to have a yard to take care of (never thought I’d say that did ya, mom?!).  I’m excited to be near a beach again!  I’m excited for the humidity, to be hours away from New York and Niagra Falls.  While I’m freaking out, I’m really excited to start the next chapter in our lives.  If it’s anything like the last, I have nothing to worry about.

Abby Smith

Leave A Comment
Join the Conversation

11 thoughts on “Ohio… are you ready for us?

  1. Hi Abby! I came across your blog today through Pinterest. You are GORGEOUS! I am loving your blog too! =) I am from Ohio – live about an hour south of Avon, in Wooster, Ohio. I am excited to start following a blogger who seems so close by. =) Many blessings to you and your family, and those twins on the way!!

  2. Abby, I’m so excited to hear you’re moving to Avon! My hubby and I lived there when he was transferred temporarily for his job in 2009-2010. There are a LOT of things I miss about it. Avon has the cutest little downtown street with even cuter antiques stores. Oh and I’m sure you’ve already discovered the promenade in Westlake! Max & Erma’s homemade cookies are the best and there is just so much to do compared to where I’m from in western NC, yet it still has that small town feel. The fall is BEAUTIFUL there too. Don’t miss the annual Duct Tape festival and parade, after all, my hubby’s company is the sponsor (ShurTech Brands, ie the Duck brand)! What an adventure you’re about to embark on – I can’t wait to follow along!

  3. Abby~

    As I am getting ready to type you this note I notice you posted this in May so you may already have moved to Ohio. I moved to Columbus, Ohio from Salt Lake City (never lived anywhere else my entire life and I am 49 now) so that my husband could attend law school at The Ohio State University. After he finished school we decided to stay on in Ohio, bought a house, and love it here! I will say I do miss the dry heat, the mountains and our family but I have made many new friends as well as I love my job! I work for a family homeless shelter and it has been a very rewarding job.

    I am sure you already know this but Ohio has so much to offer and I really think you will like it. Most of the libraries have toddler days as well as wonderful classes for adults. There is also a moms club in our area and you might see about joining Nextdoor.com to see if anyone in your neighborhood has started a site so you can get to know your neighbors.

    Hang tough – there will be hard days – I remember first moving here and being caught in our first ice storm and just balling wondering what we had done! Or the time I found myself crying in the fitting room at Penny’s because I felt so all alone! I now know I want to stay here and just visit Utah – I happily call Ohio home.

    I am here if you have any questions and just kick back and enjoy the ride!

    Go Bucks
    Go Indians
    Go Reds
    Go Cavs
    Go Browns
    Go Bengals
    See lots to love about Ohio!

  4. My family is also relocating to the Akron area this summer too. We’ve moved around a lot but this will hopefully be our last move. I’m originally from Michigan so it’s closer to “home” for me. I just discovered your blog through Pinterest. You have a beautiful family!

  5. I’m also from Ohio originally and I think you’ll come to love it. Everyone that I know that moved away is planning on going back to raise their families!

  6. Congratulations to your husband and your family! What a wonderful new experience this will be! Ohio is such a beautiful place full of so many wonderful people! You will be amazed at how green the midwest is, it’s just lovely! I am sure you are nervous, but soon you will find that Ohio and the midwest has so much to offer! 🙂

    @shopwhiteplum

  7. I am so excited for you! I am from Columbus and its really nice!! You’ll need to get yourself a nice Ohio State shirt, GO BUCKS!! 🙂 We take our college football VERY seriously around these parts!! 😉 haha Congrats and Ihope you have a nice, easy move!!

  8. That’s is so exciting I live so close to avon! If I see you at a stake activity or stake conference I might fan girl a bit. And there are many cute and kind families from our church here. And Lake Erie is so pretty. I hope your trip goes well. Ohio is very beautiful

  9. Abby, you will come to love Ohio. We lived there for 6 years when we were first married and loved it. We moved from our home state of Louisiana to Ohio. Getting used to having 4 real seasons and learning to drive in snow were our biggest challenges! “lake effect snow”! But you already know about those two things. We lived on the east side of Cleveland. Since you will be on the west, you will be that much closer to Sandusky and the islands. They have a park system that is nicknamed the Emerald necklace bc it scoops down below Cleveland. There are so many cool and beautiful places to explore. We have been back in Louisiana for almost 15 years, but I long to take my girls up there and show them another beautiful area that God created. Good Luck

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. New posts will not be retrieved.

There may be an issue with the Instagram access token that you are using. Your server might also be unable to connect to Instagram at this time.

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. New posts will not be retrieved.

There may be an issue with the Instagram access token that you are using. Your server might also be unable to connect to Instagram at this time.