thank you, iowa

I'm not very good at saying goodbye. It seems I've had to do it too many times, especially when the end of another school year comes around and all of our fellow student friends are ready to move on. It's weird that it's our turn now. I thought I was prepared, I thought I was ready to leave, but the closer we get to the end of our time here the more I realize I'm not ready to say goodbye. So instead of focusing on the goodbyes, I will just say thank you...

Thank you to Drake University Law School. Thank you for giving Clay an excellent legal education. For preparing him for a career that he is sure to love. For the classes, the assignments, the papers and the finals that reinforced Clay's decision and desire to pursue this career. Thank you for teaching him, encouraging him, and for helping him become the incredible man he is today.

Thank you to Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Thank you for employing me for 18 months and giving me an incredible work experience. For giving me the opportunity to see my potential and try to reach it.  For the most productive and positive environment I'd ever worked in. For the daily challenges and for the boosts of self-confidence that I was so deperately in need of. Thank you for pushing me to learn, to become a leader, and to do my very best every single day.

Thank you to our small apartment. Thank you for keeping us close in many different ways. For the times when I was in the kitchen and Clay and Hallie were playing in the living room, but we were still only ten feet apart. For keeping us safe and warm and happy. For being our home sweet home.

Thank you to the Iowa weather. Thank you for showing us that there is most definitely a best and worst of every season. From the beautiful snowfall and the bone-chilling ice storms in the winter to the vibrant green and the booming thunderstorms in the spring to the perfectly sunny days and the sweltering humidity in the summer.

Thank you to our friends. Thank you for reaching out to us and making us feel welcome. For your random acts of kindness, for your helping hands and for your support. Those days when our families seemed a little but further away than normal were the days when you cheered us up the most. Thank you for the game nights, the shopping trips, the girls nights, and the dinners. Thank you for being our friends.

Thank you to our sweet Hallie Mae. Thank you for coming to us during this stage in our lives. For bringing joy and true happiness to us every single day. For giving your dad a smile and a hug after he's come home from a long day of classes. For giving your mom the best job in the world. Thank you for making the lonely times, the trying times, the I'm-ready-to-be-done-with-school times so much easier to get through. Thank you for being our everything.

But most of all, thank you to our Heavenly Father. For never leaving us feeling abandoned and alone. For the friendships, the jobs, for our health and strength, for the trials and for the blessings. Thank you for the many, many answered prayers. For helping us understand that this is what we needed to do and exactly where we needed to be for the last three years. For bringing us here, to Des Moines, Iowa - a place that we have loved calling home.