The Haney's Are on the Move... Again...

We bought a house... in Pennsylvania! And, yes, we will be living in it in a few weeks. What's been happening in the Haney house? Well, besides sleepless nights since E has reverted back to a newborn sleep pattern at night, Lance was offered and accepted a phenomenal post-doc position at Penn State. He will be doing cutting edge research on some really cool stuff. Since I write this blog, in my words and understanding, he will be making things invisible and bending light on a flat lens that has properties like a curved lens (and we aren't talking about sunglasses lenses :) ) But, seriously, he will be doing a lot of extremely smart research that could improve technology leaps and bounds over the next 10-20 years. The university gave Lance many responsibilities while he is there that will only further improve his resume' and make him a very competitive candidate for a professor position after these 2 years are up. Of course, we are praying night and day for a position to be in preparation for him at Auburn. However, after making this compromise, we have agreed we will search for positions at schools in the 2011 South Eastern Conference :) (before Texas A&M and Missouri were added in!) 

Lance went to school all these years and earned his doctorate to have a job just like this and eventually be a professor. When this opportunity presented itself, it would have been silly to turn it down. I would love more than anything to be back in Auburn, where so many of our friends and relationships are.  I miss the gym I taught at and the members, our precious small group that is irreplacable, my sweet friends who I worked with, and just the charm of the town itself. I would do anything for us to be able to have a fighting chance at being back there, hence agreeing on this northern adventure.

So, we are going North- WAY North where a Yankee accent is prevalent, stay at home moms aren't in existence, sweet tea can't be ordered, and "y'all" is replaced with "you's guys". Am I ready? Nope, not hardly. I have my stereotypes as I am sure they will have about me but hopefully we can live amongst each other in peace. I will carry my southern charm with pride and maybe, just maybe, spread some cheerfulness to the northern folk :) I am going to miss my mama, my daddy, my sweet baby brother, my dear friends, and sweet home Alabama more than words can express. I keep reminding myself this will be a short stay and God willing we will be closer in a short time. My mom and I have mapped out a travel schedule for a remainder of this year already, we do not do very well apart. I have never been so thankful for the genius mind behind Skype as I am penciling in Skype dates with my dearests daily! A large piece of my heart will be in this sweet state, but another huge piece will be with me in Pennsylvania. 

I am looking forward to the adventure living in Pennsylvania will bring, it will be something I have never experienced before and hopefully a chance for our little family to only become closer and learn to depend on each other even more. E will surely have snowmen pictures to look back on and we are campaigning for a trip to NYC to see the tree at Rockefellar Center be lit. 

Speaking of the fun news, our new home :) We purchased a beautiful Victorian home in a rural area outside of State College. We are both in love with it, and have always wanted to own a beautiful Victorian :) It was built in 1890 and is full of charm. The community is full of restored Victorians and has a nice neighborly feel about it. The town has sidewalks running all through it which we hope to take E for jogs on. We have a list of projects that should keep us busy to help spruce the house up a bit, but nothing serious has to be done. We close on March 15th and will be Pennsylvania residents then.  Here is a picture the current owners sent us during one of the latest snow storms. I plan to deliver cookies to all of our neighbors once we are moved in and greet them with a nice "Hey, y'all we are the Haney's :)"

Please remember our family (both immediate and extended) as we prepare for this move- with our sweet little Emersyn who will not quite be 4 months old when we make the move. I am rather terrified, but pray God is preparing special friends and a dear home church for our family to help ease the home sickness. I pray that in this and everything else our little family embarks on is following with God's will for our lives and we remain Christ-centered in it all. What a journey we have ahead of us :)