Moving on

It's probably a mix of a lot of things (post baby hormones, weaning off the surgery drugs, and I think I'm on my period), but sometimes I get so sad that we're finally leaving this phase of our lives. For Alan's creativity project this semester, we're kind of doing a recap of our married lives in college. We're still not quite sure how the finished project will be, but we're looking back on all the different places we've lived in the last 3+ years.

Our first home together

When Alan and I got married, we still had a lot of school ahead of us. We knew that we were going to be poor, struggling college students for a while, and that was ok. Together, we have worked as a high school tech guy, an alarm reprogrammer, a salesman, a lifeguard, a research assistant, and a stay at home mom. Alan has changed his major and planned out several different career paths before we stumbled into his current job offer almost by accident.

Our apartment in Arlington, VA

I have been really spoiled these last two semesters. Alan didn't have that many classes left, so he only had to take 12 credit hours each semester (12.5 this semester; he wanted to take a bowling class). He has been able to be home with me, Elsie, and now Alice a lot this past year. Getting a real job means back to him being gone all day. But it also means no homework in the evenings. Everything has it's ups and downs I guess.

Our apartment in Kent, OH

We grew a lot through all of our moves. We were able to spend a summer in the Washington D.C. area, a summer in the Cleveland Ohio area, and six weeks in Virgina Beach. It is hard and stressful to pack and move across the country. We found out first hand just how fun it is to drive a tiny Suzuki Swift, stuffed the the brim with all our stuff, across the plains of Nebraska with no cruise control and no AC. I don't know if I can ever think good thoughts about that state again.

Our apartment in Virgina Beach, VA

Despite how sick of it I am sometimes, I'm going to miss our little college town. I will miss walking around on campus with the girls in a stroller and seeing at least a couple other moms with kids out for a walk (we walked around Kent State with Elsie in her stroller and got the funniest looks...). I'll miss the mountains and always knowing what direction I'm heading. I'll miss Cafe Rio. I will miss walking around our malls that have stores entirely devoted to church ties. I'll miss overhearing people talk about visiting teaching and hearing stories of people using their temple recommend as a valid form of ID. I'll miss being so close to the temple.

The sidewalk in front of our current apartment

Most of all I think I'm going to miss Alan's family. His parents have always been just a half hour away. I have loved getting to know my in-laws over the years and seeing them fall in love with each of my girls. I loved knowing that they were so close and we could call on them if we needed them. I loved celebrating holidays and birthdays together. We've been able to go to his younger brothers' school concerts and games. Both sets of his grandparents live just twenty minutes down the road and we've had many dinners and family gatherings with them. We've been able to live just down the street from his older brother Craig and his wife for a while, and now his younger brother Kyle and his wife.

It's hard to say goodbye. But I know that this move, this job, is the right thing for our family at this time. Change is hard, but it doesn't have to be bad. And even though we'll be leaving behind a lot of things and a lot of wonderful people, we will still be together as a family, just me, Alan, Elsie, and Alice.