moving on

A little help from Will Smith in his Fresh Prince days....

Now this is a story all about how
My life got flip turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute
Just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became a mom in a town near L.A. 

Do you need a second to read that again?  You read that right.  We are moving.  Southern California. 


Let's recap for a second...

We left Boston for Jim to pursue a career with BNSF.  Leaving Boston was one of the hardest things.  I moved around a lot as a kid and felt a deep connection with the city and being on my own in charge of my life.  I loved my friends, our house, my job, and life in general.  It was comfortable, it was easy, it was fun.

We moved to Nebraska.  Before finding out I was moving there I couldn't even tell you where exactly it was.  Made new friends, got a new job, life was good.  Heck the welcome to Nebraska sign says "the good life."

Then BNSF moved us to Kansas City.  We moved to Kansas City at maybe the hardest time in our marriage.  Our house in Nebraska sold so fast, we were in the midst of an adoption that was falling apart, and we left everyone that supported us through the whole journey.  We lived in an awful apartment (it was fine, but we had NO furniture and 1 pot and 1 pan  and an air mattress and our clothes) while we searched for a house.  We found a church.  A good one.  A community of really really great people.  People that were there while our adoption got back on track, people that came to the airport when Oliver and I made it home from Russia, people that realized we are alone out here in the middle and always made sure we had a place to go for major holidays, friends that took Oliver at a moments notice and kept him for days while I was at the hospital having Lydia, and friends who just like playing games and eating my food.  Life is so sweet here.  Kansas City is truly a hidden gem...if they only had an ocean. 

But my silly husband is just too talented a railroader to be left alone here to plug along moving trains.  He is smart and talented and people take notice.  When people notice then it's time for a new job, a new challenge, and in this case a new state...California. 

First I must say that I do get the final say in these matters.  Jim fully understands the "happy wife, happy life" motto.  However, I know there are worse places the railroad could ask us to go...I won't list them but there are a TON of places I'm not willing to move to.  Is Southern California my ideal spot?  Ummmm have you met me?  Probably not ideal, but we are going to make it work.

A few positives....
*You can fly anywhere from LAX and lots of places are cheaper than Kansas City
*Closer to Hawaii
*They have an ocean...I haven't even been to that ocean yet.
*There are a ton of fun things in that area that I'm sure the kids would love and would guarantee us visitors.  Hello DisneyLand and Sea World and The Pacific Coast Highway
*It always looks like you're on vacation..I'm rallying for a house with a palm tree.
*Tickets to the Ellen Show!  Who is coming with me?
*I get to order a new state print form my favorite JHill Designs
*Lots more to blog about.

The negatives...
*These shall not be mentioned





The time line....
Mostly unknown.  Once our house is appraised and BNSF approves Jim for the moving package then he can start the job.  He will head off to California, buy a car (why did we sell our extra car?), find an apartment, and get to work.  I'll stay here as long as it takes to sell the house, then drive over with the kids and some things that the movers won't take...mostly kids and plants.  At some point we will buy a new house, then sometime in June I'm running away to Massachusetts with the kids for Jim's cousin's wedding....Jim is coming too, but I see us staying there a good long while (I should probably tell my in-laws) while we wait for our stuff to be moved into our house, nothing is known for sure at this point, but that's a guess.  Eventually, Oliver will go to first grade (August) and I'll try to find a new nanny job, but it looks like we are taking the spring/part of summer off to adventure around the country and settle our lives.  

Welcome to the next part of the adventure.