We’ve completed the move!  After a whirlwind summer, and about a month of living in transition, a few weekends ago we rented the U-Haul truck to load up the big things, and said hello to our new town, home, and life!

Let me just say how thankful we are about several things:  We are thankful we sold our house in record time (we got several offers but ended up selling it to my ex-husband, which was a blessing as he had done the remodeling and plumbing and knows all the quirks!).  We found our house here in record time and, after a few little loan scares, it went through smoothly.  We are thankful we had friends to help us move on both ends.  Long-time friends from our old town, and new work colleagues on this end.  It’s amazing to know how supported we are!  Luckily we had been making lots of trips with boxes over the course of the month, and just had the “big stuff” (tables, couches, beds) to move on the last day.  We couldn’t squeeze one more thing onto that 20 foot truck!  Oops!  Hey, a family of 7 does require a lot of furniture!

I just want to brag a little about my new slice of paradise.  I know most of our readers know where I’m referring to, but, to avoid specifics, we did only move 45 miles away.  So, the weather is comparable but dare I say a touch better from my vantage point.  I know, I did move during the summer, where around here has a false, lulling sense that for a few short months, you live in the most utopic place on earth, before reality sets in and you realize you live in a place that is Always Winter but Never Christmas.  So, we hold tight to these days of sunshine perfection while we have them.  But our new place has several delicious nooks and crannies in which to enjoy it in style.

I love, love, love our new place.  I love our new home, one that we bought together as a couple.  New starts have always appealed to me, but this one is even sweeter.  We don’t have a typical love story, and while it’s one of the more amazing ones, there are things we don’t/didn’t get to experience.  A fresh start is one of them, but this, this came at the right moment in time.  It wasn’t an easy hurdle, nor an easy decision, but now that we are here, so, so sweet.  I love unpacking our things, figuring out the right place for each item, nesting.  I love making progress on building our home, surprising my wife when she gets off of work.  (I made a huge dent, anyway.  We are down to those frustrating boxes that have no home, no feng shui, no ambition to ever be unpacked, but a blog for another day).   I love heading off with all the kids on our bikes, ready to figure out how to conquer a bigger town on two wheels, handing our children even more freedom and growth.  I love riding my cruiser-xtracycle-mama-taxi that is a bit unique here, determined to stamp the town with my individual mark.

I feel surrounded by beauty and love, and it makes me want to strive for as much beauty and happiness as we can make in this life together.  It’s another puzzle piece down, another shift in our created world, it’s a feeling of contentment, of settlement.

The job that my wife took has enriched her life already, and I can tell how happy she is with it.  While a move is never easy for kids, they’ve grown excited about the changes and it’s been really fun to see the older ones nest too.  Our daughter (remember, the only girl!) gets her own room!  She’s been spending days arranging it just so, and so far doesn’t let anything fall out of place.  The older boys share a room, and have set up their own version, although they need to clean it about 4 times a day.  School starts in a couple days, and while I’ve never been a big fan of that, they are clearly ready to have a little time apart from one another!  But, again, that’s a blog for another day.

Our move is so much bigger than a new job.  It’s been about finding our own path, together with our beautiful kids.  There’s so much to be thankful for!