Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Thoughts on Moving


This decision was probably one of the hardest that we've ever had to make, if not THE hardest.  We have hemmed and hawed about moving since I was pregnant with Addy.  Mike and I love our life here in North Carolina.  Really and truly, we both love it.  The weather is great, the people are friendly, we love our jobs, our house, our neighborhood.  I could go on and on.  But we miss our family.  And when it comes down to it, that is the bottom line.  There is nothing more important than family.  Not weather, not jobs, and not a house.  There will be a new house, new jobs, and the weather, well, we're just gonna have to get used to that again.

I know it'll be a tough transition.  We are moving "home" to PA, but we are moving to an area that is slightly unknown to us.  We are not moving back to our hometowns, we are moving to a new place.  My sister and brother-in-law will be there (thank goodness!), but we will not have any friends there, and that will be tough. I know it will, and I am preparing myself for that.

But I think it's good that we are moving to a new place.  It's a great location as far as proximity to both of our hometowns.  Close, but not too close.  If there is one thing that living eight hours away from family for the past ten years has taught us, it's independence.  Mike and I are both very independent people and I love that about us.  It might sound selfish, but I love that we have our own little life down here.  We do our own thing, and to be honest, we take pride in the fact that we are doing it alone.  Are there days that I wish we had some help when we were in a bind?  Absolutely.  Between Mike and I, we take care of our kids 100% by ourselves.  24 hours a day/7 days a week.  It's definitely hard, but in a sense we like knowing that we don't need to rely on anyone but each other.  We do things our way, every day.  So a selfish little part of me is glad that will not change when we move.  Our day to day lives will still be our own.

That being said, living closer to our families will be wonderful!  It will be the best of both worlds.  As much as I am used to being alone with our little family, there are so many times that I have wished we were closer to everyone else.  And now that it's happening I am almost giddy with excitement!!!  We will be the perfect distance away in that a weekend trip, or heck, even a day trip would be possible.  Gosh that will be awesome!!  I cannot wait to be able to see everyone more frequently!!!!

This move will be especially wonderful for our girls.  To be honest, when it was just Mike and I, we didn't mind living this far away.  We were able to go to PA fairly frequently to visit, and that worked for us.  But once the girls came along our priorities shifted.  It was no longer about us.  I keep going back to my memories of growing up with my grandparents fairly close by.  I loved nothing more than spending time with them, and I want the same thing for my girls.  My biggest fear with living down here was that they would grow up and feel like they barely knew their extended family.  And I did not want that for them.  It wouldn't be fair.  I want them to have those relationships that I have.  And that's just not really feasible from 8 hours away.  Yes there is Skype and Face Time (which are amazing things!!), but they could never replace real human contact.  Real hugs and kisses.

So, I guess that's what you do when you have kids.  You are still the one making your life decisions, but you are making them with someone else in mind.  I have truly loved living in North Carolina.  I love that we spent our twenties down here hanging out with friends and having parties.  I love that we got engaged down here.  And that we got married and then bought our first house here.  And then we got our puppy and had our two beautiful girls here.  These past ten years have been amazing.  But I know that it's time for a change.  This chapter of our lives is complete.  We have come to a fork in the road and we have chosen the path back home.  It's time to put down roots close to the people that matter most to us and start a new chapter. North Carolina will always be here, but our children will only grow up once.  And we want that to be surrounded by those that love them most: their family.  So as tough as this will be, we know that it's the right decision for our family, and we are so excited to start this new chapter in our lives!

Pennsylvania here we come!

4 comments:

  1. Yayyyy we all can't wait for you to come up! So soon!!

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  2. Very touching. Can't wait to see you guys!!!

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  3. I totally understand where you're coming from. What a hard decision to make. It would be different if you didn't like where you are now but since you do, that really made things difficult. We're all happy that you'll be closer though, and I hope to get to see you all more often!

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  4. This is a very inspiring story coming from you. Whatever the challenges you and your family will be facing in your new hometown, we certainly hope you could get pass through it. Anyway, we are pleased to read more about your stories.

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