The end of an era

Nine years ago, David was commuting an hour to work each day, I was pregnant with our first baby, and we had officially decided I would not be returning to work after the baby was born. Despite how much we loved our little house, and our location, it made sense for us to move to be closer to David's job. We wound up fulfilling a long-held dream, building a brand new home right next door to our best friends, just minutes from David's office.

Standing on the site of our future home.

This wasn't a location we would have chosen without the added factor of his job being here, and it took the first few years of living here to feel like this community was "home." But over the last 8+ years, we have built a support system, a community of friends and loved ones, and put down roots in ways I never expected. We made new friends, came home to our Church, coached sports and invested our time in this community. We have created a support system of friends, a homeschool group, my Crossfit gym, our Church, not to mention our trusted doctors, babysitters and other important people in the life of our family.

We brought our babies home to this house. We walked these hallways at night as they fussed, tucked them in at night in these bedrooms. We watched them grow and play and learn here. This is the only home they have ever known.

The boys with Ella on the day we brought her home.

David and I are no strangers to moving. He moved often as a child, and although I don't have as many moves under my belt, growing up we never lived anywhere longer than four years or so. We've more than doubled that here.

Not to mention, the last time we moved, we had one very young baby (who didn't require much in the way of stuff); and our last house was less than half the size of this one. Two more children, and a mountain of stuff later, this move is going to be something completely different.

Photo by little David. I seriously don't know how they have amassed this much stuff.

When we moved here, we didn't know what to expect. This isn't a city with a lot of IT jobs, so we knew that when David felt it was time to move on to another job, chances are, it was going to mean moving. And when he took his current job a year and a half ago, we knew that was the beginning of the end of our time here.

It isn't going to be easy to leave. We love our home. We love living next to our best friends. There's nothing like knowing you can run next door if you need anything - from the proverbial (or even literal) cup of sugar, to some laundry soap because you just ran out, to help with your children because you have to rush one of them to the ER with a broken arm. Before we lived here, we used to dream out loud with them of how great it would be if we could be neighbors. Then we did it, and it was better than we'd hoped. And now we're moving away.

Sparkler swords with friends at our annual 4th of July extravaganza, in our shared backyard

It is with mixed emotions that we prepare for the next chapter in our lives. We will miss this house, this neighborhood, this place. We will miss the people we've met and the connections we have made. We have to pull ourselves up by the roots and replant ourselves somewhere new. It isn't all bad, not by any stretch. Living within 15 minutes of David's office is going to feel like a miracle, after the last year and a half of commuting an hour and a half (or more). Having Daddy home at dinner time, every single day, will be heavenly. The strain of his drive to work has been hard, and it is hard on me and the kids as well, having him gone for 12-13 hours so often. Plus, we'll be closer to a lot of our family, which will be wonderful as well.

It is the end of an era. An era of our lives that saw our family grow, saw us through changes and challenges. This place has been good to us; we've grown tremendously in our faith, made and nurtured lifelong friendships and been touched by so many incredible people. I will always look back on this time with fondness. There is so much I'm going to miss.

We look ahead with optimism and hope. It will take time to feel at home there; to build up a community around us once again. Moving with children will be different than the days when it was just David and I, but as we keep reminding each other when we're stressed, home is where we are. Being together as a family is the most important consideration, and this move will give us so much more of that. I am seriously giddy at the thought of knowing that as dinner time approaches, I can look forward to the sound of his truck in the driveway and watch the kids race to the living room window to see Daddy come home.

This is what it's all about.