A Bit of a Change

We are 3 months shy of our 15 year wedding anniversary and we've decided it's time for a bit of a change. Check that, a big change. We've decided that it's time to move to the part of the country that Brad grew up in, the South. The DEEP South to be exact.

Ever since I met Brad and flew to Georgia for the first time to meet his family, I've been in love with the deep south. It is so very different from the part of the country where I grew up. Tornado Alley, Oklahoma to be exact. He moved out here to Oklahoma when we decided to get married. He eventually grew to like Oklahoma, but he's never loved it. Don't get me wrong, he loves me and the kids and his job, but he doesn't enjoy the oppressive summer heat, the gale force winds nearly year round, or dodging tornadoes one-quarter of every year.

We've moved from a university town, to a big city suburb, to an historic neighborhood in the big city, and finally 6 miles south of a tiny town 45 minutes from the big city. This is where our kids have grown up, in this small rural town of 6,000 people. We live in the middle of nowhere and I have loved it, but it's had it's negatives. I have become more and more withdrawn and I've realized it's not healthy for me. The kids are at an age now that they crave interaction with their peers and we don't think it's fair to keep them out here in the boonies with no one their age around.

We want to live near a grandparent that will be active in the kids' daily life. We want to live near the ocean. We want to live near friends that we miss dearly. We want to have an adventure. This is the adventure we are choosing. We are moving to Alabama. We will live within an hour of the Gulf of Mexico, which means we can drop everything and be sitting on a beach as fast as we can currently drive from our current home to OKC. That is an absolute dream for me. I have loved the beach and ocean my entire life and have always wanted to live near one. When I was born my parents lived across the street from the beach, literally, so I spent the first two years of my life sitting in the sand and playing in the ocean water.

Moving to Alabama puts us near all Brad's (and now my) close friends. It puts us back in a part of the country he is comfortable in, puts us near family, and puts me and the kids near the ocean. To say the kids are excited is an extreme understatement. They are excited to live near their Nana, to live in a neighborhood, to live in a house with a pool, to be able to ride their bikes/skateboards, to finally get a basketball goal. I think they are excited for a change, to meet new people, to have fresh start. At least Charlie feels that way. Maggie, well, she is moss. She latches on to things and has to be scraped off, but once free she floats down stream and enjoys herself.

So, here we are. We are waiting to find out how Brad can retool his job so that he can work from home and we can move to Alabama. Until that is finalized I am a bundle of nerves. Life always seems to be a waiting game for me. At least for the really good things. It seems I'm supposed to be learning patience in this life. I struggle with that.

And so we wait.