Making the move

Boy was 2017 a big year for us! It all seemed like a dream now that we’ve entered the new year. We had so many changes and discovered so many things about ourselves as a family. We leaned on each other more than we ever have before and we did it in order to pursue our dreams. Not many marriages/couples could spend so much time apart in a given year. I have to say that when you’ve known someone for as long as I’ve known Woody (15 years to be exact), you understand things about one another that you didn’t know you could.

Woody knows how ambitious I am and that when I set my mind to something, I don’t know how to back down (yes I’m stubborn I admit). In that spirit, he supported me in my desire to pursue graphic design in California. It was the next step for me and what I needed to help me grow. The experience I had in California was everything I hoped it would be and confirmed that we weren’t made to stay in Massachusetts. I spent almost four months there and literally on the day I was flying home, I found out that Woody would be leaving soon to spend four months in California. It was exciting and, to say the least! We’d never spent this long apart before. He was getting the opportunity to follow his dreams too. The pieces were fitting together.

While Woody was gone, I took on all the role as a single parent (props to the single Moms and Dads out there); luckily I had the help and support of my family. There were moments that four months seemed like FOREVER like time had slowed down, but there were also times where it flew by. I was so busy that I didn’t usually have time to think about the fact that I was doing things solo and Woody wouldn’t be back for a while. Days would bleed together and before I knew it, he was flying back home. It wasn’t long after Woody’s return that he was offered an Engineering position and we realized this was it… We were finally moving to California.

It was scary and amazing! Our hard work was paying off. Neither of us had moved this far away from family before. That was definitely the scariest part for us. Our families had always been there for us and now they were going to be on the opposite coast. That’s 3,147 miles away, which equates to a 47-hour drive (with no stops), an average of a 6-hour flight, and what seems like infinity to children. We told ourselves we’d figure it out. As much as we would miss our family, California offered us what we were looking for (at this moment in time). The people were sweet and friendly, the weather was temperate (very different from our native Massachusetts), the scenery was beautiful, there are limitless outdoor activities, amongst so many other benefits. We would also have more time together as a family. California is not our final destination, but it is getting us closer to the life we want to live. This was it… we're making the move, leaping into the unknown.

Here we go!