Exactly a month ago I wrote my last blog post of 2015. And in the span of that month we managed to cover 4,232 miles (6,811 km) by plane and car across the United States; first we moved from Phoenix, Arizona to Tampa, Florida. A few days later we drove up to West Virginia and back to spend the holidays with family.
It was nuts. And awesome.
The best word we could find to describe our cross-country move was bittersweet. We absolutely adore the American Southwest and were so sad to leave it. But we were also raising a toddler on our own, very far from all of our family and most of our friends. If you have little ones in your life, you know that is one hard task. People still ask us how in the world we managed. Well, we simply did the best we could.
So when a once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity could take us back to our home state, there was no hesitating. We had a month to relocate, which needless to say, flew by. We worked hard to sell and donate about 90 percent of our belongings; we kept only what was useful or brought us joy (side note: thank you to The Minimalists for the life lessons and constant motivation). We said goodbye to our friends over in the desert, packed up all we could fit in two cars (we shipped them and flew), and here we are.
It feels so good to be home. For example, New Year's Eve doubled as date night and girls night with my best friends in the world (neither had happened too often this past year), all because we had loving grandparents who watched our son while we remembered what it was like to be our pre-parenting selves. We've been able to "sleep in." We get to see the ocean. I get some extra time to do yoga and blog and read. It's the real deal. If all this sounds mundane to you, please don't take it for granted. If you're in the same situation as we were, hang in there. And try your best to enlist as much help as you can find.
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| Photo credit (both pictures): Deepika Haldankar |
I've got a few blogs posts already drafted and almost ready to go for 2016, and I can't wait to share them with y'all (I'm back in the South now). Meanwhile, happy new year! And if you are familiar with Florida (especially the Tampa Bay/St Pete area):
What are your favorite Sunshine State attractions?
Linking up with these blogs for the week!
