Last year we started studying a new history book with the boys that began with Creation and we learned of some of the first people and civilizations. Learning of people like nomads and barbarians. (It's funny we used to joke about kids being barbarians and now my boys understand what true barbarians were. They even joke about the similarities now.) Anyway looking at our life the past 12 years it's been one similar to that of the nomad. Being military (typically) means moving - a lot. Nomads were wanderers. For them it was to move where the food was or the weather was better. For us it's the jobs that my husband must do. This "nomadic" lifestyle for us means not really settling or "putting down roots". While for some it's easy to dive in to a new place, make friends and be involved - for us it's a bit more of a struggle with how much we stretch ourselves. Having to move again is always in the back of our mind. This assignment has been different however. Our kids are finally old enough that they need to be involved in activities, be social, make friends and they are more aware of things and people around them. So this assignment we stretched more. The kids have been in several sports, been heavily involved with our church and made many friends. While each move has been difficult in it's own way, this is the first one that directly affects our kids. Saying goodbye to happy familiarity is hard.
So we are moving again. Our 5th move in 12 years. We knew it would happen. We've also been pretty sure where. Come mid December we are Colorado bound - again. There is much excitement in this because it is my home. Much of my family is there. Our kids will get to spend the next few years getting to know their grandparents, and many other relatives. We will be closer to Devin's parents too. At the same time we have fallen in love with California. (For it's beauty, resources, weather) There is so much to do here. My kids are going to hate having to wear coats and gloves in the winter as apposed to flip flops and shorts pretty much year-round here. We have also been so happy with our church and felt so welcomed by the people there and we will miss them dearly. Church "shopping" is probably my least favorite thing to do when moving to a new place.
L.A. may be crowded, polluted and have horrible traffic but I've been bitten by this coastal "bug" that says those things don't matter. This may be my favorite assignment yet, and I hope we make it back at least to visit once in a while. So I will relish our last 10 weeks here, secretly hoping our move gets postponed. And when it's time to go I will look back on all the fun we had here.
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