Nine Months

We're about nine months post-move and, being the reflective person I am, I always like to evaluate where I'm at and how the change has gone at various stages. So that's what this is.  After nine months, I can confidently say I wouldn't want to redo these past months any time soon. Other than the stage of life when I was single and living alone - this has been one of the lonelier times of my life - especially the first six months. Over last three months I've felt more settled and more accepting of being here long-term if that's what happens. Acceptance is that coveted stage of grief, right? If only you can stay there for more than a minute.

I've had some people tell me recently how even the smallest move can be so hard and realistically takes a few years to settle in. Maybe someone told me this before we moved, but if they did, I wasn't listening. But I'm listening now and I understand. I'm giving myself grace to admit that moving a mere two hours from our old life has been way harder than I anticipated. Only now can I look back and see clearly just how much the relationships and routines I had in place were life-giving. It wasn't until they were gone that I realized these relationships were fulfilling me in a huge way. We also moved at a time when I needed to sort through some less than ideal things and that definitely didn't help with the transition going well on my end.

Devin is thriving. The move was all about a career advancement for him and it's proven to be the right decision again and again. For the first time since I've known him, he's excited about his job, co-workers, and the work he's doing. I'm so happy for him.

At the end of the day, I like experiencing new things. I prefer challenging, new experiences to a life that has few variations. I've never wanted to live in the same city my whole life. I've never wanted to live in the same state my whole life for that matter and would guess that someday we'll do an even bigger move. So really, I'm glad we made this transition because it creates opportunities for growth, to meet new people, to have new experiences, and really, add excitement to life even if there are days that are hard. These are the things I have to remind myself of when I just want to go back to the comfortable and familiar.

One random thing that has been a surprise is how much I've enjoyed transforming our home. I resisted buying a house built in the 90s in a sub-division because of lack of character and cosmetically it needed a big transformation. I'm finishing up my second-to-last room and it's so fun to see how different the house looks than it did 9 months ago!