Back into the saddle

I am going to attempt to resurrect my old blog in order to keep everyone up-to-date on our adventures. And we have had some big ones! I won't start with the easiest story, nor will I start with the most difficult - I am not sure I am ready to share that just yet. The easiest place to start is with The Big Move. Yes, we Texans have uprooted ourselves and are now proud New Mexicans. Let me say we love it here! Albuquerque weather is so. much. nicer! than Houston! Yes, we have not missed the mosquitoes and other general bugs, the 99% humidity, or the smog. At all. The air here is great, there are plenty of hiking camping opportunities, and we feel quite in our element. As Philip said so eloquently when we first got here, "God must have made New Mexico beautiful because he knew we would like it". We do not regret the move at all (although we would really like to pack up some wonderful people and bring them with us!).

But that is not to say that this has been easy. After 14 years in Houston, we had a surrogate family there that was the most awesome ever! It was hard to leave that and say "we will meet new people in New Mexico too". It was hard in this economy for Colin to leave a job where he had carved a niche for himself in order to start over again somewhere else. Now it turns out that his job here is exactly what he was looking for and an awesome opportunity, but he is having to make a name for himself all over again. That's a little scary! It was frightening to leave several homeschool groups which were fabulous supports for both the kids and myself under the hope that we would find something comparable here. It was difficult to sell a house in a down market and endure the stresses that accompany that little venture.

Let me just say, all of you military families and jobs where they move you constantly, my hat's off to you! I don't know how you do it! And while I am sure we made the absolute right decision for our family, I will be eternally grateful if I never, ever have to do all of that again! Hopefully in the coming weeks, I can share some side notes from this little adventure, as well as some other reflections from this past, tumultuous year!