So my current dilemma I am sure is something everyone is sick of hearing about from me. I hate it here. I hate Washington. The list of reasons is long and varied, but suffice it to say the grey and gloom and the preponderance of white trash locals (and by locals they permeate the entire state, not just my immediate area).
BUT, here is where the dilemma comes in........
We have met most of the BEST people of our lives since we moved here. Reliable, dependable, fun, awesome, amazing people who we never would have met if we hadn't moved here. Yeah, yeah, you all know who you are!!
We LOVE our home. It is beautiful and we have slowly been making all the wonderful changes to personalize it and make it just right. We have been able to purchase little things we always dreamed of putting into a home over the past five years, we have slowly gotten painting projects done, we have gotten to know our home and have figured out future projects and exactly how we would do this or that to make it even better as we grow older.......
Which also leads to finances. We have had incredible financial growth since moving here. Mainly due to Bill's increased prowess in his field, very little because of my book keeping skills or budget management, as that still mostly eludes us......
We have watched our kids grow and are amazed by the people they are becoming. Now this of course would have happened anywhere, but the unique situations that arise because of the "local flavor" if you will has given us many opportunities to see our kids actions reflect the values we have taught them. This makes us very proud parents.
I have experienced tremendous personal growth. I think a lot of this came from moving outside of a zone I had known for most of my life and being put into a situation where I have no family to help me out and where I have to learn to meet people and find people I can count on to help me out in a pinch. I have been able to pursue my field of Early Childhood Development by going into Foster Care (I knew even back in school that I would never use it for classroom teaching), I have now trained to be a Court Appointed Special Advocate for these kiddos, and am able to contemplate a return to formal schooling for myself. I have had the opportunity to become my own child's teacher-- and not in just the parent role but in the actual school teacher role. This was TOTALLY outside my comfort zone since I had always thought just hippies homeschool..... I now know it is mostly religious zealots, but there are a few regular people with various different reasons besides religion for homeschool. It has been AMAZING watching and teaching Jessica to learn to read, teaching her the phonics of reading, teaching her to write and put together sentences, teaching her about our world and the continents and countries that encompass it, teaching her science, teaching her math (she is doing plus 5 addition and is up to subtracting by 3's!). So HUGE growth for me personally.......
We are in a place where Bill can contemplate setting up his own business...... while I am 100% behind him, I am also scared success will mean being stuck here even longer! How sad is that?!?!?!
This State is BEAUTIFUL!! I have seen glaciers, highest mountains, remote beaches, the Northwesternmost tip of the contiguous 48 States, a temperate rain forest, we have slept at the base of Mount Rainier under the blackest night with the brightest stars...... gotten within steps of a fox, deer, and raccoons (NOT IN A ZOO!).....
But then we go back to the greyness......... I don't think anyone can understand it until they live in it and their body tells them if it is too much or ok...... I've always pooh pooh'd at the rain and gone out to beaches and zoos and parks in it regardless...... I've always been glad the temps didn't reach over 100 and known that when we have multiple days of sunny warm weather (it happens in August) then we also have amazing sunsets at night......... which I watch with my husband after little ones have gone to bed and we sit on the oasis that is our deck and sip drinks and Bill enjoys an occasional cigar.........
So I know there is much good........ I just need some sun to keep it in perspective!
"It can't rain all the time"........ right?
Don't you dare move...us white trash will hunt you down and whoop yer butt! :)
ReplyDeleteMannnn I soooo feel you. That's exactly how I feel in the dead of winter here. I think we from Cali have a really hard time adjusting to the weather. I so find myself enjoying being outdoors as much as possible when it is nice out. I'm loving it now. We stay outside until it gets dark almost every night. I think were catching up on what we miss the rest of the year.
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