So we’re moving back to Texas.
I mentioned it in passing in the previous post like it’s no big deal, but it’s totally a big deal!
When we moved up here in 2013, we were so done with Houston and basically blew air kisses to Texas as we happily left it behind. Of course we were terribly sad about leaving behind friends and family, but we were off to this new adventure of life in Alaska. We had been there in 2008 on a weeklong backpacking trip and completely fell in love. When the opportunity to move up there came about, we grabbed it and ran. (Or flew/drove, really)
I was pregnant with Henry when we moved up, so he was our first Alaska baby! But also sorta a Texas baby! He spans the gap quite well.
Moving up with a toddler and a baby on the way felt so stressful at the time. That seems incredibly comical now given we are moving with three kids - one of which is partway through the school year!
So why are we moving back?
Honestly, we thought we were moving back the moment Natalie arrived.
Everything was just so much the day she was born. No one could tell us she was going to be a normal kid. It was a really tough time and we talked at length about moving home, how Matt would quit his job and take care of our special little one full time.
But this little one surprised us. She was tougher than she looked! And by the time they let her come home from the NICU, we thought we had this!
Then back to the hospital and the uncertainty returned. This repeated itself several times. I strongly recall many conversations with her pediatrician at the side of her hospital bed. “Is this our life now? How do I keep a job?” He was very reassuring that I would learn to compartmentalize, I would trust the hospital staff to watch over her while I was at work and then she would come home.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Riiiiiiiiight…
But again, she was stronger than we gave her credit for. She kept having shorter hospital stays. She got a cold and didn’t end up in the hospital. She started being able to swallow!
Things were looking up!
But then that earthquake hit. We were physically fine, but emotionally - it took it’s toll. We had to leave the boys behind to take Natalie to Seattle and they were panicking over Facetime when it would start shaking. They slept in a closet under the stairs for the next 2 weeks. I finally convinced them to go back upstairs to sleep, but they wouldn’t sleep without their dad on the floor in their room.
Matt was sleeping in there with one phone showing the app if Natalie was breathing ok and the other one with the earthquake app pulled up. And we had who knows how many upcoming trips to Seattle.
It was in the midst of all of this we said “What are we doing? We have family & friends in Texas. There is an amazing medical center there and most importantly - we have an office that we can try to get a transfer down.”
So we put in for a transfer thinking it would come within the next year. Instead, we are headed back to Texas weeks later. I guess when things are meant to be, the stars align for it.
We will miss this state and the friends we have made here terribly. I will miss my new job, but I am leaving it in very capable hands (take care of my work baby, Kathryn!). I am nervous about starting over with all new people in the Houston office working something completely different, but I am excited about all the support we will have down there.
Miss you forever, Alaska!
(Except the earthquakes - you can keep them!)
What’s with all the fancy photos and then this disaster photo? Our realtor was wanting to come take photos and there was no way I could get the house in photo shape with everything going on. So I decided to take the photos myself. I could move junk out of the frame of the photo, take it and repeat for the next room. It took a bit longer, but was way less work in the long run.
But this pantry photo was my “oh good lord!” moment. You can’t take it with you when you die or when you move across the the continent... So this was the photo I sent to multiple people to offer up whatever they wanted to take. Thankfully, it looks like most of it will find a new home and not end up wasted. :)