It is sooooooooo good to be back in the Midwest!"
I typed that on October 25, 2018. I had intended to make an entire post detailing our Florida exodus and immigration into what would become our new permanent home state - Wyoming. Clearly I was just so glad to be out of Orlando that I decided against looking back, & focused on driving forward.
When we decided to move to Orlando, it was in hopes of ending up in the small town of Sundance, Wyoming. When we left Orlando, we were devastated to find out that Sundance wasn't going to be an option for us after all. We wound up in Casper, & I was lucky enough to land a fantastic job with an amazing company!!!
I loved being back at work, & my job was filled with challenging new responsibilities. I'd never been an official manager before, & even though there were times I felt frustrated & wondered if I'd gotten in over my head, I was also incredibly proud of myself & the work I was doing; even if it did mean more time away from my boys (not saying this was an easy decision - going from spending all day every day for 14 months with my son to sometimes only seeing him for 2 hours before bed made me feel insanely guilty for enjoying my career, but that's a topic for another post).
Despite this incredible opportunity, Casper just wasn't working for us as a family. No matter how much we tried, it just never felt like home. At about the one year mark, we started discussing the possibility of relocating again.
Originally, we planned to go somewhere where my company was looking to open another branch, but then my husband was offered the chance to use his motorcycle mechanics degree from Orlando. And in Sundance of all places!! Since that had been the whole point of us spending 14 months in misery (did I mention that Orlando wasn't really great for us & our relationship?), we owed it to ourselves to give this opportunity serious consideration. My job was really the only thing we had going for us in Casper, & although it broke my heart to think of leaving it, it wasn't fair to make my family stay somewhere we weren't all happy.
I'll skip over the details from the months of discussing, researching, & yes arguing. We started making moves, & I gave my notice at work (this is me we're talking about, so of course there were LOTS of tears involved there). We found a beautiful house with a garage & a fenced-in yard, & everything just fell into place. Almost like it was supposed to work out that way. My husband's new employers were unbelievably patient with us as we tried to get everything purchased, packed, & settled.
My husband started his new job with Harley Davidson this week, & I'm posting from our new kitchen while our son watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. And what about my job? Well, despite how much I loved being a full-time manager, I decided I'd like to have more time for my family, and for myself. After we get a little more settled, I'm going to look for something part-time, & we'll put our son in daycare for the first time ever.
So here we are at last! Enjoying our new views :)
