Goodbye.

We are officially on the road!!  So many feels right now.

Sad to say goodbye to family we have been blessed to live next to these last few years. Knowing we won’t be able to call them up and spur of the moment go to lunch or help each other run carpool when kiddos need to be everywhere at the same time.

Depressed to walk into each room of the house one last time checking for anything we might have left behind.  Seeing the kiddos rooms empty and imagining them sitting there on the floor with toys all around them playing together. Visiting the secret garden spot in the backyard where we buried our family dog Jordan and saying goodbye to him for the final time.

Heartbroken to shut the front door behind us one final time remembering all the hopes and dreams we had when we walked in that front door for the first time and fell in love, imagining the memories it would house for our family.  Envisioning Claire’s birthday when Santa Clause rang the doorbell and she absolutely couldn’t believe when she opened the door and saw that Santa really showed up to her party!  (Adorable video of Santa’s arrival)

Nervous that we may be doing the wrong thing.  Watching little ones start school and knowing Claire isn’t even enrolled yet.  We have a certain budget and timeline for our journey and once it is spent and our time is up, will we be any closer to finding our new home?

Anxious in finalizing all the details involved in selling a house. That something might go wrong or hold up the process of actually signing the papers and moving on towards the future.  Counting down the days until we can say “We closed!”

Joy for the new owner to make her own memories when she opens that front door for the first time as a homeowner.  Imagining her kiddo playing with the swing set we left in the backyard.

Anticipation of all we have in front of us.  Hours and hours (really way too many) of planning amazing ventures and researching towns that match our criteria.  What seemed like simply an idea, a dream of what we could do, and now its really happening, its not an idea.  As Claire asks me quite often, “Is this real life?”  Yes it is!!

Excitement for the unknown.  Looking towards where we will be in a month, and we truly have no clue.  It is cliché but really right now, the world is our oyster. Getting to learn about so many areas in the States and deciding where we want to put down our roots.

Empowered that we have the control to choose where we go and what we do.  We are not tied to a career we can’t leave, kids are not yet in grade school, and we are capable adults able to make our life exactly how we want and we actually get to make it happen.

Hopeful that the next weeks are going to be enlightening, full of firsts and amazing memories for our family.

Off to our first stop!!