Too Much Moving: An Update

If you read the title of this post and thought I was complaining due to an achy back from packing boxes and scrubbing door jams late into the night, you are wrong.  I've packed a box or two, but life keeps calling and we go.  I think the hardest part about moving is the way the process of transition and packing (which I haven't figured out how to skip) seems to "steal" from the here and now.  So my tendency is to say yes to the invitations and road trips and can't quite buckle down to start the hard work of packing.  So today is my day.  After I finish this blog post.

I feel a little weird about our move--I mean, moves are always responsible for inducing a roller coaster of emotions, but this one feels really strange.  I've never been to Chicago, but then again, I had never been to Kazakhstan, either.  We are having to say goodbye to my parents, but then I've said goodbye to them before, and I never imagined I would live so close to them for 3 years, and that feels like a gift.  We've wanted the opportunity for Jeremy to get a PhD for almost 6 years, but we don't feel ready (I mean if I feel weird, that poor guy has to become proficient in German (snort) and be reading books that would put you and I to sleep in 30 seconds before the start of classes that are in like a month).  We had a hard time saying goodbye in Flagstaff, and now we are going to drive back through (headed in the opposite direction) and say goodbye again.  The list goes on and on.

(Yes, our cul-de-sac has been graced with a Christmas tree in the window all year long)

It's hard to decide what to do here in So Cal with the little time we have left.  The last two weeks have been filled with road trippin' with my mom (and dad)--we went to Palm Springs, my grandparent's (now my uncle's) ranch in Utah, and my sister's house in San Diego.  We have had rich times together, connecting with family and enjoying each other's company, but I still want to go to the beach a few times, go to an Angels game, visit Carlsbad, take our students somewhere fun, go to LA and see the space shuttle we never got to, etc.  And the kids' So Cal bucket list is like their favorite parks and local places and there are just too many to go do all of them!  PLUS all the people. I wake up calm in the morning for a few minutes and then I feel my blood pressure sky-rocket as I immediately feel seconds, minutes, hours, days, slipping away.  I think it isn't even necessary that we revisit all our favorite places--why can't I be satisfied with the good memory I already have of somewhere instead of thinking I need to rush to all those places "one last time" as if I'm a dog marking my territory?  It's hard for me sometimes, living in America with our charmed lives of entertainment and glorious weather (well okay, specifically CA on that one, Chicago not so much) and everything wonderful for our kids to do and we're constantly trying to store up good experiences...like good-experience hoarders.  But my kids are happy, we've been blessed, and now I am in danger of feeling cheated or dissatisfied all because I think of something fun I wish we could do and now we don't have time.  I have no deep thoughts or pithy statements about this phenomenon except to just state it as it is and then report back to you on how I got through it.  I did read in Psalm 90 this morning--and it was filled with statements about our times being in God's hands and our lives being fleeting, like a breath, and our dwelling place being with God and him establishing the work of our hands.  It was so applicable!  Which brings me to my next update: our plans for Chicago.

Our plans for Chicago are that we have had countless plans and have spent countless hours and many high-blood pressure moments pursuing said plans, and at this moment, we have 0% of anything about our upcoming move (on July 25th, I think) actually planned.  For those who might have missed it, we are moving to the Chicago area (because, see, I shouldn't even really actually be allowed to say Chicago because I never let Jeremy say we lived in LA because we don't, we live in Orange County, so now the same rule applies to me because we probably won't actually live in the city of Chicago but a suburb, so this is a touchy subject among city-dwellers and suburban folks so whatever), ANYWAY (this is totally an insight into how my brain works, if you ever wondered.  Can you imagine what it's like to be Jeremy?),we are moving to Chicago-ish for Jeremy to get a PhD at Wheaton College.  Everyone who has been to Wheaton loves it, but I haven't been there so I don't know much.  Except that there aren't mountains.  That stinks.

We "planned" to sell our house in Flagstaff ("The market's hot, houses are in high demand!" they told us) but that was a futile attempt.  Because we didn't sell our house in Flag, we decided we couldn't buy in Illinois, so we stopped spending hours looking for houses to buy and fix up and turn into an international student house like we have here in Fullerton.  We started looking at rentals, but there weren't a lot and we were all over the map with ideas of where we could live, how we could commute, how we could rent rooms to students, etc.  In the meantime, Jeremy's work gave him permission to stay on as a part-time employee, working remotely from Illinois, so that was an answer to prayer and a huge provision (well, depends on how you look at it--aren't we crazy for celebrating his pay being cut in half? :) ).  He went out there last week to look at rentals for us, and part way through the week changed gears and started looking to buy again.  What we can afford (hopefully) is quite "modest" (ahem), so our plans of housing students or living in some exciting part of town were edited, and now we are looking at small houses that need some fixing as near to Wheaton College as possible.  Pray for us to find the right house and to be able to close quickly!  We want the kids to be able to transition as smoothly as possible, and it would be great to know where they will be going to school.  I sent Jeremy off saying, "Spy on people's backyards, looking for trampolines and swing sets so we can live somewhere that the kids will have friends," and he did.

That's the crazy thing about doing research and trying to make a "plan" when moving to a new place.  You can't tell from Google street view (though believe me, we've tried) what the neighbors are going to be like or what experiences you are going to have.  Placentia, CA doesn't look that exciting on a map, but it was a great place to grow up, and for the past 3 years was where we had great neighbors and made so many new friends.   If we could just stop making new friends every time we move, this whole thing would be a lot easier!

I need to get off to cleaning and packing and fretting more about how to spend my last days here, but thanks for joining us on our journey.  Probably everyone reading this blog is a friend we've made along the way, and we value you and the impact you've had on our life, no matter how big or small it's been.  We love God and people, and we see God in you all--how you have loved us and supported us in our pilgrim life.  And whenever we settle down at home, wherever that is...you are welcome to come over!  Dinner's at 6.  (Except maybe not everyone at once because like I said, small house).