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| Palm Springs CA |
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| Alexandria MN |
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| Gig Harbor WA |
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| Pagosa Springs CO |
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| La Quinta CA |
Cardiff by the Sea ~ Palm Springs ~Idyllwild ~ Cardiff by the Sea ~Carlsbad ~Palm Springs ~ Alexandria ~ Alexandria ~ Bonsall ~ Pagosa Springs ~Gig Harbor ~ Kirkland ~ La Quinta.
We have packed up and moved 12 times in our 32 years of marriage. Most were by choice and a few were work related. Most of our friends say maybe 3-5 times in their life and dont understand why so many for us especially by choice. I found photos of a few of our homes and should really make an effort to add the rest! What an eclectic group they are!
I think most people also think of it as a character flaw to move so many times. A true sign that we are never happy or content and always looking for greener grass. I think of it as brave and empowering...we are not afraid to start over and stand all alone in a strange town. I find joy in discovering new friends, new shops and new favorite places to hang out. I love strangers because I dont know their stories yet and I enjoy listening to their lives be shared. I love to explore and try new things and when you move each town offers exactly that. I have always loved rearranging furniture because it made it feel like somewhere new each time. I have a son that would beg me to change his room for him and I would. J finally asked me to stop because he would trip in the dark coming home from work not realizing that chair had moved! I am in a house now that has few walls and there are simply no options for change. My back is probably more than happy about that!
My favorite homes have been the small simple ones and the ones in the midst of nature. Lakes, mountains, beach, forests...all make you wake just to see what the day has to offer. My least favorite homes have been in developments with too many rules, too little privacy and too much neighborhood drama. I would like to still own 3 of the 12 homes but we could never afford to not sell to move on. I dont know if our future holds number 13 because we cant seem to visualize packing up again. Its strenuous work at this age and its difficult to know where to go next!
I do believe with all my heart each home, each town, and each new friend along the way has helped make us the people we are today. None of our sons have been afraid to take a chance or try something new. I think that was our legacy to them, to follow your dreams and listen to your heart. Those moves were our journeys, our teachers, our lessons, and our heartaches together. We grow with every new experience and so how can taking chances be a mistake? Home is where the heart is and our hearts have wandered the path of gypsies. I for one am thankful I found someone willing to take a chance over and over with me.
Thanks for dropping by.
Hi! you sure have been prolific this month, I love it.
ReplyDeleteI have had the move around thing as a part of my life...not to the same extent as you guys but still much more than the rest of my friends and family. Dean and I 5 moves, then I moved to be with Neal in Ashland, then Neal and I two more times.....that's a lot now that I think about it.
I have to post in batches because my google somehow loses my long posts;)
ReplyDeleteAny way, what I wanted to say is this.....I feel that there is a ton of growth and experience one gains from living in different areas, esp different states! I love the fact that my brother. Jim, is still in Walnut Creek and shops at the same grocery store from our youth and the same friends etc. A part of me feels like that is also a little stagnant for a life time. Neals mom was in the same house for nearly 50 yrs. She said to me once "I'm not like you, I don't like to move around a lot" I told her that it's not that I "like" to move around a lot, it just happened to be what was necessary in my life and I embraced it. I look forward to getting back 'home" one day, makes being away even sweeter.
the fact that Neal and I have rented in WI and now MA makes it much easier to be nimble. We may rent again in PC before settling back in our house in Ashland. I LOVE it! I don't feel homeless at all knowing our little cottage is waiting for us in OR. We dream about all the little things we want to do to fix it up when we return. Life is a mystery, so much fun and so much to see and do before we are old.
ReplyDeletexoxo cuz!
I have friends that have stayed in Santa Cruz their whole lives and live in houses they bought in their 20s. Their parents live there, their kids and their grandkids live there. I find myself wondering what that must feel like to be a member of such a tight knit clan. It seems with progress families have spread across the country and no one thinks anything of flying to be together. Like Jim to feel a part of a town and know everything about it must be so comforting. When my dad left our definition of family greatly changed and Santa Cruz eventually stopped feeling like home. I guess it all comes down to individual comfort levels...some feel better staying put with roots and some thrive on the freedom of choices.
ReplyDelete