Go, Pack, Go!

For ten years Wisconsin has been my home.  I always thought of myself as "not from Wisconsin." When I lived in Idaho I always thought of myself as from Pennsylvania, and when I lived in Pennsylvania I was a kid and it seemed home.  The move from Erie, PA was the most difficult, it came at an awkward age (13) and felt the most jarring in my life.  My other moves I was too young to realize what was going on or too ready to move on to mind.

In 1983 we moved to Pennsylvania, In 1993 we moved to Boise, Idaho.  In 2003 I left Boise after I finished college and moved to Wisconsin in what I thought was a temporary move.  So when 2013 rolled around, I recognized the signs (and the threes) and knew that if ever there was a time to go this was it.

Nick and I have been kicking around the idea of leaving Milwaukee for quite some time.  His job had sort of stagnated and I have been feeling the much talked about "burn out" in my job for over a year.  So we started creating opportunities for ourselves to move.  I applied for a teaching license in Minnesota and Nick continued his job search in the Twin Cities--a place we deemed big enough to suit modern architecture, good school districts (for me and for Callah) and progressive and diverse enough to please all of us.

We have been here in Minnesota for a week.  Since Nick hasn't started his job yet and the apartment we are renting has a pool, it feels a bit like we are on vacation.  We've been exploring our surroundings, eating out and stopping for coffee at a new cafe each morning.  I've mastered my corner of the world (apartment to Target, apartment to Trader Joe's, apartment into the city and back again).

I imagine when it all sets in the reality of the situation--leaving our friends, our home and our jobs will settle in and start to bring anxiety, but for now Nick and I cautiously ask each other every day, "did we do that right thing? Are we happy? Is this good?"  And the answer as I sip my ice coffee and kick my toes in the pool is, yes. It's right because we did it, because we're here and we're together.