September Stress

I don't even know where to begin... the month of September and part of October was full of craziness. For those who don't know, we've experienced a broad range of emotions related to a potential move.

Nick was approached just over a month ago about a position in Denver, Colorado. We've always known that moving is a possibility with his career, but until it's a reality, it's hard to know how it will affect you. I think I went from being in denial, thinking there was no way it would happen, to being sort of excited about a new adventure (I guess I thrive on change), to being nostalgic about our "home" in Des Moines, to being content with the idea of moving, to being sad about leaving our family and friends, to being confused when things weren't working out and finally to being glad, yet disappointed when things fell through... all the while feeling an enormous amount of STRESS! I really don't think I can adequately describe my feelings throughout the whole process. I don't wish this amount of stress on anyone. I felt nauseous for three and a half weeks straight (now maybe I can empathize with women who experience morning sickness, I guess...). I'm just happy it's all behind us... for now.

Nick and I did get to make a quick trip out to Denver as a part of this process, though. If we do ever have to move again, we did fall in love with Denver (next time, just make it worth our while, people!:)). It's beautiful, the weather can't be beat and everyone who lives there seems to love it. We just wish we would've been able to enjoy our "vacation" more... instead of spending our time looking at houses and at the office for Nick!:)

The more we talked to people, the more small world connections we found out there and the longer we were there, the more we could see ourselves living there. I think that's what made the whole thing sort of disappointing. I really started to see us making a life there- areas we would want to live, things we would do as a family, friends we would hang out with. Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy to stay put- we have our schedule, our traditions, our core group of family and friends. Things like finding a new church,figuring out how we'd make it back for the holidays, finding a good babysitter- they all seemed like daunting tasks, but we really thought it was going to be our reality.

At the very least, this experience was a good wake-up call for us to count our blessings and realize how truly grateful we are to have such amazing people in our lives and to live relatively close to most of our family.