Our journey began in Alabama. Where Jeff & I were able to live in the same city for the first time in our long-distance romance. While navigating our young relationship, he was navigating the sky while learning to fly helicopters for the Army.
Leaving Alabama was easy. We were so excited to get to Colorado.
We settled into our first home, a 100-year-old home with pink walls & creaky floors, & so much warmth & love. We welcomed our tiny Mila into that home. It broke our hearts to say goodbye to the dear friends we made in the Springs. We planned to leave in the morning, but we couldn’t bear sleeping in our empty house one more night, so we tore the band aid off & left that night.
Next was Missouri. During my first run in the neighborhood, I was chased by dogs & found a litter of feral kittens in the woods. There was an adjustment period at first, but we fell in love with those old Missouri Ozark hills. The Roubidoux Creek & the Big Piney River became our playgrounds. Without a doubt, the sweetest part of living in the Ozarks was living a few hours from my family.
Another heart wrenching goodbye, but we were excited to head to Arizona. We moved to the foot of one of southern Arizona’s sky islands—the Huachuca Mountains. Down there in the sea of desert these small mountain ranges rise up like islands in the sky. After spending many miles running in the mountains while carrying him in my belly, we welcomed Beck into our family. It was our first time living on a military post & we leaned hard into the community.
I wasn’t ready to leave, but it was our time. And that move led us to Massachusetts. It’s been the most challenging transition so far. Leaving our military support system, moving during a pandemic, & swapping tall mountains for tall buildings. Jeff’s out of the Army & his grad school program has come to an end. Here we are on the verge of our first move that we’ve chosen for ourselves. We’re intensely grateful for all the places we’ve lived, but we’re ready to put roots down. We’re so damn excited to be choosing our next direction.