Ch-ch-changes

Garreth and I have been married 14 years, and in those 14 years we have moved 12 times. Some were moves to cheap or free housing in college, some were big moves to different states. After graduating from USU, we averaged about two years in one place before packing up and leaving it behind. When this is your lifestyle for 14 years, you start getting a little antsy staying in one place too long.

With the exception of Washington (where I would have been content to live out the rest of my days), after about 18 months in one place, I start fantasizing about possibilities.

There's always the overseas fantasies, the country I'm dreaming about usually being the last one featured on House Hunters International.

But there are other dreams.

The one where we sell everything we own, find Garreth a job doing something on a computer that can be done from anywhere, buy an RV, and travel the globe... while I patiently homeschool the children.

The one where we learn to sail and live on a boat, having adventures while traveling the globe... and patiently homeschooling the children.

The one where we move to a cabin on a river high in the mountains, miles from civilization, and grow our own food and live off the land... still patiently homeschooling the children, but sacrificing global travel (and my vegetarian lifestyle) for the sake of living purely and simply.

These are the fantasies that generally run through my mind every few years.

But something has happened to my gypsy desires. (Advancing age?) Now my dreams are of settling down. Of being in one place forever. Of buying a house and putting hours of work and thousands of dollars into it and actually sticking around to enjoy it, instead of selling to someone else. Of having my kids be able to say they are "from" somewhere.

My dreams now are of putting down roots.

Before moving to Wyoming almost two years ago, we knew that it was not our final destination, but merely a means of leaving a bad job and getting a foot in the door of a really great company, one where Garreth could advance in his career, appreciated and well-taken care of. We also knew that two hours of commuting daily were not what we wanted for our family. We have enjoyed our time here, have loved seeing our kids grow with good friends, good schools, and good sports programs. I have loved being so much closer to my family, and loved the friends we've made here in Rock Springs.

Like every single move we've made, we have not regretted our decision to come here. Everywhere we've lived has shaped our family in some way. But years ago, we set a deadline for ourselves, that by the time Grace started junior high, we would give up our nomadic ways. We needed to find somewhere with enough oil and gas jobs that Garreth could still work towards his career goals without the family needing to move. We always thought that Houston would be the place, although I never felt true peace about it. A particularly hot and muggy day last summer confirmed that we are just not nice people in the heat, and a trip back to the Washington coast confirmed to us that we are indeed Northern people.

And so last fall, we decided on another place, one that fit our family perfectly, and one that filled us with peace just thinking about it. And so it is with great excitement that we announce:

We are trading antelope for moose...
and moving to Anchorage, Alaska!