Letters From The Heart

Warning, this is an overly sentimental blog post, so continue at your own risk! 

I've begun many posts over the last couple of weeks, but there is so much going on that it all sounded very disjointed.  So instead, I decided to write small letters to my family, so that we can remember in the future, how this move felt to us all!

Dear L,
You have perhaps grown up the most since we've lived here.  You started Kindergarten here and went from being a baby to being a boy.  You are such a homebody and would be happy for us all to stay home together every day and snuggle on the sofa watching TV.  You are so happy being with our family and your brother is really your best friend.   Our neighbors' girls have also been a huge part of your life here (and all of ours).  I love seeing you play with them and treating them so nicely and respectfully, I truly think they have made a mark on you that will last for your lifetime.  You are not really a fan of the outdoors, but these girls always make you want to actually go outside and play, which is fabulous!  You tried some sports, but are more interested in the snacks than in actually playing!  But L, you are truly AMAZING at building lego and solving puzzles.  Age recommendations are meaningless when it comes to you.  Your concentration levels are incredible and you will sit down for as many hours as it takes to build something.  You excelled at Robotic Lego Camp which you absolutely loved, your attention to detail is so much more than I could ever give.  You are devoted to your big brother, as he is to you.  When he cries, you cry.  When he is upset, you are equally as upset, if not more.  Your commitment to each other always makes me emotional, and again, I'm sure it will last for your lifetime.  At 7 years old, you are already talking about when you and C will live together both during and after college!  Although you have grown up a lot, you are still incomplete without your 'blankie' from Korea.  That brown, furry thing grosses me out, but you are seldom without it.  I love seeing you first thing in the morning, said blankie wrapped around your shoulders.  It has traveled to so many different places with us, probably more places than the average person!  And even though you're not too excited about outdoor activities, you like nothing more than to go camping as a family, and hang out by the campsite all weekend.  It will be tough for you leaving your friends and your teacher here, and I know there will be tears shed, but L, I know that ultimately you will be fine because of your love of us all being together. xxx


Dear C,
My tender hearted boy!  I think it's going to be the most difficult for you when we leave Tennessee.  You have loved and enjoyed all our experiences here and have become a thoughtful, clever and sporty boy.  You are so kind and considerate to everybody.  When your brother hurts, you hurt more because you care about him so much.  You are so concerned about the well being of others and you are equally as happy with your boy friends as you are with your girl friends - especially our neighbors' girls who you love like sisters.  You are the sporty one of the family.  It's true that you can fall over fresh air and are a wee bit clumsy sometimes, but when you're participating in any kind of sport, a change comes over you and you are one with whatever it is you are doing!   Basketball, gymnastics, you name it.  You excelled at soccer as soon as you started playing.  So much so that we signed you up for Strikers last year, something that you love passionately and are totally committed to.  You watch the Premier League on TV, you memorize the pages of the Match books and comics that Granny and Papa send to you, and you can answer any question about soccer players and teams worldwide.  You practice constantly in the yard.  You get so anxious before your games which kills me, as I know how much you actually love playing, but hopefully you will grow out of that!  You absorb everything at school and I rarely have to help you with your homework.  So much so, that your teacher wants to have you tested for being gifted.  You are already sad that you will be leaving your friends, your teacher, your beloved Strikers and your amazing coaches, but I know you will quickly get used to life in Seattle.  Your heart will break saying goodbye C, but you know that at least, you are moving with your best friend - your brother.  I have thoroughly enjoyed watching every one of your soccer practices and games and look forward to more at our new home! xxx,


Dear A,
You have grown up so much since we moved to Tennessee, but thankfully, you are also still my little girl.  You are sweet, helpful and always happy to help around the house.  You love nothing more than to make everyone's beds and make us all breakfast.  You took over responsibility for the dog here - feeding her and taking her outside - not once have you complained, even when it's raining!  Although you do like to wind your brothers up sometimes, I know you love them and always look out for them. They don't know it yet but they're extremely lucky to have you as a big sister.  I love watching you with our neighbors' little girls, you love them like sisters and are always happy to play with them, despite the age difference, which matters not a jot to you!  You would play outside every minute of the day if you could and you just love hanging out with your friends.  In fact, you experienced your first big girl sleepover here with another of our neighbors who you are also going to miss!  We feel blessed that you are such a "go with the flow" girl.  You admit that you're going to be sad leaving here, but you are also truly excited for our next adventure.  You've matured so much since we've been here.  You're very responsible and you actually love going to school - I sure hope that lasts!   Your confidence has also grown here, firstly through gymnastics, and then you discovered something you are very passionate about and excel at - karate!  I'm so proud when I watch you execute your katas and moves, and you pay such close attention to your sensei (unlike your brother)!  You were selected for the Demonstration Team and loved performing your moves at various venues around town.  We so enjoyed coming to watch you!  You also began yoga classes which brought you to a love of yoga, just like your Mummy.  You are definitely a rule follower and everyone you come in contact with, comments on your beautiful manners, your good behavior and your sweet nature.  Daddy has been gone for most of this move and you've helped me out so much.  I will be forever grateful for you A, thank you for everything you do, every day xxx

Dear J,
I'm not going to lie, I was very skeptical about moving here when you retired from the military and took a job with Amazon.  I'd never even heard of Murfreesboro and didn't really know much about Tennessee apart from country music and Nashville!  It was kind of scary that we were going to be miles away from the nearest base and there would be no more shopping at the commissary or the BX.  But...  I can't even begin to say how proud I am of you and how grateful and happy I am with our life together.  You sucked up several months on night shift which was hard on all of us, but we managed and made the most of it.  Daytime dates were actually fun!  We had fantastic weekends exploring the countryside in and around Murfreesboro and took the kids on several hiking, boating, camping and mountain biking adventures.  You would always surprise us with some new place you wanted us to visit, and we have had so much fun being tourists and exploring.  You have worked your ass off (as usual) and you were promoted after your first year with Amazon.  You then went on to be promoted again just before Christmas last year which led us to this move to Seattle.  You are so committed to us, your family, that it still amazes me.  We are truly a team and I love that our best friends are each other.  Although I'm sad to be leaving our friends and our life here in Tennessee, I am also excited for our new adventure - and we have already been amazingly lucky to have had so many adventures in our life together!  I've missed you over the last month and I'm so excited for us all to be together again and begin our new chapter.  Love always xxx

So my friends, there you have it for this week.  Yes, I'm an emotional wreck!   Tennessee friends, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the amazing friendships and experiences we've had with you all.  Not only have you made this place one of our most favorite places we've lived in, you also made our transition to life in the civilian world so very easy, thank you so much!  We love you all and hope to see many of you again in the future.  Till next time... xxx

Thoughts on moving so far...

Thankfully I'm used to moving every couple of years from our time in the military.  It's actually enjoyable for me to declutter and dejunk the house.  Seattle is going to be a lot more expensive than here, and our new house will be half the size of our Tennessee McMansion, so Goodwill and the dump have had several visits already on my quest to have a minimal amount of 'stuff'.  Our family of 5 fit into a 3 bedroom apartment when we lived in Korea, we managed fine and it was actually very liberating living in a smaller space than we were used to.  Less crap means less cleaning and less stuff to tidy up which is never a bad thing!

Some places we've lived, it took several months before we truly settled.  It was different here.  It was so easy to settle down, get in a routine, make friends and get on with life.  It could have been so much worse - this was the first place we lived when the husband retired from the military, so it was definitely a leap into the unknown, but it was totally painless, mostly thanks to the lovely people of Murfreesboro!  

Seattle is a huge distance from here.  Huge, as in it might as well be an international move (we've done a few of those too!)  Plus, seeing as I'm not from America, it might as well be an international move because it will be very different from Middle Tennessee!  So far in the US, we've lived in North Dakota (yes, it was freezing in the winter, but the people were lovely), South Dakota (one of my favorite places in the world), and Virginia (not one of my favorite places in the world) and here in Tennessee.  The Pacific North West will be a complete change of scenery and pace from Murfreesboro for sure.

We were really worried about how the kids would react to moving, so we made them a power point presentation about Seattle (which most of you have probably already seen on Facebook), talking about beautiful scenery, wildlife, crab legs and camping in teepees!  They watched it, were silent for a few seconds and then started screaming with excitement.  Now the hard thing will be to live up to the hype we created!

Things are happening very quickly.  The realtor has already taken the photos and put the "Coming Soon" sign up in the yard, the house has been inspected, the moving company have been to see how much crap we have and we've told pretty much everybody we know that we are moving.  I'm not really looking forward to the day that the house goes on the market because it's not fun trying to hide all evidence of family life - 3 kids and a dog, at a moment's notice to make the house look good for showings.  It's also going to be heartbreaking saying "see you later" to all of our friends here, but I'm not going to think about that until the day comes.  And anyway, I do believe it will be "see you later" and not "goodbye"!

A lot of people can't believe we're still moving around after leaving the military, but we're not ready  just yet to put down roots anywhere and we're fortunate that the husband's job has many opportunities for us in different locations.  It's an adventure and we're very lucky we get to still do this in the civilian world.  Without going into too much detail, it's been a lot easier to move as a civilian so far.   Way less paperwork and chasing around after signatures!

So for now, we're house hunting in and around Seattle, trying to suss out good schools, karate clubs, soccer clubs and all that you need to know when you move with young children.  I'd be lying if I said I haven't been looking at all the Hot Yoga studios for myself too :)  We actually don't have too much time before we leave, so it's all a bit of a whirlwind, but I'm hopeful it will all turn out fine.  I'll keep you posted!