Only about a week left before California

We are in this limbo of cleaning, purging (still, so much purging to do!) and wrapping up so many last little details before we head to California. We are about a week away from leaving and it’s definitly not real to me yet. We actually have a family wedding coming up in the middle of all of this that is actually more of a stresser on my mind (still need to find shoes for my hobbit feet!) than this move. (If you knew how much my wide feet revolted against dress shoes, you would understand why shoe shopping would trump cross country move stress.) That, and I’m probably in total denial that this is all real. I’m crazy excited for our life in California, but it’s definitly a bittersweet move. I’ve lived here for almost forty years. (OMG, FORTY YEARS?!) There’s a part of me that’s embarressed I haven’t spread my wings earlier, but there’s this other part that is totally blown away by all that I will be saying goodbye too. (By the way, i’m not forty YET. Just had to throw that out there.)

John reminds me that it’s easy to see what you are losing, but it’s hard to see what you will be gaining. True, so true. I think about the different chapters I’ve closed out and opened in my life and yes, the transition from one to another can be a scary and sad time. But they’ve all led me to where we are now and it’s really, truly a very exciting time.

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One thing I wanted to talk about is that this is an adventure that feels like all of ours. Not John’s that we have hopped onto. (Granted, he IS the reason we are going, of course.) I’ve had a handful of friends mention to me that John should let me do whatever I want considering I’m moving to California for him. Like he owes me. I want to say that this was a 100% family decision to do this. If I wasn’t ok with this move, we wouldn’t be doing it. Actually, if my kids weren’t on board, I would be really struggling with this. But we are all in. We are scared, that’s for sure, but we are up for this adventure. Actually, the past year we’ve been working on a family brand or something kind of like a motto we call “Team King.” It’s when the going gets tough, we gang up together to face it, not seperate and fall apart.

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The first time I remember really relying on the idea of our family as a team was on the day that our beloved pug, Whisper, was passing away. It was the weekend of Christmas and John and I struggled all day to find a sitter so we could take Whisper to the hospital. We weren’t sure we wanted the kids to be there. Well, by 9 PM that night, Whisper was really sick and we were trying to call people super last minute to watch our kids so we could go without them and we finally just said, “We’re Team King, we’re going to all go to the pet hospital as a family.” So we did. We piled the kids in the car, heck, we even took our surviving pug, Stamp, with us and we all ended that chapter of our life together as a family. There was something empowering knowing we can all do something challenging together as a family. So as we face the idea of this new start, we are doing it as Team King and we are all in.

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So that’s what’s been going on in my head this week. I’m also trying really hard to clean out my drawers and dark closet corners so I don’t hate myself when I’m unpacking, but honestly, I’m mostly napping. I’m finding myself a bit emotionally overloaded these days and I can tell my system is a bit down. Oh and perhaps the new colony of cold sores on my nose would be an indicator of that. So I’m being kind to myself and I guess I’ll just have to deal with all my crap once I’m in CA.

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  • GailJune 11, 2014 - 9:41 am

    Ooohhhh I’m gonna miss you SO MUCH! But we are SO excited for Team King on their latest adventure and hope to one day come out and visit! Can’t believe (but really…I can… ’cause you guys are perfect for it) that you’re gonna be a Cali family!

  • Rachael KJune 11, 2014 - 11:10 am

    I can’t help with cross-country family moves. But I do know about shopping for impossible to fit feet. I still swear by Zappos. I just order ten pairs (when I’m in a hurry) and send them all back except the one that’s perfect 🙂 Hoping you enjoy some of the excitement and get a few moments of peace too!

  • Christy MartinJune 11, 2014 - 1:07 pm

    Love your blog… been following for a while. We’re in the same boat… In 1-week we’ll be saying goodbye to all of our friends, family and my photography business in ATL to start a “NEW ADVENTURE” in the country! I also just blogged ‘bittersweet’ yesterday… You’re right… That’s EXACTLY what it feels like! Love following your move!

  • Ruth YaroJune 11, 2014 - 4:23 pm

    So I know we don’t personally know each other and I’m a little sad I won’t get to meet you since we’re switching parts of the county, but I wanted to let you know that I’m excited for your family’s adventure and I hope everything goes amazing for you!

  • JillJune 11, 2014 - 9:32 pm

    Go Team King! I love it! What a wonderful way to begin your new chapter– excited and united! (I didn’t mean for that to rhyme, but it’s totally cool with me if you adopt that as the Team King mantra. 😉 I’m a dork… moving on.) I can’t believe you’re leaving so soon. It feels so unreal, but I am so happy for all of you. It’s going to be amAHzing!