It seems like moving goes hand in hand with my relationship with Heather. We have never stayed in one house for more than two years. We have lived in Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, and Columbia - and multiple places in most of those areas. I have joked that it probably looks like we are avoiding the authorities. But that isn't true...as far as you know.
The thing is, I hate moving. I detest it. Just the thought of packing everything up into those freaking boxes and loading a truck is enough to get my blood pressure up. I don't even want to fully unload because I know we will just repack a few months later. The last move we actually hired a moving company to transport our junk. It cost an arm and a leg, but it was worth it. And I don't really use that arm or leg much anyway. We just packed everything and stacked it in the garage. They had to deal with carrying it up the stairs. Ugh stairs. Our propensity for moving has killed my love of two story buildings.
We are finishing our second year in South Carolina. I am a Florida native. My kids are third generation Florida natives. I really never thought we would leave the Sunshine State. But we did. Columbia has been a little bit of an adjustment. But it hasn't been too rough. They still have Publix as a grocery store; they have Mosquitos and humidity and storms. The SEC is still too important. There are horrible drivers. We still are on the East Coast. It was kind of an easy transition. Honestly, it was rougher being in Tallahassee than Columbia.
A few years ago, Heather and I had a conversation. We have not really shared it with too many people. We talked about how we both had this glimmer of a crazy dream. We wanted to move away somewhere different to a big city and really soak in the culture and opportunities there. It would be somewhere we didn't know people and would have to face things on our own. It would be scary, but exciting. I have no idea where that idea came from. I'm not traditionally the type of person that would up and move to a big city. But we have on several instances talked about this desire.
Today we found out where we are moving next. It was Fellowship Match Day. Heather was selected to go to Texas Children's Hospital / Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. So we are moving to Houston, Texas in July of 2016.
This is about as close as we will get to that secret dream we shared. It isn't up North, which is what I always pictured. But it is a BIG city - the fourth largest in America. We don't know anyone there. There are tons of things to experience. And it is totally different than what we have known so far. We love Texas. We have been there several times together and really liked it. Living there is a different story.
I know it isn't accurate, but when I picture Texas, I think of the stereotypes: oppressive heat, dirt, cowboys, cows, beef, BBQ. Houston is not the stereotypical picture of Texas. It is massive - both in population and land area. There is a thriving arts scene and large high-technology sector. There are towering skyscrapers. There is an entire Medical City where Heather's new stomping grounds are located. If you took the Medical City out of Houston and placed it somewhere as its own city, it would be the eleventh largest city in the country. That is huge! The hospital is ranked as the fourth best children's hospital in America. It is a great opportunity.
So we will be moving again. And we will be fulfilling a crazy dream we didn't really know was that important to us. But it was. I've always appreciated that we shared that thought, even though I never thought it would happen. But it is going to be the next chapter of our life. Always moving.
No comments:
Post a Comment