Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

The folks on Facebook know this already, but our family is facing big changes: We are heading back to Utah!

The pros:

• We are moving back to be close to family.  
• We will be close to a lot of dear friends.
• We are getting out of Illinois just as the huge income tax hike hits.  
• We are getting rid of a lot of stuff we don't need anymore.
•  We get to be by mountains again!
• We will be close to National Parks and wide open spaces and real hikes and fresh air! 

The cons:

• Clark is unemployed.  This is the reason for the move - we can't afford to live in our current situation for very long with no income.  We would be flat broke in no time.
•  We have to pack up all the stuff we still need.
• We have to drive across the country with said stuff.
• We have to change all the things: addresses, schools, doctors, dentists, health insurance, auto insurance, utilities, etc.  This means making phone calls.  Phone calls = torture.  Can I just fill out the form online?  Text you my information?  Write a letter?  ANYTHING BUT A PHONE CALL.  (Now you all know why I never call you...)
• We have to say goodbye to our dear friends here.

So you see, I have some mixed feelings about this.  Perhaps my faithful readers will remember when this happened before, back in 2013?   That was a lot harder than this.  This time around we had some advance notice, so we had time to make a plan.  Moving in with your parents might not sound like the best of plans, but I'd contend that any plan is better than none.  Also, I love my parents, and I'm actually excited to live with them again.  And this time, Clark is focusing all his job-searching efforts in Utah, which is where we want to be. 

I cannot believe that those words have come out of my mouth, but they have.  I want to live in Utah again.  I recognize there are some hard things about living in Utah.  I can see all the growth our little family has made living here in the Midwest, far from our extended families, and we have loved our time here.  But that pull of living close to family is strong, even stronger than my aversion to some of Utah's quirks.  And the desire to show my kids some of the things I experienced growing up is pretty strong too.  Places I went as a kid (like Yellowstone and Bryce Canyon and San Diego and camping in the mountains) are pretty far out of reach right now.  Moving west gives us a chance to explore a new section of the country together.  And that thrills me more than you know.

We almost hit 4 years here in Illinois.  I was not excited about living here at first.  It took me 6 months to warm up to a state of non-dislike, and another 6 months to actually like it.  While it's still not my favorite place we've lived, I've grown to love a lot of things.  Like the people.  And the . . . grocery stores?  Ok, mostly the people.  We have made dear friends here and we will be sad to leave them.  But on the whole, we are excited about this change, and that makes everything, even the phone calls, a little easier.