a change of address

as last year, 2015, drew to a close Aaron & i seemed to have a lot of conversations reflecting on the year.  the type of conversations that run late into the night, when we should have been sleeping but could not stop talking.

 

it was a great year for us both, in so very many ways!  we, once again, moved across the county to a town we had never heard of, new jobs, new friends, saying good bye to friends that were like family, renting a house without ever seeing it (which turned out so much better than i could have imagined), missing the Turner seven, saying good bye to what we knew and looking forward to the unknown, welcoming back 4 seasons, saying good bye to the Texas heat, moving closer to the motherland (Canada), saying good bye to our routine that was just starting to feel like a routine, living in the land of 10,000 lakes (Minnesota) with our old trusty canoe Ginger (#ourcanoeGinger), starting new jobs…  this list could go on and on.  through all that changed last year, one thing stands out the most to me..  how much i love conversing with my hubby Aaron about our lives & the direction we came from and where we would like to go.

 

one of our late night/all night conversations was on living a life we want to – emphasis on ‘what we want’.  it is so very easy to follow what is expected of people in our age group, or what the social ‘norm’ is, or fall into the ‘keeping up with the Jones’ category..  have to admit that we felt like we had been aiming for a life that did not really suit either of us..  the funny thing is that we both thought that was super important to the other & had been compromising amongst ourselves, as we thought the other wanted it..  (not sure if this is or is not making any sense – i am a bit of a rambler..)  so deep into a very late night conversation about life, we both realized that we had been on the same page the whole time.  well on two counts, as we both are not scared to go against the grain & both truly care about eachother enough to sacrifice our instinct to make the other happy.  honestly laugh about how confusing that may seem, ha!

 

one of the ‘wants’ that we both hold dear to our heart is experience over materials.  meaning that we value unplanned road trips/surprising family that lives far away with a visit/mission trips to third world counties/camping under the stars/ traveling the world/etc..  more than a huge house, the latest gadgets, or expensive cars..  we admitted that we had been living a life that did not suit our desire to experience the experiences that we could not make due to the life we were living that did not fulfill us. more is not always better –  so we decided to change, starting with our address!

 

i realize those who have been keeping up with our change of address’ over the past three years will be silently cursing under their breaths.. as this move will make the 5th new address in 3 years.  never did i ever think that i would be such a home-hopper, ha!  i know what we can get for christmas gifts next year; address books  ;0)  all kidding aside, this was a strategic move.  we currently are living in a 5 bedroom house, that we do love, but there is only 2 of us.  we have found the cutest little cabin-turned-house less than 5 minutes from where we live. i have started calling it our little love shack, as it is considered a one bedroom..  but we are making a guest room in the basement – which comes with it’s own unique bathroom! (and no, its not a composting toilet – although that would be pretty neat) so please do come and visit! it is a lot smaller, but very well planned out & we are both stoked to be moving in at the end of the month.  having less (room/stuff) will give us more time/money to go and live the type of experience driven life we both crave to live.

 

 

thanks google street view for the photo!  did i mention that we love having visitors?