today marks one year of being temporary texans.
after aaron accepted the position in dallas, we only had a week to pack up all our belongings and make the necessary arrangements to move our family 530 miles from “home.” our last day in kansas city was spent tying up all loose ends, dropping off our storage pods, and visiting with our dear friends over coffee before saying our goodbyes.
we had been awake for 18 hours, all go go go, when we finally loaded the car up and set off on our journey. it was past midnight, and our eyes were burning from the exhaustion. halfway through the drive, while the moon still hung high above in the sky and its comforting silver glow shone down upon us, a sleep-deprived tall man broke down; he pulled over at a rest stop, stepped out of the car, and we cried and cried.
there was so much changing all at once, and we hadn’t had any time to process what was happening. but in the middle of the night, when all is quiet and no one else is on the road, you’ve got nothing but time.
everything we had felt — everything we had been bottling up — finally came crashing down like a mighty wave, engulfing us.
and for a moment, we didn’t try to fight it; we let ourselves sink.
our emotional pit stop pushed our intended arrival time back just a bit, but we actually managed to make it in one piece (i had my doubts).
when we saw the state welcome sign and crossed over into texas, it didn’t feel real. the whole drive down, it seemed like we were on vacation and would soon be heading back “home.” but that’s not what was happening. this wasn’t a week-long getaway.
we were relocating.
we’ve spent the past 365 days learning a brand new city where we knew no one at all, and leaning on each other for strength more than we ever had before. aaron and i have gone on two dates this entire year. liam has talked to his beloved grandparents over skype (about a hundred times) more than he has in person.
being away from our family and friends has taken its toll on us.
but we made it — through the drowsy drive down, living in a cramped hotel room for a month with an active toddler, the longer hours and higher stress levels at work for aaron, having no one we trusted to watch liam in the state, and the financial strain — and we are better for it.
little joys 