Catch up Post #1 - Leaving Virginia

I'm starting to catch up and I want to keep a bit of a record of our move so I'm going to start at the beginning.

The night before we left Virginia (a place I'm still pining for right now) we slept on cushions provided by our wonderful neighbor (thank you M!) and sleeping bags. None of us slept well and we were up at 5 am. We got everything clean and out to the car by 7:30 and we locked up and bid farewell to our townhouse. :( I took the kids to McDonald's for breakfast (a rare treat - I'm not a fan of fast food breakfast) and then took B to his last day of school. E and I spent 3 hours running our last few errands - the housing office (AGAIN), something to do with our car, and my memory has already failed me. But I remember that it was 3 things that I was a bit concerned about being back at school on time since it was a short day (about 2 hours). Then we picked B up and headed to NY. The good news is that the drive to NY went really well. The kids were good despite the fact that at the very beginning of our cross country journey our DVD player didn't seem to be working. I messed with it a bit and got it to work part way to NY. We arrived in better time than anticipated and were able to enjoy a relaxing evening with my parents and some great time in NY.

The emotions of leaving are something very different than my past experiences. Leaving NY the first time was scary but I knew we'd be back to visit a lot because my parents are there. Plus Brian and I had been living apart so it was a joy to be moving in together again!

Leaving Kansas was strange. I loved our time in Kansas. I had fantastic friends and have many wonderful memories. But the end was tough. I was so sick and everyone was moving around the same time so it just seemed to be time to move on. We were excited for our next adventure and to get settled before E was born.

Leaving Indiana had sad moments. Saying goodbye to S, J, C, and M was HARD on all of us. And leaving a church family that we really enjoyed was sad. But we were so excited to move to VA. We were moving so much closer to family and I already had some friends there (R, M, H, and K - I miss you all!) which really helped us settle in a bit faster and feel at home.

Virginia became home faster than anywhere else that we lived. We really were comfortable there. We made amazing friends there. We built a community around us. We had support. We had family that could get there easily. My brother-in-law even moved with in 2ish hours of us and we got to see him and his girlfriend frequently.

The adoption community that surrounded us made me feel like our child would be surrounded by Korean culture and other children who had the same background. What a comfort! We actually had extended family come visit us during the time we lived there. K, S, G and G - we miss you and your kids so much!

The program at school that my son was in was PERFECT for him! He was doing awesome there! He had great friends! He misses L and K a lot! My daughters preschool made me happy just to be there it was such a warm, loving, happy environment and I had friends there. She still tells me that we should move back to VA and not ever move again. Poor baby is struggling with this move.

I could go on and on. Our whole family has never been more at home anywhere. We knew eventually we'd have to move but to find out how soon it would be, and suddenly find out it would be without our child home from Korea, and that the room I'd prepared for him (or her) wouldn't be used, and that we'd not only be moving away from this community but as far away as you could get from the Northeast where we have family was a blow. This is the first move that took me away kicking and screaming (in my head). I have tried hard to have a good attitude. I am so thankful for my husband's job, I am so thankful that we're together as a family, I am so thankful for so many things, but this was an emotional blow. It still is to an extent but we're settling in and I know we can enjoy it for a couple of years.

We've had friends who have kept in touch (facebook is such a wonderful thing), we've even had my son's best friend keep in touch and he has amazing parents who are so supportive and helpful! I am so thankful, and I don't think I can express that enough to them!

When I picked B up from school that day and drove away I had tears in my eyes, but it was time to move on. I can't wait to go back, but I'm trying to enjoy the journey. I want to document this trip b/c traveling cross country was an amazing experience with the kids. The trip was also filled with so much emotion that I know I can't fully separate that from the experience. But this was the hardest part. Leaving. Next I'll share more about NY and NJ visits. :)