The most intense week of the year and some BIG news-

Jack has just gone down for a nap. This is a good thing. It has been an intense week in our little lives, perhaps the most intense one of the year. Yes, actually it most certainly is. Not "bad" intense per-say, but certainly one full of mixed emotions.

If there is one truly on-going conversation that my family enjoys and rehashes on a weekly basis, it is the subject of moving to England. We talk about it, we dream about it and all of us for our own reasons have obstacles preventing us from doing so. Last week, Kyle and I sat down to another "oh I wish we could move already" conversation, the same one we've been having for about 8 years, when we finally just realized moving to England is a lot like having a baby. Yes I said "having a baby", hear me out... Before we had Jack we had been dreaming of a little one for a few years, the timing never seemed right, the bank account never seemed full enough and the fear of change kept us stagnant. Finally we realized, that there never would be a perfect time and if we waited and held off on our dreams, we'd most likely never see them actualized. And so Jack made his entrance into the world, and the timing was actually horrendous...we lost our business and our home the year he was born, we had some very, very hard times. The hardest times of our lives in fact, and yet through it all we looked at Jack with so much appreciation and love, because he was perfectly timed in his own way, to inspire us and to keep us moving forward.

Moving to England has become a dream that has been put off for too long, one we're no closer to than we were 8 years ago. And so, we've decided to just do it. Yep, we're moving to England and we're not waiting either- because last time we said "we'll move next year" was a few years ago...so instead we're moving in October, possibly September if we can pull it off in time. We've written out a very frugal budget, we've mentally prepared ourselves for an intense few months and we've even started the hard work of selling all our belongings until they are small enough to fit in a few suitcases, except our bikes of course! They are most certainly going with us, but my Vitamix didn't make the cut- which is proof that my bike is officially my favorite "thing". (Anyone want to buy my Vitamix?)

Emotionally I keep running back and forth between glee and terror, I feel like one of those balls in a pin-ball machine, one minute I'm imagining the joy of coastal living and eating chips covered with Malt Vinegar on a promenade overlooking the ocean and the next I'm imagining the realities of 6 suitcases, 2 bikes and a stroller being managed by sleepless parents and a cranky two year old whose just got off a 10 hour flight and is now expected to sit down for a 2 hour train trip...and that's just the trip, after that we have to find a place to rest our bones and the budget, being ever so tight does not allow for fancy hotels. But I do know, Kyle and I work like a well oiled machine when under exacting circumstances, and that we will pull it off, because we can and we have all the right reasons for doing so. I know I should probably take the time to share those reasons but nap time is almost over, and when the little one awakes my typing abilities tend to disappear. I apologize for my wordy, picture-less dialog that has been very un-bikey in nature, but I do hope you will keep coming back to join us on our journey...I have a feeling it's going to get exciting from here on out!