Don’t get too comfortable

We made a crucial mistake. One that we should have seriously known better than to do. We got too comfortable.

It’s easy to do when you find a rhythm that works for you. Get up, go to work, come home, spend time with the kids, rinse and repeat. Maybe you take a trip somewhere. Maybe you trade in a 10-year-old car for a newer, shinier model. You apply for the promotion at work because really, the chances of moving for the next 12 months have plummeted. You start getting excited for the possibilities of the year ahead. You can take your time with locations unexplored, and your kids can move up to high school and middle school with their friends. You can breathe.

Silly, silly, silly me.

We’re moving. To England. In about three months.

Even as I type those words, the reality of it still hasn’t sunk in. I’m excited for the opportunity, ridiculously happy to be near sets of good friends that live an hour and an hour and a half away, and even happier that I won’t have to whip out Google translate when I go to a local restaurant. I know that I have many military friends that would love to seriously throat punch me, as this will be our fourth overseas assignment. With all my excitement, there’s still a piece of me that’s struggling. I’m a little heartbroken.

It’s easy to mask the feelings, to focus on the positives and put forth a brave face. But rarely do we confess the reality…I wanted to stay. Not because of the location (although who doesn’t love schnitzel and beer?), but because I’m selfish. A little over a year ago, I made the jump back into the workforce. After staying home with the kiddos for 11 years, I applied for a writer/editor position and was hired. I love my job. I love the people I work with, I love what I do, and after many years, I finally realize what I want to be when I eventually grow up. I was looking forward to the challenges in the year ahead. I knew I would have to leave at some point, but since the assignment window for the upcoming summer was almost closed, Husband and I moved forward with plans for the upcoming year. We bought tickets to California and Hawaii to visit family over the summer and started plotting out our last-chance spots for our remaining year in Germany.

Thank goodness for trip insurance.

Things happen for a reason, even if we have no idea why at the time. I know that this is bigger than me. It’s bigger than my family. The military is telling us that we are needed elsewhere, and it’s another really good opportunity for Husband, and ultimately, for us. We’ve already had people from the new location reaching out to welcome our family and help steer us in the right direction. There’s so much in the U.K. that we have yet to discover, and the E.U. is just a short hop away. I’m looking forward to the new and the unknown, and the excitement builds a little more each day. So with that, let the great purge of items begin. Bring on the boxes and packing tape. Just think of it as an adventure.