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Hi there! It’s been a while. I have been so busy with my Etsy shop and with moving prep that I haven’t been able to blog. I’m so glad to be back to day.
Well, we’re all set to move for the second time this year. I wish I could say this is the first time we’ve moved twice in one year. But it’s not. I’m so exhausted from moving!
This is our fifth military move in a little over the 7 years we’ve been married. It’s our sixth move in 7 years when you count the move we did earlier this year from DC to Maryland. I worry about uprooting M so much – this is going to be the third place she’s lived by the time she’s 17 months old. But that is a whole other blog post topic.
We thought we would be in DC for two or three years – and we had high hopes of making that even longer. But things changed, as they always do with military life. And, of course, they changed just as I was becoming comfortable in DC. Just as I was really starting to feel like I had a support system. And literally, just as two of my friends from Hawaii moved here with their babies.
Earlier this year, we moved from DC to a rural area in Maryland, mainly to save money. It was exhausting moving on our own, but we had a lot of help from family. Just as we started to get settled in, just as I was starting to get into a routine with M, the pandemic hit. The one thing I kept telling Nick during the beginning of the pandemic was, “well, at least we’re not moving!”
When Nick started talking to the detailer a few months into the pandemic, the person who figures out where people are moving to, it became clear that we would have to move. But we thought we had another year here. After a couple of months of back and forth, we were finally told that we would be moving to Colorado next spring. And I was okay with that. Just a few hours later, we found out that we had just a few months to move. That’s how fast things change in the military. And I just wasn’t prepared for that.
I’m not okay with this move for so many reasons. And I am okay with not being okay with it.
I’m worried about the pandemic, obviously. I know that I won’t be able to make any friends when we move to Colorado, during a pandemic, during the winter. No one is looking to introduce new people into their germ-pods, including me. We won’t be able to see family for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I think it will be a long and lonely winter. And the longer the pandemic goes on, the more holidays and time with family I will miss.
I am not in a good place with this move. But one thing I decided to do is instead of focus on the loneliness, instead of spiraling downward, instead of focusing on on not having friends, on not having family nearby, I’m going to focus on what I do have. Nick and M.
Nick will be working from home (funny how we have to move all the way to Colorado for him to work from home!), and I am a stay-at-home mom to M. I am going to just focus on the uninterrupted time I get with her and be thankful that we can all be safe and home. I cannot complain about a single thing when I put it into that perspective.
M is at such a fun age and thinks I am the coolest. I am going to soak in every moment with her that I can because when in my life will I ever get this much time with her? I’m going to focus on her, and on my Etsy shop, and hope that I can turn this time into something positive instead of something to “get through.” Because who knows how long this pandemic will last? It started when she was 8 months old and she’s now 16 months old.
I guess that’s why I’ve been posting so much about activities I’ve been doing with M on my Instagram account (@findingithaka). Spending quality time with her, planning things for us to do together, is what is keeping me sane. And it can’t be good for M to just do the same things every single day, so I try to mix it up.
I do need breaks and friends and family and other adults to talk to, I know that. So I hope that by the time spring or summer comes, we can start venturing out and seeing and meeting people. I’m just going to do the best I can to stay positive for M because if I start spiraling I know that can’t be good for her. And it’s not good for me.
So, it’s been a crazy few months as we got ready to move with a baby during a pandemic. As Nick and I were planning out how we would move from Maryland to Colorado, I had an idea to buy an RV so that we could take a long road trip out to Colorado and to explore the area on the weekends. It seems like it’s just so beautiful out there and there are so many places you can take an RV to. After a lot of research and debating, we decided to get one! I’ll talk more about it in my next post because I’ve already written a novel here. Thank you for reading and for sticking with my blog even when I go two months without writing. It means so much to me.
Have you moved during the pandemic? Any tips for me?
Your resilience is amazing. I would be breaking down, frustrated, depressed, angry… I know you’re feeling all those things sometimes, but you haven’t shutdown or spiraled which is AMAZING. M has one physically and mentally strong Mama. I’m glad you’ll get to soak in Nick and M time in Colorado. I hope you feel at home very quickly and the pandemic starts to ship out so you can create a physical network of people. Praying for you all! And I’m going to send you my phone number through IG so you can call, text, whatever ANY TIME (or not at all if you don’t want to!) because I know you’re needing some serious mama adult company!!
I’m excited you’ll be closer to Bree and I and I can’t wait to hear about your adventures in an RV!
I hope that your move goes smoothly. I cant imagine having to move somewhere new so soon again with a baby and all. But I am sure you will find the good in it. Some RV adventures sound like fun too!
I’m late to this post, but I loved seeing your RV experiences on your way to CO. I know it’s tough and you want to scream and shout, but I’m glad you’re focusing on the silver linings. And believe it or not, you can still make friends during a pandemic! Being in NYC, I do have my parents, but I do need friends. I’ve started making friends through joining FB groups specific to NYC. It’s obviously not the same, but… And think of the friends you have made through blogging… 😉