A New Year

Wow - I can't believe that I'm about to write a current post. Lately all I do is update from past events. Now that Christmas is over and the camera is getting a little rest, I have time to write and be in the present moment instead!

So, as you can tell from our holiday letter (if you didn't already know) we are expecting a lot of big changes in 2008. One big change is the addition of another baby to our family at the end of May, but that feels like a relatively small change in comparison to the other big change. Or maybe it's just because we've already been through a pregnancy & the addition of a baby, so it seems like something we've done before. I know every pregnancy & childbirth & baby is a unique experience, but it's easy to spend very little time & energy thinking & talking about it this time. Maybe it's due to the fact that Simon keeps us so busy that we don't have time, and maybe it's as much because I personally don't like a lot of attention if I can avoid it, so I just opt not to talk about it. I AM excited about it, and we are happy to celebrate that as of New Year's Eve we are at 20 weeks (halfway!) - I just would rather talk about Simon than my body & pregnancy.

The other big change isn't about my body, so I'm happier to talk candidly about it. :) This is the "Christmas surprise" I mentioned in the Official 2007 Christmas blog entry I wrote on Simon's blog. When my parents left us after a too-short visit in late-November, Adam & I began to talk more about family. When my grandmother in Washington state died a week later, we talked that much more about family & grandparents & relationships with long-distance versus close-by people. I was teary for most of these days.

But then we began to discuss the idea - "What IF we moved back to Grand Rapids?" Could we do it financially, emotionally, physically? What would it change? Would it be a good idea? What would we be moving away from? What would we be moving toward? And somehow, since the last time we had talked about "home" and where that might be, we had both independently come to the decision that Grand Rapids was home and we wanted to go back. This was a pretty shocking realization for both of us, as when we moved from Grand Rapids to Silver City 4 1/2 years ago we vowed we'd NEVER move back to Grand Rapids. Time & perspective & children change things!

So actually moving itself has been something we've talked about on & off for a few years. We really love it here and it's going to be super hard to leave, but we realized this isn't Home. A few years ago it was "we'll never move back to GR," then it was "maybe we'd move to Madison, WI or Chicago or within a half-day drive of GR," then it was "as long as we're not right in the city - we could do Hastings or Lowell or something a little more rural & small & it would have a similar feel." But after this most recent visit w/ my parents when we actually talked about GR with the idea "what IF Grand Rapids really could be our long-term home?" it began to feel really obviously right. We talked about the opportunities Grand Rapids provides - jobs, schools, fun things to do w/ kids - we talked about the economics of the area compared to here, we talked about family, we talked about friends & relationships that we'd be leaving or coming back to (or anticipating new), we talked about churches...and all the signs pointed to GR being a good choice. For the heart, mind & soul! :) So even though I'm on & off in tears about leaving (especially our best friends here...but it doesn't help that I'm pregnant, so I might be a little more emotional anyway), we're really really excited about it.

Both Adam & I had also independently come to a place where we both knew we wanted to stay put in life too. We were both raised in families that stayed in one place - my parents moved across town once when I was in middle school, but it didn't change my school or anything. And Adam's mom still lives in the home he grew up in. The idea of moving multiple times is not appealing to us, and neither of us are really jazzed about the idea of living in a small rural town thousands of miles away from family for the rest of our lives - and our kids only knowing grandparents as long-distance visitors. It just wasn't good enough, and we finally realized that without any “but”’s. As much as we love it here, there were far more reasons pulling us back Home than keeping us here.

Now that we're thinking about it & talking about it & putting the wheels in motion, we can't help but think of much else. We're looking at Silver City differently - almost as if we are tourists. Relatively long-term tourists, since by the time we leave we'll have lived here for 5 years, but tourists nonetheless. We've begun collecting boxes and withdrawing from a few things here - without trying to shut out local life too much. We sometimes play a “game” as we’re getting ready to go to sleep for the night – “Quick, off the top of your head – what are 5 things you’re most excited about in Grand Rapids?” Or the same, but 5 things you won’t miss about this place? Or 5 things you anticipate developing/creating at our new/old home?

And as it’s now a new year, it’s natural to start talking about goals & plans & resolutions for the upcoming year. Our New Year’s Day while Simon was napping we spent talking about what we want to look for in the house we buy in Grand Rapids. We talked about what rooms we require, what rooms we’d like but aren’t necessary, and what would be too much. We talked about yards & neighborhoods & floor plans. We envisioned our family, plus new baby, in a home in Michigan, just across town from most of our extended families.

Since baby #2 is due at the end of May, and we’re already planning on the annual Rozeboom family cottage vacation at the end of July, we’re hoping to relocate in the June/early July window to avoid (if nothing else) a few extra plane tickets. We’ll keep you updated on the progress. For now, we’re making a few changes to our house here in preparation for putting it on the market, and gathering boxes (as I said already) from any & all local businesses that will set them aside for us. As we pack we’re organizing our basement a bit so we know for sure what boxes are ready to go and don’t need to be touched again till we’re relocated in our new home, when we get Home.

Best wishes to you all in 2008 whatever YOUR big plans are!