Well, That Didn’t Take Long

You may have heard that a couple months ago Daphne,  Jadon, and I decided to move from Joplin, MO to Loveland, CO.  There was a lot that went into that decision and we felt at the time like it was what we were supposed to do.  If nothing else, we thought, it will give us an opportunity to get out of our comfort zone and experience life in a different place for a while.  So we packed up everything and moved to Colorado.

Over the last couple months, we’ve had a lot of good experiences.  Going up into the mountains, watching wild elk walk around the yard, seeing prairie dogs every time we drive past the field down the road, and experiencing life in a different place and a much different culture than we are used to.  For all the good things that Colorado has to offer, and there are plenty of good things, we just don’t feel like this is a place where we fit.  At this point, it’s not a place we can ever imagine feeling like home.  That’s not to bash Colorado or say that it’s not a good place to live.  It’s just not a good place for us.  I could go into all the details and reasons and blah, blah, blah, but I don’t want to bore you or turn this into a Colorado bashing session.  The best way I can think to put it is that, for us, Colorado is a great place to vacation, but not a good place to live.

So we’re moving again.  This time to Lebanon, MO.  Daphne and I both used to live there, we’ve always liked it, and I have family there.  Plus, it’s where I found a job.  I’ll basically be doing the same thing I was doing in Joplin, but for a different company.  I realize that it doesn’t sound nearly as glamorous to say that we are moving to Lebanon, MO as it does to say that we are moving to Loveland, CO, but we think that this will be a much better situation for our family.

I will be driving back to Lebanon all day today (Thursday) with a carload of stuff, then will turn around and leave Friday afternoon to head back to Loveland with my dad and step-mom.  We will be loading up all our stuff in a U-Haul truck on Saturday and then heading back to Lebanon either on Saturday after we get it all loaded or on Sunday morning.  Daphne and Jadon, however, will be staying a couple extra weeks so that Daphne can finish out her time at her job and then have a week to just hang out with her parents before heading back.  They will fly into KC on the 4th of September and I will pick them up from the airport once they arrive.

I’ve always enjoyed taking long drives, so I am actually looking forward to all the driving.  I realize that making a 13-14 hour drive 3 times in 4 days isn’t most people’s idea of fun, but if nothing else it should be interesting.

It’s almost 1 a.m., which means I am leaving in (hopefully) 6 hours or so (as long as I actually wake up when I want to) and I haven’t decided which way I will be going.  I can either drive to Joplin, then up I-44 to Lebanon, or go through KC and take some other roads.  I think going through KC may actually be a bit quicker, but at this point I’m leaning more toward the Joplin route.  I figure that since I know it better and know more people along the way, that would be a better way to go.  I’m pretty sure that I can make it all the way to Lebanon, but if you live along that route and I get too tired of driving tomorrow, you may be getting a call.

So there you have it.  It didn’t take us long to figure out that Colorado isn’t the place for us.  We really don’t see it as giving up, but as knowing when to walk away from something that’s not going to work.  There’s no reason to force something that’s not there and we might as well get out before we get stuck and don’t have a choice.  We don’t regret anything that we’ve done, but we are pumped to get back home.  I think one of the hardest parts of the move back is that we are going to be so close to all our friends and family in Joplin, but knowing that it’s just far enough away (about 2 hours) that we won’t get to see you all nearly as much as we’d like.  We will definitely head down that way to visit though.

So there you have it.  We’re on the move again.  We’re starting to feel like gypsies, but this should be the last move for a while.  At least now you know that if you are ever in or passing through Lebanon, you’ll always have a reason to stop, friends to visit, and a place to stay.  Hope to see you soon!