4- That’s the number of times Chad and I have moved since getting married 3 years ago. 3- the number of states we have lived in, in that time. 2- the number of new tiny humans that we have brought into the world. 0- the number of regrets we have.
As we are fast approaching Christmas most families are focused on the last minute shopping, cooking and traveling. The Novaks? We’re prepping for move #5. Two days after Christmas we will load our family up (again) and set out on our newest adventure.
There was a time when I was pregnant with McKinley that Chad and I thought we needed to change our outlook on chasing opportunities and career goals. As parents we thought it would be better for our unborn daughter and future children if they would grow up like we did: a tiny Midwest town, close to family, and in the same house our whole lives. We decided we needed to put roots down, real roots. How else are you supposed to raise a family?
The problem was we had outgrown that lifestyle. We had lived in several larger cities between the two of us and we had fallen in love with a different way of life and a different climate. As much as we wanted it to work, it became more and more obvious that we weren’t going to be happy raising our family the same way we had been raised.
We grew up with only the knowledge of small town roots- the kind of roots that date back before your grandparents. The idea of moving all over didn’t seem “stable” for our kids. Then we had several hard conversations about what we really wanted- and gave ourselves permission to have those big dreams.
We decided a house is a building; a home is a feeling. The roots we grow for our family have little to do with geography and everything to do with love. Our girls need to grow up with happy, fulfilled parents.
When we first started planning our life together I told Chad “You go, I go” and I meant it- now things have changed a little and it’s “You go, we go” I don’t worry about taking our daughters along on this crazy ride because I know the foundation we’re building for them will come right along with us.
We are so incredibly excited to be moving back to where it all began: Charleston, SC. We are returning 3 years and 2 kids later and can’t wait to show our girls where we met and fell in love. I’m not sure how long we will be living there this time, but so far God’s plan has been far better than ours so we’ll just have to pray and see.
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