Adventures in moving cross country- Volume 10: Long Goodbyes

Planning for a move a year in advance has had a lot of benefits. We have had a chance to figure out exactly where we want to live. We have found a house that is perfect for us, but needed some work and we've had the time to get all of that lined up. Tying up loose ends at my work has been great. You can read more about the steps I've been able to take in my LinkdIn article: Training Your Successor. And we've been able to plan out a lot of stuff regarding what we're taking and what we're getting rid of and what we need to do before we go.

We'll definitely bring these things.

One thing that we've really been trying to do is spend as much time with our friends as we can, as we can't take them with us. This has given us a lot of good times with friends, doing game nights, dinner parties, living room karaoke and hot tub soaks. This has created some really special memories with some really special people. 

This particular evening ended up with our friend Chris taking everyone's money in high stakes poker. Great memories!

However, the topic of our move inevitably comes up and while we are very excited to go, and our friends are excited to see what new developments have happened, it's definitely laced with a bit of sadness. We are deeply going to miss the Eugene and PNW community that we've built over the years.

We've also had certain friendships that have really grown closer in the past year. Those have been particularly difficult, especially when our children have grown close, as there is a frustration that we don't have more time to keep hanging out. 

Awwwwwwwww!

There are also friendships that I've had for over 15 years, with annual traditions like pumpkin carving and camping. As we come together each time, I try to think of it in terms of this not being the last time we do it, but rather just the last one for a little while.  Everyone's lives are changing and it may be awhile before we all get together for a big camp out, but we will do it at some time in the future, right?  Right?!

Tell me we'll camp again, Shannon!

While all these long goodbyes are difficult, it's definitely been a great opportunity to make sure that everyone is good and sick of us before we go!  Does anyone want to hang out and talk about how we're moving to Michigan again? 

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