Coming home

A lot has happened in the last few months. Just this morning, as I wrote "June 3" on a work document, I seriously wondered where the year has gone. Then I remember. So far, 2013 has gone to our strong desire to go home. With the exception of a brief 2 year blur in the past 12 years, Fayetteville was home. Shortly before we got married, we moved to Apex with the goal of staying in the Raleigh area. However, a short ten months later, we purchased our first home in the opposite direction we wanted to be. Don't ask me why. I still don't know why we signed and initialled our lives away in 2007 for that house out in the middle of no where in Benson. We were drunk on the first-time homeowners juice, I guess. I have no legitimate reason other than that. So from there, in a relatively quick period of time, we found ourselves right back in Fayetteville. The place, a short  2 years earlier, we so desperately wanted to leave. In a strange way, I felt drawn back even while kicking and screaming the entire way there.

That was 2009. We went back for jobs, a promising future, a set-up for a better life. All the typical reasons for a big move, or a backwards move, as I thought at the time. The moment we made the decision to move back to Fayetteville, we said it was temporary. Knowing what the Raleigh area had to offer, we didn't want to raise our family in Fayetteville. We set a 5 year goal to be back. Back to Raleigh, where we truly wanted to be. After a couple years, new opportunities presented for both Brett and myself and we became comfortable with what we had considered second best. Funny thing though, I loved my job. My job and my friends were about the only thing I truly loved about living there. I worked with some great people and I made friendships that will last forever, but that didn't satisfy the urge to get out.

In December, after making the always grueling, 24-hour, multi-city, multi-family Christmas tour, we decided enough was enough. A decision had to be made: Are we settling in Fayetteville or are we going to commit to moving.... again. Anyone who knows us, knows our moving record. Since we met in 2004, Brett and I have moved 8 times. Do the math. My Fayetteville folks know that is nothing to bat an eye at. However, for us non-military people, it's a bit excessive. With both of us in industries that allow for easy relocation, we set our eyes on Raleigh.

At the end of February, a solid 2 months into my job search, I landed a job offer in Cary for a dual-property hotel role. Two weeks later, Brett received his offer for the infamous Capital Ford in Raleigh. Everything else just fell into place, solidifying this was what we were supposed to do. Everything isn't perfect, but we are now happily back in the Triangle.

Now I know Fayetteville wasn't a backwards move as I had once thought. It was a necessity for us to be where we are now. It's a cliche that everyone hates, but I firmly believe, "there is a reason for everything." Our reason for Fayetteville was progress and growth in our marriage, in our careers and within each of us. We are stronger than we were before we left.

The boys are adjusting remarkably well. We have been busy discovering our new city. We've visited several parks, explored some nearby bike trails, shopped, walked the streets of downtown Raleigh, visited the farmer's market and the flea market, attended a hockey game, re-
visited museums, and we're still going. It will take us years to mark everything off the list of things we want to do. Most importantly though, we are close to family. We are finally home, and it feels so good.