Leaving VA

After 5 ½ years living in Northern Virginia (affectionately called NOVA by residents), it’s strange to be leaving. When we moved there we expected to be there for the rest of our lives. We’ve made so many wonderful friends and interestingly, the large majority of our supporters are from that area. Damien loved his job, we loved our church, and owned a home. There are amazing schools, museums and actives at our fingertips. And although it will be difficult to leave many of these things, knowing that we are following the plan God has for our lives is making it much easier. Of course, right now we’re home with family and I know it hasn’t hit me yet. I have a feeling as soon as we get to Dallas it will begin to sink in. I’ve been keep a list of things I’ll miss and things I won’t – both having to do with the area as well as our living situation of the past 15 months. This is certainly not exhaustive.

What I’ll Miss:

1. Great friends! God brought so many godly couples and friends into our lives. They have all made an impact in our lives.
2. Weekly lunch dates with Maggie, Skye and JB.
3. Our Bible Study of 3 years with the Baileys & Eniolas.
4. Reston Bible Church, our home shepherd group, and the ministries we were involved in.
5. I’ll miss having so little to clean as our home was only 2 rooms and 1 bathroom.
6. Late date nights with Damien. One of the perks of living with another family is that once the kids go to bed it’s easy to go out for a late night date without inconveniencing the other family. The couple we lived with enjoyed this perk as well!
7. VERY cheap rent! (at least for the past 16 months)
8. A nice, affordable gym close by with a great kids play area and really nice people to care for the kids while I worked out.
9. Milwaukee Frozen Custard (When I was pregnant with Micaiah we must have there (and often walked) at least 3 times a week.)
10. Japur Indian Restaurant. Maggie and I went there with the kids often for lunch. It was a nice place with an AWESOME buffet and they were so great to put up with us toting 4 kids.
11. Other restaurant we frequented – Guapos, Old Country Buffet, 5 Guys, etc...
    
12. Having other people in the house. Although Jill worked three days out of the house, it was nice to have someone around – even if just to have a short conversation.
13. Our Doctors – we loved our Doctors and the kids pediatrician.
    

What I Won’t Miss:

1. Living in a small, two room space.
2. Having our bed in our living area. (which also served as a playroom and eating area.)
3. Eating on TV trays. Although we could use the dining room upstairs the W’s kids were usually in bed by the time we ate dinner so it was difficult to not wake them up.
4. Living in such a wealthy area. NOVA (northern Virginia) was a beautiful area with great schools and lots of recreational programs. But because of that, money was definitely a huge priority for people. It drove much of life for those who live there. So, in that sense, not so great. Plus, EVERYTHING was just really really expensive!
5. Loosing sleep. We and the W family were on such different scheduled. Their kids went to bed at 7 and got up at 6am. Ours went to bed at 9:30 and got up at 9am. Being in the basement, we heard every footstep upstairs. The W’s were great at trying to keep their kids quite until we got up – but there is just so much you can do. It was also stressful to keep our kids quiet after theirs went to bed – as well as keep any middle-of-the-night crying to a minimum.
6. Driving forever just to get anywhere. Because it was such a huge area, church, work, friends, etc. were all in different directions, spread out across the city.
7. Winter! I don’t like the cold, but when you throw kids into the mix – taking an extra 15 minutes to get out the door because of the extra layers you have to put on – there is a whole extra dynamic that I don’t like about it.