I don't quite know when the itch started. I guess it's always been there. I loved being in the Air Force and moving around. Regardless of the trials we endured in the Philippines, it was exciting. It was different. I struggled when we came back to America because it all seemed so familiar. So mundane. After the Philippines, it was Colorado and then England and finally Nebraska. It was all good. We enjoyed every assignment.
As a child I used to love maps. I also loved reading and my favorite thing was to read books about places with exotic names. I pictured going to places like Kuala Lumpur and Kathmandu and Abu Dhabi.
How do you decide that a perfect life isn't what you are looking for? Derek retired from the Air Force on September 1, 2001. He missed stop loss by 11 days. The Air Force tried to talk him into staying in After 9/11. If he hadn't already gotten a good job with a large company, he might have stayed in, but I doubt it. He was ready to settle down. We decided to stay in Nebraska despite my early reservations about moving there. So he got his corporate job and we found a beautiful home and we settled in. The house is 3000 sq. ft. backing a forest. The neighborhood is tidy, established and filled with beautiful trees and we have made a comfortable home there. I'm not sure how to explain. I love all of those things. Our two sons live in the area so we see grandchildren almost daily. I love being near family. My sister lives with us, so we see her everyday. Our daughters family lives in Colorado Springs. They are a day trip away and we see them a few times a year. We have enough money to get by and not struggle, but still I'm restless. I feel ungrateful for not appreciating the many blessings that I enjoy. I do appreciate them. I just want something else too.
Grandmothers are supposed to want to stay home aren't they? Stay home and knit and bake cookies and babysit grandkids. I love doing all of those things...well, not the knitting. And yet...
It just seems to me that this is a really huge planet and they're all of these people and places and cultures and experiences to be had and I want to have them.
So here we are. We do NOT leave our beautiful family behind lightly and we are already planning to budget travel money in to come home for visits, but we want this; we need this and I am eager to see what Heavenly Father might have in store for us!
