Somewhere Slower

A great many things are hanging in the balance these days. Sean and I have invested several years and countless hours to the places we work, and things are changing. Nashville is changing, our kids are growing, and we are no longer the family of three that we were when we moved here 10 years ago. We've doubled to a family of six. Nashville has always felt like a transition point, a staging ground for us to figure out what next. It was a compromise at best, but for both Sean and I it has not felt like a permanent home.

Phases in our marriage are changing too, we are leaving the phase of early marriage, pregnancy, newborn babies, and growing our family. Into maturing kids, school schedules, sports practices, and right around the corner our first three starting puberty one after the other. The past two years have been a refining of our wants and plans by intense fire, a phase that has been harder to weather than any other so far. One of facing the challenges of mental health and wellness for our kids and ourselves, an unexpected baby, followed by an unexpected major home renovation, followed by a foreclosure that we barely made our way out of without losing our home, and all the stress that those things bring on a marriage and a family. None of which we were emotionally or financially prepared for.

We both grew up moving often, and I never thought I would want that for my kids, but here we are looking for what might be next, where might our next home be. When we packed it all up and arrived in Tennessee we were proud that we took the plunge and were not afraid to move on from a place that was not working for both of us. I am eager to be on the other side of this phase and anticipating the start of a new one. In all of it we have landed on the same page with the same desires. Eager to be able to step back and enjoy our kids at the age they are, full of idealistic longings for a culture that values family time, and has the structure to support the raising of kids. Somewhere slower, where we can work to live not just survive.

The short list:

• Socialized Medicine
• Accessibility to travel 
• Good family support
• Free continued education
• Walkable living (to become a car free family)
• Good free/affordable primary education
• English speaking, as I don't see being able to master a second language to work in health care

Surprisingly there are a few places that fit the bill and one in particular where we can access our current careers in a different setting. I have started the process of applying for my U.K. nursing license in hopes of taking a contract in Cambridge England. Even if it is a two year jaunt that ends in a return to America, we don't think it is one we will regret. It has been easy to feel downtrodden due to the changes coming our way and to the end of this current era, but I am choosing to view it as a release and a launching point pushing us into something that fits better and feels more like home.