It has been awhile since I’ve posted anything, which makes me sad. My fun uncle called me out on it at a family gathering recently, so hey Uncle Doc, this one’s for you! But, there is reason for my lack of writing. After two years of deliberation, my husband and I moved with our one and three-year-old from greater Los Angeles to Southern Illinois/ St. Louis (we are still trying to figure out where exactly).

Being from the Midwest originally we want to be closer to family for a chapter of our lives before the kids are going full force in elementary school. We are living in my parents’ basement (which is larger than our apartment in Pasadena, CA!) and the house hunt is WAY WAY more emotionally taxing than either of us expected. It takes time to figure out what homes to look at, then drive an hour to see them, then talk through if you want them or not and how much to offer. Doing it with someone asking you to find her blue pony repeatedly while another little person drives his toy truck on your face makes it all much more interesting. My parent’s are surely ready to be empty-nesters once again and eat dinner without the deafening screams of our preschool-toddler combo. But we are all enjoying sharing spontaneous boat rides, thunder-storm watching, and little kid laughter.

I also started graduate school (yeah, I don’t know if that was my best idea) part-time for a Masters in Social Work. The homework is intense and it takes up every second of nap-time and after the kids are in bed for the night. My husband also started a new job upon the move. Change is not easy, plain and simple. For now, we are enjoying the novelties of the Midwest, such as seeing live pigs at the farm store and visiting the local creamery where we stick our hands in the mouths of baby cows, buy lots of artisan cheese, and stuff our faces with ice cream.

If I ever get the hang of balancing being a good mom, with being a good student, a good wife, and a good tenant in my parent’s basement, hopefully I will also figure out how to fit in being a good blogger. I am bursting at the seams with content from my classes, as well as challenges I face from being the old lady in school. This all gives me a different perspective than in my early 20’s when I stayed up till 4 am for FUN, rather than because my children were awake for no good reason.

Hopefully one day we can look back and say, “wow, how did we have the energy to do all that with small children!”  That will be the point that our 30-something old child moves back in with their drooling children.