14 months.
14 long months if I am being truthful.
I moved to the state of Oregon from my home state of California in July of 2014 and packed up the car and left in September of 2015 and moved back to California. Two vehicles filled with my husband, myself, our daughter, our cat, and whatever we could squash into the cars that would be taking us on our new adventure.
Living in Oregon didn’t start off difficult or even unhappily. This was our new road and we were ready for our new undertaking. We thought we were in it for the long haul.
But soon the road became burdensome.
As someone who already suffers from depression, I had no idea the toll that the endless days and months of gray weather would take on my already suffering psyche. There were other deeply personal issues that we were dealing with, that were also making life difficult in our newly adapted surroundings. My husband and I felt that this environment was truly taking a toll on our little family. We both had gained an inordinate amount of weight using food as coping mechanisms. He wasn’t happy either and wasn’t looking forward to spending another winter there.
That summer we decided enough was enough and we were going to move back to California that September.
And it truly has been the best decision.
I posted this on Instagram the other day because it reminded me of my life the past couple of years.
Oregon was indeed a difficult road. For me. This is nothing against that beautiful state. Oregon is indeed gorgeous and I honestly and truly get why people live there and make it their forever home. I absolutely do.
But it wasn’t the right fit for me. Or my little family.
Living in Oregon was a difficult road but I believe it led us to a truly beautiful destination.
I am back in my home state in a city I love. My daughter is absolutely thriving in her local school. My husband has a job that he loves and that he truly gets fulfillment out of. We have made friends here in our local community and we have bonded.
And we have a baby on the way! 🙂
I feel that sometimes you have to go through the bull**** to get to the good stuff. Is everything absolutely perfect? Of course not. No one’s life is perfect. That is a fallacy. But I am happy, happier than I have been in a very long time.
And that’s gotta count for something, right?
So true, Mackenzie. i think most people make decisions with the best intentions and sometimes what they expect/hope/want doesn’t materialize. It takes a lot of courage to acknowledge that and move forward. I often get stuck in this place and I applaud you and your husband for realizing your change and new beginning wasn’t working. And most of all – I’m so glad you’re feeling good and the happy because that’s the destination we all truly want in the end.
I too am glad we realized what was and wasn’t working and made the necessary changes to facilitate the life that we needed.
Thanks Tanya! 🙂
I had trouble posting a comment at work so trying again! I don’t think you would have ever known unless you tried. As one of the regrets of the dying, “you regret the things you didn’t do versus the things you did do.”
Yes! I am a firm believer in the saying “Things happen for a reason”. We may not understand why at the time, but with perspective we can figure out the reasons why things happened the way they did.