Friday, June 13, 2014

My family drives me crazy and my hectic year!

My family drives me crazy! There, I said it. You know that yours does, too. Don't act all shocked that I actually said what you've been thinking for years about yours. With that said, I am sometimes  grateful for my crazy family! Though as I look back over my year so far, family has been the overarching theme.
  •  I've traveled to Utah twice needing to be with family as my grandma's health was failing with her passing away in March.
  • I've traveled to Kansas three times as my husband and I look to simplify our lives and create a better and less complicated life for our daughter.
  • I've been to Killeen, Texas to help my cousin after surgery and in return my cousin Clay was kind enough to assist us in moving to Kansas.
  • After moving my husband to Kansas two weeks ago, my dad flew from Salt Lake City, Utah to Dallas, Texas to help me as I'm temporarily a single parent. Words can not express my gratitude for his help during this stressful time.
 All in all, I've been gone anywhere from three days to a week and a half each month so far. In total, I've been away from home about two month. Doing so with a baby has proven interesting in trying to keep a schedule. Needless to say, I have no discernable schedule any more and it's changing all the time due to all the travel. I'm just trying to keep up, not completely loose it and am hoping things settle down once we get moved to Kansas.

I am grateful for the chance that I've been able to help as well as receive help. I've definitely become more grateful for family and their love and support. Yes, my family drives me crazy but sometimes, they're the right kind of crazy! But, when it comes down to it, in times of struggle and difficulty, you find out who's really there for you. I've seen that multiple times this year and again, am very grateful.

Being able to travel to Utah prior to my grandma's passing was a blessing. When my grandpa passed away, they were living in Sandpoint, Idaho, 50 miles from the Canadian border and an hour and a half from Spokane, Washington. We weren't able to get up in time to say goodbye.
That coupled with the fact I hadn't seen him in five years was very difficult. I've struggled with that ever since. I was glad my grandma was closer to family in her final days so we had that chance to not only be with her, but say goodbye. My grandma was an interesting lady who if you told her you had a hangnail, by the end of the week, she'd have herself convinced you were going to loose your finger! :) Needless to say, my diplomacy skills have come from dealing with my grandma for 37 years! I've learned it's not what you say, but how you say it. Again, I owe my insight on that nugget of diplomacy to dealing with my grandma. But, I've found myself missing her and the odd things she'd ask and get worried over. After working in assisted living for three years, I grew to understand my grandma better in a way and miss her quite a bit as well as her grandma-isms that made my family roll their eyes and shake their heads! :)

Kansas was never somewhere I imagined I'd EVER be moving. Who moves to Kansas? Crazy people. Oh wait! My husband read a article talking about how Kansas was offering incentives to get people to move there from student loan pay offs up to $15,000, no state taxes for five years, incentives on remodeling houses or building new houses. Living in the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area is hectic and busy. People rushing all the time making it difficult to really feel a sense of community and knowing your neighbors. With my husband and I both being bipolar, the hectic rushing of daily life seems to take a toll on us and feeling like we fit in.
We feel lost in the shuffle and seem to feel a bit more sensitive to the strain of this lifestyle. After having our daughter, our focus has changed, of course. Wanting better for her, less chaotic for us, Kansas seemed like a good fit. We've been researching towns and making the move for six to eight months. Looking at towns that would qualify for these incentives but still have conveniences near by. We kept coming back to Sterling, Kansas; population 2,300. It is half an hour from Hutchinson, Kansas population 40,000 and an hour and fifteen minutes northwest of Wichita. We've seen things fall into place indicating that this is where we needed to be. Being there has felt more like home that Texas ever has and I'm actually excited about moving there. For the chance to have people care, to become part of the community, to actually make connections with people. That's something that's a little harder in a large city. Some days, I still shake my head and can't believe I'm moving to Kansas of all places, but, to have my family be happy, I'd move to the ends of the earth to make that possible.

Moving to Texas has definitely had it's positives though. My cousin Tiffany and her family moved to Killeen, Texas when her and her husband, Clay, were both stationed at Fort Hood. The moved here shortly before we came. They are two and a half hours away. Up until now, Tiffany and I haven't really had much of a connection due to situation and living in different parts of the country. We've both been 1300 + miles from all our family in Utah and Colorado. Because of that, we've started to rely on each other more and  building not only stronger family ties, but a friendship as well. I have so enjoyed our time together and will miss being so close. I've been grateful to get to know Clay and consider him just as much my cousin as Tiffany though he's married into the family. He's just as crazy as the rest of us and I love it! To have that family support and to strengthen our ties, I will always be grateful and consider them not only family, but good friends.  I love them more than I can express and am so glad we have grown closer.

So, as I look over my crazy year so far, I see so many blessings in the midst of the stress and chaos. It's been a good year and I am truly blessed!