Well, I feel like I have been holding my breath since March 3, 2014. That was the day I officially accepted a new position at the University of New Hampshire as an Assistant Director in Residential Life. Now, Curt and I weren't looking to leave Iowa City, but we also have talked about how we would like to live in NH again one day, pretty much since we left. When Scott called me in November and told me it was official that Shannon had taken another position at the university, i was floored, shocked, and frustrated that it was all happening after us only being in Iowa City for two years. Not because I had any big plans for more years in IC, but because if I applied for and got the job, we had JUST moved two years before and i had an easy job and our house was nearly "done" in terms of all of the rooms painted and how we wanted them and we were getting settled into the community.
But as Curt and I talked for the next two months about the job, we saw the many possibilities of this opportunity. The boys would just be starting kindergarten (more on that later), Curt had decided to stop out of the PhD program at Iowa, and we really missed outdoor opportunities that the boys were finally old enough to participate in themselves. It certainly didn't mean that being close to family in IC wasn't a really difficult part of the decision, but it was one that ultimately we decided was workable. We wanted to be able to take advantage of the things new england has to offer on a regular basis, instead of planning occasional trips. We will miss lots of things about Iowa City, but I know we will be back regularly, if only for a day trip while visiting with grandparents in Des Moines. I know the boys will need their hit of Pagliai's Pizza and Heyn's ice cream. :) And I will need my hit of the Iowa City Public Library and the Ped Mall! :)
Well, we decided on a realtor March 10, listed the house on March 14 (the day we left to drive to Houston for spring break) and had an offer on March 22. holy shoot! My last day of work at Iowa was May 15 and I flew out May 18 to begin work on May 19. We told the boys over dinner just before we listed the house for sale. Brady immediately said "are you kidding? we aren't really moving to New Hampshire are we?" when we said we weren't kidding he was like, "ok!" Aidan first said, "but I like Iowa City! I don't want to leave it!" after about a half hour of us talking with Gavin (more on his reaction in a moment) and the boys, Aidan and I were in the Jimmy John's bathroom and Aidan says, "Mom? are we going to bring the iPad?" I said yes and he says "I think i'm going to like NH. I think I will make a lot of friends there." Of course I told him I KNEW he would make new friends because he was a good friend and he was good at meeting new people, but it did make me laugh that knowing the iPad was coming with us made the idea more palatable. :) Gavin on the other hand cried and cried and CRIED when we told him. Like, INCONSOLABLE crying. He kept saying, "I don't want to leave Iowa City! I want to live HERE! I just want to VISIT NEw Hampshire!" MAN was that hard. at one point Brady says, "just tell him we will live in IC and we will visit NH". That definitely made me laugh. Both that he felt like it was OK to just make that up and that he could tell what Gavin needed to calm down.
It took a little while for us to even be able to talk about the move with Gavin around without him either getting upset, but after about a week, he would just leave wherever we were so he couldn't hear us talk about it. By the time we left, he was able to just say "we are moving to NH, I don't want to move, but we are" without being upset. The good thing was that we were able to plan a mini-vacation on our drive out. We visited with the Carr-Lechner clan (and Slabas and Raber) in Chicago, then the Williams family in Guelph, Canada, hit Niagra Falls and stayed a night in Albany, NY before arriving in NH.
I had been working for 5 weeks before we packed up the house and drove out as a family. I was able to come back for a weekend to see the boys, and Curt came out for a weekend to look for houses. Throughout the spring, we learned that we could only look to live in Dover or Barrington due to a MESSED UP state law that a kid had to be in a full day program if they were 6 by the end of September. Well, Durham and Lee only offered HALF DAY kindergarten. awesome. Ultimately, not know where curt would be working, we also didn't want to buy and feel like "CRAP! now we want to move, it's too far!" The good part of that weekend with Curt out by himself was 1) getting actual whole days of alone time together! and 2) getting to visit all of the elementary schools in Dover. Fortunately all of the principals were free when we came by and we got to meet with each of them. We walked away from that experience feeling COMPLETELY comfortable with any of the Dover elementary schools. We did not find a house, so I began the mad dash to find a rental in a limited rental market. There was one house RIGHT on central ave that was very nice and had a backyard, BUT it worried me that it was on such a busy road and that the owner was being a REAL jerk in the process of negotiating about the rent and the start of the lease and the possible sale of the property, AND the previous year had a one month high of $600 for heat! holy lord, that was scary. So I was able to find the house we are currently in. I was excited about it, but also knew it's not a new house. Curt was not impressed, and sadly his reservations have come true in some ways. We are having issues with mice and ants (well, bugs generally), and the landlords being nice but NEW to land lording, a refrigerator that quit cooling in our first week (but they replaced it with a new one!), no A/C, and just life half in boxes and half out. the good part (which was why i really liked this house) is that it has an AWESOME third floor totally open space that is the boys' playroom. They really love that part of it. Aidan has been sweet, especially as I have voiced my worry that people aren't happy and he has said he really likes the house. bless him. :)
We have made LOTS of efforts to introduce the boys to the area, so we went to the beach the first day we were here. we had NO TOYS and they were completely entranced by all of the things the ocean offers for a solid hour. They were bummed we were leaving, but enjoyed our second trip back (also short, but this time they had toys - next time we will spend a day), a day in Boston with FREE TICKETS to the Boston Science Museum and Body Worlds, as well as a free bus ride down and bag lunches. Curt and I spent less than $10 on ice cream that day. awesome. :) The boys had their first hike on Rattlesnake Trail up overlooking Squam Lake this past weekend and they LOVED it. Before we had even hit the top with the beautiful view or had our GORP for snack Gavin says to me, "Mom? I think I like hiking more than Angry Birds Star Wars." Now THAT is some high praise for Gavin! They were asking to go hiking again the next day while we were at the top. Curt looked over at me while we had our snack and said "Is this what you were thinking of?" (meaning regarding moving back to NH) and it brought me to tears. My heart was so full having Curt and our children there doing the thing that Curt and I love to do so much, it was wonderful. I am looking forward to this fall, for sure!
So, why is today the day I feel I can finally stop holding my breath? Curt was offered a job at UNH in the student union. Now, he was offered a job on my birthday (happy bday to me!) at SNHU, but it was for an online academic advising program that he was not really excited about. It would have been in Portsmouth, but it definitely was not a traditional student affairs job that he would have preferred. Even though this position is several steps below where he was previously working full time, it will be doing work he enjoys with people he enjoys. And he might not be completely stressed all of the time! :) That's not a bad thing!
So the boys will begin their first day camp the week of August 4th for two weeks. We then have some child care lined up with a college student for the week after that, my parents will come to watch them for the week they begin school (since they only go 2 days), and then we need to figure out some after school childcare! Woohoo! So this is what the rest of America has to think through!
Anyway, I will share pictures later, but I am up in the middle of the night and can't sleep. Here is to hoping this move is good for our family for many years to come!
