Sitting on the floor of the room I grew up in, some things never change. The heat that billows up from the garage below, the way you can almost climb out the window and sit on the roof, the way every creak and squeak echoes endlessly throughout the entire house… it’s almost like stepping back in time. 

I never did get very good at sneaking around in this cavernous home, everything makes a noise and my large extremities are just no good at being cat-like. So each small item I need from another part of this space is a negotiation with my guilt… Do I risk, nay guarantee, waking my father to grab the small bottle of anti-nausea medication I need to help settle my nervous tummy? Do I really need my PJ bottoms? Is there an extra cell phone charger around so I can just stay put and not add further aggravation to the situation? 

The carpet in this room is new… No longer stained with acrylic paints or charcoals, it’s almost uneasy how clean it is… And somehow I have to keep it sparkling clean with my life-loving 3 year old. Maybe we will only sleep in here and the rest of the time we will stay outside where dirt is our friend. New carpet and toddlers… It’s going to give me nightmares, I’m sure of it.

This morning on my way to Starbucks, a Monarch butterfly danced around me saying “hello.” We messed with each other for a few moments before it got tired of me or I got tired of it and I continued on my way towards coffee. The conversation my husband and I were having just yesterday about omens stirring wildly in my head as I flipped back to the photo I took of it with my phone… Butterflies are a symbol of rebirth.

I guess this is just the hard part. Even though my parent’s house is what I called home for 15 years, this is now a transitional space for my family to rest their weary heads before jumping on the plane and starting anew somewhere else. I feel a little lost and a little displaced, it’s hard but no one said it would be easy. 

A lot of people say they're “jealous” or that we’re “crazy” or even just thinking the whole thing is just the way it goes for careers sometimes… But no one once said any of this would be easy. I guess that’s why we’re joining a very small group of American’s that have ever done this… 1.8% was the stat I found, that’s not a lot of people in this boat. But opportunity is opportunity and when you do what we do, no opportunity can be wasted… even if getting it is really hard. 

So here we are… It’s late, just laid down and started to fathom what we just did. We’ve officially sold everything we owned and moved away from the place we’ve called “home” for 7 years. The place we had our child… the place where I met TWO of my very best friends… The place where Tess met her very best friend… The place I started my first successful business….. The place I really grew up in… We left today and tomorrow is the first day of our new adventure. We're doing this.