Kanigan Family: Moving is a Hard, Sad Business

November 26, 2012 was a day that changed our families lives forever. It was nothing dramatic. Just a simple email telling my husband that he had been invited to attend the State Departments 170th A100 class beginning in January. We had been working and waiting for that moment for over three years, but when it came it just sort of came. Everything changed at once and I was hit with the realization that I would be leaving everything. I've used the term bitter/sweet often lately because that is exactly how I felt. It felt sooo good to get something we wanted so badly, especially after working so hard for it. My husband studied and worked and prayed endlessly for the job. It was great to see his hard work pay off. On the other side, a life in the foreign service would be nothing like the "subdivision soccer mom" life I was currently leading and truth be told, I knew I would miss it. Sometimes choices in life, even the right ones can break your heart.

And so we began the whirl-wind month and a half of preparations to get our house ready to sell, to decide what to take and what to leave behind, and to prepare our kids to leave all their friends and schools and trust us as we turned their world upside down. Not an easy task I must say, but we did it. And even though we panicked a bit and cried a lot along the way, we made it. Saying goodbye was awful. I hate goodbyes. Words are never enough for people you love like we love our friends in Alabama. I felt the same way when we left Utah. What do you say? You can't really say anything, except agree to stay in touch (and I meant every word!) and cry a bit, and pray that they will live happy lives. It doesn't feel like enough, but it's all you can really do.

The week we left we had plenty of friends to visit, the movers came and packed the house. I watched the following day as three strangers loaded my belongings onto a big truck and took off up the street. I wouldn't be seeing those things again until we arrived at the country the State Department was sending us to. (2 months to a year) We did get to pack a few things to bring with us to our apartment here. We only had four big boxes to fill, so we limited them to clothes, a few loved stuffed animals, books and my beloved picture frames that were small enough to bring. I'm still waiting for those items, but they should be here any day. Originally I thought we were going to fly to DC, but we decided to bring our cars and drive instead. The drive was an easy 12 hours and it was worth it to bring a little extra with us and have our cars while we are here.

The week of January 7-11 was one large bandaid being peeled off slowly. Each goodbye was hard. Sunday was testimony meeting at my church (every month the pulpit is opened to those who wish to bear their testimony). I felt weird getting up on my last week, but worse if I didn't. My church group is like family and saying goodbye was so hard! Then, Monday Logan had to bid farewell to his gerbils. Logan is the type of person who really loves people (and animals, and inanimate objects!). He gets attached. It about broke me to watch him say goodbye, but he did it and he recovered really well. The rest of the week went on that way. Cub scouts had their Pinewood derby, we hung out with different friends, dinners, and then Friday was the boys last day of school. I had to go check them out myself. Linc had the hardest time there. He really loved his teacher, Dr. Toney! All the while Dan and I (with the help of some wonderful friends!) were scrambling to get the house ready. I felt like I had a hard time savouring the rest of my time in Al. because I was so worried about getting everything done! We had some good friends drop by Friday to say goodbye and help us and then finally, on Saturday the 12th, we were up early, putting the finishing touches on the house and by about 12:30 we hit the road. I made one last drop off to the Cowan's and that was it. The day was stormy, cold and dark. I was disappointed I didn't get to say goodbye to the sunshine. That was one of my favorite things about living in the south!

We made a stop in Chattanooga to have dinner with Diana and her kids, and peeled the rest of the bandaid off. Saying goodbye to her made it official. We were done in the south and I cried along Highway 81 for a good hour. We spent the night in a city about an hour north of Bristol. I slept hard. I was so exhausted. In the morning we had our free continental breakfast and then we were off again. We arrived in Falls Church at about 5:00pm drained, well maybe exhausted would be a better word, but excited to see our new place. The apartment here is furnished. It is nice, but gives it the feel of a hotel. I went out yesterday to bought some flowers and a few baskets to cheer it up a bit. Still, the boys have their own studio room, kitchen and bathroom included, so they are loving it! Owen and Ellie share one room, and Linc and Logan get the big one. (Everyone just hangs out everywhere anyway!)

Dan and get a king sized bed. I can't tell if I like it. The room is great, but he feels to far away from me! The community here is fantastic. The roads are hard for me to navigate, but I'm sure that will come. They have a crazy intersection that has seven corners and I just barely figured out how to get to Target yesterday, though I've been trying for days! The kids ride the bus to school. The apartments here have a ton of kids on the bus. Everyone makes there way down to the stop every morning and afernoon. It's kinda nice, cause you get to know your neighbors well and there are just so many familys. Most of them are foreign service kids as well and they are very friendly and understanding of what we are going through.

We got our bid list a few days ago. It has a list of all the countries with positions available. We have to rate each country as either want, don't want, or don't care. We will find out in February where we will be headed! I'm starting to get really excited and anxious about it!

That's about it for now. We are doing really well, apart from the cold smack in the face my kids got this morning. Temperatures dropped last night and my Bama boys don't know how to handle it yet! I'll be sure to update often. It's nice to type everything out. it helps me feel a little less lonely somehow! Until next time, here are our "Goodbye Alabama" pictures!

House all packed up.

Dan and Jer fixing things. I do believe they are trimming this Crepe Myrtle with a circular saw! Whatever works eh?

Logan's last pinewood derby. Poor guy had to re-use his car from the year before because things have been so hectic here. It wasn't very fast the first time, and this year, I am sad to say, wasn't much different!