Moving - Exciting Change of Venue!

I haven’t updated this blog for good reason.  I don’t like the idea of mopey, “woe is me” postings on the interwebs.  They’re just not my way of airing out my worries or grief.

So instead of sharing my concerns over the last few months, I kept a lid on all postings since our happy December birthday party.

Fast forward to April…and WHOA!!! Changes, changes, changes!

Ready? Here comes a post filled with exclamation marks (because a post of this type deserves all the exclamation marks in the world!!!!!!!!)!!

..and one more for you…!

Sorry…I’ll stop…keep reading…please…

I am over-the-top excited to report: We are moving to Texas!!!!

We arrive in less than 20 days!

Ok, so the truth of the matter is that even though our daughter was born in Dubai, we lead a comfortable lifestyle and our company has been great with us during our time abroad and the birth of our daughter, I never quite bought in to the experience of an expat on this assignment.

I tried. I really, really tried.  But, I just never fit in with the most common two camps of expat women in this country …1) the single or married, kid-less working woman 2) the professional expat wife/mom (aka – not working)

This limited my social interaction, which in turn, made being a new mom out here pretty tough.

Add another dynamic, childhood illness, and my assignment was doomed to be something to “survive” rather than something to “experience”.

My daughter, like most kids around the world attending nursery school (daycare, with an academic focus for us Uhmurricans), went through an onslaught of constant colds, viruses and just yucky, easily contractible stuff.  Common when you’re sharing toys with other little people. 

“Oooh is that good to chew on? Can I chew on it after you?  No need to wash!”

However, like others not in this part of the world, her dilemma came when her little body was trying to recover from said respiratory bugs…it became pretty impossible since last December.  Finally, two different doctors told me she seemed to be having an allergic reaction to the sand in the air.

Whaaaaa?!?

Yeah, kind of unfortunate for a kid who lives on the coast of the Arabian Peninsula!  You know? Arabian desert? Sandstorms? Right – not good!

It was after this and her bazillionth time at the doctor being treated for more upper respiratory difficulties that I decided it was time…time to not just pray, but start praying with purpose and steering our little family in another direction.

Won’t go into how it came to be…but God (Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! FAITH SOLIDIFIED!!!) and our wonderful company came to the rescue.  So, we’re Texas bound!

There is so much to do, but amazingly, it just keeps coming together!

We sold our car within 3 days of listing.  We sold most of our appliances within 15 minutes of listing them!  The BIG GUY is up there, watching, guiding, moving mountains!

My sister and niece are coming to help us pack and get our toddler home (16 hour direct flight with a 15 month old –fun!)

I feel it, with every inch of my being, that this is 100,000% the best thing for our little family in this moment!

My daughter needs to know that family does not just mean Momma & Dadda, she’s a part of huge extended families on both sides ready to love on her.  She has her Momma’s Mexican culture to be a part of and her Dadda’s deep Southern roots to begin mingling with! 

I am open to another expat assignment in the future, but only once our kiddo can handle weather system shifts without us fearing she may stop breathing. 

What can I say? I thought this would be like Indiana Jones.  I thought I would just throw her on my back and we would partake in cultures, eating interesting things and her developing a love for archeology or something.

Maybe it will be that way when she’s a little older.  For now, it’s just a lot of realizing how hard life is when you have to wait 2 weeks to receive another tube of Desitin diaper rash cream. 

This fast turn of events is making me so grateful for family and friends….these people whose love and support turned my feelings of helplessness with a sick child into a forgotten thing within weeks of me saying “It’s time to bring her home.”

I know how incredibly fortunate we are to have this support system…both from family and coworkers.

Right now, in the middle of ANOTHER sandstorm, I’m on cloud 9!  Stressed about wrapping up work projects and getting all of Savannah’s toys and trinkets across the planet…I still couldn’t be happier about the direction we’re all headed!