Skip to main content

#29 - write in a journal weekly for six months (8/27)

(prompt from here)

A place you’ve traveled to and where else you want to travel.

When I first moved to Florida, I mentioned to someone that I had lived in four states.  She responded (sounding surprised) with, "Wow, I didn't realize you had lived in so many places!"

Her reply caught me off guard, probably because I'm pretty sure I've moved the least out of all the other military families I know, so I don't consider four states "so many places." But because we moved between South Carolina to Virginia four times before I started college, it feels weird to consider staying put in any one place, especially since we've really got our fingers crossed for some extended quality time with Florida.  I consider living in one place for more than five years a seriously long-term commitment.  How do I get people to stay friends with me for that long?  Do I have to address embarrassments instead of hiding behind the knowledge that I'll be leaving them behind soon?  Should I be scared at the prospect of gradual change instead of sudden self-reinvention with every move?

Basically, I'm not sure I know how to live this long-term lifestyle.

I think what I'm most afraid of is stagnation.  I don't want to be the same person, living in the same place, seeing the same sights, eating at the same restaurants, forever.  I don't want my kids to grow up only experiencing one place.  I don't want to be suffocated by sameness.

And yet, I want the house and the yard and the familiar neighbors and the never having to unpack a box EVER AGAIN.  So what's a girl with long-term cabin fever to do? 

Travel, that's what.  Before I got married, I traipsed around England as a giddy schoolgirl, and knew I just had to marry someone who loved exploring new places as much as I did.  Ricky and I are all about spending less money on things and more money on experiences.  (Not to say that I don't whine furiously over wanting the latest and greatest toy or a new piece of furniture, only to be reminded of whatever trip we're trying to save for.  Ricky's better at this game than I am.)  Since we've been married, we've explored:

Palmyra, NY and Lake Ontario
Niagara Falls (we both have the WORST haircuts in these pictures!)
Civil War battlegrounds (Battle of Wilderness pictured here--fall in VA, I miss you!)
Appomattox (not just the gift shop)
Baltimore (featuring creepy overpass)
Washington, DC
Costa Rica (twice!)
Monticello
Philadelphia
Salt Lake City (SO. COLD.) and Idaho (not pictured)

Charleston (notice I am looking significantly classier here than anywhere else, because Chas. is a classy place)
(Another Charleston picture, because Cypress Gardens is dang beautiful and because Ricky's face is hilarious.)
Sarasota (shout-out to Lizbeth, with whom I have zero pictures on this trip)
Disney World (about a dozen times)
Titusville/Cape Canaveral (still the best day of my life, honestly)
Miami
NYC (suspiciously similar to the Baltimore picture, but BETTER)
Boston
Tampa (featuring Ricky's hand and some lettuce)
and San Diego (Katie solo trip)
One of these days we're going to visit the midwest...maybe.  (I've got my eye on Chicago, but I think Ricky's wary.)  I'm also itching to visit Memphis, and I REALLY want to go to New Orleans!  (Those two aren't to be confused with the midwest, of course.)  Before we make any more big stateside trips, though, I'd like to take Ricky back to Portugal so he can give me the awesome, I-was-a-poor-missionary-here tour.  And so I can see castles!  One day...

Is it bad that 50% of me already wants to live here?















Comments

  1. Pennilesspo8October 9, 2012 at 12:25 PM

    I'm trying to get Thomas to get into the whole save-up-so-we-can-travel mindset, but it's not working yet.I think you already know I'm jealous of your travels.

    (BTW, our weekend and Monday ended up being crazy busy, so maybe we can try for this week/weekend?)

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 10, 2012 at 4:17 PM

    Look at all those places you guys have been! Portugal looks beautiful. Take lots of pictures when you go, so I can live vicariously through them. You and Ricky should totally go to England and help me pick out graduate schools. I will have to go for interviews anyways and who better to help me decide!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#29 - write in a journal weekly for six months (1/27)

Ok, blogosphere.  It's time to get serious.  One of the items on my list is keeping a weekly journal for six months, and since I'm getting dangerously close to not having six months left in those 999 days, I better start now.  I'd much prefer to keep a paper journal, but it takes so long to hand-write things.  (First world problems, right?)  So here we are. I'll be pulling prompts from this website whenever I get stuck...so, basically all the time.  I really struggle with blogging because I'm too worried about how I come across to the people reading it, and that distracts me from writing about real things like how I really want to play a Dungeons and Dragons game (I'm serious, you guys) and how I may or may not have left a load of laundry in the washing machine for two days and am writing this to avoid dealing with it.  First up is something eerily similar to those Livejournal/Facebook "fill this out about yourself" lists, so consider this m
8 comments
Read more

#88 - buy a kitchen table and chairs

Compared to many of my other 99 goals, this one seems a little silly.  After all, what impact will acquiring a table and chairs have on my personal growth?  But, let's be honest, some things are just necessary.  Ricky and I loved eating on the couch and everything, but it's a tad embarrassing when you have guests...so I was on the hunt for a table, not for my personal growth, but for my social development.  And by "on the hunt," I mean "scavenging Craigslist."  (As if you didn't already know!) Most of the options down here in southwest Florida fall into two categories: the white-washed, pastel-cushioned, retirement-community style... ...or the metal-and-glass, I-don't-have-any-children-that-may-break-their-faces-on-this style. Give or take a few rattan pieces (which probably could be used as makeshift rafts in a hurricane-induced pinch, I suppose), this was my selection. "Why can't I just find a contemporary, wooden set that just h
1 comment
Read more

#21 - go to the temple at least once every three months

On the last Saturday in September (procrastination, as usual), Ricky and I made the 3 1/2 hour drive to the Orlando, FL temple for what threatened to be a supremely awesome day.  (For those of you unfamiliar with the purpose of LDS temples, there's a website !) It was hard leaving our dear Washington, D.C. temple behind--after all, we did get married there--but we were excited for the chance to make Orlando our "home base" for the next few years.     Not as impressive as the D.C. "towering over the Beltway" look, but still impressive! Isn't this place gorgeous?  You can't see the fountains in this picture, but the temptation to jump in them was pretty strong.  It was SO HOT. No Jensen outing is complete without an awkward, "look, we match" picture.   95% of the time this is a total accident. The temple was, as usual, amazing.  You know that feeling you get when you're on vacation and you realize that you have nowhere to rush to and n
3 comments
Read more