We're Moving AGAIN!! & Why We've Decided to Leave Boston

Well...based on the title let's just dive into it because this is going to be a LONG post. If you're not into very personal/life update posts then I will see you in my next one! Whenever I do these more personal posts, I honestly do it more for myself because it's very cathartic and almost like a journal that I never really expect y'all to sit and actually read. However, I was SO surprised to see the amount of views on my 2018 reflections/2019 resolutions post and that honestly meant A LOT to me because I poured a lot of my heart into that post.

If you don't already know, we moved to Boston in July of last year for my husband to pursue a fellowship with Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard. I know--right after you hear those names you probably can see why we couldn't turn down that opportunity! Prior to this move, we lived in Northern Virginia for 6 years after graduating from Clemson. We were fortunate because Virginia was SO close to where I grew up in Maryland and where my parents, aunt & uncle, and a bunch of our friends still reside so it made living there very familiar and comfortable. Ultimately, I think that's what made it harder than I expected when we did decide to pick up and move.

Because Steven's fellowship was more of a "transitional" role and not a permanent position, it meant that at some point in 2019/2020 he would be looking for a more permanent job (which we knew going into the move) and with that, I decided to really take the time to look introspectively and figure out, "Can you see yourself staying here if he were to get a permanent job here?" Unfortunately, the answer was no. Don't get me wrong--Boston is a BEAUTIFUL place to live and I understand why so many people love it. I just knew deep down in my heart that this wasn't the place for us--primary reasons being how far we are from our families and friends + cost of living.

We had a lot of long conversations about next steps and different places we could see ourselves living that would be closer to our families, more affordable, and we obviously had to consider where Steven would be able to have a lot of career opportunities because his field of work is very niche. We narrowed it down to a couple of places and Steven started applying for jobs and interviewing around early March. This brings me to my announcement of where we're moving and when....

In mid-May we will be moving to back to the DC area! This time instead of Virginia, we'll be living on the other side of DC in Maryland. We're so thrilled that we'll be so close to a lot of our family and friends again. Steven received an offer from a GREAT company and I received one not long after which was so unexpected. I figured it might take me a little bit of time to find a job since it was going to be a quick move after Steven got his offer. I'm very fortunate I found something so fast and with a company I'm very excited about!  I really struggled with my job situation in Boston so I'm very much looking forward to moving on to a new company and a new role.

Aside from Steven's job search, the most stressful part of the move was trying to find a place to live in a pretty short period of time. We knew we wanted to rent for a little while so we looked at apartments but honestly, we weren't impressed with any that we were finding and with the dog we really wanted to find something much more convenient than our apartment here in Boston. We started looking at private rentals and are so fortunate that we found a GREAT townhouse in a great location. I think we will be super happy and comfortable living there while we're saving up to buy and familiarizing ourselves with the area. While I did grow up in Maryland, it has been over 10 years since I've lived there (Steven has never lived there) and the area has changed so much in that time.

One thing that we've promised ourselves is we won't take for granted how close we are to so many awesome places when we move to Maryland. When we lived in Virginia, I really don't think we took enough advantage of being so close to DC and also Baltimore/Annapolis/Williamsburg/etc. We're definitely planning to get outside the "burbs" and enjoy our surroundings a lot more than we did before. I think being a little bit more adventurous is something that living in Boston has taught us for sure!

We're so grateful for our time in Boston despite it being brief. Steven had an AMAZING work opportunity that he will never forget and we had the chance to explore an absolutely GORGEOUS city for a year. It's a time in our lives and our marriage I don't think we'll ever forget!

So that is our big announcement! One thing I really want to express in this post is that if you are going through a transitional time in your life and you're struggling, you are not alone. No one's journey is the same and while Boston wasn't an end destination for us, I am glad it was a pit-stop. I learned a lot about myself, about being a good partner, about sacrifice, about God's grace and I am glad that we were pushed out of our comfort zone.

I apologize in advance if my blog schedule/content gets a little sporadic over the next month! We have so much to do and in a short period of time for the move. I definitely will keep you guys posted on everything and will probably be sharing a lot about the move on Instagram so if you're interested make sure you're following me!