Hello sisters,
This blog has been on a long hiatus. I don’t know how much I’ll be writing here in the future, now that I’m expecting another baby, but I know I enjoy looking back at these posts. A lot of big moments have been written about here (and little ones too, which is just as nice), but I thought I’d add another big one.
Kevin and I are moving again, to Fort Collins, Colorado. Now, some of you may be wondering, wait…Colorado is farther away from family and friends, and you’d be right! Kevin and I had been hoping to get back to the East Coast eventually. Being within driving distance of many of our loved ones would be lovely, but at the same time, permanent jobs in the field of ecology are also lovely!
As Kevin’s post doc started winding down (and federal funding became less of a certainty…), he started applying to permanent jobs. There were lots of fish in the water, but the one that took his bait was Colorado Parks and Wildlife Service in Fort Collins, CO where he will be a spatial ecologist! It’s another big move, farther west. Kevin joked that in 10 years we’ll be in Japan at this rate.
Things we’re grateful for:
- a delayed start date to accommodate the birth of baby no. 2 (gender to be determined next week!), our health care here is stellar and we didn’t want to change in the middle of pregnancy!
- a permanent job at a great agency in a great location! Every person we’ve talked to about moving to Fort Collins exclaims, “Wow! that sounds amazing!” or “I [my cousin/my friend] lived near there and it’s fabulous, you will LOVE it.”
- the opportunity for another adventure! Our first adventure to La Crosse has been truly wonderful. We’ve enjoyed the friends we’ve made at the USGS, the library, the chamber chorale, our church. We couldn’t have found a better place to land after grad school. I’ve discovered how much I love working in Youth Services! Who knows what job I’ll go to after staying home for a bit with two kids (or when??) but working in a library is a possibility. You can bet I’ll be that annoying storytime mom who is waaay too engaged in storytime/holding it to a very high standard. Now that we’ve landed in one brand new place, it will be fun to land in an entirely new place and learn about the new communities that we will come to love! Plus, this new place is near the Rockies!!
- a fairly strong real estate market here in La Crosse. It shouldn’t be impossible to sell our home, in fact, there’s a good chance it could sell before we want it to (raise your hand if you want to be going into labor around your closing date?? no one? yeah, me neither). We’re still sorting out the best plan of action for listing our house and renting in Fort Collins. It’s tempting to list right away to make sure our house sells, but then we’d be stuck subletting for the summer and would have to pack and move our stuff twice. Instead we’ll probably push it back and list closer to the summer, hoping we won’t have to close until August.
There are of course, some things that we’re sad about.
- Leaving friends and jobs and opportunities here in La Crosse. see note above…
- Hanging out at the children’s museum with Cal is one thing we’ll miss. See video here.
- Moving in the opposite direction from New York State and the family and friends we have on the East Coast. It will now be an over 24 hour drive to get to either set of grandparents, which means we will be limited to flying. It is unlikely that I’ll want to road trip with a toddler and a baby. We may road trip further West, since we’re closer to many cool things!
- Losing that cocoon-ing post baby period. I have glowing, mildly hazy, but overall, beautiful memories of the weeks and months after Calvin’s birth. We were so settled and ready to bring a baby home, we could just focus on becoming parents and learning what Calvin needed. I have more confidence in the whole being a parent thing, and I am 100% certain that my body is strong and ready to labor and deliver a baby and then breastfeed it. I was not as convinced the first time around ;-). It’s sad to think about losing that golden post baby relaxation time, because I know I’ll be focused on moving! I hope we get a few days of lazy baby holding without having to pack boxes or move furniture. At the same time, a newborn is pretty mobile, I’ll have months of time to settle in Colorado. We might road trip out to Colorado, taking our time and travelling slowly to see the sights, and that will be fun. Plus, we’ll have parents and in-laws to help us!
Friends, come visit us when we’re settled (or when we’re not! We will always welcome visitors). Google hangouts is also a great thing.
Until August, you’ll find us in La Crosse, trying to make the most of our last few months in Wisconsin!
Jewel
Never Such Devoted Sisters 
Did I tell you that Krestia’s parents moved from CA to NY when Krestia was 2 weeks old? They drove across the country. Maybe you can ask them for tips about moving and taking a big road trip with a newborn! I think he was a good sleeper.
We will come visit! Sad that you aren’t moving closer but happy for a new exciting adventure for you and your family.
Rach, I do remember that now. 2 weeks is pretty young and that is a huge trip! You better come visit! We’re hoping to have a Buckwalter family vacation in Colorado, it’s at least as pretty as Maine and we got to do two there ;-).
Excited for your new adventure. You will be missed though. You are right about the housing market now… More buyers looking than houses on the market. Yours is cute. I imagine it would sell fast, but you can always set the closing for a few months aftet you accept an offer.
Thanks for the info Heather. We’re hoping we get great offers with sensible buyers who wouldn’t mind waiting til August to close ;-).
Congrats on your pregnancy and your big move, Jewel! One of my dearest friends lives in Ft. Collins and Jesse, the kids and I just visited last fall. Looks like we now have another great reason to visit once your family of four is there. It is such a gorgeous and sunny area and even if you have your heart set of being back east eventually, it should be a great adventure for your family. Jesse and I drove from Fairbanks, AK to North Carolina when Adah was 10 days old, and I tell you, it was one of our greatest road trips. She slept for 2-3 hours at a time and when she woke and was ready to feed we were already for a break too. I know it will have an added challenge with a toddler in the car, but geesh, it very well could be one of those memories that you and Kevin forever remember fondly. Congrats again!