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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

On my mind

I have had a lot on my mind lately. We are in the thick of interviews, searching for a great town to settle down in, job hunt and it is so exciting but overwhelming at the same time. I am just amazed at how much we have discovered about ourselves and our marriage over the past month. It must have been all those stressful years of residency that has prepared us for this because our communication skills just rock! I am just dying to find out where we end up.

When we were in North Carolina this weekend we went to church with our friends. The speaker was just amazing and I hugged him after and told him so (poor guy I think I scared him a bit). From his talk I started thinking if we picked a town to live in a job only based on what will give us the best chance to "make it" or make good choices would that change what we are looking for. I am not sure the answer but it sure gets us thinking about finding a slower paced life and such.

I will say that I have realized that I am not as scared to move because of blogging - how weird is that? I feel like I will get to take my cyber connection with me where ever I go and I know how much it helped me with our move to the D.C. area and sure it will serve me well again.

Also on my mind is... why is ok to make fun of country music? Last night when watching American Idol I started to get heated under the collar of my jammies. It was country themed night and I felt myself carrying this large flag for Nashville. I know I am over sensitive because I love that town more than I can even express, but seriously. Randy Travis was the guest host and I kind of felt he got a few jabs thrown his way. When Adam, incredible singer with the freaky goth style, sang and said "don't worry I won't ever go to Nashville" I felt myself saying, "good they don't want you" How funny is that? Look at me stay at home mom with issues.

The other funny thing as been our talks with the girls about the economy. Jeff gave a little lesson on being flexible the other night at dinner. We have plans this year to go back to Europe and take a trip to Disneyworld (free military ticket for him and $99 for each of us for five days)
But with the way the economy is going we feel ourselves getting anxious about our money.
Jeff explained to the girls that we can plan for things but have to be flexible in case they don't happen.
We have a money jar on top of our fridge that the girls have been saving every dime they find as well as saving "mimi money" (my mom always sends the girls a few dollars and cute holiday cards) for our trip to Disneyworld. We had explained to them that for us to go we would really have to save our money for a whole year.

Tonight when me and the girls were hanging out I told them that maybe we could come up with an idea to make money over the summer to make sure we can still go. We came up with a bunch of ideas and then Caroline tells me this:
she had asked her class to bring money in next week because we don't have enough to go to Disneyworld anymore. She said one girl said she would ask her mom and bring it to her on Thursday.
is this not just so sad but funny!

So I would love to know what is on your mind

have you given country music a chance and still not like it
Do you love Nashville as much as me?
What do you think about picking a place to live that would build your family?
How much money do you think I can really make from getting my girls to beg at school?

19 comments:

tootie said...

Have you ever checked out www.findyourspot.com? They ask you questions on what you like (climate, town size, region, etc) and give you a list of places you might like. If nothing else, it's interesting to see what it comes up with!

Best of luck with your search!

everything pink! said...

tootie:
my friend Tasha recommended that site a few years ago and we have done it every few months for about two years. It is the greatest site!

Anonymous said...

I thought that Adam's song last night was super creepy! He made it sound like Satan's theme song or something. I agree with you -- Nashville will be happiest if he leaves them alone!

Good luck in your search for a new place. I had a hard time with this past move from Oregon (we moved to Arizona in August), but the more we're here I find more I love about it. (Awesome March weather being top of my list right now!) And it helps that we just felt really led that we were supposed to move here. That was all that got me through some days. I hope you guys find that kind of peace in your new adventure!

Lauralee said...

heh, I could make a sign for your girls to take to school.. that might help you get a few more bucks! :)

good luck on the deciding where to live.. what a big big decision.. I enjoy a small town, slower pace, but I do miss all the conveniences that being in a bigger area offers..

Neighbor Jane Payne said...

Oh Kristi, I am dying for you at Caroline's request. How funny and mortifying at the same time!

I say pick the great Northwest. We'd love to have you for a neighbor.

Tecia said...

Deciding where to live is tough, I relocated from South Carolina to Orlando Florida and I have spend the last two years , regretting the move, focusing more on the negative, then the positive... Wherever, you decide, just be happy with your decision. I wasted to much time whining and crying. I'm learning how to enjoy my new home.

I am having a hard time determining who, I would like to win thie season. I too, thought Adam comment was rude but I believe it will come back to bite him one day.

I love your blog.

Mrs. McDaniel said...

kristi, we are in limbo too since my husband lost his job. do we stay where we are (& love) or do we apply for jobs and move far away. lol i would love to have you as my neighbor~i'm going to go to that site! I think your kids are too funny!

Deidra said...

Your post made me think of this post from TravelinOma. It had us dreaming and scheming a way to get to Europe this summer. And it's right along with your being flexible and working to make it happen.

Amber said...

We have been trying to teach our boys (7,6) about money and the economy. I guess we stressed it too negatively because our 7 year old came home with 2 journals in one week saying if he won the lottery he would use it to pay our bills! Talk about guilty mom complex.

Barb said...

I am curious about how the current economy is affecting you and your family. From the outside you seem like you are in a fairly insulated situation. Paycuts and layoffs are plaguing the oil industry (where my husband works) but I would have thought that the military employment/medical doctor combo would be bulletproof.

stacy{s} said...

That is so funny! Years ago my sister put up a large swimming pool for her boys. Suddenly her second son had all this extra money. She asked him about it and he said he we charging all the neighborhood kids 5 cents each to swim in it. Caroline cracks me up!

And as for Nashville. I'm still not a complete country fan but I do listen to a whole lot more of it after living there. Such a great town with great people.

Mostly I just want to cut Adams hair. It looks like it has static cling to his head.

katherine said...

Oh this post just speaks to me. We are discussing the exact same things as a family (and I am a country music convert after living in Tulsa, Ok. for a year and a half) thank you very much. As our children get older we find it sooo important to think of our children's best interest and where they would do best growing up, rather than our own desires--or else a compromise of the two. Good luck!

michelle said...

I am not a fan of country music. I like the Dixie Chicks, but that's as far as I can go. I didn't think Adam's comment was rude, I thought he was just expressing that he is not interested in singing country -- pretty obvious just from looking at him! I thought Randy Travis and Simon's reaction to his song was just hilarious.

I think considering how a place can contribute to building your family is great -- you and Jeff are the most important factors, but where you live is also pretty crucial once your kids get older and friends have more influence. There are pros and cons no matter how you look at it. You want them to have exposure to all different kinds of people and to be open-minded and accepting. You just want them to have too much exposure, know what I mean? What a big decision! I can't imagine being able to basically decide where you want to go.

Caroline is cracking me up! I would be mortified, but since it's your child I can just laugh.

Liz said...

Oh, I think it is sooo funny that Caroline asked her class for money. I am sure some of the parents are going to get a real kick out of that one! :)

danielle said...

i love Nashville as much as you & love country music!
Adam's song was creepy & I said the same thing, "we don't want you in Nashville"
I love that story about Caroline! Such a crack up!!

Price Cream Parlor said...

We have moved so many times in the past 21 years - one thing that is so fantastic is the church. Instant connections! Love that! I would love to just settle and know that we are there forever. How fantastic is that?! Jason has been out of a job since Sept - so we will see how things work out and where we end up. I am not above ward hopping when we are looking to move...worked for us each time! Establishing roots is a serious task. There are many factors to consider...

Your list of places that you matched were interesting as they are so different! St George vs Washington state! Hello! That is like 8" of rain all year vs like 40". So funny! I am sure that you will land happily on your feet where ever you feel inspired to do so. Your littles are so little that it is a great transition for sure! - can't wait to see where you land!

Caroline's comment is classic! So stinkin' funny!

Rachel said...

That is just too funny about Caroline petitioning for money!

michelle said...

Kristi, I just had to come back and tell you what a friend's husband did recently. His daughter (14) recently discovered country music and loves it. He hates it and told her, "you can drink, you can do drugs, but you can't listen to country music". !!!!

He was joking, but still. It made me so mad. Who says something like that to a teenager?

Jill said...

I can't imagine what it would be like to be able to research where we'd like to live and then just be able to do it. We never planned on staying in Utah, but that's the way things have worked out.

I don't know why it's okay to be so rude about Country Music. I think the people who make fun of it, clearly aren't familiar with enough with it. That Lambert kid's song was creep-o-rific.