Learning to Embrace the Now

Three days ago I learned that we were moving out of state. Again.

When I found out about the move, the tears fell. My first thought: Before my son turns three, he will have lived in three different states! I told myself that I was only crying because this move was so unexpected. And, I’m pregnant. I’m always emotional.

But the truth is, I’ve cried and dreaded every move.

We moved to the Atlanta area a little over six months ago. At first, I cringed over everything about my new suburban home: The grocery store was too far away. The roads were too curvy and hilly. The weather: too hot. And our neighbors, let’s just say it was our first time living in an HOA. We didn’t know the etiquette of bringing in our garbage can immediately after it had been disposed of (we quickly realized the complaints on social media were about us. Oops!).

And although I knew we were in the best area for my husband’s commute and our family’s needs, I felt like all the “fun stuff” was on the other side of Atlanta.

It wasn’t until I embraced my specific area of Henry County that I started to enjoy Georgia. We live in the woods, so I thought, let’s enjoy nature. We even found adventure visiting local farms and eating off the land.

Picking peaches.
Picking Georgia peaches at Southern Belle Farm.

And, the great thing about Atlanta, is that we’re not THAT far away from everything. We’ve still had opportunities to enjoy Atlanta’s attractions. We recently visited the Coca-Cola museum and the Aquarium. We’ve been to the Zoo several times (pandas! Too cute!). And, I absolutely LOVED The Varsity (pregnancy has made food taste so good for me!), something I almost missed because I thought, “That’s really not my thing.”

The Varsity
My favorite pregnancy craving from The Varsity!

I’m so glad we can mark those off our bucket list. It’s true. Atlanta has so much to enjoy.

Change is hard. Motherhood is hard!

It’s okay to be sad when things change. But I’ve resolved (after my shower of tears) to embrace our move. Instead of living in regret, to live in the moment. Find the positive. Not wait until it’s almost time to move again to enjoy.

And you know, the more I think about it, the more I realize motherhood is very similar. Things happen that you don’t plan for (like when your child wets his and YOUR pants). But, you just have to roll with it and find the humor. This period of motherhood seems long and tedious at times. But, when I live in the now, embracing the moment, instead of counting the minutes until my toddler grows up or my husband comes home, then I don’t miss out. And I don’t lose what was there all along–adventures with my son. Those adventures could very well be his first memories.

Oh, the adventures in the Atlanta area!

So, our family is moving. Again.

And although I’m going to miss Atlanta, my son gets the opportunity to live in three states before he turns three. How many toddlers can boast about that?

And we get to explore another community.

And, I get the opportunity to do it better this time: Embracing the Now.  

Learning to Embrace the Now