C l a r i M i c h e l e

Three years, wow. It’s hard for me to believe that we’ve lived in England for that long!

I’ve made a tradition of writing anniversary posts ever since we moved to the UK (read the first one here, and the second one here), so I felt obliged to mark the passing of another year with a ceremonial blog. By now, you would think that I’d be pretty good at writing these year-in-review pieces, but they’re actually the hardest posts for me to finish and hit ‘publish’ on. I’ve had this one sitting in draft purgatory for months, while I tried to repackage unanswered questions and complicated feelings into a nice tidy post. Well it’s certainly taken me long enough, but here she is! A tidy little post only 578 words long. 🙂

This summer, Andrew finished the 3-year contract he was on when we moved here. It’s a pretty big milestone that brought a few changes. The biggest change is that he gets to work from home 95% of the time now, and (so far) he doesn’t miss going to the office. He’s worked so hard for the past 3 years, and he used to have to take two trains and a bus to get to work. It was definitely a welcome change to lose that commute! Now he has time for hobbies, like cooking dinner every night. We’re both pretty happy about that one. 🙂

And how am I after 3 years? Well, I’m getting itchy feet to be honest. I feel especially restless in my job. It’s been a great experience (and convenient), but after 3 years, I think I’m ready for a new challenge.

Have you ever read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie? I’m like the mouse when it comes to most things. Job hunting has led to me to consider another move, which has made me think about the type of house I would want next. And if we move to a place with a bigger living room (yes please), we’ll need a new sofa. A comfy grey sectional would be nice. Before I know it, I’ve created a wonderful imaginary life for myself that makes me feel discontent with our current situation. I try to be a thoughtful person, and make time to pray about big decisions, but it’s so easy for me to throw all of that out the window while I’m busy shopping for sofas on Amazon. Andrew despairs…

I think anniversaries make me prone to this type of behavior. When I look back on the passing of another year, I wonder if I’ve done enough. What do I have to show for the time that has passed? I get overly critical, and it’s not healthy. I’m looking forward to the autumn holidays coming up. They make me appreciate my cosy home, and the lovely people in my life a bit more.

TO CONCLUDE

We’ve got 2 years left on our current visa, which means we’re OVER HALFWAY there! I honestly thought we might be packing our bags to move back to the states after 3 years, but now I can’t imagine going through that kind of ordeal any time soon. The clock is ticking though, and I think both of us are feeling it. What’s next? Maybe nothing, and we’ll stay right where we are indefinitely. Or maybe we’ll be off on a crazy new adventure. My itchy feet want the latter, but I know the rest of me is fragile, and could do with quiet, contented life.