Five States in Five Years

The last five years have seen our little family call home in five very different states.  As we prepare to make our next move to our final state number six, I found myself reflecting on the last five years/moves/states….

We lived in Massachusetts all our lives.  Until we didn’t!  Snowy backyard, countless fun running memories, big 50 mile and 100 mile race accomplishments, family and friends.  Too many pictures to represent all the decades.

We lived in North Carolina next.  Then we blinked and moved on!  While there, we ran some races, did some sightseeing/touring, took a trip in a hot air balloon, and hiked some mountains.

We lived in the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire next.  Made some life-long new friends, shared hot cocoa at the top of Mt. Monadnock during a super moon, discovered Scores Running Club family, reconnected with our families, and ran lots of races, notably Vermont 100 (Scott). 

After decades of complaining about the cold, it was time to explore life in Southwest Florida.  Made instant great friends (who express themselves via birthday cake), learned how to avoid new critters (heyyyy gator!), survived a brutally humid 50K with our northern friends, and experienced and captured some of the most amazing sunsets!

Although planned as a temporary stay (for work), our stay in Oklahoma has lasted almost two years!  And, it’s fallen partially during the pandemic.  Fortunately, we did get some explorations in before lock-down.  The weather nerd in me got to visit National Weather Center, experience a distant-enough tornado from the safety of our storm shelter, experience the coldest weather in 116 years, visit the Oklahoma State Fair, run several races, and make an instant friend at those races!

Next Stop:  Home Sweet Home, VT USA…We are now preparing for our trek home to Vermont!!! 

What this five year adventure has taught is this:  We need to be closer to our families.  We need to be closer to the mountains.  We need space and land and peacefulness.  We need our four seasons.  We are farmers at heart (even Scott who grew up in the city!).  This is what is important to us.  

None of these five states were necessarily "wrong".  We consider ourselves so incredibly lucky to have been able to experience this adventure.  It reminded us of what we need, what/who we missed, and what we don't need as part of our future.  We wouldn’t trade the friends and the memories we made for anything and are excited to build new memories.

Vermont, we're coming for you!