So here we are.....

Another adventure is about to begin. As some of you know, Robert and I moved out to California a few years ago expecting... Well I'm not sure what exactly we were expecting. You know that feeling that's been described of the pioneers heading out west to find gold and strike it rich? I suppose that is the closest description of how we both felt way back in July 2007. We left everything we knew behind - Our families, our closest friends and the comforts of home - to head out West, 2600 miles away. Now, this is of course 2007 not the 1800's so our trip was much faster and much smoother sailing. No hostile Indians were met along the way - Though we did see some! Our trip was by no means easy - We packed up a Uhaul, loaded our car onto a trailer to pull behind that Uhaul and drove from Florida along I-10 all the way to Lancaster,CA. Robert managed to jackknife the uhaul and trailer at one point in the middle of a gas station ( how embarrassing! ) and had to humbly accept help that was offered to us to get it out of the jackknife. We drove through Houston and San Antonio,TX - Two of the largest cities that I never want to go through again! Drove through NM and AZ - The sands were completely white and I never knew that the US could go from such beautiful green country side to such utterly desolate wasteland in a matter of days! I truly wondered if we had someone skipped an ocean and landed in the Sahara. Only 3 days after leaving Florida we finally made it to California. Oh my - not what we were expecting! Large mountains surround us, the summer are so hot - easily reaching temperatures of 120+ in the summer, 17 in the winter w/light snow! No one told us it would be so ugly and barren out here! The crime rate is very high since we are so close to Los Angeles, and there really isn't a whole lot to do out here. However it is an ideal location for the type of work Robert is in, and we suffered through.

Two years and 30 bottles of lotion later ( the weather is Harsh on one's skin! ) we are finally leaving! Robert put his notice in at work last Monday. We have two jobs on the line and are hoping to have a decision today about which job we will be taking. One job will take us back home to Florida. How easily we could say YES take us home! But nothing is free in today's world. If we take this Florida job we take the risk of hurting our marriage because it would require Robert to be away from home for six months. We take a risk that he could be seriously injured or even possible death due to the unsafe locations he would be required to go to. So you see, everything has a price - The question is, are we prepared to pay that price?

On the other hand, we have a job in Albuquerque, NM that is far safer and the income while great and steady, is not nearly as much as the job that will take us home to Florida. Robert will still travel overseas but will not have to go off base or go with special ops. He will not have to be armed. He will not have to worry about his life. This job would be a career builder for him. But it's not home. I will still be lonely and feeling out of place. Feeling like my life back "home" is moving on with out me. I realize it's only a short drive or flight back - but when no one will come visit me it begins to make me realize that life really does go on without one there. Oy, such serious questions for a young couple our age! The question becomes... Where will our new adventure take us? What choice is the right one and will we be able to decipher the right from the wrong??