we're movin' ya'll

three years ago, eric and i bought our first home. we moved to peoria for three great reasons: eric got a full ride to attend bradley university for his masters, i got a job at my old high school (where i always dreamed of teaching), and my parents live here! we were excited. we bought our house after one day of searching, and never looked back. this house has been pretty perfect for our first home. we made it ours. i've stocked up a thousand memories between these walls.

but, i always knew we'd leave. for whatever reason, peoria has never been it for us. i knew that. even moving boxes upon boxes into this house, i knew we'd be leaving. i knew we'd move on.

in november, they closed my school. woodruff high school has been my second home for many years. i've celebrated 7 birthdays there. i've had some of my proudest moments there. i became a real teacher there. if i think too long about what closing woodruff means to me, i cry. it gets to me at the weirdest moments: when i turn the lights on in an empty auditorium, when i sit alone in my classroom at the end of a day, when the first student says, "Seaaaaaman!" suddenly, i find myself choked up and nostalgic. i find myself helpless to stop something i wish i could. a school closing is like someone you love dying. next year, my students will be shipped off to different high schools and teachers who have taught at the same school, some for 20 years, will be teaching in classrooms across the city. it's a bum deal-- the whole thing.

i don't have tenure yet. i would be getting that next year. but, i always saw myself teaching at woodruff. i always wanted to be a part of the crew that inspired me to become a teacher. next year, that won't exist anymore. do i still love teaching, yes. of course i do. however, i can't explain it, i need something different. oh, and i was pinked slipped-- JERKS.

so, in june, we'll be moving to austin, texas. as of now, i am looking for a part-time job. that's right, PART-TIME. i will be a stay at home mama. there is nothing that makes me feel happier than writing that. i'm going to be a cowboy boot wearin', breast-feedin', liberal in a red state rockin' SAHM.

when we first move to austin, we'll be shackin' it up in eric's parent's awesome RV; we don't know where we'll be after that. we are now in the process of getting rid of roughly 80% of our belongings. i've already been researching play groups for henry and attachment parenting groups for me. when eric and i see pool floaties at target, we squeeze each other's hands and smile. this is right.