Forever*Cottage~an announcement....

I have written and re-written this post a thousand times in my head during the last couple weeks.  And as I finally sit down this evening to actually write it, with a glass of wine at my side, I still don't have a clever, or more interesting way of saying what I have to say.....

How about I begin with some history?

I began blogging almost three year ago - hard to believe really.  I began this blog after our family moved to Minnesota {for the second time} after having lived in West Chester, Pennsylvania for just 18 months.  I was lonely, exhausted and not too happy to be in the midwest once again.  You see, I had relunctantly left our "home" state of Oregon less than two years before and having lived in Minnesota once before, I swore I would never come back.  Nothing against Minnesota, I just strongly dislike winter, period.  Plus, just when Pennsylvania had begun to feel like "home", we relocated once again, and back to "START" we went {"do not pass "GO", do not collect $200}.  I was tired of smiling and introducing myself to the moms at school, teachers, neighbors - explaining why we moved, where we came from etc.....Blogging was a great reclusive activity and I definitely felt like I was part of a community {albeit an online community} of peeps like me.

I named my blog "Forever*Cottage" because like so many of you have - I desired a "forever" home - one that held our family memories and would feel familiar to my children when they were grown.  I did not have that growing up and always really wanted that for my children.

Notice the {*} in the title????

I added the asterick {*} to the title because given our family's history, I knew that there was always the chance that our cottage would not be our forever home.

Well guess what friends?

In the coming year, our family will be relocating back to our adopted home state of Oregon {actually my daughter's home state as both were born there}!  It is a bittersweet event.  Bitter because we have created a life here in Minnesota, we live in a Norman Rockwell-esque neighborhood, near a beautiful lake and have made some really special friends.  Sweet because we return to a place that holds our hearts, where my parents and other family live and great friends wait to welcome us "home"!

I won't lie, for as much as I am looking forward to returning to Oregon, I am not looking forward to getting from "point A to point B" so to speak - it is the hardest part.  I need to find my mojo - have you seen it?  I seem to have misplaced it...

It's going to be a wild ride - selling our cottage, finding a new one, choosing a school for the girls......and everything else! 

This will be the SEVENTH corporate move I have navigated in our 20 year marriage - {gulp!}.  This time I intend to share it ALL on this blog - the good, the bad, the ugly and then the really, really ugly.  It is the most personal sharing I have done on this blog and I will admit it is a bit scary.

What can you expect?  More pictures of our current cottage - ready "FOR SALE", pictures of potential new cottages in Portland, Oregon, the expected angst of selling a home in the current market conditions and trying to get a good deal on a new one.  I will share the Minnesota good-bye's and all the hello's that await on the other side.

I really envision this blog to record our 2011 family journey in a way I have neglected to all the other times.  Because, for the first time, I realize {and appreciate} just how much moving and creating homes and wonderful, meaningful lives all around our country define our family.  And that's not such a bad thing.  By the way, my girls are *happy* and looking forward to returning to Oregon - even my 12 year old! 

First up - THREE showings of our cottage this weekend - and we have not even listed it yet!