If you don't move forward, you stand still..(oh and day 8)

I've been hinting that I have big changes in the wind, and I'm excited to announce that in just a few short weeks, Elijah and I will be moving to Toowoomba. This has been in the pipeline for a while however I wanted to wait until I got a job offer before permanently uprooting us, and to officially resign before I said anything. Now that it's happened I'm part apprehensive, part excited and part downright terrified. I've been in my current job for 7 years and have gotten into a comfortable and easy rut which has been hard for me to admit, and even harder to do something about. But I've been standing still for a while so I'm overdue for big changes! And what's bigger than moving house, home and son to an entirely different town? As my friend said, I'm joining the Toowoomba mafia (although my response, as a subversive Virgo was that of course I'll be their new leader).

It was incredibly hard to resign, I have real mixed emotions about it. My life has been at my company for such a long time, I have made such changes over the years that I barely recognise the person who first walked through those doors. I have learned so much, made lifelong friends and have been really, really fortunate to work amongst such intelligent and talented people who have been so giving with me over the years.

Now it's all systems go and the next few weeks will be a maelstrom of finding somewhere new to live, enrolling E into school, figuring out all the logistics and of course, packing!

Toowoomba is a really pretty large mountain town/small city about 1.5 hours from Brisbane. The drive there is gorgeous, right through countryside that looks like some kind of fake idyllic advertisement for cheese. Last time we were there we literally drove straight through a cloud as we were going up the mountain, it was amazing!

Toowoomba is famous for having zillions of parks, the annual Carnival of Flowers and of course, bloody freezing winters! The tourism website describes it as 'crisp mountain air'. A cute way of saying 'you're gonna FREEZE baby!' As someone who loves but really feels the cold, I'm a little scared! I think finding a house with really great heating is going to be high on the agenda.

The best thing about Toowoomba is that it's so inexpensive. It's like Brisbane 20 years ago - the salaries are the same (if not better), but rentals are crazy cheap and they have the cheapest meat/fruit/veg/fuel in the country. And to be able to offer that old school lifestyle to my own kid...how can you pass that up?

I have spoken to a few people about my proposed move and most have been WTF? I've always been a city girl, and have never lived in Toowoomba in my life. I know exactly one person there. Am I nuts?

Probably.

Brisbane is my home town, and I'll always hold it dear but frankly, I feel that a single income family (and many double income) is fast getting priced out of this city. It costs E and I hundreds of dollars a month just for the privilege of going to and from work/school, the rents are beyond insane and I seem to spend most of my life these days on a bus. By the time I walk in the door each evening I just feel shattered, which doesn't make me a great mum. When the weekend rolls around, we're so tired and/or broke that we end up stuck in a unit in a highrise which just doesn't make for a great quality of life.

In Toowoomba I can drive to and from work in 5 minutes - free parking! What's that? And with rents up to around $150 a week cheaper we can afford a great place where we can really make a life for ourselves..if we don't freeze first. It's exciting to check out realestate.com.au and for once be able to decide what WE want instead of what is the least crappy place can we afford! And while my thumb is thoroughly brown, I can't wait to have a garden once again and have heaps of plans for a lovely herb garden like I used to have a few years back. E's already looking forward to mowing...NOT.

And only a short trip to Brisbane so it isn't like I won't still be coming to visit the girls, the only difference is I'll just be begging the couch for the night and angling for a good old-fashioned girlie sleepover.

Change can be really scary and when I got the phone call offering me my new job my first instinct was to say no, chuck the idea and maintain the status quo. How many times do we NOT do something cause it's out of our comfort zone? And in my letter to my 16 year old self I told me you'll only regret the things you don't do. It feels right. And E's excited.

All these thoughts were running through my head when I resigned. My last day there will be the end of an era. I'm sure there will be plenty of tears. You spend so much time at your job that it becomes like your home, and the thought of not going back there is kinda frightening and like losing my security blanket.

So my week is off to a flying start - it seems right to now segue into today's happiness challenge...

Gratitudes:

• So firstly I'm really grateful for this fantastic offer that has set the wheels in motion for such a great change. Sometimes you feel like you're just treading water in life and then bang...something happens and you realise how great everything can be if you just take a chance and go after what you want.
• I'm grateful for the possibilities now at my fingertips - the opportunity to build a new and improved life with my beautiful son in a place well known for it's family atmosphere.
• Lastly, I am so grateful for the support of my family and friends in helping me come to this decision. Although many don't want me to go, without exception they've been so unbelievably supportive and excited for me as all the pieces have fallen into place.

Journal:
Clearly big things are happening for me right now. It's hard to wrap my head around all of the things that I need to do logistically to make this all move forward, however that's all it is...logistics. I am so excited to be moving closer to my dad who will now be only 1.5 hours away from me (instead of 3), and as I'll be living in the 'big city' that they visit to do the shopping they can't find in Tenterfield (population @ 6,000) I'll be able to see them far more often than I now do. The last few years have been really tough for me in so many ways but I look at it as the learning and growth I needed to be able to stand up and confidently make decisions that are right for my little family. I am going to spend the next few weeks trying to revisit all of my favourite Brisbane haunts 'one last time' as a resident of this city. I am also going to try not to wish the next few weeks away and enjoy the process of my life in transition.

Random act of kindness:
I had my own random act of kindness come back to me today with an unexpected thank you for some work I've been doing. It is so lovely to be appreciated and made me realise how important it is to make these a priority in your life.

Mine today was going out of my way to thank a person who was really instrumental in helping me get my new role. They really put themselves out there to help me and have been a huge support and I wanted them to know that.

Meditation:
Sure enough my eyes were closed before I even became horizontal last night, I'm going to give it a good try tonight however.

So the lesson I've learned today is not only to look on the bright side of life, but sometimes you need to create that bright side all by yourself. A valuable lesson indeed!

So happy to finally share my news, I hope you are having as fantastic a day as I am!

xx