On the Move

I’ve lived in Nashville for 29 years -- since my parents moved here in 1991. I was 13. Needless to say, it’s home, and I love almost everything about my life here.

Especially now that I’m getting ready to leave it. 😳

Not my life; I’m not dying. We’re moving. To Washington, D.C.

Well, Kensington, Maryland, to be more precise—but on the DC Metro #redline #comeseeus and 30minutes drive from the Mall. #comeseeus 

As you can imagine, it took some pretty compelling events to convince us to jump off the train we’ve been riding for decades. I’d sum them up this way:

The last 4 years have been pretty intense for our family, but most of those issues have recently resolved or plateaued. For example: we no longer have an infant but don’t yet have a high schooler. For the first time in years, we can consider...an adventure. 

Josh has a once-in-a-lifetime chance to run the next generation of the Human Genome project, called The All of Us Research Project (https://www.joinallofus.org/en). It will have a global impact on medicine and healthcare. Granted, I’m a #proudwife, but this is objectively the largest research project ever undertaken, and the sky’s the limit on the impact it could have in every area of medicine. It also happens to be squarely in the middle of his expertise—not something we could have planned or orchestrated. #rightplacerighttime

God has opened so many doors, I’ve lost track of them all. At first, I thought, “We have to do this, even though it’ll cost us a lot.” And it will cost us in various ways, but not as many as I expected. As I’ve seen before, when God upends our plans, he shows such grace in helping us adjust to the change.

The whole thing has my mind and heart jumping between opposite corners: excited about a grand new adventure #iloveDC and scared to be walking away from so much that we love. #comeseeus

I’ve already created lists in my journal of all the reasons we believe this could be good for our family. #pleaseGod I’m pretty sure I’ll need to revisit these lists in the near future. #liketonight But even better, we hope you’ll come visit us in DC and join in part of the adventure!! #comeseeus #6DennysdoDC

In the meantime, if you've moved out-of-state with kids, please share your tips and advice in the comments. Also, any suggestions of family-friendly movies about moving (preferably where it's not a disaster) or set in the DC area would be welcome! And then, plan to #comeseeus. 😘