10 January 2015

Moving AGAIN?!

This post is almost embarrassing to write. Anyone who knows our family knows that we are pretty nomadic. The longest we have lived in a house in our 19 year marriage is 3 and a half years. There always seems to be a reason to move (listed here, if you're interested), as much as we'd like to put down roots.

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And yes, we are planning on moving AGAIN, even though we've only been in this house for 14 months. Dare I say that we hope to be in the next house for a good long while? Let me explain.

The story starts back when we first began to plan our move from England to New Zealand. Grant and I agreed that the one place we didn't want to move to was Auckland. Why shift halfway across the world to settle in the most populated and most expensive part of the country?

Then we found out that the only place they were recruiting was south Auckland, so we didn't have a choice. We are grateful Grant could get a job here and that we were able to make the move to New Zealand, and since we arrived here three and a half years ago we have been enjoying the lifestyle and area. But beneath that has been incredible financial pressure - we just can't afford to live in Auckland on one salary, a civil servant's salary at that, and with my health challenges I can't commit to a job outside the home. We even had to rehome our precious Daisy when I lost an income I had - we just couldn't afford to keep her any more. It was absolutely heartbreaking. (I haven't talked about it on here because it was too upsetting.)

We've been talking about moving out of Auckland for a good while. Well, mainly Grant was talking and I was freaking out. I just couldn't face relocating again; I was still recovering emotionally from immigrating. I have good friends here and was worried I wouldn't be able to put myself out there to make new ones should we move.

But the facts are the facts and we are struggling to make ends meet even though we live in a relatively cheaper part of Auckland (compared to the North Shore, for example) and live very frugally. We started looking at other areas of the country to find a spot that had a lower cost of living and could provide the things we wanted (near to the beach, small town but within reach of amenities, affordable houses, natural beauty, etc).

A little while ago one of my close friends came to visit and let me know that she and her family are moving to Taranaki to be nearer her parents. It's about five hours away by car. Grant started asking her about the area and we began researching it, culminating in a visit to check out the region. We all loved it! And we can't believe how affordable houses are in the small town to which we have decided to move - the same town in which my friend will live.

There have been a series of occurrences that have led to this decision and it just feels so right. We are excited about it (although I am very upset at the prospect of leaving my best friend, Carley.) Grant has applied for a job transfer, and when a position becomes available (not sure how long it will take for something to open up) we are making the move - and buying a house!! I cannot describe how excited I am to have my own home to renovate and decorate.

So here's to another year of change and upheaval, yet another move, and hopefully a home in which to put down roots (famous last words...) Thanks for coming along for the ride!


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