Relocating....Again.

I've gone ahead and made it facebook official, so I guess it's time to make it 'blog official'. 2019 will start the latest chapter in our nomadic adventure as we pack up and head to Bangkok, Thailand for a few years. As far as international assignments go, this is one of the most coveted (Aberdeen being pretty high up the list as well). It will be much trickier than Scotland due to more extreme language and cultural differences, but every account we've heard is that it's truly a wonderful place to live. 

We are excited to have Bangkok as a jumping off point to explore a whole new world of travel, and we are excited to rejoin the expat community. We say all the time that Aberdeen was our easiest move simply because we had such a welcoming group of people to show us the ropes. 

My expectation is that the community we will move to in Thailand will foster a similar feeling of instant belonging. We've already had several people reach out to us to see if they can answer any questions or help in any way. Ex-pat communities are the closest thing to living in Louisiana that we've seen since leaving LSU. Just people looking out for each other and banding together. 

The most emotional part is leaving behind my parents who JUST relocated to The Woodlands. It's been such a dream having them within walking distance and it's heartbreaking to give that up. Forest has such a special relationship with his grandparents and being in such close proximity has been such a blessing in all of our lives. It's hard to get pumped up about the move when I am grieving this impending loss pretty hard core. 

I oscillate between feeling excited and feeling totally panicked. But in every circumstance I try to remember that I am not the main character of this story; God is. I'm trusting that, even if it's a minor role I have to play, even if I'm just an extra in the background of his story,  this move will be an opportunity to love and serve a brand new batch of people.  As hard as moving is, I love meeting new people. I love that for such a shy and quiet person, I've had these opportunities to develop rich friendships all around the world with all sorts of people. 

That being said, it is tough to leave behind friends over and over again and start from scratch. Both times we've lived here, Houston has been the hardest place to get connected; friendships have taken longer to take root.  Still, life here has been comfortable and easy and with Jonathan being gone half the time, easy and comfortable has been just what I needed.  

There is no shortage of children and parks/events/activities to get involved in and I'm seriously obsessed with Forest's sweet preschool.  I love his Teddy Tennis, and Soccer Shots, and AWANA, and our gym, and BSF, and book club. Life works like clock work here, and I know it soon will in Bangkok too, it's just daunting to go through the process of making it so. Moving is stressful. Moving internationally is stressful Xs 30. But at least we have the excitement of a great location to spur us onward! 

It also gives me lots of new blogging material. Let's be honest, living the burbs of Houston and raising a 5 year old who has already met 95% of the exciting childhood milestones is kind of lacking for good fodder. I do plan on blogging more regularly as we explore a new country/continent/culture and I'd love to have y'all follow along as we feel our way through this next chapter. 

The next six weeks will be busy busy with move prep, including a fast and furious look-see to Bangkok to check out housing, F's new school (International School of Bangkok), and get a couple of logistical things taken care of. Stay tuned and I'll try my best to document it all!