Moving up??

So buying a house has prompted me to explore life transitions...

Starting when you're born, everyone is always talking about moving on... learning something new etc. etc. etc. (working with preschoolers, I may be skewed to pay attention to many of the early ones... anyway...) I have a distinct memory from when I was entering first grade... someone said, "Wow! Now you're really going to school, are you nervous?" (I say) "I hear there is homework ugh... no fun" (opinion influenced by elder sisters)

Just over 10 years later...I graduated from high school and everyone said (or at least said to me), "Wow.. you're entering the real world... are you nervous... you're headed for the 'big city' Good luck!" (or something along those lines). I am grateful for the well-wishes and, at the time, I was very excited to move on... but even then I was thinking... Madison... "big city"... ??? (not really.. I HAVE ventured outside of the great state of Wisconsin and we really don't have much to qualify as 'big city'...well, I suppose when you compare it to where I come from...) So I think to myself, 'Yep... I'm ready... and I've been ready for a while...'

So anyway, 2 major life transitions (though many more from a parent-perspective, I am sure) out of the way by 18. I go to college, I love it... I love Madison (for the not-so-big-city that it is). 6 short (loooooooong!) years later I graduate with a Master's degree. Everyone celebrates (though no one quite as much as me) and says, "Wow.. you're entering the real world... are you nervous... you're headed for 'real world of work' Good luck!" (all the while I'm thinking... uhh yeah, I've been ready for this for at LEAST the past 2 years!)

Again, I love the well-wishes and hope for the best. I have had most of my first full year of 'real world' work (and luckily I love the people I work with and more importantly the job I do). During this year I also got engaged to be married! I received even more congratulations (Yay... I'm even more excited for this transition than for the graduation one!) Another life transition in less than a year.

On top of the last one (granted one of the 'Big Three' as I have come to refer to them... Marriage, House, Kids), I am looking for the 2nd of the above... a HOUSE! As listed in a previous blog Animals of Many Kinds, I'm not entirely happy with my current living situation. We're looking to move up to no shared walls... of any kind.

Yet another life transition. Am I moving too fast? This is a big one... lots of $$ on the line... lots of stress for me and my fiance to handle. Should we think about having kids right away... get the third 'Big Three' out of the way???


NO!


We will be waiting... at least for a couple years! Get married (almost all plans are done really), find a house (where we will throw a big party to celebrate the former), then take a BREAK! And have kids somewhere in there... when we're comfortable...

I am still left to ponder (as I set up 'retirement accounts' etc.). Every time you enter one of my so named 'transitions' it seems like it's the end of something and the beginning of another. I have always looked to marriage, house, and kids (the 'Big Three') as the 'END' of the story...stability sets in...period.

But really... as I think... every 'transition' (including those 'Big Three') is just that... transitioning to the next level. There is no end. There is ALWAYS another step to look forward to, work for (a few I think of at this point of my life... having a baby... having another?... multiple child milestones... they start school... we sell/buy a new house... (beyond that let's not think about at the moment). The point is... I don't ever need to feel bored with my life... ever. There's always more to plan for... prepare for... help my family prepare for...

I can't wait!