As some of you surely know, Maddie, Emily and I are moving to Boulder, Colorado on Jan. 2, 2011.
How did this happen? It's a long story that starts with our decision to move to Hawaii in the first place. When we decided to move here, Em was not pregnant and my contract was 3 years. Within a year and a half we'd had a child and my contract was no longer time-limited. This changed things quite a bit as we knew that we did not want Maddie to be educated in Hawaii (schools notoriously bad), but with regards to the job, it became more lucrative and comfortable. In the background, the grandparents continued to grumble since they didn't get to see Maddie enough. As Maddie grew older and placement in school was becoming imminent, a decision had to be made. Frankly, Em made the biggest push to move on, but as she did I realized that it was the right decision despite my initial hesitancy.
About mid-year I began looking around for openings. Coincidentally, we planned a trip to Colorado that I took advantage of to scour the state for jobs. While we visited Boulder, I interviewed at Boulder Community Hospital and was offered the job to start ASAP. However, my colleagues on Kauai didn't even know I was looking so to give them some lead time to find a replacement, January was agreed upon as the date of my departure.
Considering the real estate market, we decided to keep our house and rent it long term. As it will remain furnished, it offers us the unique opportunity to return to the island between renters and stay in our own house. I hope to return to Kauai several times a year to cover vacations for my partners.
As I type, I have 4 days left on Kauai. Bittersweet. I'm excited about new opportunities in Colorado, the return of seasons, huge mountains and being only a 2.5 hour flight from Cincinnati. I'm sad about leaving friends, the ocean and what was probably the best job I'll ever have. My consolation is that while we were on Kauai we had some incredible experiences and Maddie had an amazing place to start her exciting life. If you've read even a few posts on this blog I think you'll agree that Maddie's had a complement of experiences that would fill many, many years, let alone 3. Consider Kauai Maddie's training ground for a life of amazing experiences. On to the next Adventure!
