Deck Discussions

Dan and I love to sit outside on our deck in the evenings and talk about life. Usually over a bottle of wine.

We talk about the PAST:  Reminiscing about special moments, places we've been, events we've enjoyed, laughing together about funny stories...

We talk about NOW:  We share about our day, Dan sometimes shares about work, we discuss parenting and share funny stories about the boys...

And we dream about the FUTURE:  Where we think we'll be in 5 years, what our boys will be like, vacations we want to take, if we'll have more children...

One night we were sitting on the deck talking about how good life in Georgia was. After a year, we felt settled and both agreed that we were really happy with our new life. This was a big deal for me.

You see, I never wanted to leave sweet home Chicago. I don't like change. We turned down other relocation opportunities before, but this one was different. We prayed over the opportunity and both felt like this was one we couldn't or shouldn't pass up. Yes, we could end up regretting it! But we wouldn't know until we stepped out in faith.

So that night, we shared our thankfulness as we both agreed that this experience had been beneficial and I shared that after 'jumping off the cliff', the thought of doing it again didn't seem so scary. We brainstormed and dreamed about other (US) cities that we would be interested in seeing/relocating to. Then Dan said, "What about Canada?" And we both laughed. No. No way. Any other place outside of the US wasn't even on the radar.

Another night on the deck, the possibility of baby #3 made way into the conversation. We discussed it several times before, but it never seemed like the  right time. After  a year in Georgia, we were ready to talk. Things were good. We loved our neighborhood & our neighbors, we were familiar with our surroundings and had found good doctors, we loved the boys' schools, we were having a great experience. Even though we weren't near our parents, it was starting to feel like home.

Our boys were getting older and we certainly weren't getting any younger! Was this the right time? Or we were crazy to think about reverting back to diapers and sleepless nights just because we were comfortable in our current lifestyle and routine and "ready for something new"?

We could continue to find reasons NOT to, and close the door. But would we always wonder "what if"?

We went back and forth discussing pros and cons. And that evening, as we wrapped up our conversation, Dan goes, "Well, we'll see what happens"...