Home Is Where My Family Is

Hello! I’ve been super silent as this move from Slovenia back to The United States has been challenging! I’m super used to moving… this is my 8th move in 8 years, but what killed me this time was the amount of time our stuff took to get to Slovenia (74 days); we got our property, and our home in Slovenia felt like home FINALLY! Just to pack it all back up and send it back to The United States for it to take another 105 days to get back to Monterey. You don’t realize how exhausting moving is until you’ve made two significant moves in 11 months. 

Tyler and I made the best decision to move back to Monterey! The best way I can describe it is it feels like we are moving home. I know we aren’t from California, and Tennessee will always be home! But moving back to a place where we don’t have to break out the GPS to find the nearest Target is a blessing! 

We were also brilliant in choosing to move back to La Mesa (military housing); we knew our children would have instant friends in the neighborhood and plenty of places to play. We didn’t know that we would have the BEST neighbors EVER! Our neighbors are seriously the BEST! They met us one day, and the next day they invited us over for dinner, giving us a place to sit (we didn’t have a couch at the time, and sitting on a sofa vs. the floor is something extraordinary). We have truly been blessed to have such great neighbors that have turned into lifelong friends! I’ll be sharing a house tour very soon! I have many friends who are moving to Monterey and are curious about what housing styles look like in La Mesa! (So stay tuned!) 

Below is a little bit of an update on the kiddos

Nolan, I’ll be sincere; this move has been the hardest for Nolan. He’s a very resilient child, but he LOVED his British School, and he loved his teacher Mrs. Williams so much that he transitioned to a new school, new teacher, new friends, and and moving back to The United States, all while starting “real school” for the first time was A LOT for a 5-year old! He had a rough time adjusting the first couple of weeks, but I think now we are back on track! He loves his new teacher (She’s genuinely AMAZING), and he enjoys all the new friends he’s met this year too. I’m excited to see him bloom in Monterey! 

Heath has no idea what’s happening; that’s a BIG BONUS to only being 3. When we leave Monterey, I know he’ll know what’s going on; 4 was the year that Nolan started grasping the concept of moving and saying goodbye to friends. Heath has also begun Full-Time Pre-School and LOVES his teacher; I think he thinks she hung the moon too! He’s so excited to walk to class in the morning, and they always have such fun activities set up for the kiddos. Heath is talking so much more now too! 

Clarence (our dog!) We have him back!!! If you didn’t already know, Clarence went to live with Tyler’s Dad and Step-mom while we lived in Slovenia, and they took GREAT care of him! He’s still our very lazy, well-behaved pup we left! 

Tyler just finished his first quarter at NPS (Naval Postgraduate School). Can you believe we have been in Monterey for almost 4 months?! Tyler and I have adjusted really well to living in The United States, but for fun, I have listed below the things that we both have decided we missed about Slovenia. 

Things we miss about Slovenia

  1. Coffee! OMG, The United States coffee is really not that good at all. 
  2. I miss child-friendly restaurants with playgrounds! My favorite thing in Slovenia was getting coffee and letting Heath and Nolan play while I sat in peace and drank my coffee. 
  3. The fresh food! I miss all the new food. 
  4. Biking, I miss hopping on my bike and riding it into the city with Heath on the back! 
  5. I miss the landscape! I miss seeing snow-capped mountains in my backyard.
  6. I miss my friends! I miss the close-knit community we had in Slovenia. 
  7. I miss Zara! I know we have a Zara in CA, too but it was literally right up the road from my house in Slovenia, haha 
  8. I miss walking…I miss just being able to walk to the bakery at the corner. You can’t walk anywhere here…unless you walk around the neighborhood. 
  9. Going back to coffee, I miss a coffee shop on every corner, and I like the idea that you have to sit down and drink your coffee. 

Things I was happy to see in The United States 

  1. TARGET! OMG, I missed that store like crazy! 
  2. I was happy to be able to understand everyone again. 
  3. Driving, I like being able to turn right on red! 
  4. I missed stores like Marshalls, HomeGoods, Home Depot, and Costco! You can’t find these stores in Slovenia; I missed them a lot! 
  5. I like being able to work again! 
  6. It’s easier here to shop for food when you can read all the labels! 
  7. I missed American cleaning products.

We are all so happy to be back in The United States; however, we are all looking forward to starting our next adventure in Europe! (We should know where we are heading around Christmas this year!)  

  • Kristi
    March 26, 2018

    They call cafe Americano “weak coffee” here. Lol. They may be on to something.

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