A place to call home…

Moving away from Vermont was the best thing I could have done in my life. “How could she say such a thing? Why she’s supposed to be blogging about Vermont and singing it’s praises”! I know that’s what you must be thinking, I’d think it too. But as I’ve been pondering what to share with you all, and what I want you to know about me I think that why I’m here is only important because I was bold enough to move away.

I was born and raised in Vermont. I’m from Highgate Springs, literally the last exit off the I89 before you drive into Canada. And if you’ve heard of Highgate Springs at all it’s probably only because you attended one of two Grateful Dead concerts back in the late 90’s which drew in over 100,000 people to our little 3,400 person town. That there is newsworthy but it’s also another story which I won’t tell now.

So I grew up here but wanted more than anything to be a professional dancer. Hard to do that in a small town in the country. So my parents agreed to let me go to college for Dance as long as I minored in something practical. I went to college in Rhode Island (Roger Williams University) and got a degree in Dance/Performance. I was thrilled! But what to do now? I decided that I had to move away to pursue my dreams but instead of moving only 7 hours away to New York City, I decided to move all the way across the country to Seattle. It was a parents worst nightmare, their only daughter moving 3000 miles away with no family or friends within a 3000 mile radius. But my parents, however scared they might have been, supported me, encouraged me, drove me across the country and let me spread my wings.

I loved Seattle and was there for 4 years dancing professionally (which really means doing what you love for free). Then it was off to the Southwest where I settled in Arizona for the next 5 years of my life. While trying to survive the raging heat of the desert I got my degree in Massage Therapy and was also certified in Pilates. And along with my total career change I found a man I would call my own forever, and ever Amen! Michael and I got married in 2006 and guess what? We moved to Seattle!

Seattle was incredible as a young single woman. But I was so thankful to be able to see another side of it as a married woman and now a mother. After having Aden (2008) I slowly began to understand the importance and beauty of raising your children with family nearby. We remained in the PNW for 4 ½ years but felt that it was time for us to move on. With all the possibilities in the world open to us, we both agreed that Vermont seemed like the wisest choice for us. And once that decision was made all of the doors to get us here flew wide open. So after being away for over 13 years I’m now back in the state I once called home.

I’ve moved 11 times in 13 years. I’ve packed a lot of boxes, hung and re-hung hundreds of pictures (ok so my hubby does that because he knows he can get done with one nail hole what normally takes me 4), made numerous trips to Goodwill, and hoped that when all of my stuff arrived at it’s final destination it would all be ok. Is Burlington, VT my final destination, probably not. Over the years I’ve come to realize that I was not wired to be a “put-down-deep-roots” kind of person. But I do think we’re here for such a time as this and when the time is right we’ll see.

In the meantime I’m enjoying exploring and discovering this place of my youth all over again. Memories are hidden everywhere, and uncovering them has been every bit enjoyable as making them with my new little family. It’s funny, when I lived out west and referred to home it always meant Vermont. And now that I’m here there is a completeness, maybe a wholeness to the word home. I don’t think I ever would have known just how much I loved this state, it’s beauty and uniqueness, until I moved away from it. But home has never felt more like home as it does here.

As for the rest of me, well I’m a stay at home mom of two boys whom I adore. Wife to a most wonderful man and my best friend. A wannabe Pilates instructor again. A full time dancer, even if for now it’s only in my kitchen and living room with an audience of a 4 year old and a 4 month old. Add on to that a newbie trying to navigate her way through the blogging world. So here’s to the journey ahead of us, this is going to be great!

And now for a little pop quiz, what brought you to Vermont?