what’s in the cards

So here we are in France, and it’s been great! But we never planned for it to be forever… our original goal was to live in France for two or three years, and then to figure out what to do next.

In a way, we’re faced with too many choices – which is a great dilemma to have. As Yvonne is American and I have a dual Canadian and British citizenship, there are so many places where we could choose to live and work. And please do not think that I am bragging or trying to show off by saying this, as I realize it could come across this way… the reality is that this situation was created wholly by where we and our parents happened to be born.

We’ve been in France for almost two and a half years now, and it’s been a great adventure. But it’s been difficult to lay down roots here. It’s almost like we’ve been living like college students (without the keg parties)… always knowing that what you’re doing and where you’re living is temporary. We haven’t bought a house, or even bicycles. But the hardest part about living abroad is being far away from family and friends. So we’ve decided to move back to the States.

But first, we’re going to be staying in Spain for the summer and early fall. We’ve found a place 5 minutes from the beach in the south of Spain, and will be staying there until we head back to the States in November. At that point we’re going to be moving to central Florida; I lived there in Orlando with my family during the mid-90s, and my parents and sister’s family are there. One of Yvonne’s brothers is not too far away in Tennessee, while the rest of her family lives in Texas – not exactly close, but certainly a lot closer than France.

As for where we’re going to be moving, we found a place in Celebration, a town quite close to Disneyworld (in fact, it was originally conceived by Walt Disney himself). We’re going to be living a short walk from a park and swimming pool near the center of the development. Celebration is a neat neighborhood with a great K-8 school, lots of fun things to do in the vicinity, and it’s situated in a spot near where my sister and my parents live. People seem to have mixed views about Celebration… as a planned community, Celebration has a host of different rules and regulations that residents must follow in order to live there, and some people find this rather “Stepford Wives”-ish. But quite honestly, it seems like the kind of neighborhood we will enjoy living in, and a great place to raise a family… I’m really looking forward to it. And I’m also looking forward to the warm weather!