Another year, another campaign

I recently came across a craft lesson on Pinterest that showed me how take an ordinary map of the US and turn it into a cute wall hanging using pins and thread. When done correctly, the pulled thread would create a cozy heart around the city that I call home and the framed product would be absolutely adorable. Once I decided that this might be a DIY project that I'd actually like to take on, I started to think about all the "homes" that Danny and I have had over the last decade.

Over the past 10 years we've endured more than 10 moves. Some of them hand in hand, some of them independently, but all of them together. With each year that went by, each move got more elaborate and more demanding. More loaded in a way. With each truck that we filled to the brim with boxes, we had more to move and more to lose.

Lennon lived in three different states and was a passenger on 16 different flights all before his first birthday. And now, with 3 more round trips under his belt, he's racking up miles so fast we might as well get him his own SkyMiles credit card. As our tiny family of two expanded we couldn't help but feel that we had more and more on the line and this year was no different. With a little one and two aging pups in tow we couldn't help but realize that we were suddenly responsible for more than just our own ambitions. The lifestyle that is the byproduct of following a job around the country would soon begin to shape the childhood of our sweet little boy and we needed to take heed.

Thus, in 2012 we moved again. Although we had packed up so many times before, something just didn't feel the same this last time. I couldn't put my finger on exactly why that was but I did know that there was a sense of peace amongst the upheaval. It may have had to do with the fact that, in an effort to relieve the stress of it all, Danny and I both made a conscious decision not sweat the small stuff (or even the big stuff for that matter). We decided to trust that no matter where we were, we were exactly where we needed to be. That the road that we were on was the right one because it was leading us somewhere unitedly. The career related ups and downs that we've experienced over the last seven years have taught us that life is, in fact, about more than just following a dream and that sometimes dreaming is often more about who you want to be rather than who you are. While having a goal, an aspiration, even a doggone mission, can be magical and incredibly motivating, it can also be all consuming. And we were really just ready to live in the here and now with the loved ones that inhabited each moment with us. We were ready to stop trying so hard to control our uncontrollable future. Maybe our priorities had changed, maybe our outlook had become more clear, but whatever it was, it was lovely.

This year Danny's job has oriented our furthest move yet. A 6.5 hour flight over three time zones to the appropriately named New England, given that the "old" England is just a hop over the pond. About forty miles south of Boston is a quaint little town called Foxboro, also spelled Foxborough oddly enough, that we will call home for the next 3 years. This last offseason was spent prepping for the move (researching local resources, parks, gyms, doggy hotels, and grocery stores) while also soaking in every minute we could spend with family and friends before heading off to the East Coast. Thankfully the move went smoothly and it didn't take long for the five of us (Me, Danny, Lennon, Lily and London) to get settled in our new, yet temporary as usual, digs.

With training camp in the rear view and preseason now winding down, football season is officially knocking on the door. Danny couldn't be more excited to take this year by the horns and his teammates, the steaming field turf and the endzone are all calling his name. New city, new team, same game, same grind. Same task. Same opportunity. Same passion. Same campaign. Same fight to make a name for himself and earn precious moments under the bright lights. Different reason. Different drive. Different goal. Different perspective

Everytime Danny kneels down and whispers to Lennon, "It's all for you" my eyes swell with tears.
Every single day we celebrate our family, our downright resilience and our relentless spirit. While we love the game and this life, we choose to hold our relationships with friends, family and each other on a pedestal higher than any crossbar on any field on any given Sunday and we hope that Lennon is watching.