Family Bonds

I love my family! If there were one thing I think I am most thankful for in my life it would be that I have been raised with a close relationship with my aunts, uncles and cousins. (Above is a recent picture of my sister and I with all of our adult cousins.) I think about this often when I imagine what life will be like when Anthony and I start having children. I so want my kids to enjoy being close to their cousins.

However, unlike my family-3 aunts & 6 cousins-Anthony and I only each have one sister. His sister will soon be giving birth to her third boy (really hoping that doesn't happen to me), and my sister just got married and probably won't have kids for several years. His sister also lives in Idaho & Anthony and she aren't very close. So, I'm pretty much relying on our kids to be close friends with my sister's future offspring as well as any children born from my cousins.

Here in lies my conflict. Everyone lives in Southern California. I do not want to live in Southern California forever. In fact, if it weren't for our family ties and the whole "hard to find a job" situation, we would most likely be living somewhere else right now. However, we're here. And my family is here. So we stay here.

I see how my life has been so much fuller with family. It's awesome to be able to go over to my Aunt Cindy's house for Easter and after everyone has stuffed themselves full of food, we sit around the fire pit and laugh together. Soon (if we can get our schedules to sync) my sister, bro-in-law, youngest female cousin and her new boyfriend are planning on having a Settlers of Catan battle. (If you haven't played this game yet, your life is incomplete.) I'm so excited to be able to see them all together and have fun. I just want that for my kids so badly.

So what am I saying? Not sure. Just rambling and hoping that Anthony agrees to my insane desire to follow my family (if they even decide to migrate from CA) anywhere around the U.S. for the sake of my children having the same life I so treasure right now.