This is our final week in Abilene. We’ve been trying to sell the last of our things that we can’t bring with us and will be packing and cleaning our house. We load up the truck on Saturday and roll out of Abilene on Sunday. It is all here so quickly.
The past few weekends we have been traveling to see family. We went down to San Antonio to visit with Morgan’s family and this past weekend we went down to Sugar Land to visit my mom. On the way we stopped in Willis to see my Grandpa and we also dropped by to visit my Mimom (step-mother’s mom). Of course these aren’t really goodbyes. They are blessings. They are opportunities to be together and acknowledge that things will be different. It is a parting with our Texas home. These have been sweet moments.
In between family visiting, I went up to Seattle for a few days with one mission: find an apartment. Below are a few photos from my scouting trip.
View from the waterfront. Look at Mount Rainier!!!
Sunset behind the mountains.
Our new apartment!
The water is refreshing, the mountains are breathtaking, and I did find us an apartment! It is so beautiful and in the middle of all the Seattle action. We can’t wait to move in!
Morgan and I speak often of how much we long for starting a new life together. As we arrive in Seattle we will be starting from scratch. Meeting people, getting to know the city, forming relationships, building community. Everything will be new. And while that can certainly seem daunting at times, there is also something so very exciting about it.
I’ve been thinking about it for quite awhile. We are moving to the Northwest. The top left corner of the map. It was the final part of the country to be discovered and settled. Therefore, it still has something wild about it. It is an untamed region. The mountains and the trees and the ebb and flow of the waters all draw a person into the depths of untouched creation.
It is like beginning a new journal or sitting down to write a new blog. It is the beginning of a new story. After all, where do you begin? In the top left corner of the page. That’s where the pen first begins to spill ink onto a page. That’s where the blinking cursor stares at you, inviting all the possibilities of new and fresh words.
We have an entirely new story to begin writing together. New friendships to forge, new habits to acquire, new places to go, new life to live. But for now we are a blinking cursor. With all the dreams of a life yet lived.
Drew Dixon 
As I read your blog, I didn’t know whether to smile or cry. Maybe a little of both. But I do know that amid all the butterflies and sad little feelings in my stomach are the feelings of a mom who is extremely proud of you. From the first cries on the day you were born to the first words you said and the first steps you took, you have been one of the joys of my life (your brother the other). Now your cries are cries of excitement and your words are bigger and wiser. Your steps have kept you on the path of God, something for which I will always be thankful, and I will always be blessed to have a son who loves the Lord as I do. This weekend will always be a blessing to me. Our last moments when we were all residents of Texas together. Yee-haw!!! Beautiful moments as the bluebonnets of Texas in the house where you were raised. I raised you for this moment. To grow from a child into a man. From the moment a baby is born, a mother starts raising him to grow into a man just like you.To become independent and ready to tackle the world (I give God the glory for that — He led me and you all the way) I raised you for this moment, but it came sooner than I thought it would. Funny how that happens. Now away you go from the flat plains of Texas and off to climb to higher heights (literally). As much as I would have loved to have kept you in Texas, I know that good things will happen to you and Morgan in Washington, and that state is blessed to have you there. Don’t forget where you are from and who you are. And never forget how loved you are by me. Though you have grown tall and independent, deep in my heart you will always be my baby. Some things never change.
I wrote a poem today. It was for a contest at my writing site online. We had to pick a title from about 10 titles and write a poem around it. The title I picked was “Turn the Page”. Here is the poem that came out of that title:
I turn the page, and there he is,
My brand new precious baby boy,
Not sure of his new world, he cries,
I comfort him, my pride and joy.
I turn the page again and see,
As he sits there so still and proud,
First day of school, already here,
“Where has time gone?” I say aloud.
Yet once again, I turn the page,
To see the years that quickly fly.
His graduation day is here,
Diploma in his hand held high!
I turn the page, this time I find,
A college campus, where’s he’s been.
For four years, now he graduates,
He wears a gown and a big grin!
I turn the page and find much cheer.
He says, “I do,” to his new bride.
“Could he be old enough to wed?”
I ask, as they stand side by side.
I turn a page, so bittersweet,
My mixed feelings tear at my heart.
He’s moving far away today,
The farthest we have been apart.
From newborn babe to mature man,
I helped him grow, I helped him learn.
Yet more pages are left to write,
Time flies fast, as each page I turn.
Sending all my love with you always and forever,
Mom