Life for Love (A Retrospective)

Sycamore Farm - our first PA home 

 (Grab a drink and get comfy...this might take a while.)

When we first moved to Pennsylvania 7 years ago (to the day, I believe), I don't think either Jesse or I had any idea how much we would grow to love this place.  Despite waking up to a breathtaking view every morning, we found ourselves isolated from everyone we knew and loved.
 
We spent that first year exploring Bucks County with what little spare change we had in our pockets.  Compared to our current frenzied pace, life was simpler back then.  Without the funds to travel, most weekends were spent sipping Irish breakfast tea in the living room, curled up on the ungodly uncomfortable futon with scads of books and a couple of kitties to keep us warm.  The heat was turned up to a maximum of 58F at any point during the winter months to avoid having to fill the oil tank.  On really cold days, we turned on our little electric space heater and carried it from room to room.  Slipping into bed at night was torture.  The sheets stung like ice on any skin that dared to remain exposed.

It was heaven.

Life on the farm - we still reminisce about that view.

I cried when we packed our things to leave that first apartment.  (Although, to be perfectly honest, some of those tears were also in anger.  Jesse opted to go mountain biking the night before our big move and left me to handle the packing alone.)  It was Jesse's idea to leave and find a cheaper place where we could save up money to buy a house.  Home ownership wasn't a particularly important dream of mine, but knowing how much it meant to him, I couldn't say no.  We moved to Bensalem at the beginning of May 2006, just barely remaining north of the Bucks County border. 

The "Forgotten" Year

Jesse and I joke that the Bensalem year is the "forgotten" year in our relationship.  We spent the same amount of time in our apartment at Salem Harbor as we did in New Hope, but neither of us remembers anything about it.  If you had to ask me for a single memory from that place, the only thing I could tell you is that the neighbors downstairs had a noisy bird.  Oh, and I took this picture of Jesse and Smokey sleeping on the futon in that apartment.

My favorite boys

 

February 2007 - Butterflies Are Free cast & director

One good thing that came out of living in Bensalem was my rekindled desire to do some stage work.  The Playmasters theater was only five minutes away, and I soon found myself treading the boards once again. My Playmasters family is but one of the many support systems I unexpectedly stumbled upon here in PA, and I'm so thankful I swallowed my fear and decided to attend that first audition.






This was also the year I started going back to school at Bucks County Community College.  I had no idea what my plan was at the time, only that I had never intended to go through life without a college education.  With Jesse there to support me, it seemed like the best time to bite the bullet and figure myself out.  I wasn't getting any younger, after all.

Movin' on up!

Speaking of getting older, that whole house-buying plan of Jesse's was still very prominent in his mind.  Now, here's where I admit that the prospect of buying a house sounded about as terrifying as wrestling an alligator to me.  I had no interest in trying to figure out all the complexities of mortgages, escrows, taxes, and all the other jargon that comes with home ownership.  Thankfully, Jesse is the financial brains in this operation.  His hard work in figuring it all out paid off when we closed on our house in Morrisville on March 30, 2007.  This was us that day: 

March 30, 2007 - First-time homeowners!

The five years that have passed since that day have gone by faster than Smokey running to his dish at the sound of food.  (For those of you who haven't seen this happen, he's surprisingly quick for such a big kitty.)  In the span of those fleeting days, we've accomplished so much more than I think even we ever dreamed we could.  We gutted and renovated huge portions of the house to make it our own, pushed ourselves to reach professional and academic goals, acquired a third kitty, and (most surprising of all to our former selves) became parents.

And now...

We're leaving.  After spending seven years letting our roots take hold, we're returning to the place where it all began:  Albany, NY.  It was there that I met Jesse during his year of grad school, and now we'll be returning so I can accomplish the same goal.   Don't get me wrong, this decision is the best for us and we are very excited about embarking on this next phase of life.  But it would be dishonest of me to say that I'm not a little sad at the thought of leaving this place after all this time.

Since the moment we arrived in PA, we have been surrounded by truly wonderful people. Old relationships strengthened with distance, and new bonds were forged over time.  This is the home we've known for seven years, and without it, we wouldn't have these memories:

Margaritas with Walter at Wildflowers (New Hope)

Annual trip to Celtic Fling (from the PA Ren Faire's official site)

Attending countless beautiful weddings with good friends (Laruhn wedding 2007)

Camping trips in the Delaware Water Gap

Finding the best adopted family ever!

Learning to tear down walls...

...and never to let the linoleum defeat you!

Defending the championship for yet another year

Finding the best picnic spots

Bringing life into the world with the help of an amazing woman (love you, Vikki!)

Practically living at IKEA for the better part of a year

Enjoying the fruits of our labor with friends

Taking time to enjoy the outdoors

Graduating....

...twice!

I look at this picture taken on one of our first dates and I think, "You two have no idea what kind of ride you're in for." 

At the Vanilla Bean in November 2004

And I wish I could tell those two youngsters looking back at me, "Don't forget to enjoy every minute of it.  Don't dwell on the moments of worry.  Look around you and bask in the love of friends, family, and most of all, each other.  Even when you have your doubts, never fear that you will end up the same way you began:  best friends."

So now, as we embark on our next adventure, I want to take a moment to offer those words to these faces:

The "Vollizari" Family - Easter 2012

We are so grateful to have been touched by so many remarkable people over the past seven years.  Rest assured that, while we are leaving, you won't be getting rid of us for good!

And finally, a little explanation about the title of this post.  "Life For Love" is a song by Enter the Haggis - a band I consider to be part of the glue that initially stuck Jesse and I together on this lifelong journey.  As I contemplated what I wanted to include in this post, some of the lyrics kept repeating on a loop in my mind.

Arms stretched
To catch the next horizon
A line to keep your eyes on
And I'm inclined to stare
But you close
Your eyes and wish for rainbows
Anywhere the wind blows
You will find me there 

Once again, Jesse and I are about to set ourselves adrift to let the breeze carry us on a new adventure.  As you can see from this entry, it's worked out pretty well for us in the past, and I'm excited to see where it takes us next.  And now, for your listening pleasure, I'll leave you with a live video of the song so you can all have it stuck in your heads, as well.  (You're welcome!)