I always thought I wanted a life where things stayed pretty much the same. I liked living in a city I knew, near my family, and following the career plans I had made for myself as a four-year-old. But when Jahn and I started our lives together, it was clear to me pretty quickly that I was in for something different than I expected. Jahn had spent his life with a father who worked in foreign affairs. That meant his life had a pretty clear four-year cycle from posting to posting. Though I wasn't sure what our path would be, I was pretty sure it would involve more change than I planned.
And so our adventure began. In August 2008, we bought a car, got married, moved to Calgary (the drive across the country standing in as our honeymoon) and started new jobs (Jahn as Technical Director of Alberta Theatre Projects, me as a grade 3/4 teacher). All these things happened in a span of less than 2 weeks. It was a lot to deal with, but the signs from the universe definitely pointed towards that being where we were meant to go.
Though much of the first year in Calgary feels like a blur, I am still impressed that everything went so well for us. We settled in to our house and jobs and made friends. We learned the city. We started to explore Alberta. But by the end of Jahn's first season and my first school year, it was clear to both of us that what we craved was a time in our lives where nothing changed.
And so we put it out there: we made a plan to live "A Year Without Change". From summer 2009 to fall 2010, we would plan to keep everything in our lives just as it was. So we did. And it was wonderful.
But the winds can't be kept quiet forever. And so in came 2011. . .
