It's Official... We're moving to Peru! :)

"Wait…What?? You’re moving?!? You can't!!! Why? When?? Where???"

 We’re moving to Lima.  Peru.  South America.

Traveling Peru's countryside on our honeymoon.

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My biggest regret in life came about seemingly ages ago, when I was a young, small town girl with sights set on nothing but finally finishing college and getting a real job. You see, although I wasn't a horrible college student... I wasn't exactly what you would call focused. Maybe it was youth, maybe it was those ever-present commitment issues, maybe it was the Gemini in me shining through, who knows?  

Whatever the case, after 4 years floundering around and being "in college" with no end in sight, the inevitable day came when the parentals called and  threw out phrases like ‘end of the line’ and ‘not paying your tuition much longer’.  Uh-oh. They finally went there. They played the "tuition" card. I knew it was seriously time to get my act together.  I sat down with a University of Houston course book, and the years of meandering amongst a random selection of courses came to an end. The decision was made: I would major in Business Management and Minor in Spanish. Woohoo!

Okay, okay... what is my point in this trip down Memory Lane? Well, it was during my time at U of H, if I had just had a little foresight, I could have traveled abroad in order to get credit for my Spanish minor. I had a friend who was going to Spain for that reason, and she tried, on several occasions, to talk me into it. But, I just couldn't comprehend it.  It seemed so out of my reach... too expensive, too far, too many unknowns. Ugh! So short-sighted of me. Dumb, dumb, dumb.  

And thus, this brings me back to the aforementioned biggest regret in life. Not taking that opportunity to expand my horizons and learn so much more than I ever could from a college textbook was a poor decision, reeking of childish fear. There is a reason people claim traveling is a life changing experience. And I passed it up without even a fleeting thought.

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Flash forward many, many years.

Our wedding day... Aug 9, 2014

It was our first year of marriage, and my husband and I had gotten into the fight of all fights. One of those that most often starts small and escalates... and escalates... until too much has been said, or screamed, or done and you stand looking at each other wondering what in the HELL have you got yourself into. Yeah... one of those fights. We were both exhausted, and we had no other choice but to take a breath and calm down. As is often the case with intense arguments of this nature, we realized how ridiculous we were both acting, and we started discussing what we wanted our marriage to be, our future to be, and our lives to be.

And that's when he threw it out there. He looked up from his shaking hands, and in a hesitant voice asked,

"What do you think about moving to Lima?"

Silence ensued, as I incredulously looked at him, waiting for the smallest sign of laughter. But, I quickly realized this was no joke.

"What?!!" I responded, completely caught off-guard. "Did you say move? To Lima? Peru??? For what??"

"To open a restaurant, of course". His voice was now more confident, he is a chef after all. 

"Are you CRAZY?!!"

The anger that had previously subsided threatened to resurface. Why, why, WHY does he expect MY life to completely change, just because I said, "I do"??? (I'm starting to remember how the fight started. haha!)

And then, suddenly the old regret from college flashed in my mind. Regret of the lost opportunity to take a risk, the lost opportunity to expand my horizons, and the lost opportunity to explore a new and exciting life.

I paused.

Caught my breath, shrugged my shoulders and said, 

"Okay. Sure, why not?"

And... there ya have it. More or less anyway. That's how it came about. I guess if I were to choose a hashtag for our decision, or at least my half of it, it would be #justjump. That's what we're doing after all. :) There are many reasons as to why Lima. And a few more steps involved in our move as well. Reasons and steps that I'll cover in a later blog. 

omg~ How do I let him talk me into this stuff?? haha! 

Am I excited about it? Sad? Nervous? Hopeful? Yes, yes, yes, yes. But, at the end of the day... you only live this Life once. And what is Life if not to love, learn, explore and grow. So, Peru... here we come. :) And, we're bringing Texas style BBQ with us! :)

Stay tuned for more posts about this crazy adventure of moving to a foreign country, opening a restaurant in a foreign country, and exploring what life may bring for a small town girl and a chef determined to chase his dreams. As we say in Texas, "Y'all come back now, ya hear?" :)