3 years and 2 babies later….Your International Nabers are on the move!

Well I think the cat is out of the bag, as they say. It’s official, your beloved International Nabers are on the move once again! This time we depart Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and set our sights on home…..back in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.

I simply cannot believe that a short 3 years ago this Easter weekend (On Good Friday in fact) we arrived into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, just David & I, on a quest for an adventure, a new job, and a world of possibilities. Today I look back and I am in awe of what we’ve accomplished and of the experiences we’ve been fortunate enough to have and to say we have grown both individually and as a couple is a massive understatement. I’m humbled at what God has taught myself and my husband about obedience and about love. I’m proud of the way we’ve dealt with the day to day struggles and nuances of living in a developing country. I’m insanely possessive of the family we’ve created together in SE Asia. These past 3 years feel like a vivid dream at times, and much like whiplash in how fast time flew by. It feels like just yesterday we were packing up our condo and flying 30+ hours to a country we knew nothing about…I can still smell our old condo and even our temporary condo here in KL! Now we leave knowing so much more than we ever could have imagined, to head back to a country we were born and raised, and where we now have the opportunity to raise our children, at least for the next few years…..because who knows where life will take us again?! We pray we can have this amazing opportunity to move abroad once again!

I really don’t know how to explain my emotions or even how to formulate a sentence about how I am feeling these days. Bittersweet is a good word and it seems to be my fallback one this month. In a short 6 weeks we leave our home, the only home our 2 babies have ever known, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. We leave behind us countless experiences, amazing travels, loving friends from all over the world, and the home we brought our 2 babies home to. The tears are flowing as I write this (thank you hormones), and I simply cannot grasp the fact that we may never see this place again, though we hope to bring our kids back one day to show them where they were born and raised for a moment in time. I’m so pleased that Ava has been able to travel so so many countries and see so much of the world (even is she doesn’t ever remember it), but I’m sad my son hasn’t gotten that same experience and won’t have more than 3 stamps in his passport when all this is said and done. This just means we have to do this again :).

It’s funny, I never in a million years imagined I would live in SE Asia, in MALAYSIA no less, yet here we are….both David and I grew up studying Spanish as our foreign language and both studied abroad, he in Mexico, and me in Spain…..how funny is that?! God works in extremely mysterious ways! Although we never learned the language here (Bahasa Malay), we did pick up a few words & phrases here and there but due to most locals speaking English, it just made learning their language hard and quite honestly neither of us put forth the extra effort it would have taken. But its ok, we have a plethora of other cultural things we’ve learned from living here. And let me let you all in on a little secret- the USA is insanely CHEAP in comparison to most other countries. By this I am talking about goods- like furniture, food, baby items, etc etc etc. GOODS ARE SO CHEAP IN THE STATES!! I cannot WAIT to take full advantage of that once again.

There have been so many awesome things we’ve had the fortune of doing, yet a plethora still on our “list” to do/see/accomplish…..it’s amazing how fast 3 years can go when you are running full speed in this fun game of life. We’ve met people and made friends from all walks of life and all over the world, we’ve found a home in a wonderful international church led by an American pastor whom we’ve become quite close with & who also baptized both our children, we’ve traveled both around the country as well as throughout SE Asia-  total of a dozen countries I believe, we’ve tried and loved (and hated) countless types of cuisines, we’ve experienced so many different cultures it’s downright humbling, and we’ve made our home with the addition of our helper J, in an amazing neighborhood close to everything we’ve grown to love.

Now don’t even get me started on how hard it was to tell “J” about our departure. I do NOT look forward to the day we say goodbye to our friend and hate thinking about tearing her and Ava apart. I know that eventually Ava will move on and be ok, and we have plenty of pictures and memories for her that we will continue to share, but I worry about J and about how this affects her as I know she has never felt so close to a family before, in her words. Separating J and Ava will not be fun and if I’m being honest, I wish I could bring her with us, but she has a family here in KL of her own and taking her away from them would be disrespectful and something I could never imagine doing. I just wish I could bring them all with us! Of course I will miss the help around the house and the help with Ava and now Mac, but I will re-learn how to do my laundry and dishes again (kidding, I still know, I just don’t do it as often!).

So, in less than 2 months we will depart for the states not knowing when or if we will ever back back in SE Asia. It’s such a difficult concept to grasp. The cars have been sold (steering wheel on other side of car), along with a variety of other small home appliances, due to the voltage being different than the states. We’ve begun the process of separating donation piles and air freight vs. ocean freight piles along with what comes with us on the plane in our suitcases. We’ve started saying our goodbyes and are in the process of scouring our favorite shops to purchases any last minute items we have been meaning to purchase- both big and small. We’ve even decided to head out of town for a few days at the end of our trip, kind of like an ode to SE Asia so to speak. The winner is BALI!!! So excited to end our adventure here in the most magical place we’ve been, where we first honeymooned 5 years ago, long before Malaysia was ever in our sights. Crazy how that worked out!

But let me just say this- if we had to do this whole leaving thing all over again, we would never ever in a million years do it like this, a short 10 weeks after baby #2 was born (by the time we leave). It’s simply too much to handle: a 20 month old toddler, a newborn baby, a new job, a worldwide move…..I mean really- talk about major life stresses all piled up together at once!! What a nightmare this has been at times but we are getting through it and see the light at the end of the tunnel in AMERICA!! Piece of advice- don’t even do this while pregnant (I have 2 friends who did this pregnant), it’s just too stressful. I have days where I just feel defeated with my to-do list while trying to keep baby and toddler happy as well as help my husband tackle things on the list. By the end of every day we are absolutely wiped & the amount of tears I’ve cried and will probably continue to cry in the coming month is ridiculous, the stress is enormous. But we will survive, we’ve managed before and we will manage again.

So that’s it for now, our big announcement- 3 years in Malaysia & 2 babes later, we depart this beloved country. A country that has brought us to our knees at times with the frustrations it can bring, yet also broadened our horizons more than we could ever imagine. Don’t be surprised is my blog posts continue to get fewer and far between as we make this transition. We need to focus on our family and our move first and foremost. God will lead us through this minefield and in 6 months we will look back once again and give each other huge high-fives at what rockstars we are to have accomplished what we have yet again. We cannot WAIT to see our family and friends stateside (not to mention my favorite shops and restaurants) but are already missing our SE Asia family and friends like crazy. That being said, I do know this: this isn’t goodbye, this is see you again real soon.

Until next time, keep on keepin’ on~

Kimbra