Hubby and I were up late last night, reading through all the comments on our Opinion Saturday moving dilemma. Thanks for taking the time to write. It really helped us clarify things. I think for now we’re going to stay put, but try to fit in two trips to the ocean each year, since we enjoy it so much there.
All the comments were great, but the one we found to be the very most helpful was from Sarah, of Sarah’s Other Blog. Thanks, Sarah! You are the Golden Keyboard winner this week!
owlhaven.wordpress.com 
Wow, thanks! I’m glad my ramblings were of help to you. I’ve never won a bloggish award before. I wish you the best in your non-move!
Just catching up a little after almost a week of no internet/mail, so I’m late. Wow, Sarah really did offer some wonderfully thoughtful and thorough consideration. My experience: I moved 7 times before my 12th birthday, always at least 12 hours from relatives. I went away to college 20 hours from home, and during those years my parents moved “back home” to their roots and relatives… but my roots really weren’t in that place. (They were, I suppose, planted shallow in the place we had lived the longest. ) I settled near my parents anyway, got married and had my 1st baby. Then my parents moved again, this time only a good 90 minutes away, but not local, particularly when you consider that they both work full-time and so must have daily lives rooted in their local area. They can come up for a birthday party, and for that we are grateful. But not for babysitting, not for emergencies, not just to have dinner together. The conclusions I have from the results of all this: in short, roots are a very, very good thing. Irreplacable. But not even such a long-learned conviction trumps God’s plan and purpose for your life! May you have peace and clarity as you seek to discern what is good and perfect for your lives FOR NOW! (I’ve found that God is not particularly interested in any 10 year plans I concoct– too much control for a non-God of the universe, I guess! =) )