Through the Gate...

So as I mentioned in the previous post, we stopped at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis on our way to Utah, and it was sort of a symbolic moment for us.  Five years ago, we packed up our little red car with everything we could fit and rolled out of Grandma’s driveway headed for the east coast and hopes for life in paradise in Florida.  At that time we’d been married for just over a year, and it was just the two of us, neither having spent much time out of Montana in our lives, and an immense amount of uncertainty went with us.  We came through Salt Lake, and crossed the flat lands of Kansas before reaching the Mississippi River in St. Louis.  That was the end of July, 2006.  In St. Louis we took the time to stop at the arch, definitely a very unique monument and a symbol of westward expansion or manifest destiny for the United States.  Historically, the Mississippi River has always been a dividing line in this country between east and west, and as we crossed over it and through the doorway of the arch, we entered the east coast and a very different life than we’d previously had.  Well, after five years, and stints in Jacksonville and Washington, DC where life lessons were learned and experiences were many, we’ve now traveled back through the gateway into the west.  So I wanted to take this time to take a look at how things have changed.

Obviously, a few differences in us in five years.  We’ve gotten old.  And, oh yeah, we’ve doubled in number.  I would have been 22 in that first photo, Becky 21.  In the second, Paul 4 and Adam 1.5 years old.  Five years doesn’t seem as long as, say ten… but it’s still a really long time.  Just imagine what five more years will bring!  We’re excited to find out.  And maybe someday we'll pass through the arch again with our grandchildren or something... we'll be sure to update the blog again with those photos!