The End

Andrew and I arrived back in Samoa after a brief extension to the initial length of our California visit due to some fun oral surgery on my agenda and jumped right into finishing up our grades for the term at NUS. We have also decided, as a result of a great deal of thought and weight on our various options and their positives and negatives, that we will not stay in Samoa for the coming year. Rather than teaching at NUS for the 2007 school year as originally planned, we are wrapping up our responsibilities from this year and then will be heading back to California where we are planning on settling, near our families, and beginning our new life together. There are many reasons that have contributed to this decision. Most importantly, we feel that getting married means making a choice to create a new life with your partner, and the more we thought about remaining in Samoa for another year the more it felt as though that would be putting our ability to build and change our relationship in its new form on hold. The last thing that we wanted was to live here in Samoa for a year resenting the feeling that perhaps it might be holding us back in terms of our growth as a couple and as a family. And while no, I am NOT pregnant at the moment, we also felt the need to consider the fact that being a Peace Corps volunteer means that this would not be an option for us, and the truth is that it isn’t something we want to be an impossibility for the next 13 months. We also realize that one doesn’t want to just up and start having children with no job and nowhere to live, which would push the possibility of having children back far beyond our official end of service no matter when that was. Our choice gives us more time to prepare and become comfortable with a stable situation back home so that we can head down that path when we decide we are ready. There are other reasons, as well, but the main point that it comes down to is that it feels like the right thing to do, for us as a couple, at this point in life. I personally joined the Peace Corps hoping that I would come out the other end with a direction, an idea of what I wanted from my life, and finding Andrew and creating a life together was more than I ever could have imagined in that respect, and I am so grateful for this. It is always saddening in life when one is confronted with a decision that necessitates giving up certain things that are important on behalf of others. We have both valued our time and experiences in Samoa more than words could express, and it has been a huge part of our lives, as it always will be. Making the decision to leave, however, enables us to begin an entirely new and very exciting chapter in our lives both as individuals and as the family that we have become. We are thrilled with all of the possibilities now open to us and cannot wait to explore and fall into many new adventures together as we take this next large step (steps, more accurately).

This site, which is now coming to an end, has been such a great outlet for me to share all of my experiences and help to bring to life for people back home what I have been going through. It has also been a wonderful therapeutic tool for me and I hope a useful resource for others in all different walks of life, from family to strangers, who came upon it for a myriad of reasons. So thanks, blogger, I owe ya one. Although now that I’ve married a computer geek who can create a site for me I have to say your utility wanes… :) Once Andrew and I move home we will create a new website, together, through which you can continue to be a part of the journey of our life. So, for now… Tofa Soifua!