Well Easter has come and gone. I hope you had a wonderful weekend spent with people you love! We had a nice day in Tahoe- went skiing, did some relaxing and ate lots of ham.

I must admit I was feeling a little homesick on Sunday though. Luke’s friend was in town and they were on a mission to ski as much as possible. It was really windy and cold,  so I left the mountian early and ended up spending a bit of time at home alone.

I called some family and friends to see what their Easter plans were. Most of them were attending some sort of get together  – brunch, mass, dinner – with their families. I did my best not to feel bad for myself, but I couldn’t help wishing I was spending the day with them instead of sitting on the couch alone.

I sometimes feel like I have to choose between being close to the people I love or living in a place that lets us create the lifestyle and careers we want. My family lives in Toledo, Ohio, and while it’s a great place to raise a family, it doesn’t exactly have the outdoorsy lifestyle or natural beauty we love in Tahoe. Plus the job market is dismal there.

This dilemma is something I think a lot of other young people face. We’re told we can be/do whatever we want – travel the world, have a great career, live in a big city. As a result, we focus on building our independent lives and achieving our goals, which usually results in taking us away from home.

But giving up our aspirations to move home also doesn’t seem like a viable option. Won’t we be considered failures if we don’t reach for and achieve all the opportunities afforded to us? And in my case, if we don’t settle in a good location, won’t our kids eventually leave us and not come home?

I guess there is a tradeoff that we all eventually have to make. I really have no idea what end of the spectrum we’ll eventually end up on.

For the time being I am just going to focus on living in the moment. The life we lead in Tahoe has made us incredibly happy and right now it feels like where we’re supposed to be.  I’m sure the right path will make itself clear in time.

Do you guys ever grapple between being close to those you love and living the lifestyle you want?