Thoughts on Relocating Family out of State

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My family (*hubby*myself*children*) have been discussing the realistic possibility of relocating out of state for better job opportunities and a way to pave our own adventurous path in life. I realize that this is a hard conversation topic for certain family members because it means we will be "leaving them". It is so difficult that it has been silently banned and ignored from discussions. I guess the best method is to spring it upon them after we secure a job out of state? ***Some family will be reading this now... It is important to know that if we do relocate out of state, we will continue all efforts to stay in touch and visit as much as possible. Also, there is always the possibility we will not find a job out of state.

Here are a few reasons we would like to relocate and how we will have the opportunity to do so.

1. My husband needs a new job because the hours are too chaotic and it makes a sleep schedule impossible to regulate. He can rarely participate in family events or social activities because he is too sleep deprived or simply working already. When he gets to have fun he is either beyond exhausted or irritable due to lack of sleep/time. It is not the best situation for his health overall. He works as a 911 Call Taker/ Police Dispatcher so it is high stress without time to relieve it through quality rest or exercise. There is minimal growth opportunities and a low ceiling for pay without working constant overtime hours. Right now he is averaging 60-64 hour work weeks at random time slots throughout the seven day week.  He realizes that he needs to search for a new job in order to maintain his and our family's sanity! 
2. I need to find a full time job as well. While raising my two year old daughter, I have been working part time jobs. We have been living near both of our parents so we have had free babysitting to help save money. Our student loan debt is beyond ridiculous and it is essential that both my husband and I have full time jobs to stay afloat. We are expecting a second child around the beginning of January 2014. My part time job coordinates perfectly with caring for a newborn for the first five or six months of his life. 
3. We no longer have free babysitting so even if we stay in West Michigan, we will have to enroll our children in a daycare center or pay for a nanny to care for them. We will not lose money for daycare by moving out of state since we already have to add it to our budget. 
4. Our home lease ends on May 31, 2014. We pay too much in rent and need to move to something smaller or get further into debt by buying a house to reduce the monthly home payment. We would rather invest our money in a house than throw it away. It would be ideal to find an even cheaper housing market even though there are plenty of decently priced houses in Michigan. 
5. Personally, I want the added adventure and excitement of moving out of state and starting fresh. We could continue searching for jobs in Michigan but it has been difficult for me to find a decent paying job that I want to make into a career. It has always been a dream of mine to move out of state after high school. I stayed in Michigan to be near my husband. He also likes the idea of moving out of state as long as it betters our current financial situation. If we end up not liking it, there is always the option of moving back later. 

The perfect opportunity to move out of state will be next summer (2014) since our lease will be up, we both need new jobs, and our baby will be about six months old. We do not want to move without finding a job first so we will begin searching and applying for new jobs shortly after the new year. 

We already have a mini road trip, tentatively planned in a few weeks, to tour some cities in Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina. It would be ideal to relocate to Kentucky since our commute back to family would only be around seven hours instead of 11-14 hours. We like the idea of a large city in order to have a better job market for both of our careers. My ideal city would be anywhere within an hour or two of the Appalachian Mountains. That would make family vacationing/weekend getaways really exciting with all the hiking, backpacking, and skiing adventures. 

If anyone has written about their experiences relocating family out of state, I would love to read about it. If anyone has any advice or good recommendations for a potential destination, I would also love to hear from you! Thanks. 

*some inspiration to ponder*

"Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now." —Denis Waitley

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." —Mark Twain

"If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try" —Seth Godin

"Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumblebee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams." 

—Ashley Smith

"You leave home to seek your fortune and, when you get it, you go home and share it with your family." —Anita Baker