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Have you seen those new(ish) commercials where people walking on the street look into the shiny Bank of America logo and see all their big financial dreams coming true?  A working mother sees herself getting the keys to her first home; a geeky nerd rings the opening bell on the stock exchange in front of a banner with his company's name on it; a woman sees herself snorkeling on vacation at retirement.

I LOVE these commercials.  They actually turn me into a teary-eyed wuss.  The basic premise is that if you work hard (and borrow money from B of A!), America can still be the land of economic opportunity that it's always been.  I love the spirit of that premise because it's the same spirit with which my husband and I have decided to move out of state.  We don't see a bright economic future for ourselves in California, so we're taking our dreams elsewhere.

The reasons for our move are, sadly, entirely economic.  Dave and I are both Bay Area natives and our families live right here.  The weather is always perfect and the salaries aren't half bad, but in spite of years of hard work and an abundance of higher education, there is no way we'll ever be able to afford the kind of family home that we want.  Staying here means cramming four people into a two-bedroom condo in a lousy school district.  It means always sharing walls with neighbors and never having a back yard bigger than port-o-potty.  It also means letting a third person into our marriage: the mortgage and we just aren't willing to make that sacrifice yet.