We have been "looking" at different areas to possibly move to for maybe 3 years now. We bought our house before we had any kids, and now having the three kiddos, we have realized better what we would need in a house for the future. Once neither of us were working out where we were living (which is what initially brought us to that area), we really could live wherever. We wanted to live closer to my family, who are all north of Atlanta, so that helped narrow the search.
The areas that would make more sense to move to, we tried to like... but we just didn't care for them. I mean, there would be good schools and they'd be much closer to family... but the new construction houses were ridiculous. Reach out and touch your neighbor had a literal meaning. Neighborhoods would advertise "large, wooded lots" and when we'd call or go visit, they'd say, "Yes! 0.25 of an acre!" Ha! No thanks.
Until one day, last October... we met my friend Ashley and her family at a pumpkin patch in this one area of town that I really had never been to. It was kind of divine intervention, I believe, because instead of taking us the usual "fastest" route (the interstate), Waze took us on back roads. We toured through towns I was familiar with until we made it to the pumpkin patch, in a town I wasn't familiar with... but didn't realize how close it was to the towns I grew up knowing. Stephen and I were both like, "Where are we?? This is gorgeous!" There were rolling hills, horse farms with beautiful houses, mountains (!!), beautiful neighborhoods where the houses weren't on top of each other, and more.
Fast forward a couple of months (and many hours of internet research and drives up to the area), we found a beautiful neighborhood that we fell in love with along with a builder who built a house plan that fit us well.
The problem? There was one suitable lot left in this neighborhood that would hold our house plan. We found this out in mid-December. (We were originally thinking of doing something more towards February or March). We wanted to do a contingency contract, which they offered (where closing is based on the sale of our current house), and had discussed that plan with the builder. The biggest catch with that (or so we thought) was you have to put your current house on the market within 7 days of signing the contract.
Not wanting that one lot to get swooped up, we whipped our house in shape that week... trimmed hedges, painted ceilings, packed up half our stuff, donated the other half (wink, wink), actually took down most of our Christmas decorations (sniff, sniff), cleaned, touch-up painted, and more. Remember Stephen's back surgery 2 weeks before? Yep, that means I did most of this stuff. It was a complete blur of time.
The day we went to sign the contract on the new house (remotely and electronically), the builder hit us with some news... they got to dictate what price we listed our house for sale. Say what?? They insist that you price it at a price that will "guarantee" it'll sell in a month. Well... we live on a side of town that isn't the most sought after... I mean, it's lovely and all, but you really have to have a reason to live there (grew up there, family lives there, etc... there aren't a ton of businesses in the area). So selling within a month wasn't exactly what we were anticipating. Plus, building would take several months, so what's the big rush? Unfortunately, they asked us to list it for a bit lower than we were hoping for... but we did it anyway. Dang awesome neighborhood with the one lot left.
Fast forward about a month... we had a few showings, a couple of offers, we settled on one offer, and they wanted to close in 4 weeks. Their due diligence period, the time where they could back out, was 2 weeks... half of the time until closing! It was also contingent on the buyers' house selling the same morning as they bought ours, so there was that concern. So, we kind of held our breath the first 2 weeks, and then were in a huge rush the last 2 weeks when we were somewhat sure things would go through. It was another rush of crazy times, packing and having all the normal stuff done (inspection, appraisal, hiring a contractor guy to fix some things, etc).
On top of packing and getting ready for the move (scheduling movers, storage units, finding an apartment, signing a lease, enrolling in schools, etc.), there was the business of wrapping everything up where we lived! Tedious paperwork type things, and meaningful time spent with friends.
I'll tell you... moving is never easy. We knew we wanted a bigger house for the kiddos in a new area, closer to family, so that is the good part of moving... the exciting part. But you don't realize until moving is "real" that you can't replicate the amazing people you met along the way.
The kids luckily had the week off of school before we moved, so that gave us extra time to hang out with the people we know and love. We had a many dinners, play dates, our church threw us a send-off party, my PTO gals threw me a going-away breakfast, send-off parties for the kids at school... it was all so special. If only my friends could come with me. :(
We are now settled in our amazing apartment in a new city and county, the kids are in new schools, we are learning our way around the new town, trying out new churches, enrolling in new sports' leagues... and it is bizarre. Great, but bizarre. I honestly feel like I'm on vacation, that this isn't our reality right now. ;)
I'll write more on our new life here in our new town another time. I'm loving the area a lot. Just a little homesick for our friends, who have called us, Face-timed us, written letters, sent texts, and more. It'll take a while to build a community here in our new town, but when it happens, I'll count myself lucky to have two communities of people I care about.
Aaaand, I'll consider this a God wink... I just got this text message from my buddy.
Here is some of the photographed fun we had the couple of weeks before the move!
Kody's b-day party
Gift bags for the kiddos from friends at church
Cousin dinner!
Mall time
Hide and go seek is on a whole new level when cabinets are empty!
Dinner with Lena and Candice
Downtown Monroe with Mercer and Merrit
Scoops!
Sour gumball
Sydney and Mercer
Me and my buddy, Wendy. Oh, how I'll miss her.
The two Parkers embrace
Sydney and Parker B!
He's going to miss her in his class. And vice versa.
Taylor and Mason.
Mrs. Kelly, the awesome stitch remover!
Walking to fro-yo, Sydney and Brooks
A neighbor sandwich. Parker, Collin, and Caleb hugging it out after pizza one night.
Last lunch day for Taylor!
