We did it. We moved somewhere really far away. We didn’t plan to do this. Actually we planned not to. My whole life I loved Springfield, Missouri (still do). And when Jeremy and I met he said he never wanted to move away. I was cool with that plan because I didn’t want to move either.
And then last January something changed and we decided to move. It felt rather impulsive at the time, but I know now that we were somehow preparing subconsciously for a while. It was a weirdly easy decision to make.
We’d visited Nashville maybe six our eight times when we decided to move. So it was a pretty familiar city. But most of our experiences were fun, social things. Book signings, concerts, meeting friends for brunch or coffee. We didn’t know the first thing about the neighborhoods, the schools and the different pros and cons that come with living on the different sides of town (oh, and spoiler- we’re still learning all those things, there’s a LOT to learn).
Our timeline looked a little like this…
January- Initial talk of moving.
February- Serious talk of moving. Visit to scope our neighborhoods and feel out the idea.
March- House shopping. We looked at six houses, picked our favorite and made an offer.
May- Closing day and the beginning of a long renovation process (it’s still not over).
June- Realizing we’re probably not going to be able to move in July (due to renovation delays).
July- Realizing we’re probably not going to be able to move in August (same reason).
August- Deciding we’ll move in September even if it’s basically camping.
September- Moving to Nashville, it’s basically camping. But hey, we’ve got running water in the bathtub… the perfect place to brush our teeth AND do dishes. ha!
October- Firing contractors, hiring better ones and making a lot of progress (but still no stove, no running water in the kitchen and we’re doing dishes in the bathtub). Oh yeah- and we traveled to Europe and Iceland for two weeks.
November- Happy Birthday to meeee! Finally have a working kitchen. We promptly became hermits because we were SO tired of eating out for the past few months. ha!
December- Here we are! We’re alive, we’re still married, WE LOVE OUR HOUSE and even though it’s not even close to finished yet we’re so thankful for the progress we’ve made.
I guess that’s the end! Like I said on Instagram, beautiful photos (like these) make life look perfect. That’s not fair to the picture, to the real life behind it or to the person looking at the picture. But hey, that’s life. Our year was awful. But it was also AMAZING. It was so much of both. These photos show the amazing part and I am very thankful for them.
*I maybe left out a few juicy stories. So I’ll save them for next time we’re out for cocktails. Ha! It’s just better in person. I can’t type that stuff out for the internet.
Photos by Darling Juliet Photography.
