Well, it’s safe to say that time has gotten away from me. The new year was literally just yesterday and I can’t believe that in a blink of an eye we are more than halfway through the year. So many things have happened since my last blog update, but if you are following my social media channels, you will have seen that some major moves happened. So lets catch up!
First, late 2023 Matt and I decided enough was enough and we had it with the one hour commute from Suffolk our jobs in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. We spent so many hours in the car just driving to places and things and it really took a toll mentally, physically, financially, emotionally…all the “allys.” When we counted up the hours in an average week it was upward of 15-20 hours depending on traffic and if there was a bad accident, we could be stuck there for HOURS! The irony in our situation was that we moved to Suffolk for more freedom. Freedom from people, freedom from developments, freedom from noise, pollution, freedom to build, raise….whatever our hearts desired. It’s safe to say that we severely underestimated the maintenance of a farm, and on top of all that trying to give our kids a normal childhood with actives, extra curricular sports, even just a random shopping day was difficult. It became a chore to leave the house and I ended up harboring a lot of resentment towards what was supposed to be our forever home.
Matt and I had always joked we were just gonna up and move and even though it was brought up several times, it always had the playful tones of “haha, just kidding,” with the extra gulp and furrowed brow of “no, but really.”We were financially invested in our Suffolk home having just poured thousands of dollars into new floors, room renovations and the candle studio. Ugh…my candle studio. More on that later. Here are some before/after photos of some of the renovations we did.
After the new year, we had another one of our jokes about moving and I was trolling properties on Zillow, and Matt finally said, “yeah, let’s do it.” I couldn’t believe it! All this time there was a “just kidding” follow on and I waited and waited for it but it never came. I instantly felt relief when I knew he was dead serious and from there on out, there was a light at the end of the long tunnel.
Fast forward to March, I found out I got promoted. It’s a big deal to get promoted to my rank in the military, because only the top 2% make it this far. Truth be told, I was dead set on retirement, and that was the plan. We knew buying a house in today’s market was going to financially strap us, but it’s almost as if it was meant to be. A promotion means more, money! But it also means more time to serve in the military. Regardless, it was a sign that we were making the right moves.
Now in April, we find and fall in love with a beautiful brick cape cod home in the heart of Chesapeake. It checked so many boxes! Wood burning fireplace – check. Great school district – check. Big yard to build a new candle studio – check. Five bedrooms – check. Vintage details – BIG CHECK! The bonus was that it came with a pool which means the kids will be happy! The turmoil was in timing. We had a school schedule to consider and we knew it was going to take longer than usual to sell our home. But once again the stars aligned and the sellers of the Chesapeake house accepted our offer with a longer closing date, and our realtor was able to get us a great offer on the Suffolk property in under 2 WEEKS!
In retrospect, the Suffolk house was a great opportunity for us. We learned a lot about what we value as a family and what parts of our lives can’t be sacrificed for a couple acres and the sake of a decent interest rate. I will certainly miss the vivid stars against the blackest backdrop of a night sky. I will miss all the room I had to expand my business without it bleeding into our home life. I will miss the possibilities of living off the land, planting a garden, owning chickens and goats, and connecting with nature. But deep down we know we made the right choice, and we have had so much more happiness in our hearts since we moved.
I will say, besides the traffic and the commute, the one thing I am glad to leave behind is all the paranormal activity that has invaded my life since the day we set foot on that property. Land that old comes with baggage, like a dark cloud always casting a shadow. Since we’ve moved, it has been quiet on that front.
In a nutshell, that about briefs you on the biggest moves we’ve made this year. There are many other changes and decisions that happened in between, but that’s for another blog post. For now, I just want to close out this blog by saying that if you’re in a situation where you feel hopeless, weighed down or frustrated, then make the move. I realized that that we were losing out on the most important commodity we have…TIME. We can’t hoard it in a bank account to use for a rainy day later, we can’t change or slow it, and we certainly are given a finite amount of it to make of it what we want. MAKE THE MOVE.
Love your story.
Congrats on your promotion.
THANK YOU so much for your kind comment. I appreciate you reading!