Moving Update

 

Hey y'all! I hope your week is off to a great start! I have a few *big* updates to share since my last post about our move. First up, our current home is officially under contract as of last Friday! We are absolutely thrilled to check that big to do list item off. Also, we are so grateful for each and every person who took the time to share our house listing and a huge thank you to our amazing realtor, Kendra DeBari, who helped us get under contract in just a little over a week of listing. If you are local or planning to head this way, Kendra is amazing to work with.

And... this beautiful brick home is *almost* ours! Josh has always wanted an older home with character and over the past few years, I have wanted the same thing. So, when we were house hunting, we knew that we wanted to find an older home. Something built between 1960-1980ish. We wanted something different than the home we have lived in for the past 14 years. As we were searching, I really wasn't finding anything that I particularly liked or that I could see our family living in. A lot of older homes needed way too much work, weren't big enough (not enough bathrooms), or they were just really expensive. One night, we spotted this home on Zillow but at the time, it wasn't in our price range. I saved it anyway because I loved it. Literally within the next 24 hours, the listing price dropped $20,000! I couldn't believe it! The weekend before Josh officially got his job offer (we knew it was coming asap), we scheduled an appointment to see the house in person.

As soon as we got into town, we had to see the house. I felt so much peace when we pulled up to it. It felt like it was meant for us and I hadn't even seen the inside yet. As much as I loved it, Josh did too. Finding something that we both loved was super important, especially with a big, life changing move like this. One of my favorite things about the house is the screened in back porch. I have *always* wanted one! I absolutely love to be outside as much as possible and I can already see myself enjoying coffee on that porch every morning. I was even more excited to see the pretty blooms!

Our agent in Jacksonville gave us a tour of the inside of the home and it was everything we hoped for... well, except the bathroom in the primary bedroom, lol. Our bathroom isn't my favorite but there is room to do some renovations in the future to make the bathroom a better space. There are two good sized walk-in closets in our bedroom so we could lose a closet to get a bigger bathroom later on. Julianna has been the most hesitant about this move. She would literally walk out of the room if we were discussing it before we made the final decision. But, once she saw the inside of the house and found a bedroom that she wanted, she was on board. She definitely still has her reservations but there's definitely some excitement from her now. We just need to get her to love the beach as much as the rest of the family does... maybe we can turn her into a beach lover, too.

The last update for today is another BIG update that I'm so excited to share with y'all. Other than selling our current home, another big task was figuring out what I was going to do job wise when we moved. I've had the same job since January of 2013 and I couldn't even imagine myself doing anything else. I was honestly really stressed about finding something that I would enjoy doing and that I would also find fulfilling. I currently work as a STEM and enrichment educator at an afterschool program for at-risk students, The Dream Center. I absolutely love the work that I get to do there. Before this job, I worked as a third grade teacher so I've been in education since 2008, when I graduated from college. My heart belongs in education and I have really enjoyed educating students outside of school time. I randomly decided to look at Indeed one evening a couple of weeks ago... just out of curiosity to see what was even out there jobwise. Within a minute of searching my field and location, I see a job that looks absolutely *perfect* for me. I just couldn't believe it. I stayed up late that night creating my resume (I haven't put one together since 2012) and submitted my application. I was nervous because I haven't applied for a job in years and I was worried about my timeline, since I'm actually not moving until the end of May. Well, I had an interview for that job last week and I am so proud to say that I got the job! I will be sharing more specific details in the coming weeks but this job is being held for me until I get to Jacksonville. God is so good!

The last thing I wanted to share today is that we have a Meal Train that has been setup by our friend Pam. Some of our friends and family have asked how they can best support or help us during this transition and the biggest thing we can think of is through food. We are incredibly grateful to those of you who have already donated to the meal train but more importantly, prayed for us during this time. Your support means so much to us. Thank you!