The Difference a Year Makes

Just over a year ago the Coffee Queen and I put our Saint Paul, MN house on the market.  We had an offer a week later.  Less than two months after that we left Minnesota and headed south.

Sold! Farewell, Minnesota!

A few weeks ago we moved into our new house in Atlantic Beach, FL.  We hadn't planned on buying a house here so soon, but when we saw this cute little house (just renovated) on Zillow we thought, "Hey, what not take a look?"  I have now learned there is no such thing as "just looking" at houses.  We bought the house.  The first (and only) house we looked at.  We're still unpacking and settling in, but we're loving this house.  (And we have real water pressure in the showers.  Never underestimate the importance of good water pressure.)

New house! (Someone's a little excited)

I still can't quite believe that in less than a year we sold a house, moved cross country, and now are living a mile and a half from the beach.  The Coffee Queen has settled into her job (which she loves), and the Little Scoot thrived at his preschool this past year and is super excited for kindergarten (sorry, Saint Paul, we've better schools here, too).

Which all goes to show, don't stay where you are, don't not make a change just because you can't see where the road will take you.  Selling our Saint Paul house was hard after so many great years there, but by letting go of it we've found something new that's great, too (did I mention it's a mile and a half from the beach?).  And that's what I'm learning from this adventure: to let go of the safe and familiar in order to embrace something new.  Scary?  Yes.  Worth it?  Yes.

Now if you'll excuse me, I think I hear the ocean calling my name.

This is why we moved here

Settling in

Last week we officially moved into our townhouse in Atlantic Beach!  The day after Labor Day the moving trailer arrived and movers came to unload it all.  Aside from the fact we have WAY too much stuff (and we gave away so much before we left!), it's nice to have our things back.  It was like Christmas for the Little Scoot - all his toys, books, and stuffed animals were finally back!

Moving in: How do we STILL have so much stuff???

So we've spent the last week and a half unpacking, as well as taking care of little details like driver's licenses.  And seeing this morning that Saint Paul woke up to temperatures in the 40s, I have to say, I'm not regretting this relocation.

I leave you with a few photos of our new home:

Fishing pier at Jacksonville Beach

Chasing seagulls on Neptune Beach

And this is what it's all about: sea, sand, sun, and scooters.

We Have a Home!

Just a quick update to say that we have found a place to rent in the Jacksonville area.  It's a townhouse in Atlantic Beach within a few miles of the beach.  We're very excited to move in on the 1st and get settled!

The Coffee Queen and the Little Scoot outside our new front door

We made it!

Last Saturday we packed up the car and started the drive out of Minnesota.

Why do we have so much stuff???

How strange to cross the border into Wisconsin and not know when we might return.  The drive to Atlanta was uneventful, although we did see a few interesting sights along the way.

I don't know what it is either

We even took a few minutes to stop by Antique Archaeology in Nashville (we love American Pickers!).

At Antique Archaeology in Nashville

On Monday we made it to the Atlanta area to visit friends.  The Little Scoot did awesome in the car, but it was still a relief to be able to get out of the car for a while.

The Little Scoot entertaining himself

But after a few days we decided to press on, spending Friday in Jacksonville to take a look at the beaches and scout out a few possible places to live.

The Coffee Queen: On a beach again at last!

And now we're down in Cocoa Beach, our home for now.  More to come!

This Is It

So, yesterday the moving trailer was packed.  I guess that makes it official: we're headed to Florida!

Why do we have so much stuff???

Thanks to the Coffee Queen's wisdom, we hired the excellent guys of Phil and Ted's Excellent Moving Adventure to back the trailer.  As Coffee Queen pointed out, everyone we know is ten years older than the last time we moved (including us).  I have to admit, I enjoyed sitting on the deck and watching other people do all the heavy lifting (literally).

We're now down to what items we can fit in the car, living in an otherwise empty house.  I remember ten years ago when the house was empty - an emptiness filled with possibilities.  We could do anything with the house that we wanted.  And we did.

This is a different kind of emptiness - the emptiness of goodbye.  This house has been our home for a long time and it's strange to think that very, very soon those years will all be behind us.

Last night I went to Jane's workshop and listened to the stories of my fellow Muskrats for the last time.  Tonight we got together with some good friends for dinner.  More goodbyes.

With Jane and the Muskrats.  That should be a band.

But not forever.  We'll come back to visit, and the people we know will visit us.  I will exchange stories with the Muskrats by email.  Florida, here we come.

I Hate Moving

Really, I just don't like it.  Sure, I'm excited about this new phase in our lives, the new adventures in store, taking a leap into the unknown.  When it comes moving even when I'm excited to get to the other side, I don't like the process itself.  Perhaps you can see why:

The chaos of boxes, packing tape, and bubble wrap.  And, of course, anything I need is in the box I just packed.

As the Coffee Queen will tell you, I usually prefer one large task to a dozen small tasks, even if the small tasks together will take less time.  Moving is a hundred small tasks, so, really, not my favorite activity.

I have to remind myself of what's on the other side of this process.  I think about living close to the beach, in a warm climate where I can ride the scooter all year long.  I think about the Coffee Queen, the Little Scoot, and I finding a small beach bungalow someday.  Maybe even being in a neighborhood again where we can walk to most of what we need (one of the things the Coffee Queen and I loved about living in Highland Park after we were first married).  I will miss this house, especially after all the sweat and tears we've put into making it the best home we could, but as the boxes pile up, the walls become bare, I realize something: a house is just one big piece of stuff.  Any house can be a home, and, more importantly, any house can be our home.

Moving day is getting close now.  We made great progress on packing this weekend, so I feel good about being ready for the movers (we decided to splurge on having someone else load the trailer).  Then, once we officially close on the house, it'll be time to load up the car and point it south.  I'll be sad to leave, but I can't wait to see what new adventures God has in store for us.  And I can't wait to be done packing boxes.

A New Adventure

So, once again, I've been remiss in posting for a while.  But in my defense it's because the Coffee Queen and I have been cooking up another of our hair-brained schemes.

We've decided to move to Florida.

When people ask us why, we joke about the weather, of course, and how this last winter finally did us in.  It's true that we've reached a point where we're done with the cold, the snow, and needing a half hour to bundle everyone up just to go to Target.  But there's more to it than that.  We need a new adventure.  I know I've been feeling the nudge for some time to take a leap, to step out into the unknown and trust that God will put some kind of solid ground out to meet us.  Last week we sold the house, our home of almost ten years.  I spent a frantic few days trying to find an affordable moving option and figure out other such details, and one by one they're all clicking into place.

Today I packed the first box.

The hardest part of all this has been telling the people we know.  It tore my heart out to tell everyone at the writer's workshop, a place I couldn't imagine choosing to leave.  There's always a reason to stay, always people left behind when you go, but sometimes you have to let one chapter end in order to start a new one.  I don't know quite what this next one will hold, but the Coffee Queen and I both know it's time to take the next step.

So here's to new horizons, new opportunities, and to whatever else God throws our way.  More posts to come, I promise.

As for the Little Scoot, he's excited to be going back to the beach.  His great-grandfather bought him a shark bucket.  Really, what more could a little boy ask for?