We want to move……In a year
A lot has changed…
When we bought our house nearly two years ago, we thought we’d live in Dansville for about 4-5 years and then probably move somewhere East in Michigan and start a family. Alex is from there and virtually all his family and friends still live in that direction. At the time, two of my siblings as well as much of my extended family lived on the East side, My parents even planned to sell their home in West Michigan when they retired and move East. Living in between and near our jobs seemed like the best plan for the next several years while we waited to see where everyone landed.
Two years in and a lot has changed. Over that time friends and family have gotten married, some have had babies, others have left, and some have moved to West Michigan. I also started DIYing during the week to fill my free time and furniture flipping to help fund my projects. Alex and I were progressing in each of our careers and from the outside we looked like we were doing really well! And while that’s true, it’s also been a very lonely time.
We took stock…
In last month or so, we realized that living this far from our friends and family, in my case for 6 years, has taken a real toll. I moved to Lansing right out of college and, I’ll admit, I never really tried to cultivate friendships or build a support system here because I didn’t think we’d be here that long. The last thing I wanted to do was make a bunch of close friends and build a life that I would have an awful time leaving when we moved East! But as the years went by and 2 went to 3, 3 turned to 4, and even when we bought this house, I never changed my approach to living. I continued to not seek out friendships or build a support system here beyond Alex. After 6 years, I took a look around and realized over that time I’d slowly looked to Alex and even DIY to fill a void that used to be occupied by like 20 extremely important people in my life. And that’s a lot for one person and a hobby to carry every day!
We talked about it
I explained to Alex how I’d been feeling and after we talked through it all over a few days, one evening Alex walked into our bathroom and said, “I think we should bump up our timeline and move in a year… what do you think about that?
If you could have only seen my face in that moment, I was so happy I couldn’t help but cry.
Over the next couple days, we talked about what all we’d have to change in order to move closer to some of the important people in our lives sooner than planned. The house projects I’d intended to tackle this year, our budget, vacations, all of it had to be reevaluated. You may be thinking, “but Julia, why is moving the solution? Can’t you start building a community where you are right now?” Yes, we can. But if our goal is to build a life somewhere with our existing friends and family, Alex and I want to make decisions with that more front of mind and do what we can to reach that place faster. There’s no sense in waiting to live our lives but if you know you want to go then you’ve got to do what you can to get there as soon as it makes sense to. We can build a community as we work towards it and that’s ok, we don’t know how long it will take but we know when we want to make it happen.
We made a plan
A couple weeks out and we’ve got a plan. We’re actively working to be able to move next summer. What that means for projects is we’ve scrapped our summer plans to overhaul the deck and backyard and instead are getting this house in shape to sell. First project on that list starts tomorrow and it’s one you’ll be familiar with! It’s finishing the tile in the guest bathroom that I left covered in thin set for the last three or so months…😬
So, we WANT to start the moving process in a year. It may not happen right on schedule, but I’m feeling very good about the future. ❤ P.S. if you’re local, let me know!