A Year in our New Home

It’s been nearly a year and a half since we closed the door on one dream and chose to chase another. In one of the biggest leaps of faith, we sold what we thought was our forever home and moved our little family to the suburbs. I was terrified to leave my “village” but it just felt right for our family’s next chapter.  A year later, I can confidently say we are right where we are meant to be and our move has been everything I hoped and prayed it would be and more.

I feel like our last house was the house that “built me.” It was where I discovered who I wanted to be in my adult life and grew into my role as a mom. When we first stepped foot in its doors, we had never lived anywhere more than two years. Corey and I had moved quite a few times for his job. I had never really felt settled anywhere. We lived in our last house for six years so it is where I feel like I blossomed.

I remember the day we closed. I had just gone back to work after maternity leave and I was exhausted. Corey insisted we run by before renovations started the next day and he lifted me over the threshold. I remember thinking, “wow, this is it.” I totally expected to live there for twenty years.

The pink magnolia tree in the front yard, my favorite tree ever, is also where this blog got its name.

When we moved in to that home, I had just stepped out of the classroom to stay home with Madeline when she was a newborn. I didn’t really know who I was as a mom yet. Or a 28 year old woman for that matter. I had spent so many years moving, working, teaching, and commuting. My identity had felt like “elementary school teacher” with little time to be anything else. I was so exhausted at the time that we moved in. 

It was in that house that I learned what was most important to me and the kind of woman I wanted to be. Our community was so social and I found myself wanting to be the one to connect new neighbors with each other. I wanted to include everyone,  host ladies nights and get togethers, and help other moms feel welcome and make friends. It was so important for me to feel connected and to surround myself with a tribe of women to do motherhood with. So many of them lived just a few doors away. It was there that I discovered I always want to be the kind of woman who says, “yes, you CAN sit with us.” 

It was in that house where I learned what hobbies really bring me joy. It was in that house that I learned how much I love decorating, a good home project, gardening, and became more passionate in heath and wellness.

When we decided to list our home, it just felt right. It took a little while (nearly a year, actually) to come to that decision and I definitely felt a little resistance about the whole thing in the beginning. There were a lot of reasons I did not want to do it (change is hard!) but then once we finally made the decision to move, I felt just a kind of peace. It was time to move on to our next chapter and I knew deep down we were making the right decision. A smaller community, great schools – it just felt so much like what our family needed. Yet, I worried that I was going to lose myself in the transition a little. I wouldn’t be able to walk to my friends’ houses anymore and was leaving a tight-knit group I’d been a part of and helped cultivate for so many years. 

There are so many amazing memories in that house with some really incredible people. It was such a sweet time of our lives. We also faced some really hard things while we lived there and I don’t think I will ever forget the way our friends there rallied around us during those times. I think our time there will forever be one of my favorite chapters.  

Now that we are a year out, though, I can say that we are right where we are meant to be.  Our children are so happy and Corey and I are, too. We have found our village here and while all of our friends are so special to me, I am beyond grateful for the people who have come into our lives since our move and I can hardly believe I didn’t even know most of them two years ago. 

If I could tell the me of a year ago anything, I would tell her to trust that mom intuition for the best path for her family and to have some patience and a little faith. Change is messy and difficult but it can bring about a really amazing next chapter. 

We, of course, love our new home, too. But that’s just the icing on the cake.