Returning to Normalcy And the Move

What a whirlwind of a month we have had around here. Life has been busy, but good. It has been weeks of packing boxes, moving boxes, unpacking boxes. We are just now beginning to feel settled.

We are excited to be in our new home. Let's start from the beginning of this journey.

For the last couple of years we have known that we needed to move. We pushed those feelings back at first because we didn't want to leave our country living. We loved...
our land,

our house,

our yard, our barn,

our fence.
(Did I ever tell you Bob built us the most magnificent fence around our WHOLE back yard. That's a lot of fence! It gave me a piece of mind when Hannie was back there.)

As we slowly came to grips that our feelings were totally worldly and materialistic we started looking at the long term benefits a move would give our family. First, and biggest reason, we needed more daddy time. His commute was hard on everyone. He hated the long drive, and we hated being without daddy for 12 hours a day. Second, we needed to get closer to family. They need our help right now, and we need them. Third, the seclusion of living out in the middle of no where, with no neighbors, was really hard on me emotionally. I was fine and loved it when we were first married, but after having kids I just needed adult interaction on a more regular basis.

So last spring we put our house up for sale. And we waited, but the market up in that neck of the woods is really, really terrible because of all the layoffs at the biggest employing company and a lack of jobs up there any way. Our house was not selling. So we decided to go a different rout. We rented it. Sounds scary, and it kind of is, but we found fabulous renters. They are members of the Mennonite Church, a lot of the same down to earth beliefs as the Amish but they can use modern conveniences. They are wonderful people and we hope that they love our house as much as we did.

In October we found a house that just felt right.

It feels like home. It cuts an hour off Bob's commute time, brought us closer to family, and is in a wonderful neighborhood.

I'll post more about the new house later. Now I'm off to feed my kids in my new kitchen. Loving it!