I'm back.... and we're moving!!

13 years ago

I've been away from the KF for a while and mostly hanging out at Kitchens/Baths and Appliances. So that should give you an idea of where my head is these days.

We've lived here in Louisiana in the house we designed and built 25 years ago, raised our 4 sons, had a million memories and gradually done every little thing we've ever wanted to the stable, gardens, pool etc.... truly a labor of love and a comfortable house that is really a "home".

Well fast forward to 2009 and DH Joes upcoming retirement got us thinking about moving.... all parents passed away, the last son nearing the end of college and we were so tired of reading about the almost nightly murders in the local newspaper in nearby Baton Rouge. We were debating TN, NC, Arkansas, SC and suddenly it hit us like a freight train that we LOVED the little town where two of our sons had been students (the youngest is a rising Sr now) in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Last spring we bought some land there and began working on house plans, DH Joe got fully retired as of about 3 months ago, and we listed our "forever" dream home with a realtor in May. Now we're just waiting for the house to sell .... I hate to say hoping because I dread the gutwrenching moment I'll have to drive away from MY house. When it does, we'll move to Virginia and rent while we build the new house.

I keep saying that we are simultaneously scared to death and exicted.... and that about sums it up.

We spent months getting our house ready to go on the market and I had little time for posting or web surfing since I was usually knee deep in wallpaper or paint! But now the hard work is done so we've finally got some free time. I'm mostly over at the other forums browsing for home ideas, but cooking is always my love anyway.

Last week DH Joe made dinner (a pretty rare occurence) and he said... "this looks so good that I just might take a picture for GW!!" So that made me pop over and see what was going on.

So I'm baaaack!! and looking forward to posting again and getting to know everyone new and old!

Grace

Comments (19)

jojoco
13 years ago
welcome back, Grace! Change is always both exciting and scary. Hopefully your home will sell without any major issues and you'll soon be sharing the details of your house-to-be. Good luck!

Jo
doucanoe
13 years ago
Oh, I can't even imagine this mixed emotions you are feeling letting go of your home!

But a new chapter is opening up and it sounds like you are embracing it! Good luck on getting that house sold.

Glad you are back and posting again!

Linda
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compumom
13 years ago
Welcome back and I think a change like that would be wonderful! I doubt my DH will ever retire!
sheshebop
13 years ago
Good luck. Hope your place sells and everything goes well for you. How exciting!
Sherry
wizardnm
13 years ago
Welcome back...now get to cooking up some goodies!

Nancy
beachlily z9a
13 years ago
Welcome back to home! I'm in the Daytona area. You know, we often hear of people who move down here and go back north after 6 months. I do understand wanting to go home. We were gone from FL for 18 years before we could finagle our way back here!

Oh, retirement has been wonderful for us!
gbsim1
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the good wishes from everyone! It is sooo scary to think about starting over! And yes, Beachlily like you, so far retirement has been a dream come true for DH Joe.

But Beachlily we aren't going "home".... I'm a near native Louisianian since I've lived here for all but the first six weeks of my life. This will be major upheaval going to Virginia!

I gave DH Joe a book about Virginia history for Christmas this year, it's amazing what you just automatically know about a state (names of towns, history, names of parishes/counties, famous politicians, etc ) when it has always been your home. You can take it for granted, we've got a lot to learn about the basics of our soon to be new home state!

But we're as excited as two kids about to go off to college.... and since this is the town where two of our sons did go to college, that is a pretty good analogy!
claire_de_luna
13 years ago
Well, I finally got around to reading this and wanted to say, congratulations! It's always interesting to think about ''the next phase'' isn't it? I hope your ''next phase'' is everything you hope for, and then some!

I do dearly love Virginia peanuts, so you'll be in just the right place for those!
annie1992
13 years ago
Congratulations to Joe on his retirement. You'll be taking the horses, I assume?

Hey, you won't be too far from Elery's sister, maybe we can get together after you move!

Annie
beachlily z9a
13 years ago
While I misread it slightly, you do know that home is where the heart is. We have lived in a number of places and most of the time believed that each place was temporary. I grew up in Denver, CO, and left in 1984. FL is absolutely my home and we both love it down here.

I've lived in MD and VA and found VA particularly to be very beautiful. Enjoy your life and your freedom in a very lovely place.
teresa_nc7
13 years ago
How wonderful for you! I think the Shenandoah Valley area of VA would be a delightful place to live. Can you let us know the town when you get moved so we can get in touch if we are ever in the area? I-81 is just about my favorite route to travel!

Teresa (in NC, also a great place to retire!)
gbsim1
Original Author
13 years ago
Oh YES Annie and Teresa, you bet I'm dying to meet some GWers face to face!!
We'll be in Lexington VA which is just off 1-81.

And of course we'll be bringing the horses, and dogs and cats!!! This is the woman who once rode home from the beach with a husband, 4 young boys, 2 dogs, a hamster and a rabbit.... all in one suburban.

We've bought some acreage, but it's largely wooded and in our effort to have less to take care of, we'll be boarding the horses nearby and enjoying not cleaning stalls for the first time in decades!!!

Grace
lpinkmountain
13 years ago
Best wishes on your new adventure! Keep us posted!
lakeguy35
13 years ago
Grace, glad to hear you are taking the horses with you. I seem to remember pics of them a while back. Y'all will be in for a major weather shock though compared to living LA for so long. Remember that littls snow y'all had a couple of years ago...LOL. My best to you and your DH on your new adventure and new home. Keep us posted on your progress.

David
dlynn2
13 years ago
I bet she'd welcome a little snow this week.... my family is miserable down there in the heat. They said the heat index is around 110 on the coast. I bet the Baton Rouge area is close to that also.
gbsim1
Original Author
13 years ago
Yep David and dlynn, I'm looking forward to the cooler weather!! Since it's in the valley, the winters are generally pretty mild though this year was a record breaker for snow. The good thing about being retired and not having kids at home.... we can just watch the snow fall and not be worried about work, school etc!! In Louisiana today it will be 101... 102 tomorrow... and the humidity!!! We just got back from VA and while they thought it was hot it felt like spring to us!!

Here's a picture of our new land and the homesite with DH Joe pretending to be a house. our back porch and deck will facing this view. Seems like we're out in the middle of nowhere, but we're a 5 minute drive from the center of town.

We just got home from 5 days in VA where we brought up a load of "stuff" and put it in a storage pod. The estimate of 25K (!!!!) o move us to VA (not including our barn and outdoor things) got us so shocked that we decided to start combining our visits with bringing up a load of things in the horse trailer.

We had the 3 horse section of the living quarters trailer full with things that we won't need even in a rental... extra garden tools, workshop things, outdoor decorations (birdfeeders/houses etc). It isn't a drop in the bucket, but it's a start!

Grace
lakeguy35
13 years ago
I'm loving that view Grace!! I'm missing mine from the lake after moving back to the city/burbs a couple of years ago.

David
obxgina
13 years ago
Grace, when I saw your post I just had to respond! Several years ago my DFIL and his wife, who lived in Pa at the time, had a similar calling to the Shenandoah Valley and bought a home in Fairfield, right next door to Lexington! They loved it. My dfil has since passed, but his wife still lives there and loves it. We have visited a few times and it really is a breath taking area. Good luck and congrats to you both!

Gina
gbsim1
Original Author
13 years ago
David the perfect thing is that we're literally a 5 minute drive to the center of town.... best of both worlds. Now it's a little town, but still has 2 bookstores, 2 coffee shops, a movie theater, 2 bakeries etc (all locally owned)....

Gina, Yep Fairfield is just up the road! PLEASE let me know when you visit again. One of these days I'll see some CF friends face to face!

Grace

I'm back.... and we're moving!!

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