When we moved back to New Jersey six years ago, we promised we wouldn’t stay. New Jersey will always be my home state because I spent so many years here but it hasn’t truly felt like home for our family. We knew that we wanted to move down south but relocation is difficult and a lot of things had to fall into place in order for it to happen. ‘Five to seven years’, we told ourselves. I don’t know if my husband ever truly believed it but I don’t think I did. I didn’t think our dreams would ever come true because so many things would have to align all at once. And then they did.
I’ve always believed in being not pretending like things are perfect, in life and on the blog, so I won’t say that it was without issue. It took a storm for us to get to this point. My mental health was breaking down and I needed to chase the new life we dreamed about for so long. There was chaos and there were tears, it wasn’t all confetti and rainbows. The bottom line, what we choose to focus on, is that we got here. We kept going, we chased, and we caught those dreams.
The Job
In the midst of all the chaos, my husband felt God’s hand in everything. He pulled up his company’s job openings in the state we’d picked out years ago, Tennessee. Smack dab in the middle of Nashville and Knoxville, he found an opportunity for him. The application window was closing in six hours so he threw his hat into the ring. I’ll admit that I had no faith at this point. There was no way that they would choose my husband who lived 750 miles away and made significantly more than what they were looking to hire for. He did have faith, though, and took the next step in relocation: Putting our house up on the market.
We stressed and we worried but within days of the house going up, he got the call. By the grace of God, they chose my husband. My husband has amazing work ethic and he absolutely deserved the job, but I was still beside myself with shock. They gave him a start date and he found himself an AirBnB but we had to figure out what the next step would be. What if the house didn’t sell? Could we rent it out? Should we find somewhere to rent in Tennessee? There were SO many questions left up in the air!
The New House
We looked at so many houses online and it brought us a lot of joy. Our property taxes were six times what we were looking at in Tennessee and for about the same amount we pay here, we could buy a much bigger house. We fell in love with a lot of houses and one day we got online and they were all under contract. This roller coaster was getting to be too much for me. I didn’t want to look at anymore houses at that point but my husband kept in good spirits and pressed on. He sent me a house that was outside of the town we’d been looking at, but it was huge and beautiful. It was a dream.
The day came when he finally had to leave to stay at his AirBnB in Tennessee. It was so hard but the bright side was that now he could start the Tennessee journey for us. Within a few days, he had visited our dream home with me watching on video chat.
He was satisfied and if you’ve ever met my husband, the ex-realtor, you’d know that it was surprising to find him pleased with a home on the first walk through. “If you’re okay with it, I’m going to put in an offer.” After a short back and forth, our offer was accepted and this was to be our home. Now it really begged the question, “What if our house doesn’t sell?!”
The Old House
Just a few days after our offer was accepted on the new home, we got an offer on our house in New Jersey. I couldn’t believe that within a week, everything fell into place. I still can’t believe it! Our old house closes just a week after our new home and just like that, our relocation will be complete. I don’t think we could re-create such a seamless transition if we tried, but there it is!
The Move
Next month, we officially join my husband in Tennessee all together at our new home. It’s been tough for all of us being away from him but it’s exciting to think that the next time we see him, it will be in this new life of ours! I’m really proud of him for being so strong and making this happen for us and I’ll certainly never forget it.
Cute country girls!
Before he left, we threw a big going away party for all of our loved ones. It’s been hard saying goodbye to people we’ve been so close with for the last several years and some for our entire lives. Everyone has known about our southern dreams for years but it’s still been so bittersweet. Everyone wants us to be happy but they’re understandably sad that they can’t just see us any time anymore. I have a feeling that that part will never really get any easier.
The Blog
The Quirky Mom Next Door has grown with a loyal New Jersey fan-base and we certainly wouldn’t want to leave you all behind! We plan to continue to serve the tri-state area via our trusted NJ-based contributors. It will continue to be part of our mission to bring you the best in New Jersey activities, events, and food.
While my protégés hold down the fort here in my home state, my family will be documenting our adventures in Tennessee. We hope to bring you beautiful views of local waterfalls and caves, the best mom and pop shops, and what quiet rural life looks like for a family of seven. We welcome you to join us on this journey and we can discover this new place together!
We moved from WI to NC 19 years ago. The weather was, of course, a BIG change, and add in the 1000 per cent humidity, which takes some getting used to! We had 2 young kids, 2 vehicles, a dog and several cats in tow. Your family will be making new memories, from here on in! Congrats-
I’ve relocated a few times. I moved from Wisconsin to Tallahassee FL and then to central Kentucky. The move to Kentucky was perfect as our child was still in pre-school and started kindergarten here.
We have lived in FL for all our lives! Tennessee is such a great place to live!
I’m so happy for you and your family. It’s amazing how dreams do come true. We live in North Carolina, only moved within this state and less than an hour away from our previous home. My husband had a delivery in TN and he went through Pigeon Forge on the way home. He fell in love with the Christmas lights and wanted to bring me back. When we came back we had the best time visiting the area and all the attractions. We started riding around and actually found some land for sale. Long story short we bought 5 lots and so far we have built a camping cabin so we can go up and camp and start clearing the land. My health took a turn for the worse and trying to get better, I can’t wait to start building. I know why you chose TN. It’s so beautiful and the people are so friendly. Hopefully our dream will come true soon. Thanks for sharing your heart warming story.