Louisiana to Florida – Our 1 Year Move Anniversary

This past Monday, April 9th made 1 year since we left our home in Louisiana and made the trek to Florida.  I had the date wrong for some reason and when I opened up a text from our old neighbor that had his Facebook memory, I became so emotional.  I don’t know why it hit me so hard, but memories of this past year came to my mind and everything that has happened in 1 year.  I remember pulling out of our old neighborhood one last time after we said goodbye to friends and it was something that wasn’t easy on me.  Months that passed with family coming visit left me emotional saying goodbye every time.  With all of these emotions comes so much happiness too – making this move was something we prayed about for so long and to finally see the opportunity and doors open that He made possible for us is pretty amazing.  We absolutely love it here and I tell my husband almost every single day how thankful I am to live here.  It seems surreal to say we have been here for a year when someone asks me how long we have been here.  Wasn’t it just 2 months ago?  Sometimes it doesn’t even feel like I am in a different state and 9 hours away from my family and friends, but then when I miss out on certain things in their lives it becomes real.  Someone said to me when we first moved here that the first year is like you are on vacation all of the time.  Once the holidays pass and you hit that year mark, the vacation is over.  I hope that doesn’t happen! This move was such a huge thing in our lives and I want to look back on it as it being the best decision we ever made.  And so far it has been! I’m sharing just a few pictures today of those last few days packing up our home and pulling out of our neighborhood one last time with tears running down my face (not actually being shown ;)) because this is a place where I want to look back on that time and smile.

We were so lucky to have our house go under contract less in less than a week after putting in on the market.  The move itself was probably the most stressful part of it all – the endless boxes, being on a time restraint, little sleep and an uneasy toddler really made the experience one that I hope to never have to do again or we will definitely hire movers next time.  I remember this little guy being so confused as to what was happening and didn’t really handle the experience well.  I was stressed, Andrew was stressed (and sick) and ultimately he could feel the stress too.  But once everything was done and we were out of the house, it was like night and day for him.

We made a stop at the beach for 2 nights and this little guy saw the ocean for the first time!

When we finally made it to Jacksonville, the very next day we started looking for houses and ended up with the 2nd house we looked at! Everything happened with His timing and we are so thankful for how things worked out.  It is hard to believe our little guy is about to finish his first year of school and we are coming up on our 2nd summer here.

So funny as I am writing this Thomas Rhett’s song “Life Changes” starts playing.  It’s the little things that make you chuckle to yourself.

xo