We’re moving! And I’m an emotional mess. The thought of moving to a place I love fills me with such happiness, I can barely contain the giddiness. The thought of moving away from a beautiful home that has loved my family + me for 10 years brings tears that I’ve been trying to blink away for the past few days.

I am ready to move away from this area I have never once felt comfortable in, always feeling out of place. This place that has told me I don’t belong, where people make assumptions on who I am without even knowing me, and feeling my soul crumble into pieces, unsure if I will ever feel whole again.

So we are moving to the place that I consider home, even though I wasn’t born or raised there. 

It is the place where I fell in love multiple times, had my heart broken and where my heart mended over time.

It’s the place where our oldest child was born. 

It’s the place where I met my husband and realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.

It is the place that kept me warm when I’ve been at my lowest.

It is the place that feels like the palms of my hands: familiar and yet so many untraveled paths to discover.

What will I miss when I think about the 10+ years we’ve been here in Florida?

• the cozy places in our house that hold me when I need comfort
• the rooms that feel our boisterous laughter
• the lake I stare at everyday and feel its soothing existence while I drink my morning latte
• the palm trees that guard our home, their fronds swaying in the gentle breeze
• the ducks that visit me daily and try to follow me into our house
• the butterflies that hover constantly around the shrubs that surround our home and glide past our faces
• winter weather that makes me forget it’s even December because it’s so warm outside
• the sunlight that guides my way

I know I’m missing a million other things that I’ll probably remember once we’re gone.

But for now, I’m grateful for this home and for the new home that will open its arms + reveal our future.

Any advice for selling a house, moving to another state, and buying a house (or maybe renting while you find that perfect home) at the same time? I’d love to hear it all – we need all the help we can get.

*Sources:

• pampas grass $19.84
• glass vase $25 (the one shown is above is no longer available, but this is a good sub)