Home Sweet Hale

 Mom and Dad Edwards came to visit last May, and listened to us discuss for the first time what it would take for us to be willing to sell our house.  15 minutes into the conversation, we went from willing to consider it to deciding it was off the table for sure.  There was no price tag we thought we could get to make it worth all the effort of selling and rebuilding again.

Fast forward to Christmas break.  We still haven't seriously discussed the possibility of moving, but we have our eye on a lot that is a good price and has gorgeous views.  The backyard is a golf course.  We started checking out real estate more and more, and realized maybe there was a price tag we'd be willing to consider if we could live on the lot that piqued our interest.

Over Christmas break, we had many hard conversations about our future.  By the end of vacation, we were open to possibly selling if we thought it added up, although in no hurry.

Fast forward another two weeks, our house in on the market and we purchased the lot on the golf course.  Fast forward five (stressful) showings and 10 days, and the house is sold.  We do not believe anything until closing, but it is starting to seem real.  Every moment before listing was spent fixing things up and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.  During listing it was all cleaning.  Now that it is sold, we've spent time doing minor touch ups and stressing about how we are going to make this all work.  It all sounds so easy and fast but it has already been major effort with minimal sleep.

But 10 days?  Seems too good to be true.

I love this house and I love our property.  During our inspection period for the new lot, every night ended with a decision that we were not moving forward.  Every morning, we were back to moving forward.  It was agonizing.  If everything works out, this was a no brainer, but until it is all final, it still seems questionable.

 Ocean views from the upstairs.

 In our next place, our backyard will be significantly smaller.  3,000 sf smaller, in fact.  That is not heartbreaking to us--our yard maintenance is year-round and work-intensive.  It is so pretty, though.

 These aerials show our views and how close we are to the ocean.  We can hear it most nights of the year.  It is less than 0.25 miles to walk to the beach.  Getting out of our subdivision is a breeze.  These are things I will miss.  Our next place is more tucked away and further from the coast.  It is not always easy to turn out of our new subdivision because the road can get congested.

We are doing this because we believe it will make a big difference in our future.  In the meantime, it is an enormous pain.  We do not know where we are going to live in a short 60 days, and we live in a tough rental market.  We are building again.  I CAN'T BELIEVE WE ARE BUILDING AGAIN.  On Facebook the night before we moved in to this house, I wrote, "Moving tomorrow for the 9th time in 13 years. If we move again in the next 10 years, I will bawl my eyes out. This girl is finally ready for roots!"

I have definitely cried.  I think this is going to swing out and I think we will be glad forever that we did it, but oh my, I can't believe it.