Hey guys! We are actually down in Biloxi today. The movers are here picking up all of our stuff, although we won’t be moving into the new house until next week. The closing on our old house got pushed back (NOT our doing!) but we still decided to come down and get everything moved on the original date. So, here I am, at the house I lived in since February 2010, for the very last day.
Not going to lie, I have mixed emotions. On one hand, I have wanted out of this town since the day we moved in, but on the other hand I still have a lot of good memories in this house. Bobby and I designed/built it together, and it was home during some of the most difficult parts of our married life. We dealt with job and family crisis, loneliness, and confusion about where we were supposed to be. But, we made it through, learned a lot of valuable lessons, and I am more than happy to close this chapter and open a new one back in “our town”.
It’s hard to believe we packed up our first home together in Madison, MS nearly four years ago, and now we are coming back! That move was quite stressful because we ended up getting ripped off by the moving company (another lesson learned, always get a guaranteed price!) and our closing had been moved back twice on that house before we finally got to move in. I was living with my parents while Bobby lived with some friends in our new town as we waited for our home to be complete.
Ooohhh the boxes. Not looking forward to that again! We eventually got settled in, and truly enjoyed a lot of the aspects of our home and neighborhood.
In the end, the area wasn’t a great fit for us and we longed to be back in Madison. We were very thankful to have a beautiful home, but I learned a very valuable lesson during our time in Biloxi: You can’t make up for lack of friends and relationships or a good church home just because you really love your house. The newness will fade and you will still feel very lonely.
Our years in that house may have been very trying, but I believe it taught us the importance of relationships, being plugged into a great church, and that “things”, while nice, won’t keep you happy for long. We have already started to invest ourselves in our church and community, and cannot wait to raise baby M here! Now, we are praying that the closing goes through on the 31st, then I think it will feel more real and official once it is all done, and then I will share more about our new home and some other things going on with us! I just don’t want to jinx anything until papers are actually signed. 
I will be back this afternoon, but doubt I will have time to blog, so just hang with me as things may be a bit sporadic as we go through this process.
QOTD: Do you have bittersweet feelings when you move out of a house? How important is the area in which you live in comparison to the home itself?
Wohoo! So happy for you!
Yes, moving can definitely be bittersweet! When Jason and I moved we were really ready, but at the same time it was sad to leave the house where our relationship started and where we spent our first few years being married. And now we’re in a similar situation as you guys were, we’re in New York, but we REALLY hate it there and we just don’t have many friends there. We’re really trying to move to an area we know we’ll be happier, but we’re sort of stuck because of Jason’s job…oh well, hopefully we’ll figure it out soon!
And good luck with the move!
I know yall are struggling with this too, hope you can find a solution soon!
I feel like I could have written this post. We signed to close on selling our home just this past Friday-two weeks after it was supposed to close. Agonizing waiting to just be done with that chapter! A lot of bittersweet memories with that house-we grew our family by three children there, but also buried all three of them. BUT we made it through with a stronger marriage because of it. From the week we moved in I knew it wasn’t where I wanted to live but it took almost seven years to convince my husband that we could sell. Which again was a difficult part of life, this time financially, but we have learned so much through that experience.
I didn’t think the neighborhood was an important factor when we bought that house. But I know it is now. We did live near family, but are now 2,000 miles away from them and ironically are so much happier-not happier being away but happier with life in general. I love my family, but I think what my little in-home family needs is first priority-schools, commute for husband, other kids in the area or not; what I need (as in, what’s the neighborhood like-size of lots. I hate neighbors!) is second and where we are in relation to church is third from here on out!
oh my goodness you have had a rough road! It’s funny how after living somewhere we thought we would be so happy we learn the hard way what is really important.
I understand it being bittersweet. Will your new house be closer to family?
We are a military family and move every 3 years. It’s always bitter-sweat. Some areas are harder than others to make friends and truly feel like a part of the community. Now that our 2 girls are in school this next move (2016) will be even more emotional. The area we live in is very important as we can always make a house a ‘home.’ We lived in an apartment for 3 years and made it feel as much like a home as we could. A great community, good schools, church, parks, etc are all part of how much you feel at ‘home.’ We love our community now and we can always come back after all of our family adventures. Good luck on your move!!
thank you! I don’t know how you military folks do it!
As an Air Force wife I’ve come to the realization that a home is just a place to live for a little while until it’s time to move on to the next place. The memories we make there are really what’s important…and we will take those with us wherever God leads us next.
you are so right
I was sad to move out of our apartment that I hated, just because it was the place we lived during our first year of marriage, so I understand the bittersweet feelings. Hope the closing goes smoothly this week!
thank you, I hope the people show up today to close!
That’s a beautiful house, but I know community is so important. Good luck with everything!
thank you!!!
I totally get that bittersweet feeling. It’s hard to say goodbye sometimes.. Excited for your move! Glad it’s all coming together! 😀
Good luck with the move Heather! It sounds like you are doing what’s best for your family! 🙂
Definitely understand how moving can be bittersweet. Coming from a military family we moved many times in my lifetime so far. It is always so exciting to begin a new journey though. Good luck with the move!
What a beautiful house. But you’re right, it’s definitely not worth it if you’re not happy there.
My hubby and I felt very sad leaving our first home. We only moved about 15 min away but we absolutely loved our tiny little 2 bedroom house, our neighbourhood, everything. It was a tough decision but we knew we couldn’t raise 2 kids in the space we had. We like our house and have made it our own but we still miss our little starter home. Thankfully, because we stayed close, our church family/friends have remained with us and we’re building relationships with our neighbours here as we await baby 3.0’s arrival in a few weeks 🙂
that’s great!
Your home is absolutely gorgeous! But I understand how having a good church home, friends and family close by, etc. is wayyy more important than living in a dream home.
yes! I had to learn the hard way though
I know exactly how you feel. Although I liked our first house, we never really made friends or felt like that was the area that we were going to stay in. We moved into our current home almost 4 years ago and we made friends right away and it felt more like home than our other house/area ever did.
I have been reading your blog since you moved into this house and I have always loved it. I love the style and would love to build one in a similar style but I’m from the Midwest and don’t really see homes like that around here. Best of luck in your new house!