I honestly don't even know where to start because I'm SO excited to finally share this news with you guys! We are moving to Nashville! It has been SUCH a long time coming, and it's been so hard keeping this from you guys! I'm sure you're thinking a million things right now like, why, how, when, etc, so let's just get to it!
The Backstory
Back in May of 2018, Will and I moved to San Diego, which is where I'm originally from. I missed being near my family, and was looking for a change since I had lived in Dallas for nearly 10 years. We knew when we moved to San Diego it wasn't permanent. We decided we would travel, and take time to figure out where we wanted to lay roots. We are lucky and work from home, so we have the opportunity to really pick anywhere! Like most when making a decision we wrote down our wants/needs and just started making a list of places we were interested in. So last spring, we decided to start visiting some of the locations on our list. The first one being Nashville.
Last July Will and I decided to go visit some friends who had recently moved to Nashville. We thought it was the perfect time to see them, tour one of the cities we were interested in, and have a long week to explore over the holiday. Honestly as soon as we flew over the city and Will saw all the lush green trees I'm pretty sure I saw heart eyes on his face. We spent the first day exploring, driving around neighborhoods and taking in all the city had to offer. Nashville really shined for us that week. We had the best time and I remember us both looking at each other and being like, this is it. We didn't need to visit anywhere else.
Why Nashville?
So, what put Nashville on the list to begin with? Well, we knew we wanted to be near family and Nashville is close to a lot of Will's family, so checked that box. We also have a lot of mutual friends that live in Nashville, so it's comforting to know we will already have a community when we move. As much as we love the beautiful sunny weather San Diego has to offer, we actually REALLY miss the seasons. However, I don't like harsh winters, so we needed somewhere a little more mild. I lived in Lincoln, NE for a portion of my childhood, so I'm good with not having those long snowy winters. Finally, we wanted somewhere new, that neither of us had ever lived. Something that we could explore together. Nashville checked all the boxes.
The Search Begins
Since we basically knew in July that Nashville was where we wanted to move, we had to start thinking about our timeline. We had a wedding coming up in late September, the honeymoon lasting through mid October, as well as some trips already booked in November. I didn't want to move during the holidays, so we decided we would start at the new year. Over Thanksgiving we were visiting family in Tennessee, so we took a few extra days to visit Nashville again as well as meet with a realtor we had been in touch with weeks prior. We were able to do more exploring in areas we hadn't visited on our July trip and even walked some houses! This really helped us to know what to look for, especially since we were living in a different state.
Finding THE House
At the beginning of the year I became obsessed with house hunting. I pretty much knew everything that was on the market in the areas we were interested in and patiently waiting for an email alert for THE HOUSE. We knew we had to get back to Nashville to walk the houses we were really interested in, so we made a list of about eight and booked a few days with our realtor. What you guys don't know is that we secretly went to Nashville for 48 hours to see the houses in person. The Cliff's Notes version, the first house we walked I fell in love with. It was in a beautiful neighborhood surrounded by trees, had so much potential for renovations, and it just felt like a home. After walking that one, we were able to cross a few others off the list and we spent the rest of the day looking at the remaining houses. We actually fell in love with another house and were so torn (at least I was!). And that was that. We flew back to San Diego and had a lot to think about.
The Offer
After A LOT and I mean A LOT of thinking/reviewing/praying, the house we were nearly set on by the end of the visit fell off our list and the first house we visited became our top choice. I won't get into the details about why the second house wasn't our pick anymore, other than it just wasn't the right house. We called our relator and let them know the house we wanted to make an offer on and within 24 hours the owners accepted! We. Were. Thrilled. Honestly I think I was in shock. I couldn't believe it! We had been waiting for this moment for SO LONG and it was finally happening!
The Move
I'm sure you're wondering when we are moving and how all this is happening with everything going on right now. We were very lucky and able to negotiate a longer closing period, so we won't be moving until late June. We are confident as things are beginning to open back up here in San Diego and Nashville, that the move will be a safe one for us. Don't worry, we are still being very cautious following CDC best practices and social distancing.
We are so very excited to start this next chapter as a family, and I can't wait for you to follow along and share this journey with you all!