The Epic Journey - 10 year report
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
It's that time of year! Time for the annual report on our little life experiment. And yes, you guessed it, we're moving again!
Ten years ago, my husband and I left Massachusetts.
We had spent most of our lives there, meaning: we worked at jobs so we could make money so we could pay our bills. Lots of people have no problem with this, but we were very conscious of the fact that our lives weren't our own. We felt trapped in an incredibly itchy sweater and had to find a way to slip out. So we made a plan:
Make a list of what we want in our lives.
Search the internet for where we could find and do those things.
Sell our house in Massachusetts.
Move to that place. (which happened to be Chattanooga, TN)
Well... as ridiculous as it sounds, it (mostly) worked! We've created a life+ of our own design filled with most of the things from our original list, a couple of things that weren't on our list (home renovation & art festivals) and, naturally, a few stumbling blocks as well. It turned out that Chattanooga wasn't quite the right place. Neither was New Bern, NC, Brownfield, ME, Rossville, GA, or Henagar, AL. Five moves in ten years! But each move blessed us with something we never would have had otherwise: a best friend, an education in home renovation, an introduction to art festivals, extra time with my mom during the Covid year and in the last year of her life, making good friends across the country, greater confidence in our abilities, and becoming more clear on what we do and don't want in our lives.
The elephant in the room is that we haven't had a HOME since leaving Massachusetts. But we believe we have finally found THE ONE!
Strangely, this house seemed meant to be, like God wanted us to be there! We had never considered moving to Missouri, but it truly seems as if our steps were directed to that house, and things fell into place so easily that after visiting it the first time, we felt like it was ours.
This home has just about everything we've come to realize we want in a home: privacy, square footage, a basement, a well, a pool and patio, acreage, outbuildings, unrestricted use, cool neighbors that aren't too close, protected land adjacent to the property, in the mountains, rural but with access to amenities 30 min away, and economic growth in the area. Sadly, we'll be moving away from friends, but with art festivals all around the country, there will be plenty of opportunities to visit. We're looking forward to FINALLY being able to do the things that we've wanted to do, but couldn't, knowing we weren't going to stay in one location: set up flower and vegetable gardens, get chickens, set up an aquarium, create an art studio, create a music studio, unpack things that have been in boxes for years, create an archery and shooting range, get livestock, and create trails to take long walks on our property together. And I can't wait to sit on the porch and write while watching the deer and wild turkeys, hearing nothing but birds and wind in the leaves.
So there you have it! I'll admit, it's been ten challenging years, but also filled with growth, fun, and love. And no regrets. We'll still be following our dreams through our Purpose - revealing Beauty and sharing Hope. This is just the beginning of book two of The Epic Journey.
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