Saying Goodbye to our SC Home - Video

We are no strangers to moving.  We've lived in 4 different homes in less than 4 years.  Each house we live in is hard to leave after making memories with the kids in them.  Everytime we move to a new rental I tell myself to remember to take a little video of the house we are leaving behind, so that the kids can look back at it someday when they no longer have memories of their time there.  And everytime I get "too busy" and forget to actually do that.  The home we're in right now is our second home in South Carolina, and we have lived here for a whopping 18 months (a long time compared to the others, ha!). 

We had to move out of our first rental home here quickly and without much warning after the owner found herself in legal trouble and needed to move back in.  We were very rushed when we picked this house, and for a long time I thought we'd picked the wrong home.  Not that it's a bad house... there were just a lot of things that didn't reveal themselves about the house until after we moved in.  It took about 5 minutes for us to discover the true essence of "dog" in the carpets, in the walls, in the closets, EVERYWHERE... and much worse was the fact that if the wind was blowing in the right direction the waste plant a half mile away blew its lovely vapors our direction. It's funny to look back on now... but that first week in this house I just remember looking around going "Seriously?!?! We can't ever have anyone over because it smells like dog and the entire city's poop in our house.  Lovely."

But when I look back at all of the places we've lived over the last five years, this is the one I'm really having some sadness in leaving.  This is the home I found out I was pregnant in (about two weeks after moving in!), the bathroom that I took all of my "bump" pictures in during that pregnancy, the only house that Jace remembers living in, and the only house Lane has ever lived in.  I didn't do ANY decorating in the house for several months, because I was pregnant (aka sick and lazy), until right before Lane was due and I felt the nesting urge to make it a little more home-y.  Since we didn't have an appropriate place for a nursery, I put my nesting energy into making a playroom for he and Jace to enjoy together.  I think that room, and the living room, are the rooms I'm having a hard time taking things down in.  Those are the places that I've spent countless hours watching my kids grow and play in.

I know that the house we're moving into will be much better for us, mainly because of it's Minnesota location, but also because it's the first home we'll finally own for ourselves and be able to plant our roots in.  It will be a home that we can grow in, at double the size of this house we won't ever have to "upgrade" for more space as the kids get older.  So we can stay 10-20 years... instead of just 1.  BUT, it's still hard to walk away.   (I'll try to post more on our new house soon!)

So in the spirit of saying goodbye, I asked Jace to help me make a little video tour of our rental so that we can look back years down the road and tell the kids all about the memories we made here and show them where it all took place.  Who knows, after we move on I may not ever even think of this home, but I have a feeling we will always look back on it with fondness.

*** Please ignore my annoying voice, my shotty camera work, and the fact that the carpets DESPERATELY need a good vacuuming.  Ok thanks :) ***

Click on bottom right corner of video to enlarge.

Leaving South Carolina

 



Last month Tate was promoted to a new position within his current company.  His new job will focus on the opposite side of the country (West Coast and Midwest), and be based out of Minneapolis.  Which means our family is moving back to our hometown next week, which brings a lot of excitement and joy, but also brings a lot sadness as we pack up our life and say goodbye to our friends in South Carolina. 

 

Don't get me wrong, this promotion and move is the absolute best thing for our family... and although it came much faster than we had planned, it is the right time.  As the kids are growing being close to family is becoming more and more important, and necessary.  Tate's new job will require a lot of hours, just like his current one, but he will be traveling less... which is HUGE.

 

Our time is South Carolina has changed us so much, and really made us grow up individually and as a family... and I'm so glad that we took a leap of faith and relocated here in the first place.  I think with any big move there are phases.  The "honeymoon" phase, the "I hate this place" phase, and the "finally feeling settled" phase.  I know I have personally gone through all of those phases... with the one in the middle lasting the longest unfortunately.  Now that we're moving it's hard to say goodbye to so many of the things we love about South Carolina.  The weather, the ocean, the gorgeous southern foliage and spanish moss, and most importantly our friends here.

 

Jace has really only remembered living in South Carolina, and the only "friends" he knows are all here.  It's hard to say goodbye to those families that we've become close with and watched each others children grow so much in such a short time.  When we left Minnesota it was sad, but we knew that someday we'd be back... leaving South Carolina we know that we won't be moving back here and it's possible we'll never see these people again (although we definitely hope that's not the case!) and that brings a different level of sadness.

 

Reflecting on our time here, I don't have any regrets.  I suppose we could have always "done more", but I really do feel that we made the most of our time here.  We met so many people, we traveled to many new places, we bought a boat and spent lots of time at the beach, we dove into the local cuisine, we did all the historical tours... we really jumped in.  There are things we never did, that now we won't have time to, but for the most part we've made a lot of great memories here that never would have been possible if we hadn't moved here.

 

This week is our last week in South Carolina, and Tate will be traveling for almost all of it.  The kids and I will be saying our final goodbyes to friends, and getting the house ready for our move.  The packers will be coming Monday and our house will be empty by Tuesday.  I will be spending all day Wednesday tying up loose ends and cleaning our rental house (while juggling two kids in an empty house, hooray!) and we will be heading "home" first thing Thursday morning a few hours after Tate flies in from a business trip.  It's going to be a crazy week, but I'm very excited to finally be doing it, instead of just planning it like we have been for the last month.

 

Living in Minnesota is something that I haven't even let myself fully think about before... and I'm still not really digesting the idea for fear something will fall threw and crush my hopes (it won't!).  It's just such a foreign concept to be back in the city that I love, surrounded by family and have Tate home more.  I've just gotten accustomed to being on my own all of the time... and being on the brink of insanity every week by the time Tate gets home!  (What can I say... "3" has been a hard year for us!)  My hopes for my kids were always that they had strong bonds with their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins... and now it will be possible.  I can't wrap my head around having a casual "sunday brunch" with our family, or "just swinging by" for a spontaneous visit, or having a (gasp!) babysitter so that Tate and I can do something together without constantly juggling hungry/tired/tantrum throwing children.  I. am. so. ready.

 

Within two weeks we will be somewhat settled into our new home and be able to finally let the stress of moving, buying a home from a distance, starting a new job, etc all wash away and finally plant our roots.  The house we are buying is a home we can really picture ourselves in for years and years, and to people who have been renting for far too long, that is really amazing.  We feel really blessed and lucky to be able to be starting this next chapter in our lives and can't wait to see where it takes us!

 

In the meantime, we'll continue spending our last few days in Charleston soaking up the sun, hitting up the beach and pool, spending as much time with friends as possible, and pigging out on biscuits and gravy... ;)