At the end of this month my family will be relocating from Syracuse, NY to Tampa, FL. I’ve hinted at some Big Changes coming our way and now I can finally tell everyone. My husband is being transferred to a different office and we couldn’t be happier. Syracuse was never home for us, partly because we knew this day would come eventually, and partly because we never felt like we fit in.
Living life in limbo- never feeling settled, never buying a home because you know you will be leaving it at an unknown time, and never investing in friendships for the same reason; these have been tough years. Both of my boys were born in Syracuse, one at a hospital and one in the home we currently live in. It will be bittersweet to leave the place they were born. But again, I never considered Syracuse home for us.
I had never moved states until we moved here to NY, previously I lived in North Carolina. The biggest move I ever made was from Salisbury to Charlotte. It wasn’t traumatic to move. Only after we found out we were expecting did the reality set in that my child would not have any family nearby. Now that we have two children it has been a struggle to live without a “village” and stay sane. The closest I have come to having a village has been my weekly Friday babysitter. She has come once a week for four hours a day since Fletcher was 21 months old. She has helped me learn to leave my children without feeling guilty. When my husband was out of town and I suffered an eye injury that left me unable to open my eye and I was in terrible pain she came and cared for the kids while I moaned in pain. (Seriously, an eye injury severe enough is worse than any pain I’ve felt before and leaves you utterly useless). Today I realized next week will be her last day with the kids and that is so sad for us both. I lucked out in finding someone I trust and she loves my boys.
We have been looking at homes for quite some time and finally settled on one that we agreed would be perfect for our family. Unfortunately the home is a “Short Sale” which means we may not even know if our bid was accepted for another 3-6 months. We’ve decided to take the chance and live in a hotel for a few months, then re-evaluate the situation in April.
I’m still in pretty heavy denial even though we have known for years this day would come. We’ve only known with 80% certainty that moving would be in the next few months since September, and only last month did we get the official timeline. What a frustrating 6 months this has been.
I think as a family we are excited. We are looking forward to having more family friendly activities to do and better weather to do it in. We are also hopeful that our family will actually visit us. Unfortunately there are no selling points to our town unless you like snow. Yes, it does hurt that practically no one came to visit us during our 5 years here except for my husband’s parents. Typically Syracuse is cold and covered in snow up to 6 months a year. Strangely, this year we have seen almost no snow. It’s like the city is mocking us for wanting to leave that white stuff behind and begging us to reconsider.
Many people see Syracuse to Tampa as a huge move, and logistically, it is. Things are getting increasingly complicated. We have 3 cars, a house full of stuff, and 2 kids. In my mind it isn’t as huge, geographically, because I felt like I never left North Carolina. I’ve already shaved off half the miles right there!
What moving means to DDL
Obviously I cannot continue working on DDL with as much fervor as I normally do. There may be many days between posts and my videos might not post every Monday as I am used to doing. Because I have known for a very long time I have been filming in advance, however, the date kept getting pushed farther down… I’ve got 5 reviews filmed but after that I don’t think I’ll be able to film in a hotel. If we are moved in earlier than expected I might not miss too many weeks.
I’ve also enlisted the help of some friends to fill in with a few guest posts. I hope my readers will enjoy a fresh perspective since I am quite the cloth diaper veteran at this point. I often forget what it felt like to know absolutely nothing!
Wish us luck as we start a new adventure!
See you later winter….. hello palm trees!
YEAH!!!! TheEcoChic couldn’t be happier to have another cloth junkie in town! Can’t wait to welcome you to the Sunshine State! Bring some sunscreen! XOXOXOX!
Good luck with the move! I’ve moved over 20 times in the last 10 years, twice over 2,000 miles, and it’s a total PITA. Trying to do it with kids… Oy! It’s always worth it, though. 🙂 I hope you love Tampa!
We will be waiting here for you Kim… I hope the move goes smoothed!!
May God Bless Your Family and pray that they give you all your home fast sonthat you can live n your home and not the hotel!!! God Bless You !!
Clearly what it means is that you’ll be able to sun your diapers more often! Hope the move goes smoothly and you enjoy Tampa.
Excellent point!!!!
Please excuse typos and brevity. Sent from my iPhone
I have been a DDL fan for almost 3 years now and reading your posts have made me a big fan of you and your family. Many blessings (and a lot of luck) as you make this move. I am so excited for you and hope it will allow you to finally feel settled (as a former renter I understand this feeling).
Good luck with the move. I’d rather live somewhere warmer as well. Hopefully you find out about the house sooner rather than later. 🙂
Aww, upstate NY will miss you! Moving to upstate NY (Rochester for me) was the first time I moved out of state as well (I moved from NJ where I had lived all my life). However, we plan on staying here permanently… then again we hated NJ so this is a HUGE improvement for us. It’s much less crowded here and we’ve made lots of great friends. We love it here! I’m also crazy… I love the cold weather. I could never living in the southern USA. This winter has kind of sucked in that department though 😛
Good luck with your move to Florida! I hope it goes smoothly!
Have a fantastic move. Congratulations. Hopefully there will be plenty of sun in Florida for your diapers! That has to be a plus. Anyway, best wishes. You will be missed. I have selfishly been dreading the day when your cutie baby is potty trained… I love your blog!
Have a fantastic move. Congratulations. Hopefully there will be plenty of sun in Florida for your diapers! That has to be a plus. Anyway, best wishes. You will be missed. I have selfishly been dreading the day when your cutie baby is potty trained… I love your blog!
Hope everything goes smoothly with you move, and that you’re able to feel more at home in Florida.
Yay! Florida says Welcome! Of course, this weekend winter has decided to come for a couple days, but it’s short lived. If you miss the snow, just go to Clearwater beach, the sand is almost as white. 🙂
Yay!! That’s an exciting move! You’ll live pretty close to me! hope it all goes smoothly!
I totally get not having the “villiage” to help with raising your kids! I was raised in North Carolina too! (Durham) We moved to SC for a while and knew NO ONE!!!! It was tough but we got by. Now we’re in NC again, this time in Apex….moving to Mebane in 10 days!
I totally get not having the “villiage” to help with raising your kids! I was raised in North Carolina too! (Durham) We moved to SC for a while and knew NO ONE!!!! It was tough but we got by. Now we’re in NC again, this time in Apex….moving to Mebane in 10 days!
Hope your move goes well! One thing you might want to consider once you get settled is life insurance. I work for IntelliQuote and we can help you understand life insurance without any commitment from you. If you have any questions you can call and talk to a person without feeling pressured to pick right away. http://bit.ly/z50Oud
Hope your move goes well! One thing you might want to consider once you get settled is life insurance. I work for IntelliQuote and we can help you understand life insurance without any commitment from you. If you have any questions you can call and talk to a person without feeling pressured to pick right away. http://bit.ly/z50Oud
Congratulations! I’m honestly jealous. I would actually LOVE to leave Illinois. I hate the weather, I hate the cost of living. The only reason we cannot move is becasue of our village. I’d love to leave the state for grad school, but we can’t manage without my MIL and my dad to help with the three kids while I’m in school. If we had to pay a babysitter, we’d never make it. Of course I love having them, but they also feel like an anchor keeping us here. For now I’ll just live vicariously through you!