If you missed it, check out the “we’re moving!” announcement here.

Thank you SO much for joining in on our excitement about this new chapter and all your well wishes. It’s been so hard keeping it to myself over this year, but we had some details we needed to hammer out and being that we were burned twice in 2020, we wanted to make sure all of it was coming together before sharing the plan.

I’m really looking forward to sharing more life stuff, as I feel like I’ve had to leave out a big chunk of what’s been going on offline. IG is certainly the easiest way to share day to day stuff, but for personal documentation and for y’all that have told me you don’t have social (rock on, I fully support that), I am excited to write about here and in my weekly newsletter. Writing as a form of connection will always be my first love anyway!

As soon as the news was out, I wanted to start sharing all the details (over-sharer anonymous, right here) but I didn’t know where to start- a mental log jam. I put a question box up on IG and got some great questions and figured that is the best way to begin! So, let’s chat details!

Moving & Home Building Q&A

The House Selling Questions

What are your reasons for wanting to leave that area? Your old house is stunning. And the lake!

We definitely aren’t running away from anything. This area is wonderful, as is our home and community. There has always been a deeper pull inside of me to have a little more land/wide open spaces and at my core, I’m a mountain girl. Having the unique opportunity pop up to get to experience this life near a town I love and be closer to family was something we couldn’t pass up.

What will you miss about your house?

Obviously we will miss the lake! It’s beautiful to look at. However, it’s mostly Hailey (and somewhat David) who will miss being in the lake. Other than that, it will mainly be the nostalgic memories of the house (kids peeking over the balcony at Christmas, etc) I’ll miss, but those are more attached to a life stage than a location and I’ll carry those with me. The main thing we will miss is being close to our friends.

Would you recommend living in a lake house? Looking to buy one soon.

If you love the lake, then I highly recommend it! It’s beautiful and it’s so fun to watch it come to life in the late spring as boaters, kayakers, and jet skis take to the water. If you enjoy swimming and playing in the lake, it doesn’t get much more convenient. It adds an extra level of maintenance of course (dock, boat, shoreline) and there tend to be more spiders/webs near the water, but those are small tradeoffs if it’s something that lights you up inside.

Who staged your home for sale?

Our realtor helped guide our renovation choices and staged our home beautifully. Very grateful for her work!

How long did it take to sell?

2 weeks and about 18 showings.

What improvements do you think contributed the most to a fast sale?

100% the full kitchen renovation. It was a huge value add, as were the upgrades we did two the two upstairs bathrooms. Beyond that though, I think it was largely the prep work- clearing everything out, fresh paint, de-personalizing it, fresh pine straw in the yard, and basically making it look like a model home.

I can’t imagine living through a remodel and then moving. Is your house already sold? Wow, you’ve been managing a lot behind the scenes.

I don’t think we fully understood all we were biting off with the renovation process. It was a lot to juggle while also picking out stuff for the new place/making day trips down to SC, etc. It was highly disruptive and not being able to be open about it on here/social wasn’t fun. I felt like I was only sharing half of life and though I’m sure no one really noticed, I wanted to explain why I wasn’t growing anything in a garden or making bread or why my beloved countertop herb garden was MIA or why we didn’t start our homeschool year mid-July like we usually do. All that and more has me thrilled to be able to share openly about it now! 🙂

The Home Building Questions

How did you find it? Were you looking to move to that area? What inspired the purchase of land? Always planned to move to SC?

David found it. We weren’t looking seriously, but are almost always keeping an eye of real estate just for fun. He found a unique property with mountain views and we figured we should take a look. We immediately fell in love with it and the surrounding community. When another offer threatened to take it off the market, we pulled the trigger and made it ours. We’ve always loved the Greenville area and I’ve always felt most at peace in the mountains. We never intended on building, but have found the process to be mostly enjoyable and pretty incredibly to watch it come to life.

What were your must haves for the new house?

Must haves are tough because of course there are budgetary constraints to contend with, but I created a dream list and am thrilled at how many we’ve been able to include. Some of the elements I’m most excited about are: guest room on the main level, a fireplace on the screen porch, a workout space, and my scullery (basically an oversized butler’s pantry/messy kitchen).

How close will you be to your in-laws and your mom in the new place?

We will be only 40 minutes from my in-laws and about 2 hours and 45 minutes from my mom. In my ideal world we’d all live side by side on a giant piece of land, but this is a big improvement in proximity from where we are now.

Pros and cons of NC versus SC?

I love both Carolinas! The Carolinas have the mountains, the beaches, four seasons, and wonderful people, so I’m thrilled to be part of them still.

What part of the move are you most excited about? Nervous for?

I’m really looking forward to the house and location. Having new mountain trails to hike and a home we designed to fit our specific needs feels like a dream I never even knew was possible come true. I’m excited to have more space for a garden and the opportunity to get chickens. I’m mostly looking forward to making this our home. Ever since 2020, I haven’t felt really settled in our current house, knowing that we never really intended it to be our forever home. Because of that it always felt fairly impersonalized. I can not wait to make this new place ours. Our pictures, our preferences, our cozy. It makes my eyes well up just thinking about it.

As for the latter question- I wouldn’t use the word nervous, but I’m most attentive to the kids. While they really seem good with it all, the unknown can be unnerving for anyone. I pray they make great friends, enjoy the new opportunities they’ll be presented with, and fall in love with our new home.

Why did you renovate your kitchen if you knew you were going to move?

Kitchens and bathrooms historically provide the best return on your investment dollar. We updated the kitchen to add value to our home and help it sell faster.

Did you learn anything in your kitchen renovation that you’ll fix at the new place?

We actually were making these decisions side by side so I didn’t have to benefit of trying my new kitchen first. I have liked our workstation sink and am so happy we are going with an extended one in the new house. I’m excited to have a larger range with a griddle, under cabinet lighting, and a dining table adjacent to the kitchen (in our current home it’s around the corner).

Will David commute or is he getting a new job?

David is taking a new role in his current company that includes a more broad geography, encompassing his current territory and our new location.

Will you continue to homeschool?

Yes! We’ve actually already joined a Charlotte Mason style co-op that is generously allowing us to begin attending in November when we will be settling into the new house. I’m nervous but hopeful that it will be a good fit for us! I already registered for homeschooling in SC and look forward to the fact that SC is a very homeschool-friendly state.

How are the girls feeling?

They will miss their co-op and their friends, but I think homeschooling has allowed this process to be easier, as they are still primarily plugged into our core family unit rather than a peer group. I always told David that if we were going to move, I wanted it to be before Hailey was 13 because I feel the teen years are instrumental is learning to create deeper friendships and connections. We are making that happen by the skin of our teeth! Overall I think they are mostly excited about the new adventure, the new opportunities it allows us (chickens!), having their own room/bathroom. They are hesitant about the unknown, but I really think they are going to love it.

Is the new place close to your rentals?

3 hours versus 4 hours, so yes, but not a lot closer. Still, every bit helps for being able to get up there and check on the properties!

What’s the building process been like?

It’s been exciting and stressful. There are so many decisions that need to be made and neither David nor I have a particular knack for home design. We chose to trust what we know about ourselves, though, and getting to design a house with a layout that fits our lifestyle and the elements we know we love (wood, stone, timeless) has been such a blessing.

Watching it come to life has been SO cool, but also nerve wrecking. For example, will the cabinets I picked out look OK? Should we have made that room larger? Will that lighting work well in that space? We want to give each decision the proper time and thought, but our priority has also been on keeping the building process moving along.

We’ve learned a lot through this process and while we’ve made a misstep here and there along the way, for the most part we both need to be pinched because getting to move into this new home is going to be a dream come true.

Is there a good Christmas tree space? So excited for you!

My favorite question!! You know I love my big Christmas trees! Our builder fully understood this and had plenty of chuckles as I kept ensuring there would be a place for our big tree in our new living room. I can’t believe I’ll be decorating for Christmas in our new place; I’m so excited!

I so look forward to sharing this journey with you!