2021

So before I start, no this isn’t my end of 2020 / beginning of 2021 annual post (that will come later). This is to explain a Facebook post I made the other day for those who don’t quite understand or have questions.

On Saturday James and I were in Florida for a wedding. Now let me back up a bit and explain that the week before we were in Florida for Thanksgiving. We went to Jen and Greg’s house. This past Saturday James and I went to see Dani marry the man of her dreams (and I was able to be a part of that!)

So let’s go back to the week of Thanksgiving. James and I have been talking a lot lately. We’ve been missing Florida and our Florida family (Jen/Greg & kids, Tiffany/Joe & kids, Dani/William & kids, the club). From the moment we got into Florida until we got to Jen’s we talked about potentially moving home and we decided that it’s what we wanted.

Now fast forward to Saturday. We told Dani and the club we were moving home and Jen/Greg, Tiffany/Joe knew and I had already told my little sister. I felt like at this point it was just easier to tell everyone else in one shot, online.

Let me tell you why we are moving back (and why we call Florida home).
— We love it there. Does the heat suck sometimes? Yes. But we originally moved there to start over and we didn’t fail, and we didn’t hate it. We succeeded and loved it!
— We love our Florida family (everyone mentioned above).
— We will eventually cruise again, and we love being closer to the cruise ports.
— Cheaper to fly to the Caribbean.
— The only people I trust with my dogs are there. I know this may not be a great reason for many of you, but those dogs ARE my children.

So now let me break down a few things. We ONLY moved to North Carolina because we thought being closer to our blood family would be easier. We didn’t want to live in Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and definitely not Virginia. North Carolina was the next best option. Six hours away which mean we could meet family half way or what not.

We’ve barely seen anyone in our family up there. My sister Jen I’ve seen because she actually made the effort and came to us. Everyone else? We had to drive to them (which is EXACTLY what we were doing when we were in Florida).

So we talked and decided that if we were going to be the ones that would have to put in all (or most) of the effort and traveling then we might as well live in a place we love and surround ourselves with family.

So at the end of November we decided we are moving home. We are aiming for the end of 2021 to be in a house in Florida. Which gives people PLENTY of time to spend with us before we go.

Does this mean we won’t visit at all? No. I’m flying more (thanks to covid and the fact that cruises are a no-go). So a flight up isn’t going to be a bad thing. It means we will have more time and less time being tired after driving 18 hours. We will still drive up for Christmas with the dogs (because I like spending my holiday with them too). But other than that, we’ll fly.

And this doesn’t mean that others can’t visit us. If you don’t want to, that’s fine. If you do, great. There will be a guest room ready.

James and I need to do what makes US happy and not base everything on making others happy.

I love my Florida family. I love the fact that I have people that I can trust with my dogs. I love that we have people who love us and care about us. I love that I have people there that support my writing.

You all know I love Supernatural, and one of the best quotes is “Family don’t end with blood.”

So if you needed a reason for the post, that’s it. We are doing this because we want to and I can’t even begin to describe how truly happy I’ve been since we decided this.