A New Adventure - We Sold Our NJ Home!

Hello friends! I know it has been a while since I've posted anything here but since this blog was mostly dedicated to the renovation of our New Jersey home, it feels only right to share about this news in this space.

The decision to sell the home where we raised our family was not an easy one. We are so proud of the family and home we created here! This home was a dream of ours, our family lived in two previous homes that we fixed up and sold for a profit in order to get here. At the time, every single room in this house needed updating but we chose it based on its proximity to where my husband worked and the great school system. Now that both of those factors are no longer in play (our "kids" are young adults and Billy has retired from his career in law enforcement) we began to feel like we needed a change for the next chapter of our lives. I turned 50 this year and I've lived in NJ all of my life and began to feel like it was beyond time to spread my own wings. After all, I was encouraging my kids to do the same, why not Billy and me too?

Of course, letting go of a place filled with so many milestones and memories gave us pause. There were many sleepless nights full of uncertainty. The idea of sorting through and packing up ALL THAT STUFF and putting the house on the market was beyond daunting. Were we letting our kids down in selling the home they grew up in? They assured us that was not the case. I still love the kitchen and primary bathroom that I so carefully designed for our family, could I leave it all behind? Well, that kitchen is now 17 years old and will need updating again soon. And the primary bathroom that was my escape after those busy days as a mom? Turns out that with the kids out of the house living their own lives, there wasn't really anything to escape from within the house anymore and those rooms began to feel a little bit empty. No one swam in the pool this past summer except the dog because we spent all of our family time together in the Adirondacks.

The decision we came to was YES, we could let go. In fact, we often need to let go of something in order to make space in our lives for something new. We are tired from the upkeep required on this house and, truth be told, our Schroon Lake cabin has grown to feel more and more like our true home over the years. Our life in the Adirondacks is much more affordable so we will no longer need to feel burdened by the high cost of living that came with residing in such close proximity to New York City as we did in NJ. Our three sons have either moved to upstate NY or have plans to move in the near future. We will be a 3+ hour car's drive away from our parents and while that's definitely a downside, it feels manageable to us right now. It's not so far that we can't visit often and be there within a half day's notice when they need us.

We put our house on the market and had 6 offers that first week. A young couple will begin their lives with their own dream of building a family here. The family before us raised 3 daughters and we raised 3 sons - now it is time to pass it on. That feels right too, why stay in a house so perfect for a family when it's just the two of us? 

We aren't exactly sure what our future plan is and that feels both good and scary! Billy and I have both been extremely goal oriented and have put our kids first every step of the way. It feels incredibly refreshing to lighten our load and make choices based on what is best for each of us - both as individuals and as a couple.  We know that we will spend at least a season of life living at the cabin full time, enjoying the time in nature and everything that brings while we are still young and healthy enough to do so. We have a list of projects to get to - we don't currently have a washer and dryer or even a dishwasher since this was primarily a vacation home. I am dreaming of a greenhouse, a screened porch and other updates. We love a good project so we are looking forward to all the possibilities. Some ideas that we have floating around in our heads for down the road include a fixer-upper farmhouse in Vermont, a seasonal cabin on a lake, or maybe even opening a retail store. Or perhaps none of that, maybe we choose to stay here and travel - one thing we know for sure is this cabin will stay in our family to pass down to our kids. Hopefully, our future plans will include grandchildren - our oldest son is recently engaged and as a boymom, it will be exciting to have a daughters-in-law in my life. The list of possibilities feels endless and for that I am grateful. 

I do plan to share more of our projects and adventures in some way or another. Thank you for continuing to follow along. While the landscape of what that looks surely has changed over the years from blogs to magazines to Instagram, the only constant is change so we might as well embrace it. I hope the our paths cross once again, friends!