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Moving to The Sunshine State

Somewhere in the new parenthood haze of sleeplessness and trying to remember when the last feeding was, The Captain turns to me and says "We should move to Florida." I will admit I originally dismissed the idea. We had a newborn and settled into our live in Chicago. Where would we live? Where would we work?

In support of how much this seemed to mean to him, I played along when a job in my field opened at a coveted resort -- with 1 click of a button, I'd applied and assumed that hundreds would have also done the same. A long shot at best, right?

Over a month goes by with no word from the employer, and the idea of moving began to subside as we were finally figuring out this parenting gig. Then the call came. Still not too vested in what might be, since, after 4 weeks of on and off communication, I was finally made an offer. Two days prior to my offer, The Captain received an offer of his own.

And just like that, we decided it was a great move for our new little family and took the opportunities. After a couple of whirlwind trips to Florida to look at schools and homes, the day after Christmas, we were packed up and ready to head south. I broke up the trip over 3 days to give myself time to get down with a 3 month old in tow. It was a blessing she was such a trooper and pretty much slept until each stop, where I woke her up to eat and be changed.


As I drove along the Space Coast and the palm trees really started to appear with frequency, the excitement of our new home grew and grew. We are definitely warm-natured people and have always had a love for the beach and warmth, year round. How my husband lived in windy Chicago for his first 38 years is beyond my grasp.

Admittedly, I was not on the last trip to Florida where I entrusted my husband and our realtor to find our new home. So the first time I pulled up was truly the first time I was seeing the home in person. The Captain selected this home well, with all of the space and amenities we had on our wish list, including a pool and a yard for our dog, Flaps.

Prior to leaving Chicago, we packed up everything we were taking to Florida and sent the moving van ahead, with about 2/3 of our items left behind. I held a 3-day estate sale in conjunction with listings on local Facebook resale boards and got rid of every last item. That became my Florida furniture fund and once we reached our destination (and I saw the house in person),

Update: 11 months and still loving it. This was a great move for our little family.

Stay fabulous,



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