We're Moving: Part I

And we've got 3 weeks to do this.

Ah yes, it's true. We are moving from New York to Florida. It has been quite a busy week over here in our household. While everything happened very quickly, we are thrilled! Did your eyes widen when you read the title of this post? Did you think, "OMG WHAT?" followed by, "What's your plan???", or perhaps a feeling of the ever-so-slight panic (I do appreciate the empathy). Let's all inhale for 4 counts and then exhale for 4 counts, repeat if you feel necessary. Here we go...

Rewind

Why are you moving to Florida? Because B accepted a new job there! To ensure that we're making the responsible and best decision for our family, B and I thoroughly discussed everything from the change in our lifestyle and family values to our finances and goals. After deciding that this will be the best place for our family, we made a list of everything we'll need before leaving New York, en route, and when we arrive in Florida. The list is rather long, and many of our items are dependent on another item being completed. The real kicker of this big move is that it's happening in three weeks. Yes. Three. Weeks.

Whenever we've moved before this, I always knew we'd be coming back to New York. We both went away for college, and we lived in Philadelphia during our first year of marriage while B was finishing law school. At that time, I worked in New York City (and yes, commuting from Philly to NYC, five days a week), so we knew that we'd move to NYC after he finished law school. This move to Florida is very different than our past moves because it's seemingly more permanent than not. And while we know that we can always return to NY, we are looking forward to this new beginning for our family. I will say that I am delighted to not have so much snow (if any) and have the warmer weather. I'll be sharing more on my thoughts and feelings about this entire event in the future. Everything is happening so quickly that I don't think I have time to emotionally process it, or write about it yet.

Step 1: Inform Our Families + Friends

I'd be lying if I said that this was easy. It definitely wasn't easy informing our family and friends that we are leaving and so soon, too. We never imagined this happening, but in the best way, it did! The majority of our family members are based in New York. Pre-pandemic, we'd see them often, especially after Mason was born. Our apartment door became more of a revolving door of visitors, and we loved it. We'd go to Long Island on the weekends, go to the family parties, go out with friends - all the gatherings and events of our pre-pandemic life. We've grown accustomed to keeping in touch, whether through our group texts, FaceTime, or zoom calls (weddings, birthdays, and holidays). I'm thankful that we've all kept in contact with each other - and impressed, to say the least! Upon sharing this news with them, we received such warm wishes and wonderful congratulations, as well as the bittersweetness and sadness that we'll no longer be living in New York. To our family and friends, thank you so much for your support and love. It means more to us than you may know.

Step 2: Everything Else

As I mentioned, B and I created a list of what we needed to do in preparation for leaving New York. It was a bit longer than I anticipated, but here we are, marking off each item as something "in process" or "complete." There are a couple of items on our list that gave me a good chuckle upon first sight, and these items are cars. We've lived in a city for about six years, so we haven't really needed a car - even after Mason was born. For the past six years, our means of transportation were the subway, occasionally an Uber/taxi, or our parents would come to pick us up if we were heading to Long Island for a weekend. I took the subway up until two weeks before Mason was born. We'd taken the subway with Mason when he was a baby. We had our quick system of setting up his infant car seat in an Uber. And now, we needed cars and a convertible car seat (Mason outgrew his infant car seat). I'm happy to report that we checked those items off our list!

In case you're wondering, here are some of the other items on our list:

• Find an apartment (Florida)

• Close everything with the current apartment (New York)

• Research + book movers

• Research + book rental car for travel

• Book hotel stay

• Get cars + auto insurance *still chuckles*

• Update addresses for accounts/mail/licenses

• Research Pediatricians/Pediatric Dentists for Mason

• Research Veterinarians for Harvey

• Locate go-to's for groceries, coffee shops, parks + emergency matters - urgent care center, hospital, fire department, etc.

• + a lot more

Much more to come...

Be sure to follow my Instagram and check-out my IG Stories + Story Highlight, "En Route," where I'll be sharing more moments with our moving process!