"These happy golden years are passing by, these happy golden years." Laura Ingalls Wilder

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

In Case You're Curious ...


You may or may not wonder what would make a family just pick up and move 1400 miles from home to a "foreign" land with few friends, no home, very limited family, and cold winters. I've asked myself that question often the past year and a half. What exactly possessed dh and me to do such a thing. Well, I think the timing had all to do with everything. Dh was nearing his final two years of his law enforcement career, we still had unmarried children that would/could relocate. Most police officers retire out of the environs of the town they served ... especially if it's a mega crime laden city, to "greener pastures" so to speak. But how did we come to choose our new town??? First and foremost ... we asked God to guide us. Then we started researching on line random areas. A website popped up called "Find Your Spot.com" ... and the rest is history. I took a quiz, said to search for towns in the northwest area with certain criteria, and up popped about 13 towns from Colorado, Montana, Utah, Oregon, Idaho and Washington. After settling on our current town as one to explore, Dh informs me that he has some buddies that retired there. One thing led to another and we contacted a realtor to show us some property. Of course there was the whole discourse between dh and myself, "do we build or buy something existing?" Buying property and building became our first choice. So with our property do's & don'ts list in hand, we visited the area, met with the realtor, looked at property for one day, fell in love with the lot we ended up purchasing ... it had everything that was on our check list btw ... made the offer on day two and received word that it was accepted the morning before we flew home. That was in September of '05. By late October we had listed our home and by February '06 we had it sold. During this time of listing our home, we (I) searched on-line through probably 1500 house plans. There were certain things we needed to accommodate Nathan ... such as having the bedrooms on the same level and together. You've read how I have to get up at night with him, can you just imagine having to traipse through the house (?) ... most newer plans have the master bedroom on another floor or end of the house. So we hired a draftsman to take our scratches on a napkin and turn them into a house designed for our needs. This whole process took a spark of vision, lots of nerve, steel guts, and a pioneer spirit. Any regrets? Nope! Would I do it again? Nope! (edit ... no need to do it again!)

7 comments:

Pat said...

You used a lot of wisdom in your move. Number 1. is moving before your children got married! You stand a much better chance of keeping your family nearby by if you move them all with you!
I give you a lot of credit for taking the big leap - your retirement years take a lot of careful planing. I'm curious, why you said you wouldn't do it again - or is it that one time is enough!
I took that quiz and your neck of the woods came up as one of my options! If only I could pack up and move my entire family! Is DH going to retire completely or find other work in your new area?

Happy Birthday Mr. Mac!!

Mrs. Mac said...

Pat ... I said "Nope" to doing it again because dh and I love where we settled. ... so no need to do it again :)

Mrs. Mac said...

... dh is going to work again in a less stress type of job ... maybe just part time. He's only 56 (today) and would go nuts sitting at home (maybe it's that I'd "drive" him nuts) :) :) !!!

Jada's Gigi said...

It does sounds as if you've done your homework. and bringing the kids along was brilliant! I hope this whole move will be everything you dreamed it would be. It happening really soon now!!! :)

Mrs. Darling said...

What an ambitious move! I cant imagine doing that. We have been in this house for 23 years and raised all the kids here. We were married in the living room. You truly are a pioneer at heart!

Michelle said...

thanks so much for that link! it's just what I've been looking for! My husband only has about 5-6 yrs left in the military and we have no idea where we want to settle down after he retires!

Terry said...

Oh I am so sorry I missed Mr. Mac's birthday!!
Happy belated birthday Grampa-in- waiting...Mr. Mac!!

I will be back later to comment on your posting Mrs. Mac!

Jel sent us two days of sunshine and NOW she has come up missing again!!.....Love Terry