That Homeschool Family is Moving!

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s been a little quiet over here. The blog’s been quiet. Our social media accounts have been quiet. It’s all for good reason, though! Never in a million years did I ever think I’d speak the words “we’re moving,” again, but…it’s true!

When we moved back up to New Jersey, just over 10 years ago, we truly thought we’d be here for good. We love our home, we live in a great area, and we’re just a short-ish drive away from family in nearby states. Even more? New Jersey is on+e of the best states in which to homeschool and we have made some amazing homeschool friends. Like, “feels like we’ve known each other forever” friends even though we’ve “only” known each other for 2 years.

We never imagined we’d be partaking in a long-distance move ever again. Because, holy moly, that is NOT for the weak.

But, we’re doing it! We’re moving!

Where are we Going?

Back when my husband and I were newly engaged, we visited traveled to this state to visit his grandparents. That was about 17 years ago now and I never imagined we’d ever move there!

I mean, it’s nothing personal against this state. His grandparents have since passed and we don’t really have any solid ties to the state.

You know what, though? One of the reasons we moved back up to New Jersey was so our kids could take advantage of the NJ public school system. At the time, we weren’t a homeschooling family and, like many parents, wanted to set our kids up for success.

Now that we homeschool, there’s really no reason to stay in New Jersey for the public school system.

When an out-of-state job opportunity presented itself to my husband, we decided to take the plunge! We welcomed the adventure and seized the opportunity to move to…drum roll, please…

GEORGIA!

We’re super excited!

How it’s Going

At this point in time, we are *this* close to selling our current home and closing on our new home. It took many weeks of overwhelming stress and exhaustion to get us to spot. Mark my words, I am never moving again. Sorry, Georgia, it’s looking like you’re about to be stuck with That Homeschool Family until the end of time.

My 7 Stress Free Ways to Prepare Kids for a Move article (and the moving journal!) have certainly helped in making the boys comfortable with the process, but there have still been quite a few moments of anxiety…for all of us.

From the moment my husband accepted his new job offer, it’s been a fast & furious couple of weeks for all of us. We’ve been spending time finishing up projects around the house, purging unneeded items, keeping the house clean for open houses and more. While my husband and I anticipated the stress that moving would bring, my kids are brand-spanking-new at the whole moving experience. After all, my oldest was only a year old the last time we moved!

The boys have been amazing during the last few weeks. They’ve been such a big help and are really looking forward to our new adventure. That, however, doesn’t mean there haven’t been a few bumps in the road.

Moving from the only home they’ve only known can be overwhelming. Moving away from awesome friends can be overwhelming. To help with this, we’ve been making an effort to:

• spend quality time together
  • we’re trying to use up the rest of the food in the house, but still making an effort to dine at our favorite locally-owned restaurants. Making the effort to step away from the chaos and spend time together while enjoying a meal really helps to recharge our emotional batteries.
• schedule play dates
  • we have really make some AMAZING homeschool friends up here in New Jersey. We consider many of these friends to be family and, even though we’re already planning on hosting them in our new home and will visit NJ again, we’re really going to miss them! We’ve been making a conscious effort to spend time with friends to help relieve some of the sadness related to moving away from them.
• hug more!
  • it can be very easy to get caught up in the “to-do” list, so I’m doing my best to remember to step away and give the boys extra hugs (and kisses, if they let me).

Living in the Peach State

We still have a bit of time before we close on our new-to-us home, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

The blog will definitely be continuing on – we can’t wait to share even more homeschooling content and share our adventures while living in the southeast!

In the meantime, any chance you live in Georgia? I’d love any tips for places to visit in the Peach State…or even in a nearby state! Feel free to send me an email. We’re always up for a road trip and really are excited to start exploring the area.

Until next time, stay safe and enjoy quality time with your family,