Home is where the heart is!

Ok ya’ll…. it’s taken me a really long time, actually an obnoxiously long time, to sit down and start this post!  I’ve deleted and started over more times than I can count… but the truth is I am over the moon excited and at the same time overwhelmingly weirded out to let you know that our family has actually done it!  We made the move to one of our most favorite places on earth… Celebration, Florida!

If you haven’t heard of the little town Celebration set aside some time after reading this to google it!  I’m serious… in fact, try it right now and you will be hooked on learning more!  One of the first headlines that will pop up is “The community that Disney built!”  Did that hook you right there, because it did for us!

All of my life I have lived in Virginia Beach.  It is my home and will always be my home base! My entire family has always been residents of Virginia Beach.  It is where they have grown up and where they have stayed to raise their families.  In fact, it’s where I always thought I would raise mine!  I never dreamed that I could have the best of worlds and be able to call Virginia Beach my home away from home and home base and yet also call one of the happiest places on earth:  my town!

To start at the beginning, I have to share with you a story of a friend of mine!  She loved the Outer Banks and a few years ago, she and her family decided to re-define their home and make a pretty big move!  It was a move that completely changed their lives and left them feeling more connected, more at ease and more fulfilled than anything ever before.  It was a move that actually felt like home!

I was inspired by my friends story and also all the wonderful changes I saw happening for her just emotionally and mentally!  She was free in a way that was shaking up others around her!  I loved this change for her and was inspired so much by all that she was feeling in just moving somewhere that filled her up mind, body and soul!

Fast forward a few months to our family trip to Disney!  What most people don’t know about that wonderful trip was that it was a two part trip for us!  One of my really great friends actually lived in Disney and ever since I had Lincoln, this one friend and I had re-connected on a level that was better than any relationship we had before!  I had been able to visit her shortly after Tuck returned from deployment and that was the first time I fell in love with her little town!  I never dreamed of making a move but I always raved about it to Tuck!

I raved about the weather and the “small community” feel!  I raved about how outgoing and kind everyone was and how on every corner there seemed to be families getting together for play dates and parties!

When it was time for us to schedule our trip to Disney (which was inspired by my love for Disney’s not so scary) we decided to extend it so we could not only take Lincoln to the parks but also visit with our friends… in Celebration!

This trip was more than just a trip!  Tuck and I found ourselves connecting with new friends and feeling like such a part of the community in just a matter of hours!  We found ourselves breathing differently when we drove through the entrance of the town and we also found ourselves connecting together as a family in a more laid back and plain silly/fun kind of way!  We also started to realize the more time we spent in Celebration (with and without our friends) that it wasn’t just the vacation helping us to feel this way;  it was actually the uncanny feeling of home we had begun to develop.   We decided then, while we were watching our son dance wildly through the town’s main street splash fountain, that maybe this was the exact place we needed to be in our lives!

We immediately came home this past October and began the process of looking for houses and a potential move!

It was a little crazy and also bittersweet!  The thought of living anywhere other than Virginia Beach and near my family was just nuts!  I had never even considered it before, but those feelings of connection and small town were rooted in my heart and so here we are, residents of the small community right down the hill from Disney!

I’m not sure why it weirds me out so much to talk about it!  I think maybe it’s because my family is still in Virginia Beach and I’m not right down the street from them.  I think maybe because it’s hard to express in the right words how I will always feel so much love for Virginia Beach as my home!

Moving was a huge decision for us and now that we have actually done it (and are somewhat settled) I realize that I am blessed beyond measure for both of my worlds!  I am blessed that my heart can actually be in two places!  I will always have this wonderful place in Virginia Beach to call my homebase and always return to, but now I also have this new incredible adventure here in Celebration that I just want to share with everyone I know!

So bring on all the Disney posts and tips that we find as we are neighbors with Mickey and Cinderella!  Bring on all the Florida storms and humid summers!  We are so ready for it and we can’t wait to share it with so many we love.  The best part about living so close to Disney is that I know we will see soo many people that we love!  What’s even better is that now we can offer a little bit of home and hospitality to all of you when you make your trips down here!

So… come on down and check us out!  Please stop by and let us show you around this place we now call home!  This place where we swing on front porches and listen to the sound of wind chimes!  This place where Friday means pizza and pool parties at the circle pool and pouring ourselves into bed with the fullness of freshair and tired muscles.  This wonderful place where everyone is excited to meet you because we all are “transplants” coming either for the love of Disney or the love that we have found once we drove through the tree archway covered in Spanish Moss!  This place where we live outdoors and run the streets feeling happy and content! 🙂

We can’t wait for you to visit… and I truly hope you do!