Ever since our daughter moved to the Pacific Northwest over ten years ago she has been encouraging us to make the move west. Over the years she has sent us numerous real estate ads saying, “This could be your next home!” and I loved visiting, but never quite imagined making the move. One by one our four children have moved to either Washington or Oregon and now call the Pacific Northwest home. After spending two months ourselves in the PNW it looks like a move will be in our future.
Of course there are many details to tie up on the east coast, the main one being de-cluttering and selling our current home. This will be hard, I love our home and we have lived in Vermont for almost twenty years! However I would also love to live closer to our children. I’d like to be a part of their lives and the lives of our grandchildren, rather than only seeing them once or twice a year.
So I will repeat to myself, “change is good, change is hard, and change is necessary”. We have made major moves over the years. First a move from Maine to Connecticut, then we moved from Connecticut to Florida and then Florida to Vermont. Before each move we would pare down our belongings and move only that which was important to us. When we moved to Vermont almost twenty years ago, everything we owned fit into the largest rental truck. I think it would now take at least three of those trucks to move us. Yes, we have a bit of paring down to do.
One thing we did learn over the course of our travels is that it is definitely doable to live with far less than you realize. When we arrived home I walked into my closet and saw all the clothes I hadn’t needed or even thought about in the last three months. I took advantage of the moment and quickly pulled two bags of clothes out that I will either give away, sell or donate!
One of my favorite blogs Organized 31 recently did a 31 Days to Declutter series of posts, each day you would focus on only one area such as your coat closet or your sock drawer. She had some very good hints and suggestions for decluttering and getting organized. I followed along most of the days and what I liked best about each post was that it was a ten minute process!
I don’t think we’ll be moving anytime soon, real estate is moving very slowly in Vermont and we were told it could take anywhere from one to three years to sell our home! In the meantime my husband continues to look for a new job and I’m continuing with the de-cluttering. Lots to keep us busy as we head into spring!
Nancy on the Home Front 
Think seriously before your big move. We did the same thing only to find that we didn’t get to see the children as much as we had before the move. Just give it over to God and He will show you what to do. It doesn’t hurt near as much when you are a 1,000 miles away as when you are 5 miles and still can’t see them. May God be with you.
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SKS,
Appreciate your thoughts, God impressed upon us that it was time to sell our house. We’re not exactly sure where we’re going but we are very clear on the fact that it’s time to move on. 🙂
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We moved to Coastal BC in 2005 after we retired from jobs near Los Angeles. I’m an only child and my mom agreed to move to the Pacific Northwest from Southern California to be near us. We both had a lot of decluttering to do to make the move more logical. She had done some five years before when she moved from a large to a smaller home. That helped a lot. We had been in our home for over twenty years. A lot harder for us. We were still separated by about 100 miles so we both purchased condos in the same building in Bellingham. That way we could visit her but still have space of our own. Besides, we still wanted to have a home base in the States for a lot of reasons. It worked out well for us even though it was a big change all around. – Margy
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Margy,
I so appreciate your thoughts, we have visited the PNW enough to know where we would love to be and while it’s a close drive to any of our kids it’s not next door. We plan to have our own life and of course I have to have my garden and some chickens! The hardest part is decluttering on this end and realizing I am not going to move everything! It will be a big change for sure as we’ve always lived somewhere on the east coast but change is good right! Plus real estate is moving VERY slowly in Vermont and it may take us a while to sell our home here.
– Nancy
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As you are the master of packing and organizing in my book I know you will be able to tackle the move when the time is ready. And of course, I (and the new grand-baby) will be overjoyed to have you and dad within driving distance! The right family will fall in love with Cobb Hill just as we all did. In the mean time, it looks like it is all about patience…and packing!
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Thank you Katie, and we can’t wait to be within driving distance,3000 miles between us is too far! 🙂
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I hate moving. I will not move anymore, until they haul me off.
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LaVoice,
I think I’ve moved enough that there are some things I really enjoy about the process. Plus I’ve met so many nice people in the different places we have lived!
– Nancy
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I understand what a move like this entails! My husband and I moved from Brooklyn, NY to the Denver area of Colorado three years ago so that we could live closer to our children and grandchildren. I lived in Brooklyn my entire life, and we owned our house for over 30 years, so it was a monumental decision to do this, but we have not regretted a single day! Somehow we decluttered, sold or gave away our furniture and still had a large moving van move us. We bought some of the furniture from the house owner we bought from and added new pieces, which worked out well. It has been wonderful for us to get out and explore the beautiful state of Colorado –I now blog about it–and we hope to take more trips to other western states. The best part of the move is being close to our grandchildren while they are young–they grow up so fast and I wanted to be a part of their lives. Good luck with your move!
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Pat,
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! We’ve only lived in our house fro twenty and I can’t believe the amount of stuff we’ve accumulated! I’m glad to hear you haven’t regretted your decision and are enjoying exploring a new state (I’ll have to check out your blog!) I really want to be closer to our grandchildren while they are young and be a part of their lives! Thanks for the encouraging comment!
– Nancy
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I was born and raised in the PNW and now live in Southern CA. But we’re looking at returning in a year or two when my husband and I are both retired. Our mantra is ‘family trumps all’.
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Willow,
That’s a great mantra! Love it! 🙂
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