Balance. I need it! Here's a bit about what happened in July and what's coming up.
July was a complete whirlwind. It was emotional in ways both happy and sad; and exhausting physically and mentally. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen some of my Instagram Stories as I was packing up my house and moving. If you didn't see them, then there's a lot I need to update you on!
My house went pending pretty quickly after it was listed, but I didn't want to jinx anything by talking about it too much in case something fell through – financing, inspection, appraisals, etc. But I closed on it a little over a week ago and moved into Steve's house in Shelbyville, KY. This is about an hour west of Lexington and 20 minutes east of Louisville.
Here's what I wrote on Instagram about this last week.
“This week has been challenging, to say the least. I’ve been a bundle of emotions for a while as I got ready to put my house on the market, and then as I went through the sale process. Tuesday, I moved out. Wednesday, I had the remainder of what was left – a huge truckload of “stuff” hauled away. Thursday, I went back to the house to clean and say goodbye, and ended up overwhelmed with the feels.
I stood in the middle of the empty living room as a wave of something came over me. It was a mix of relief that the process was over, excitement for a new chapter, and grief of losing this space that nurtured me as I entered grad school, lost my mom, got married, got divorced, and said goodbye to my old pup, Lilly. When I felt like I lost everything, I always had a place to call my own. No one could take it away from me, and it was comforting beyond measure.
Today, I signed the paperwork at closing to make it official. The new owners seem genuinely excited about the house, and I felt so much better about things knowing that they’re going to love it just as much as I did. There were a few pangs of nostalgia on the drive away from Lexington, but with one door closing, another one opens. I made a choice to move on, and start a new chapter with Steve in a different city. We worked really hard together as a team to make this happen and I'm proud of us.”
This is me, right after letting go of my home. I was smiling but on the inside, I was feeling everything from sadness to regret to happiness.
Wearing the most fabulous Melissa McCarthy Seven7 dress from my Gwynnie Bee subscription
Steve took this photo as we were headed in for massages at White Willow Massage Therapy in Lexington. If you're self-conscious about your body, I highly recommend seeing Charley. She'll put you at ease in no time. I'm not a huge fan of massage as I don't find it relaxing, but I do find it therapeutic in many cases. I hadn't slept and had a gluten overload, so my massage was more for lymphatic draining than anything. Steve got one because of back pain from all the box lifting.
Now that I'm moved in to Steve's house (he says it's “our” house but I'm not there mentally), we're getting ready to put it on the market so we can find a new house in Louisville. While the country is beautiful, I am much more of a city girl! Plus, Steve works in Louisville so his commute will be shorter.
Some thank you's:
- Shaun Ring of East of Elm – I've known Shaun for years and when it was finally time to sell my house, I knew he had to be the one to list it. Working with him was ridiculously easy. He is very relaxed and a calming force when I can't even describe the over-the-top anxiety I had about selling. We had an accepted offer in about 10 days and we closed exactly on time with no hiccups. I realize there are a lot of factors in play here, but I was shocked at how easy it was. Highly recommend him if you need a Realtor in the Lexington area.
- College Hunks Hauling Junk – I hired them for both moving and throwing out junk I didn't need anymore. As I was packing, I made junk piles. The moving crew showed up on time, neatly dressed, and ready to kill it. It was the hottest day of the year so far and they were sprinting up and down all 3 stories of my house, packing everything up in a few hours. When we got to Steve's house, they had everything unloaded in another few hours. It was an entire large truck and when they said they were done, I was like “HOW?!?!” But everything was placed exactly where it was labeled, and I've not found a single damaged item. The following day I went back to Lexington and met the junk hauler team. They worked extremely efficiently to fill 2/3 of their truck full of my junk. Lightning fast. I'm a super satisfied customer. (And no, none of this is sponsored- I spent my coin on this!)
- My friends – They had to listen to me drone on about this process from home repairs to staging to selling. So appreciative.
- You! Thank you to the overwhelming response you gave me after my “This is me, existing” post. The comments and messages I've gotten in response floored me. I can't express my thanks enough. You have given me back a lot of energy and purpose I felt I lost in my writing in the past couple of years. Also, thanks to everyone who participated in my 8 days of giveaways for 8 years of blogging. I hope that was fun, and that the winners are enjoying their prizes.
- Steve – He didn't only help me get my house ready for sale (it was a solid 3 month process), he got his house cleared out for all my things (closet space, for the win!), helped pack boxes, hauled everything I asked him to, and on top of it all, did me a favor and served as an usher for the Lexington Junior League Charity Horse Show. This meant going in and out of the horse ring handing out trophies in a tux. He felt pretty fancy, haha.
Coming up:
- A recap of a blogger event I went to right before the move.
- Some paint color tips from a friend and designer who helped me select colors in prep for sale. She did an awesome job.
- Outfits! Hopefully now that my clothes are no longer in boxes, I'll be able to get some more outfits together. I think I lived in tank tops and yoga pants for 2 weeks straight, which is so unlike me. On this front, if anyone knows of photographers in Louisville, or even better for now, Shelbyville, please let me know. I love Emily Moseley in Lexington and much of my blog wouldn't exist without her as she takes the majority of my photos, but I can't drive an hour both ways to get there for outfit photos on the regular 😭
- Maybe more on moving since we're so close to finishing staging Steve's house. Hoping to list by the end of the week, and then it's a full on search for a new home in Louisville. I'm so excited for that part! Not so excited about 3/4 of my things in boxes in the basement and home showing stress, but we'll get through it.
Now that I've rambled on, let me know what's going on with you! Anything new? Any vacations I can live vicariously through? Home buying tips? Pet photos to share? Comment below, or on any of my social channels.
