It’s finally time to share our big news .. the Wileys are moving to New Jersey! Nick starts his dream job on June 1st. And we’re all looking forward to the adventures that await us in the Garden State!
We put our Pittsburgh house on the market in February, and it sold in less than two weeks. Great news for us — but also much sooner than we had anticipated. And so we spent all of March packing and planning. The kids were helpful — when they wanted to be. Though, more than once, I found one of them with fingers wrapped in packing tape, or permanent marker lines on their arms and legs.
It was emotional for all of us — sealing our belongings into boxes, not knowing when we would see them again. Removing picture frames from the walls, wiping remnants of crayon from the bath tub, cleaning paw prints from the back door, and vacuuming pine needles that had slid under the rug during the holidays.
I took Sam and Nora to my parents’ house on a Thursday and returned the next day to help Nick to pack the kitchen and the kids’ rooms, to enjoy our final pad thai from Szechuan Garden and our final pizza from Sunset Cafe, and to toast to new adventures with friends who have become like family.
The movers arrived on Monday morning, and they were the most efficient five guys I have ever met. It took them just four hours to move our entire house down the driveway and into the moving truck. And then I spent the next four hours cleaning cabinets and scrubbing floors and wondering around an empty house that held so many memories.
On April 13th — just one month shy of three years in Greensburg — we turned over our keys to the new owners. I wiped tears from my eyes as I watched our house on the hill disappear in the rear view mirror.
So where are we now? The short story is: at my parents’ house. The long story is:
We drove to New Jersey in early March to see what we thought would be our next home. And we put an offer on it before we even arrived back in Pennsylvania. Then we spent the next six weeks talking to attorneys and agents and home inspectors, receiving quotes from roofers and septic system repair companies, and crunching numbers to finally realize this house was not the house for us.
It was a difficult decision and left us without any prospects or any direction for about a month … until we discovered a great rental property just last week! It’s two miles from Nick’s office (as opposed to the nearly one-hour commute he would have had if we had bought the house), and its within walking distance of historic Morristown. It has a fenced-in yard and a rec room in the basement. It’s cozy and charming, and we look forward to calling it home for the next two years!
So between now and mid-July, the kids and I are at my parents’ house. Nick is wrapping up his current job and gearing up to start his new job. And we are all looking forward to being together again.
Change is never easy. But it’s also inevitable. And exciting. New Jersey, here we come!
Next up: A fond farewell to our house on the hill.
Congratulations! So exciting! Can’t wait to continue hearing about the next chapter 🙂
Congratulations on the move! Sometimes renting is the best decision – it will give you guys the time to find the perfect next place, and really get to know the area. Can’t wait to hear more about your new adventures in New Jersey, and since you’re so close to the city now, hopefully New York, too!
How exciting (and stressful!!!). Hooray for new adventures!
I grew up in NJ! Here’s to a new adventure … I think you’ll love being near the shore 🙂
We are staying with my parents in NJ right now. You will have fun being so close to NYC and Philly and the shore and all the farmland (people think Jersey is so different than what it actually is).