Goodbye, New York. Hello, Tennessee!

If anyone had asked me a few years ago where I saw myself living in the near future, I never in a million years would have said, “At a campground in Tennessee.” Yet, that’s where I find myself today, along with my husband and three small kids. A couple months ago, we sold our newly-renovated home in New York, and bought a house sight-unseen in Tennessee. The sellers needed some extra time to move out, so we’re staying in the camper until the closing.

Today marks one full week of campground living. In the first week we’ve dealt with heavy thunderstorms followed by a tornado warning, my husband’s truck needing a new transmission, a mouse scampering around the camper, and my youngest child cutting three new teeth at once. (These events are clearly not listed in order of importance, severity, or financial impact.) On a more positive note, we explored the area a bit more, signed up at a local bank, scoped out some of the best playgrounds in the area, and have enjoyed plenty of grilled food and campfires.

It has been a super rough week for the kids. I knew the move would be a lot for them to process, but wasn’t sure just how bad it would be. As it turns out, they seem to have forgotten all manners and rules of conduct in a matter of days. Fun times. We are working on reinstating some of our usual family routines to get them back on track. It looks like the next couple weeks will be focused on making the camper cozier, checking out the area some more, and continuing to adopt this state as our new home.

On the crazy days here at the camper, I remind myself why we’re doing this. We uprooted our family and moved away from everything familiar to us with the goal of pursuing our dreams. It’s the wildest and most difficult thing we have ever done. We left behind our families, friends, and first house in exchange for a place we’d only visited once. On the other side of our stay in this 32-foot camper lies our sweet little ranch on five acres of Tennessee, ready and waiting for us to come and build the life we’ve always dreamed of.