We're moving to Atlanta!!!
In two and a half weeks!
And I am just a mess of all kinds of emotions. So excited yet SO sad! We're going to be close to both of our families, and the parts of our families that are not in Atlanta (TJ in Gainesville, FL, and Norrises in Tuscaloosa, AL will be 5 hours closer than they are now. TJ 5 hours away instead of 10 and Norrises 3 hours away instead of 8. But Matt will go from being a couple minutes down the road to 5 hours away...until he graduates in May anyways. At which point, he better move to Atlanta too because I've become quite attached to having him close-by.
Ok, so here's the scoop.... So, first of all, we bought a house a couple months back, that I've mentioned in passing on here, but not given the details of yet. How's that for crazy timing?? We've lived in it and become quite attached to our "first home" over the last couple of months, fully unpacked and decorated it and made it home. And let me mention that I am NOT A FAN OF MOVING! yuck! It was my first ever big move in my entire life and it was not fun, so you can imagine my excitement at having to do it again in such a short amount of time! (any volunteers??? haha...i'm kidding. kinda :))
So, we buy this house, then out of the blue...Ryan gets an email from a commercial real estate company in Atlanta saying that they are hiring for a position and had his resume on file and that they'd like to interview him. First question we had was "where did they even get his resume?" He did have a couple of contacts in that company, so looking back, we remembered that before he graduated and secured his job here, he had set up some meetings over Christmas break two years ago with some people in Atlanta just to network and one of the meetings that never worked out had asked for his resume to keep on file, so we assume that is where it came from. So they still had it and I guess it got put in the stack of resumes when they started the hiring process for this position. Both being from the Atlanta area and with that being where our families are, we had hoped to end up back there sometime down the road...although the longer we've been here in Durham, the more we were getting settled here. So we weren't sure how serious we were about the position initially, but how do you turn down an interview like that, in our hometown and everything? So, if for no other reason than networking for future opportunities, he went down to interview. Long story short...three trips to Atlanta, and lots of prayer later, we felt that it was a really good opportunity for him and the direction we should go.
So.............
the house goes on the market and it's time to pack up everything I've just finished unpacking!
(can't you just feel my excitement??) ;p
And since everyone is asking what comes next for us, here is the plan for now...
Ryan starts his new job, working as an Industrial Broker for Jones Lang LaSalle in Atlanta, on December 1st. We are both going to work until theWednesday before Thanksgiving, then we'll be here through that Saturday for the Duke/UNC football game - Matt's last college football game! - and then we'll move the next day on Sunday, he'll start work that Wednesday. We're planning to live in Ryan's parents' basement right away to give us a little time to sell our house and scope out the areas that we could live. The debate is between living in the city (and if so, what area...Buckhead, Vinings, Virginia Highlands have been recommended) or living outside the city in a suburb of Atlanta (Alpharetta, Marietta, Smyrna...??), but not as far out as our families because that would probably be way too much of a commute when you factor in rush hour traffic.
I don't have a job lined up yet and have not quite started searching yet. Between having a ton to wrap up here at work and feeling like I'm running out of time to finish it all and then not having any idea what area of Atlanta we'll be living yet and since the move is only a couple weeks away, I'm going to wait til we get there and see where we think we'll be living before starting to job search.
There are a ton of unknowns at this point - not having a clue where we'll live...not even what town, not having a job lined up is kinda scary, and then of course... finding a church, making new friends, finding a new "community". While it sounds like we're just "moving home", we will actually likely be 45 minutes or more, depending on where we land, from our Gainesville/Buford community, where all our family and friends are, so while we'll be much much closer to them than we're used to being, we'll still be far enough away that we can't just stop in and visit on the way home from work or do dinner on last minute notice. So, we'll definitely be starting over in the sense that we'll be finding a new church and new "community" of friends closer to Atlanta, wherever we end up living. That's the part I'm most sad about leaving here - we've found such awesome community and close-knit friends here that live right around us and moving there all of our friends will end up being a good distance away. It'll be such a tease to live in Buford for a little bit so close to everyone just to move farthur away soon after. But we know that the Lord has guided and directed our steps our whole lives and throughout our marriage so far and we know he will continue to guide and direct us in this situation as well. So, we're moving to Atlanta and just trusting Him to provide all of our needs and enjoying the peace of knowing that He is in control and He has a plan (Jeremiah 29:11...one of my all-time favorites!).
In light of moving away, I thought I'd do a series of posts on things that I love most about Durham. For those of you who have never been here, it'll be an introduction to all our favorite spots, people, things we'll miss, etc... but for me and Ryan, it'll be a good way to record and remember all of our favorite things about Durham that we can look back on. I'm holding myself to actually blogging about this one, so y'all hold me to it too! :)
And for all of you who have been asking "when are you going to put pics of the new house on the blog?", they're coming! The house is one of the things we'll miss about Durham, so there will be a post about it.
Also, to all of our friends in Gainesville/Buford - we're excited about seeing you in December! And to our friends in Atlanta - we're excited about hanging out and having y'all show us around! :)
So, we buy this house, then out of the blue...Ryan gets an email from a commercial real estate company in Atlanta saying that they are hiring for a position and had his resume on file and that they'd like to interview him. First question we had was "where did they even get his resume?" He did have a couple of contacts in that company, so looking back, we remembered that before he graduated and secured his job here, he had set up some meetings over Christmas break two years ago with some people in Atlanta just to network and one of the meetings that never worked out had asked for his resume to keep on file, so we assume that is where it came from. So they still had it and I guess it got put in the stack of resumes when they started the hiring process for this position. Both being from the Atlanta area and with that being where our families are, we had hoped to end up back there sometime down the road...although the longer we've been here in Durham, the more we were getting settled here. So we weren't sure how serious we were about the position initially, but how do you turn down an interview like that, in our hometown and everything? So, if for no other reason than networking for future opportunities, he went down to interview. Long story short...three trips to Atlanta, and lots of prayer later, we felt that it was a really good opportunity for him and the direction we should go.
So.............
the house goes on the market and it's time to pack up everything I've just finished unpacking!
(can't you just feel my excitement??) ;p
And since everyone is asking what comes next for us, here is the plan for now...
Ryan starts his new job, working as an Industrial Broker for Jones Lang LaSalle in Atlanta, on December 1st. We are both going to work until theWednesday before Thanksgiving, then we'll be here through that Saturday for the Duke/UNC football game - Matt's last college football game! - and then we'll move the next day on Sunday, he'll start work that Wednesday. We're planning to live in Ryan's parents' basement right away to give us a little time to sell our house and scope out the areas that we could live. The debate is between living in the city (and if so, what area...Buckhead, Vinings, Virginia Highlands have been recommended) or living outside the city in a suburb of Atlanta (Alpharetta, Marietta, Smyrna...??), but not as far out as our families because that would probably be way too much of a commute when you factor in rush hour traffic.
I don't have a job lined up yet and have not quite started searching yet. Between having a ton to wrap up here at work and feeling like I'm running out of time to finish it all and then not having any idea what area of Atlanta we'll be living yet and since the move is only a couple weeks away, I'm going to wait til we get there and see where we think we'll be living before starting to job search.
There are a ton of unknowns at this point - not having a clue where we'll live...not even what town, not having a job lined up is kinda scary, and then of course... finding a church, making new friends, finding a new "community". While it sounds like we're just "moving home", we will actually likely be 45 minutes or more, depending on where we land, from our Gainesville/Buford community, where all our family and friends are, so while we'll be much much closer to them than we're used to being, we'll still be far enough away that we can't just stop in and visit on the way home from work or do dinner on last minute notice. So, we'll definitely be starting over in the sense that we'll be finding a new church and new "community" of friends closer to Atlanta, wherever we end up living. That's the part I'm most sad about leaving here - we've found such awesome community and close-knit friends here that live right around us and moving there all of our friends will end up being a good distance away. It'll be such a tease to live in Buford for a little bit so close to everyone just to move farthur away soon after. But we know that the Lord has guided and directed our steps our whole lives and throughout our marriage so far and we know he will continue to guide and direct us in this situation as well. So, we're moving to Atlanta and just trusting Him to provide all of our needs and enjoying the peace of knowing that He is in control and He has a plan (Jeremiah 29:11...one of my all-time favorites!).
In light of moving away, I thought I'd do a series of posts on things that I love most about Durham. For those of you who have never been here, it'll be an introduction to all our favorite spots, people, things we'll miss, etc... but for me and Ryan, it'll be a good way to record and remember all of our favorite things about Durham that we can look back on. I'm holding myself to actually blogging about this one, so y'all hold me to it too! :)
And for all of you who have been asking "when are you going to put pics of the new house on the blog?", they're coming! The house is one of the things we'll miss about Durham, so there will be a post about it.
Also, to all of our friends in Gainesville/Buford - we're excited about seeing you in December! And to our friends in Atlanta - we're excited about hanging out and having y'all show us around! :)
6 comments:
You are just just an amazing woman!! I really enjoyed reading your update. I know that you are filled with mixed emotions right now! I will definitely be praying for you and praying that the Lord will guide you and Ryan to the perfect city, house, church, etc. I know that He is faithful and has a perfect plan!! I love you!!
yay! what fun news that you're moving to atlanta :-) you should probably move into the city . . . I know this really "safe" little neighborhood - haha
but seriously Jayci's school is in Virginia-Highlands, and it's an amazing area - I love it! :-)
What a big transition and exciting for ya'll. I know it will be great to be close to family again. We just moved from Fla. to Tx. and it was a major adjustment. Finding a church and meeting new friends but at the same time it's been wonderful. We always thought if we moved away from home it would be to N. Georgia. We love the area and my husband has a sister is Duluth, and we also have family in Dacula and Morrow. We love the areas. I've heard Buckhead is wonderful too. Goodluck.
Erin, what an exciting time in yours and Ryan's life! I know it can be hard to transition with so many variables not set, but you'll be fine! You've got the right mind frame :-) My advise was going to be trust in the Lord because he has big plans for you two...but you already know this!
I've never been to Atlanta, but once you're all settled in and I'm officially a "Bailey", Patrick and I will have to make a trip down to visit!
PS Thanks for coming to my blogs defense...you started a whirlwind of support which I so needed at that moment :-)
I still can't help but be sad about y'all leaving durham, but at least i will still have your blog to read!! we love you guys and are excited about this next step for you, and will keep praying all goes smoothly!!
this makes me happy =)
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