Cheers to 5 Years in Florida

Cheers to 5 years in Florida! Today starts our 6th year in the Sunshine State – which is so hard to believe on so many levels.

We Never Had Florida on Our Radar:

Let’s back up 6 years ago. If you had asked either my husband or myself if we’d be living in Florida in the next 10 years – we would have either laughed or likely had a confused look on our faces. I was born and raised in New England and worked in New York City. Hubby owned his own company and was a volunteer firefighter and EMT in our local community. Together, we were raising our children in a small suburb in Fairfield County, CT.

So What Changed?

You know that saying: “It takes a village?” It really does take a village to raise a family. We watched as other members of our extended family moved. First was the relocation to TX and then the last of the family relocated to the Jacksonville metro area. While we wished everyone well, nothing had us even remotely thinking about a move south. We had to work on rebuilding our village with the majority of our formerly local family now ~1,700 miles away. But beyond the move and missing the family – we heard stories of how much happier our family members were with the weather and lifestyles.

How Did We Go From Nope to FL Residents?

We planned a surprise trip during the December holiday break and fate played a hand. We left behind a cold and blustery CT for Northeast Florida and I was nursing a sinus infection. Arriving in Florida, to weather in the 70s during the day seemed like a gift. We spent the majority of daytime outside – on the beach, at Deck the Chairs, visiting the historic district in St. Augustine. All the sudden we realized there was life outside of what often felt like the frozen tundra (have you ever commuted in single digits? The walk from Grand Central to Times Square was brutal) existed. The kids were enjoying themselves, their cousins and not outfitted from head to toe in hats, gloves, boots and snow pants.

We Started to Think About Jacksonville

We pondered trying life here, wondering what it would look like and what needed to happen to make a move reality. With some key decisions made – we started looking for a rental. Again, so many uncertainties with moving: would we like Florida? Would we like the neighborhood? We decided the rental gave us the best insurance on our next adventure. Research started to show us that we needed to look to St. Johns County for the schools. What we truly loved is that Jacksonville is a city and offered city things without the hustle and bustle we knew from NYC.

Things We Learned:

Don’t go a big move alone. Seriously – surround yourself with the best of the best. Family, friends and professionals. Why? You will need the help when you least expect it. What kinds of things? Well for us – a truck that didn’t fit on the trailer (which meant we needed to find another driver to bring it down), a friend who helped wrangle dogs in the car, friends who cared enough to help us get down the East Coast and get settled into a house that we only saw after signing the paperwork. We were grateful to family that went and at least scoped out the neighborhood to ensure the online reports were aligning with the reality of the neighborhood.

Beyond the move – we learned about kids riding bikes to school (which sometimes ends in painful falls), daily thunderstorms that always seemed to conveniently hit at dismissal time and benefitted from living in a master planned community. I still marvel at the fact we were less than a mile from Publix, CVS and a gas station – yet you would never know it with how the neighborhood was built.

People really are friendly. No seriously – living in a suburban neighborhood has an entirely different vibe than living on 1-2 acre minimum lots. We have made lifelong friends and truly moved into the greatest neighborhood we could have ever asked for. Countless nights around the fire pit, hosting dinners in our driveway or even holiday block parties will forever be core memories.

What Does the Next 5 Years in Florida Look Like?

Hopefully much of the same! Enjoying family and friends (of which we’ve seen the family aspect grow) and all that Florida has to offer. The weather is our favorite part of living here and being able to be outside more consistently throughout the year. Would we do the move all over again? Absolutely! The risks taken have paid dividends in return. If I could offer one piece of advice: everyone should make a big move at some point in life (and hopefully for reasons like reuniting family).