I've been pretty quiet with my blog lately but for good reason. Big things are happening for our family and it's finally official.
Our house is sold, we are completely moved out and we are technically homeless. And I couldn't be more thrilled and more nervous at the same time. I've waited to make the announcement of where we are moving to until our house was officially sold and our plans were finalized.
In just a month our family is packing up and leaving the concrete jungle for a tropical paradise in Dominical, Costa Rica.
To say the past month has been a whirlwind is an understatement. In a matter of a week after we made our decision to move, our house was on the market, boxes starting piling up and our game plan of heading to Costa Rica was in place. It all happened so fast that we've barely had the chance to tell friends or family of our big move.
After only a day on the market, we had an offer on our house and closed three weeks later. It put everything a month in advance and we have been in a scramble to get everything ready. We had to fix up a few things at home, host an estate sale, move everything not sold to storage and temporarily move into my parents guest house until we head south. It's been chaotic, emotionally exhausting and at times just down right hard. But it will all be worth it.
The past two weeks we have been primarily focused on moving out which has affected me more than I thought it would. I love our house. We have lived there for over four years and it was where Ryan and I started our family together. It will always hold a special place in my heart because of all the amazing memories we've built there.
When I signed the closing documents, I couldn't hold back the tears. Although this is such an exciting adventure we are about to take, leaving our house is difficult. But now that we are officially moved out, I can look forward to our new life in Costa Rica, a decision we full heartedly believe is best for our family.
So what prompted this big move?
For the past year, Ryan and I been debating on whether we should move abroad. We love to travel and know the older we get and the more kids we have, it will be more difficult to just pack up and leave. And, ever since I studied abroad in college, I have had a deep desire to sell everything and move to another country. I loved living abroad but it's a huge undertaking with a child, pets and a mortgage. So it never quite fell into place. Speed up to this summer... The Dallas real estate market is booming. Homes are going for ridiculous prices and the housing inventory is extremely low. It's a perfect time to sell. We kept getting notifications from housing websites and realtor friends that we could get a hefty price for our seemingly average home. Intrigued, we did some research and found out we could get a huge profit on our house if we sold now. But, we had no interest in buying another home because we would be putting that profit into an overpriced mortgage. So instead of buying another home, I mentioned to Ryan our dream of living abroad. The thought of becoming an expat family was mentioned sort of as a joke, but the more we thought about it the more excited we became.
But where would we move to? Ryan and I both work at home for our marketing business and our current client is a real estate company that owns land in Costa Rica. Ryan has to travel to Costa Rica frequently and after talking with the company we found out it would be a great fit for us to be down there 24/7 working on their project. Quickly things began falling into place. My family and I have been traveling to Costa Rica for the past 6 years and we have all fallen in love with the country. My parents have bought a home in Dominical and travel there every summer. With all of this travel, Ryan and I have come to love Costa Rica, its people and the exotic landscape. So we are beyond excited to be calling this tropical paradise home for the next 12-18 months.
We are nervous, there is no way to deny that. This is a huge change and we aren't sure what to expect. But our main focus is on Milena and to make sure this transition runs smoothly for her. I'm not going to lie and say it isn't overwhelming because at times I can get so stressed I feel like I'm going crazy. There are so many components to any move but one out of the country has a whole new slew of problems. We are taking it one day at a time and counting down until we move to our new home.
As of now, we are technically homeless and living out of dozens of boxes, but we know it's just temporary. In just a month the country of Costa Rica will be welcoming us with sunny beaches, friendly locals and a tropical landscape waiting for us to explore.
We are pumped for this change and so happy everything fell into place. Adventure is waiting for us in Costa Rica and I can't wait to share it with you all!