Moving to a New Home Can Be Inspirational

I am in the process of moving. I am moving from a family home where I raised my children, into a home with my new husband. My children have grown and are all on their own as of this month, September 2012. I am moving with my husband into a very nice home in a town thirty minutes away. The house I have lived in is sixty years old. When it was first bought, it was a four-room ranch with a bathroom. As my family grew, we enlarged the house. First, when my son was born, we added two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs where the attic used to be. Then we had twins, and as they got older, more room was needed. We added a huge family room, another bedroom, an office and a two car garage. Shortly after that, their father and I got divorced. For seven years I have lived in this house with my three children. I got remarried and now am moving into my new husband's home with him. His home is much newer, and everything is up to date. Although I am excited about being able to now live with my husband, I have also been sad about leaving the home where I raised my children.

First, when my son was born, we added 2 bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs where the attic used to be. Then we had twins and as they got older more room was needed. We added a huge family room, another bedroom, an office and a 2 car garage. Shortly after that, their father and I got divorced. For seven years I have lived in this house with my three children. I got remarried and now am moving into my new husband's home with him. His home is much newer, and everything is up to date. I have also come across folders and folders of information I had saved from my many various work from home businesses that I had started over the years in order to be able to stay at home with my children. There are folders from the classes I taught on saving money with coupons. There are folders and many books about providing home daycare. There are notebooks full of notes from when I worked as a consumer advocate for a local grocery store owner. There are notes and training books from when I worked as a representative for a beauty company. And as I have been going through these items over the past few months, it has been making me very sad.

Although I am excited about being able to now live with my husband, I have also been sad about leaving home where I raised my children. As I sort through things that are in the house, I continually reminisce about all the memories made in this house. I have found multitudes of pictures that bring back the days of childhood and all the fun I had parenting young children. There are pictures of bringing new babies home, family pets, birthday parties, family gatherings, the kids playing with neighborhood children, preparing for the holidays such as carving pumpkins and decorating Christmas trees.

I have also come across folders and folders of information I had saved from various work from home businesses that I had started over the years to be able to stay at home with my children. There are folders from the classes I taught on saving money with coupons. There are folders and many books about providing home daycare. There are notebooks full of notes from when I worked as a consumer advocate for a local grocery store owner. There are notes and training books from when I worked as a representative for a beauty company. And as I have been going through these items over the past few months, it has been making me very sad.

Recently I have decided that since I have a wonderful opportunity to start a new chapter in my life with my new husband, I need to change the sadness into something worthwhile. I need to keep those memories in a special place in my heart, so I can more fully embrace this next phase of my life with him. So, here's my take on how moving can be inspirational.

Saving Memories

When moving, one often finds a myriad of photos.I love to scrapbook, and it is my favorite hobby. These photos will be turned into wonderful scrapbooks to give to my children as keepsakes of their childhood. There are lots of school papers and artwork I have found in the moving process, 4so those will also be added to the scrapbooks as well. These scrapbooks will be gifts that provide a wonderful trip down memory lane for my children to cherish forever.

Clearing the Clutter

I have been in this house for 25 years. There are a lot of things in this house that is no longer needed. Moving is a wonderful way to clear excess clutter from my life. There used to be a show on television where a professional organizer arrived at people's homes and helped them take all of their possessions out on the lawn and sort into four piles. The first pile was what they wanted to keep. The second was what they wanted to donate. The third was what they would sell at a yard sale. And the fourth was what they were going to throw away.

This system worked very well for the families. It helped them clear the clutter out of their homes, and they made money in the process as well. I am planning on having this type of large yard sale as well. Next weekend as a matter of fact. And I have filled trash bag after trash bag with items, papers, broken toys that I realize now do not really have enough value to keep. I feel good about this process because it is clearing things out of my life that are no longer needed. And I will take with me only the items that are the most important to me. It has been an interesting process to discover what really adds value to my life, and what has been weighing me down.

Making New Friends

The neighborhood where I raised my children has changed over the years. When my children were growing up, it was a wonderful place to raise kids. We had one of those neighborhoods like in the 1950s where you could tell the kids to go outside and play, and not have to worry about them. There were 5 families in the neighborhood and between us we had 18 kids under the age of 12. There was always someone for the kids to play with. They caught lightning bugs together at night, played tag in the dark, sat around bonfires and toasted marshmallows, rode bikes to each other's houses and had all kinds of fun. Today, most of those families have either moved away, or the kids have grown up and most are away in college or living on their own. Moms who at one point stayed home to care for their kids are now out working. I have recently seen a new round of families moving into the neighborhood. There are a few families who all have kids under the age of 5. Those children will now grow up together and have wonderful neighborhood memories. In my case, it is time for me to move on as well. And I am looking forward to meeting new people in my new neighborhood and expanding my horizons in terms of adding new friends to my life.

Exploring a New Area of the State

As I said, I am moving to an area that is thirty minutes away from my previous town. The town I have lived in for the last 25 years was also the town I was raised in from the time I was three years old. I never wanted to live in this town as an adult. I wanted to break away to a new place and start my own memories. Although I moved away for college, I came back to the town the summer after graduation to apply for jobs all over New England, hoping to find a job that would carry me away from the town I grew up in. I felt stagnated staying in the exact same town where I had grown up. Unfortunately for my dream of moving away, once out of college the best job I could find was in the same town. I took it because it gave me financial stability, the chance to move out into my own apartment, and the chance to work with children, which I loved. A few years later, I got married and he didn't want to leave the area so I was stuck. Now, I am finally getting the chance to get out of my hometown and to explore a new area of the state. This new town is actually on the coast of Long Island Sound. There is a beach in this town. There are beautiful shore scenes which I am looking forward to photographing. There are annual town-wide celebrations I am looking forward to participating in. And the neighborhood is a peaceful and quiet one, with wildlife such as deer, wild turkeys, squirrels and chipmunks peacefully co-existing with the neighbors.

My New Attitude

Since I have adopted this new attitude, I feel fortunate to be able to sort through pictures which will be given to my children in scrapbooks that I lovingly create. I feel grateful to be clearing out the clutter in my life. I am excited about making new friends in my new neighborhood, and my new town. And I am excited to be able to explore a new area of my state. Things are looking up for me, and I am looking forward to this new chapter in my life with my new husband, as we move forward into a new beginning together.