Sometimes, after not so casually stalking Redfin for months, but not actually thinking anything of it, you find yourself having the most magical day in the sweetest little beach town during nap time and you text your husband, who is on baby monitor duty, “You think I should stop by that open house we saw since I’m already out?” And he texts back with something along the lines of “Sure, why not?” because you’ve been to a million open houses and haven’t usually felt that FEELING you need to feel to want to make an insanely huge financial decision, so your expectations are low, but you figure “Yeah. Why not?”

And you go.

And you love it.

And you feel the FEELING.

And then you call your husband and say, “I think you need to see this.”

And in that small silence between him asking, “Really?” you both know. Your world is about to change.

All of this to say WE’RE MOVING. Not far, but a little outside of the city to a more family-friendly area where I’m less likely to find heroin spoons in the park and where people smile a lot more readily. Where the town holds outdoor movie nights in the summer, hosts a downtown trick or treat, and Santa has his own chair at the coffee shop come Christmas. It’s borderline idyllic—the kind of place ODP will probably want to get away from as soon as he graduates high school and then inevitably long for when he’s hung over on a Saturday morning. You can catch a whale watching tour right from the ferry dock downtown, kayak out to your crab pots all summer. This is a place my mommy (and straight up PNW-loving human) dreams are made of.

Have I mentioned we also have to sell the house we’re living in?

There is a LOT going on and while it’s all good, it is all happening at once. I heard a nice reminder this weekend about life happening for us, not to us—from Oprah, obviously—which has made me feel slightly more at ease about the sheer volume of things we have headed in our direction over the next few months. I can’t say I’m totally ready, but I can say I’ll try to take some deep breaths along the way.

And I’ll be sharing a whole lot of house projects, too. That part will probably be my favorite.