Saturday, July 28, 2007

Why Move to Tennessee?

Dave took many family vacations to the Smoky Mountains and when he became a motorcyclist his destination of choice was the Blue Ridge Parkway. Thankfully he always returned unharmed despite zooming along at death defying speeds.
So when we talked about retirement he suggested the Smokies and I had heard that I should move to Asheville NC, as it is soooo arty. Close enough.
But when we started looking at homes online, I was nudged by several blog readers (thank you darlings) to look in Tennessee. Something about lower taxes and more for your money...
You know how I love bargains and it was easy enough to find them in Tennessee and then Georgia and then Alabama and before long I was totally confused.
It took going down there to get the picture. But when we went down in April I was still of the mind to buy the big whopper dream house and keep working for about five more years. So we put money down on a huge home (see April's archives) and then changed our minds when we got the popcorn ceiling/asbestos news.
After that fiasco we cooled our jets and decide to wait til our house in Cary sold.
That cooling lasted minutes.
I went back to daily online looking and finally had about 50 possibles lined up again. One day I found a really cute house on an acre in GA. It was only $115000. Adorable and so great for a little old lady or man to live in alone. That was a subject that kept arising...going poof.
If we bought something that inexpensive, I could retire too. At the time of the discussion I wasn't ready, but Dave's recent health events have me convinced that I want to end my itinerant career and stay home with him.
So eliminating the big house idea and looking for the big garden instead became our focus.
Nothing on my list of 50 seemed to work.
I threw up my hands, being the drama queen around here, and said "You find it then!"
Minutes later he did. Just like that. Praise the Lord.
Going down there this time and seeing the countryside west of Chattanooga instead of staying in the city showed us that country life is what we really wanted all along. Just beautiful, placid, verdant, and spacious. And it comes with chickens.

13 comments:

  1. Wize decision IMHO... sounds like the best kind of place to feed your muse and enjoy the hell out of life... enjoy!

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  2. Gah!!! Make that "Wise decision." I knew that didn't lok right!

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  3. I'm going back to bed.

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  4. Don't name the chickens!
    Have a wonderful time in your new home,
    Sally

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  5. Anonymous3:22 PM

    What Zone are you in there? Does it snow?

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  6. Have a safe trip and enjoy every minute of your first days there.

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  7. Enjoy yourselves I'm jealous Liz

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  8. Anonymous6:13 PM

    About the 'poof', would either of you wish to stay there alone?

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  9. Anonymous7:12 PM

    I think it's great! My sister-in-law and husband lived in San Diego, CA all their lives (born and raised) and they decided 7 years ago to leave the rat-race of S. CA and moved to Springfield, TN, just north of Nashville. It was a culture shock for my sister-in-law, but she adjusted and within a short period of time their two children (not really children) followed them. They love the slower pace and have a mini farm with a few cows (no chickens, tho) and couldn't be happier to see their grandchildren being raised in a smaller community. They very seldom even go to Nashville. You'll adjust like they did and will probably love it as much as they do. We've visted them several times and it truly is a lovely place. BTW...they get snow. :(

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  10. Love the pic, with the "beam from Heaven/halo" glow. Cue the choir.
    Can't wait to visit!

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  11. Welcome to Tennessee! Your place looks lovely and I can hardly wait for your postings about settling in and making it yours.

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  12. Anonymous8:06 AM

    When it's right, it's right.

    Congratulations!!! Travel safely!

    teri

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  13. Anonymous11:42 AM

    Oh, Mel, through all this I get the sense of such deep devotion and love for the man in your life. And you're making such a huge change in life and actually making it look like so much fun. Kinda (only kinda) makes me want to purge our whole house...but alas it's too much work!!
    Safe travels...

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