GAHHHHHH! This has been SO hard to keep in the last several months! The Speer’s are in for a BIG life change. Are you ready….
WE ARE MOVING TO FLORIDA!!!!!
I still can’t believe this is happening! I have been processing it quietly for months and it feels good to finally let it out. We are MOVING!
Why, you might ask? Well, quite honestly (at first) I said the same thing. Here’s a little back-story…
Back in February, TJ brought up the idea of moving. It all came about when we needed to buy some necessary clothes for the kids and realized that we didn’t have the ‘extra money’ in our budget to do so. It got TJ thinking, why can’t we buy our daughter a pair or pants, without being strapped or worried about where the money will come from? Who wants to live like that?! It was our life. Paycheck to paycheck… minus some income from both of our side hustles. NJ is just so dang expensive.
After that day, TJ started thinking about what we could do to be able to live a more “financially secure” life- one where we can save, pay off debt and invest in our future without being stressed at our jobs and worrying about money so much. When he brought up the idea to me of moving, I told him that he “turned my world upside down for 48 hours”. I got sick, I felt a knot in my stomach and I just realized that we were on completely opposite pages. I’m a NJ girl, I never wanted to move. I love fall, I love seeing snow, I love everything about what I call “home”- my job, my church, especially living in our ‘first home’ here in Sparta.
Two days after bringing the idea up, we had a conversation over lunch. Where would we move? When would we move? Would it all be smart…or even possible? TJ told me that Florida was most likely the best choice, since most of his family is there and we would have support and help. Not to include the fact that we would be living in a warmer place where we may actually be happier (no snow? He was all in) Well, the actual conversation did not go well, not at all. I was going left, he was going right. We had to reconvene in the presence of family- to hash out the ideas with someone else being present to help balance both our views out. Later that day, my Mom and Manny came over. We brought up the discussion of moving. Without any hesitation my mother said, “do it.” I was shocked…
After talking with other family, including my dad and TJ’s parents, I quickly came to realize that moving to Florida wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Maybe I would be happier in a sunshine state? The cost of living is a lot cheaper than in NJ and we would be in a really good financial place to set ourselves up for a great future for our kids and retirement (yes- we’re thinking of that already haha).
After coming to the realization that moving was actually happening and not just an idea anymore, we had a local realtor come and assess our current property in Sparta. To our surprise, despite COVID and our current world situation, they told us that now is the perfect time to sell. They said they are getting 20+ calls a day from people looking to move to our little section of Sparta- wanting to get out of the city. With all of this information- we decided that we would list our home shortly after visiting Florida at the end of June, if all went well. Once we actually got to Florida and I felt like Florida was a place where I could actually live– we agreed we would put our house up for sale.
Fast forward to today, July 21st when I am writing this blog post. We went down to Florida about a month ago to scope out the area and look at homes. I told TJ that as long as I didn’t “throw up” or get a really bad gut feeling in my stomach when we were there, that I was okay with moving forward with our plans. So, here is the BIG NEWS——–we bought a beautiful NEW CUSTOM BUILD HOME in Ocala!!!!!! We found a home builder called Highland Homes and we settled on our perfect 5 bedroom house! In fact, we got to pick the exact plot of land where we will be living!!! We chose the town of Ocala because it is literally 3 minutes away from TJ’s brother and our family there. We wouldn’t want to move if we didn’t have support, so this was the right decision for us.
Our home will be built by December of 2020 and we will be officially moving down in the New Year. I’m scared, but excited (I’ve gone through allllll emotions – believe me) After lots of thinking, I believe that this is going to be a great thing for our family of four. I am all for taking chances and I love adventure. So, bring it on… 2021 has lots in store for the Speer family!
GiGi and Eddie says
We are all here for you โค๏ธ๐โค๏ธ๐
Patty Szanto says
Wow….Wow…..Wow!! I have no words…I am without speech. But CONGRATULATIONS! This is so exciting, thrilling, scary but most of all, it is what is right for you guys and the babes. I am happy for you all but a little sad because I always felt that I could reach out and touch you. Now, I’ll just have to reach a little further. I love you guys.
Jodi says
Even though Iโve only known you a short time I feel a connection so with that said Iโm so excited for your new familyโs adventurous move..You are doing the right thing looking towards the future and making these plans work in your favor..
Congratulations on this exciting time ๐กโค๏ธ
Vanessa Taylor says
Oh my gosh- congratulations Jessica! It’s a big move but I am sure you and the family will be so happy. We’ll miss you here in Sparta!