Taking on New Adventures

It’s time. After years of talking about it, Chuck and I have made the difficult decision to pack it up and start a new life in Atlanta. I’m excited and nervous and sad and all of the emotions one can think of.

When I made the decision to move to New Orleans in 2013, I thought this would be forever. I really didn’t think I’d be moving until retirement, and even then, I thought I’d always keep a home in the city. Unfortunately, at this point, that’s not realistic, but I do hope in the future we can have some little place here in the city to come to and enjoy when we want to come back for events or just to escape to.

New Orleans was great for me. It was the perfect place to move to when I was at a crossroads in my life. I needed to come to a city this vibrant, with a life of its own. But it’s definitely changed in the 11 1/2 years I’ve been here. Some for the better, some not. That is also typical of any city, as well as any person. As we age, things change and situations and things that may have appealed to us at one stage in life are no longer as appealing in another. It’s life.

But now Chuck and I are off to a much larger city with a lot of things to offer that, quite frankly, New Orleans just doesn’t have. Mainly, four seasons. It’s hilarious because I love the heat. I don’t mind it at all and it’s why I’ve always insisted on living somewhere with a pool! But it’ll be nice to have a true fall and a true spring.

The other things we are looking forward to include being near some dear friends of mine as well as the ability to be outdoors more, due to the weather. Having river trails nearby and the mountains just a couple of hours away to explore is appealing to him, and I am starting to look forward to that, even though it’s never really been my thing. Plus, we still have the beach within a quick drive east or south, depending on where we want to go.

All in all, we are just excited to try some new and different things. I know we’ll miss our friends here, and we’ll miss access to some really unique places that you just cannot replicate. But overall, we’ll be able to carve out a really interesting and new life for us and I think that’s good. And we can always come back.

So with that, I say thank you, New Orleans. I’ll always be proud of calling you home and having my childhood dream of living here and getting married here come true!