An Open Letter to Anyone Else Moving During a Beautiful Michigan Summer
Moving, it's one of those things that you think "ugh, this is the worst" in the moment but is actually such a cool thing. You are lucky enough to be moving into a new home, you get to make memories in a new place but you also get to miss out on a whole lot.
"Oh Congrats, You Moved in Yet?"
Once you tell people you have a new home, they get so excited for you and it is so sweet. However, it feels like a lot of people forget how much work it all truly is...even outside of any renovations you may be doing.
My boyfriend bought a home back in February of 2021 and since then, we have spent countless nights and weekends putting work into this home that needed so much renovating...it was studs and insulation when we first got in there...and we're no HGTV experts or anything like that. I'm sure some of you reading this have been there before.
However, despite the countless hours, the hard work you feel like you're putting in, it doesn't feel "real" if it's not cosmetic work. Then, you finally get to a point where you feel like you're getting close to being done...but you aren't.
Yeah, your friends and family can come and physically see the progress, which then causes them to ask "so why aren't you moved in?"
Of course, they don't mean anything by it and want to be able to come hang out with you but there's just still so much work to do.
Missing Out on A Lot
I've always been one to have to move in the summertime, and you'd probably think others like me know what we are getting into by this point, right?
Wrong.
As we get older, summers get busier and busier. There is always someone you have to let down whether it's an engagement party, baby shower, housewarming party, bonfire, lake day, etc.
Usually getting to choose between those various events and activities is already a chore in itself but when you're moving and/or renovating, you have to choose which big events for your friends and family are worth sacrificing the time working on a major life event of your own for.
Of course, you don't want to miss out on anything or make anyone feel like what you are doing is so much more important, but sometimes, you dread going to these events because you know the number-one question you'll be getting is "so you moved in yet?"
To that, you can either be snarky and say "well, no, I could be working on it but I'm here instead" but you choose to say something like "it's coming along, we've just been so busy."
It's All Worth it in the End
This is not to complain and this is definitely not to say I am not excited about our new home, it's just a lot of feelings to sift through.
There's packing up all of your stuff yet again, there's trying to let go of the awesome memories you made in the home you're moving from, there's the letting people down when you say you can't hang out because you're working on moving.
It's a bigger process that people are all-to-quick to forget from the times they've had to do it.
With all of that being said, yes, it is a bummer missing out on Michigan lake days, on bonfires, on whatever else we all do that makes us look forward to summertime in the Mitten each and every year. However, at the end of the day and at the end of it all, you get to LIVE in something you are so proud of...hopefully, for the rest of your life.
And that is worth giving up on one single summer any time.