Why Southern Illinois?

March 2020 - Matt and I were sitting in the Denver International Airport, with my two best girlfriends, waiting to board a plane that was going to take us to a haunted plantation in Louisiana to celebrate my big 40. We ate in cautious silence in the terminal listening to the passengers that were getting off planes that had been diverted home from their vacations cut short. Between Matt reading us blurbs from Reddit and eavesdropping on confused travelers, we decided that it was not the right time to travel, grabbed our luggage, and drove back home. 

Quickly following, the schools locked down and started 100% remote learning. We were some of the luckier ones who were able to easily shift into working from home during the 2020 pandemic, as we both worked in software, and Matt had the wherewithal to setup networks and monitor web traffic to curb the kiddos from watching YouTube all day. This new way of life was different, and the change was refreshing, even if the world was in a state of chaos. We weren't sure how long quarantine would last and days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. Emails from school districts and corporate offices surfaced from time to time that expanded the duration of the remote working restrictions but were hopeful that one day we would return to the world we have always known. Until we received the emails that what we have always known was no longer. 

Matt's company took a more direct approach and distributed a list of states that were approved for employees to move to if they desired. My employer was not as confident in deciding to be fully remote at this time but we already had remote employees globally so I was not concerned. We started discussing what life could look like now that neither one of us were tied to a geographic location because of our jobs. We would spend nights on Zillow and Realtor dreaming, searching, planning, then closing our laptops and heading to bed. We repeated this many times. Some nights would end with vibrations of possibilities and others with disappointment and risk. We knew we wanted old and we knew we wanted acres. If we were going to leave Denver, Colorado (my hometown and Matt's recently new home) it needed to be for something spectacular - a bucket list level adventure that we could build if our resources went further.

We started our search in Kansas. West was never an option. East was our North Star as the amount of home that one can get including the parcel of land was singing to our pocketbooks. It didn't take much searching to see what $300,000 could get you in Colorado versus Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Georgia, etc. We planned a road trip from Kansas to Missouri and were going to head South but took some time to poke around in Illinois. It was right there and, with some planning, we could hit some places on the Southern bit. While browsing through listings we found one with a spider on the ceiling.

This was it. How could a home this unique still be on the market? It sat on 4+ acres of land, was built in 1910 and every room had more character than the last. The decision was made. This was the house we wanted. We made an appointment with the local real estate agent and drove down as quickly as we could make it happen between work and kid duties.

We entertained the idea of looking at other homes in the area and explored a nearby property and it was cool to see different designs and architectures of older homes. This was never an area I dove in too deep in Colorado because I could not afford a historic home large enough for my family. But now, the dream was real and within reach for the first time. The spider house, which we nicknamed it, was second on the stops. We were done the moment we drove down the driveway and didn't look at any other homes that day or any day after.

Months later, we made it, and are moved into our spider house. Every day is a journey of adjustment and learning while we continue to dream and stretch. Our move to Southern Illinois not only encompasses our want to live out our days in a bucket-list home, but to inspire others to reach for their dreams. We want to share this new world through our eyes and spread our excitement about living in a small town. We want to jump in where we can to help strengthen the community, build engagement, and encourage hope, wonder, and infinite possibilities. 

This blog is our journey. Our thoughts, struggles, wins, and heartaches. These words are an invitation for all to consider something scary and exciting and to take the first step down the rabbit hole...