We move in exactly one week. One way tickets, already booked. And I have been sitting with that sentence for days now, trying to figure out how something can feel like the most exciting thing in the world and the most bittersweet thing in the world at exactly the same time.
I wanted to write this down while we’re still right in the middle of it, because I know this particular week will never come again, and I want to remember every part of it.
The House Sold in a Day
We listed our house and it sold at full asking price on the very first day it was on the market. I still can’t quite believe it. There’s something both validating and completely disorienting about that kind of speed — one day it was our home, fully ours, full of every memory we’ve made here, and the next day it belonged to someone else’s future. We’ve spent this week selling most of our furniture so the move goes smoothly, which has meant watching room after room get a little emptier, a little quieter, a little less like the home we built and a little more like a space waiting for its next chapter.
One bright spot in the middle of all the selling: we bought a bed for our guest suite in the new house. It felt like such a special purchase to make in the middle of everything else — choosing something ultra comfortable, something we want our family to genuinely enjoy when they come stay with us. It was a small moment of looking forward in a week that’s mostly been about looking back.
Doing Everything for the Last Time
This part has been harder than I expected. Going places with Ollie for the last time has put a lump in my throat more times this week than I can count. The library. Our favorite playgrounds. Coffee shops. Each one has carried this strange, heavy, beautiful weight of last time, and I’ve found myself trying to memorize things I didn’t even realize I’d want to remember.
It’s a weird feeling, honestly. Not sad exactly. Not entirely. Just full. Full of everything at once.
Our neighbors are so kindly throwing us going away dinners, and that has been one of the most touching parts of this whole process. These are people who became real friends over the years we’ve lived here, and knowing we’ll soon be far away has been emotional. We’ve been taking so many pictures and videos as a family, trying to capture all of it, trying to be present in the middle of so much change rather than letting it blur past us.
A Minnesota Summer, Fully Lived
In the middle of all the packing and the goodbyes, we’ve also been trying to soak up everything wonderful about a Minnesota summer one more time. We went to the Mill City Farmers Market. We took Ollie to Strawberry Fest in Afton. We spent an afternoon at the Children’s Museum in Saint Paul. We got ice cream from Bebe Zito at Malcolm Yards, which has become such a sweet tradition for our family. Ollie did Soccer Shots with the neighbors who have become our cherished friends over the years.
And then, almost comically, we hit a heat wave this week — a real feel of 105 degrees — which has felt like a little preview of what’s ahead. I’ll admit there is something almost funny about sweating through a Minnesota July right before moving somewhere known for exactly that kind of heat.
A Weekend of Just Us Girls
Ben was traveling for the World Cup this past weekend, which meant Ollie and I had a long weekend that was just us. And in the middle of everything else going on, it turned into something really special.
We had coffee dates, just the two of us. We went to the paint store and picked out colors together for her new room, which felt like such a sweet way to start dreaming about this next chapter with her right there beside me. We snuggled so much. We wandered around town together with nowhere we had to be. That time felt like such a gift, especially right before so much is about to change — just me and my girl, slow and unhurried, before everything shifts.
Watching Her Grow Up Before Our Eyes
Through all of this, I keep noticing how much Ollie is growing and changing. Every single day she uses her imagination in new and surprising ways, and I find myself clinging so tightly to this exact season of her toddlerhood, even while I’m genuinely excited for everything ahead of her in Florida.
It’s a lot of feelings held at once. Excitement and grief. Looking forward and looking back. Wanting to rush toward the next chapter and wanting to hold onto this one for just a little longer. I don’t think those feelings cancel each other out. I think they just exist together, and I’m trying to let them.
The Logistics of This Week
Here’s what the actual week looks like, because I know some of you are going through something similar and the practical details matter too.
We’re selling items all week. Our UPack moving trailer arrives Friday and gets picked up Tuesday. Our cars ship on Wednesday. And we fly to Southwest Florida on Wednesday — one way, completely committed to this next chapter.
When we arrive, our new home will be completely empty. Our belongings won’t arrive for about a week after we land. It’s going to be an adjustment, sleeping in a brand new house with nothing in it yet, waiting for everything to catch up to us. But Ollie loves house projects right now — she calls it “e-ranging” — and I know that our morale as a family is what actually matters most in those first empty days. If she’s excited about arranging, we’ll be just fine.
I’m anxious. I’m genuinely, completely excited. Both at once, all the time, for this entire week.
Holding Onto This Week
If I could ask for anything in this final stretch, it would just be to stay present. To really see the going away dinners and the last trips to our favorite places and the quiet moments with Ollie for exactly what they are, rather than rushing past them toward the next thing.
We are doing everything we can to soak it in. The pictures, the videos, the slow goodbyes, the last walks through rooms that are about to belong to someone else.
One week from today, we’ll be there. And I cannot wait to tell you everything once we are.
Follow along on Instagram at @kellyzugay for real-time updates through our final week and the move itself.
