Yes, you read that right……We’re moving to Indiana!
I can’t even believe that I’m actually writing those words or writing this post! What a wild ride!
I know that there are going to be SO many questions, so I thought I would try my best to answer most of the questions we’ve gotten so far from friends and family here to help you all understand a little bit better.
What?!? Why Indiana?!!
The reaction we heard from most people…..haha! Which we knew would happen because to be honest, Bryan & I both have never ever talked about moving to Indy. We’ve talked about New York, Chicago, Europe (after a bottle of wine), Denver, etc….never Indy, until recently. We’ve always been travelers and we both have always loved going new places, meeting new people and seeing the different ways that people live. We’ve talked for years (since we’ve been dating really) about moving somewhere else. We both are California kids and both went to college in Southern California. We have never lived anywhere else and for us, we’ve always wondered…..what if?! What if we moved to New York? Could we do it?! In January we got the itch and finally started doing some research about best places to raise a family in the United States. Low and behold, Carmel Indiana kept coming up in every article and post we read.
We decided to go visit in February of this year…bought tickets, rented the car and chickened out. We couldn’t do it….how would we? In June, we kept talking about it. In August, we kept talking about it. Finally at the end of August we booked another trip and said that we at least had to go visit to see what we thought. If we hated it, at least we would know and we could put the wondering behind us. Well, we didn’t hate it…..we loved it. A LOT. And yes, we know we went at a great weather time, but it wasn’t about the weather. It was about the city, the people, the space, the price, the location to so many other places to visit and travel…..we loved it. With my business continuing to grow, this puts me closer to the east coast and some great opportunities, all in the same time zone.
How did your families take the news?
The second question we get after…..why Indiana?! To be honest, when we cancelled our flights in February, it was because the thought of not living next to our parents was something we couldn’t imagine. It was our only negative on our pros and cons list. When it came down to making our final decision, we decided that we in the end had to do what was best for our growing family. Of course our families were sad when they first heard the news, but they are starting to come around to it, slowly. 🙂 My parents understand and I’m so grateful for their love and support always. They even surprised us by booking flights to come to Indy to help us with the move, break in the house and celebrate Thanksgiving. We are so so excited to share this experience with them!
(In downtown Carmel)
What are you most excited for?
Oh there’s a long list. But really…space. Bryan & I both work from home so we need work space + home space + kid space which equals a lot of space! Haha! We are super excited for Eloise to have a yard and to grow up in a place with actual seasons. (Granted, we’ve never lived in snow, and we might hate it, BUT we can’t knock it until we try it!).
We are excited for the travel opportunities ahead. We will be driving distance from Chicago & Nashville and a short flight to NYC. Plus, Europe is now that much closer….whoo hoo!!
We can’t wait to meet new friends and families and just experience something new!
(Walking through Carmel’s porch fest – this is where we really fell in love with the city).
Why move now?
We knew that if we ever wanted to test out a move out of state, it would have to be either before we had kids or before Eloise was in school. Now just seemed like the perfect time for us as a family.
(We visited Peace Water Winery while we were there and loved it! All California wines that really made it feel like home. I have a feeling we will be there a ton!)
Have you guys found a house?
We have! When I flew to Indy for 48 hours two weeks ago, I looked at 10 houses in about 18 hours 🙂 It was NUTS. I face timed Bryan through the ones we loved, but on the last day I knew we had found it. I sent him a video and within minutes he was like….”yep! That’s it”. When I was at the airport headed home, we put an offer on the house and we found out that we got it on my layover in Minneapolis. Such a whirlwind and one of the craziest experiences ever! Bryan just finished the home inspection today and for now everything is going great….fingers crossed that everything works out and that the house officially becomes ours!
When are you guys moving there?
As of right now, we will be there the week before Thanksgiving! So fast but we really wanted to move before the holidays and winter season really starts. We are still figuring out all the moving logistics (there are so many) but know that it will all work out the way it’s suppose to!
I’m so excited that I get to share this journey with you all and I’ve actually already chatted with a few of you who guessed it early….you gals catch everything!
I’m also just so incredibly grateful for this job and that I get to connect with all of you. It means the world to us that you love on our family & support us on our ups and downs of life.
When we got married we vowed to stick by each other through “all our crazy adventures” and geez, this is our craziest one yet! WE CANNOT WAIT!
Now back to packing! Happy Monday friends <3
Congrats! My husband and I did the same thing and have never looked back! We did all the research on best places to raise a family and fell in love with Denver. We picked up and moved when our kids were 6 and 4. Best decision we’ve ever made – good luck to you!
Congratulations! You will love Carmel and the wonderful kind people of the Midwest. You and your lovely family will fit in just fine. We are from Chicago and love visiting Indianapolis.
I am a Bay Area girl, born and raised, went to college there too. My family is there so I feel your struggle. It is the only down side but they visit frequently (grandkids tend to provide good pull). Moving to Denver and then Boise was one of the best decisions I ever made for myself and my kids. I have been out of CA 16 years and I love to visit but I don’t miss living there. California is a wonderful place for so many reasons but there are many other wonderful cities, towns and states that allow you to live a much better quality life. Less traffic, less expense, etc. And the four seasons are amazing! You can actually justify those sorels, sweaters and coats! Congratulations! Such an exiting time of life and perfect timing with your daughters age.
From 1971 to 1975 (4th-8th grade) I lived in DeMotte, IN. It’s 2 hours north-ish from Carmel. I loved it! It’ll be fun to see what you guys think of the snow! Congratulations!
I hope you enjoy your journey in Indiana. I’ve had a friend and acquaintance move there and after 2 and 4yrs living there they both moved back to the place they came from (SoCal/ Denver). The cold, grey days and winter did them in.
So excited for you!! My husband and I did the same thing but moved into our home three days before Christmas with our family. Recommend a can opener. Set of towels. Bedding. In a suit case. Exciting and happy for you!! You’ll love Indy!! Living in Beech Grove for work. Love the new experiences and the adventure!!
OMG!!! Ash!! I am so excited! That’s CRAZY but I really think you can be happy as long as you guys are together. Family is everything. I AM BEYOND excited to read all your content from Indiana!!!
Welcome to the Midwest! I live in the county south of Marion (Indianapolis) and we have a phenomenal city! You will love it!
Yay!!! Congrats Ash!!! So excited for your beautiful fam!!! Sending lots of love as you move onto your new chapter worthy our fam.
I live in the border of indiana (about 2 hrs from Indy) and cant wait to see how you style in the winter, many bloggers that I follow dont live in a place where it gets really really cold so during the winter Im out of ideas, best of luck!
Wow! It looks adorable!!! Even though we don’t see each other, I am sad you are moving, but I am excited for your new adventure. Truth be told, wish it was Valencia, Spain! That would have been fun! I know when we moved to Hong Kong, it was hard, sad and scary, but it was the best thing ever for our family. It’s going to be tough for the family you are leaving behind, especially since youre taking Eloise with you. 🙂 You kids will have a blast and it’s not a long way away…you might even find me on your doorstep.
Good luck and if you all have anytime before you move for a quick visit, please let me know. Love you.
Bravo, Ashley! As it turns out I do some national PR for Carmel. Great to have you there! Shoot me a note when you get the chance. Thanks.
Rob
Welcome to Carmel. I moved here 40 years ago, and have seen it evolve into a world class (little) city. Yeah, the weather can suck in Dec/Jan/Feb, and even March, but April & May are delightful. Hope you can make some good local friends pretty quickly. Friends are what get you through the winter months.
Welcome to Carmel. I moved here 40 years ago, and have seen it evolve into a world class (little) city. Yeah, the weather can suck in Dec/Jan/Feb, and even March, but April & May are delightful. Hope you can make some good local friends pretty quickly. Friends are what get you through the winter months. Many who have transferred here (not by their choice) switch companies rather than transferring out again. The people, schools, churches, food, and also the Monon. Hope to see you around some time. Once again, welcome to Carmel.
Welcome!!!! We have lived in Carmel for 14 1/2 years. It is a great place to live. So many parks, activities, and downtown is great with midtown plaza, center green, palladium, etc. You will love it.
We are so excited that you choose Carmel and Hamilton County for your new home! You will love it here and there is so much for you and your family to enjoy. Feel free to reach out to our office (we are also part of Hamilton County Tourism) and we can provide all that you need to welcome you to the area!
Dear Ashley,
Welcome to Carmel! We’re psyched to have you guys here now, and you’re going to completely freak when you see the christkindlemarkt that we open next week. I was shared your post as I’m the President of PorchFest. Thanks for the shout out. Wait to you see all the other great events the city has to offers (53 free events each year). I’d love to network you with a few people around if you’re interested, we’re still a small town that takes care of each other. At the very least maybe Bryan needs to get out, grab a drink and meet some guys.
Josh Kirsh
City of Carmel
Planning Commission, Parks Board, Engineering Admin, PorchFest President, CarmelFest Director of Facilities, Lead Elf at Christkindlemarkt, Spokes the mascot… (other stuff too, but the list becomes annoying when you see it in print)
That’s so exciting!!! I live in Carmel & my husband and I can’t imagine living anywhere else!! We love it here!! Welcome!! Ps – please tell me you’ve tried Cake Bake in Carmel. If not, it’s #1 on your list!!!
What a fabulous post and WELCOME to Carmel, IN!!! Carmel has been our home for 27 years and you will love it here!! Carmel has grown tremendously since we moved here and you are making a wonderful decision for your family, for SO MANY REASONS!! I hope you love the Midwest! It’s a wonderful, friendly place! ❤
Good luck to you from a former Californian now calling Indiana my home! Proud to say I am now and have been a Hoosier for nearly 30 years! Please contact me as I would love to help you guys become familiar with our state. There are many things to experience, depending on what you like to do. My parents and cousins have also recently transplanted from Southern California. Safe travels!
The weather in Central Indiana is pretty tame! It really doesn’t snow that often (now, watch, we’ll have our worst winter ever). The cost of living is so reasonable that it allows you to save money for travel to other places. You get hones with a lot of space for not a lot of money. The people are friendly…Hoosier Hospitality does exist. We have automobile racing and pro sports and college sports. And, every store and restaurant that you can imagine due to our freeway accessibility. Concert tours and traveling theater stop here. Cleveland, Cincinnati, Louisville, Nashville, St. Louis, and Chicago are only a few hours away. You’ve got lakes and beaches and ski resorts to the north. And, lakes and hills caves and ski resorts and white water rafting to the south. You’ve got a world class art museum and children’s museum among other museums. I could go on and on, but you get the point. Have all your friends come for a visit. After they’ve been to Indiana, they will no longer consider it a “flyover” state! And, welcome! I’m in Westfield, and other amazing city, just north of Carmel!