I’t’s funny how life can shift in a what seems like an instant. Back in January I was diagnosed with DCIS (Ductal carcinoma in situ). Though it was not life threatening in any way, no woman wants to get that diagnosis of breast cancer. Mine was caught very early thankfully because I do regular annual mammograms (3-D). It did mean, in my case, a double mastectomy, which I had the end of April, and now will require an additional reconstructive surgery later this year. Not quite how I thought I was going to spend my year. After all, I had a wedding to plan for my youngest daughter the end of September and a couple of trips that were already booked. Who has time for cancer! Well, that’s the thing. You make time. So, I finished up my projects that I was working on for a few clients and decided to take a leave of absence for the rest of this year. It would give me the needed time to focus on my health, rest, recover, plan the wedding and enjoy the summer as much as possible.

That was the plan.

It’s always been in the back of our minds to move back to North Carolina to be closer to family at some point. The last few years have been eye opening with medical diagnosis for both myself and my husband and we realized that we will want to be closer to family for support and help some time in the future. For us it made sense to do this sooner than later so that we could set up a home, take advantage of a good selling market at the lake, find the right doctors, get involved in our church and new neighborhood, make social connections, and most importantly spend precious time with our grandchildren while they are still young.

On the flip side, we would be leaving “Our Happy Place” Smith Mountain Lake. We have had a home at this lake for nearly twenty years and have made wonderful friends and connections. It will be hard to say goodbye to this quiet lifestyle that I thought I wouldn’t like, but have really embraced. I am confident that we will continue our relationships as we move forward.

New beginnings.

And while I recover from my next surgery (late October), I will be focusing on restarting my business in North Carolina. I am excited at the prospect of reimagining it, setting up an actual designated workroom, and developing new client relationships.

Another passion of mine was decorating my lake home. I finally got to a place where I was basically finished (if I’m being honest, are you ever truly finished with that?). And it would be very hard to leave in any other situation. HOWEVER…we found the perfect buyers for our house who love it just the way it is…even my window treatments. She loves how I decorated and doesn’t want to change a thing. That made me feel so happy that someone wasn’t going to come in and change everything I poured my heart and soul into.

The house that we found is perfect in so many ways but needs a little “updating” to bring it into this decade and I can hardly wait to start putting my personal tastes and stamp on it to make it as timeless as possible. And the best thing is I plan to take you all on this journey together.

I look forward to blogging the process of moving and setting up a new home with all the decorating choices at this stage in our life. With seventeen moves, we are not new to moving. I dare say, this is my last. Let’s hope.

Until next time….

Denise