You hate to move,  yet it's happening so it must be important to you and yours.

I wish you all the best.  

I moved in Feb.  and what kept me sane through it all was that I had made up a personal travel bag for myself and one for the apt.  Mine held the things I can't get through a day without,  and the house bag held the tool kit,  a flashlight,  and whatever else I thought at the time I'd be lost without in a new setting.

Good Luck!

Florida.  Hmmm.  Into the Bible belt.

Well, I think the move will be good for you.  You are somewhat isolated where you are now, and Florida will be a whole nother can of worms.

I look forward to reading about your experience, observations, and lessons along the way.  Cause there's one thing I know for sure.  When God moves you, its not just about "them" its often, more time than not, about you.  New life lessons.

I envy you and am tired at the same time thinking about it.  Heh.

Congratulations.

Good luck, KFC. Moving stinks. Leaving stuff stinks. Being used by God? Worth the smell.

South Florida is where I grew up. The good thing about Florida is each area is totally different from the rest.
I'm not familiar with Villages Florida though, where is it?

Good Luck on the move and watch out for the old drivers. hehe...I'm really not kidding there.

Oh I just remembered something about when I lived in Florida.

I will never forget the first few weeks how "shockingly" casual everyone was. For example, I'd go to Wal-Mart and people would be shopping in cut off shorts, bikini tops, and no shoes! Guys would come in with no shirts..heh.

I wonder how a born and bred Mainer is gonna take to that kinda thing.

I can't wait to read your observations....I have a feelin, they are gonna be FUN!

Florida - the land of golf carts and retirees!

Good luck.

Learn to golf, KFC. Many are against it as an "elitist" sport of the rich, but the fact is, there is nothing more serene (to me) than a well kept golf course. The ability to play is irrelevant. You would enjoy the peaceful walk on the plush grasses among the trees and the water, I think. Heck, if you don't wanna golf, just go for a walk there, but truly, the golfing act itself is very meditative. I imagine you'd like it.

Good luck with your move. I lived in Tampa for a time and loved it. Also lived in Ft. Walton Beach and loved it, too. The drawback is hurricanes and humidity, but hey - into everyone's life a little rain must fall (no pun intended )

You hate to move, yet it's happening so it must be important to you and yours. I wish you all the best.

Yes. We've been here 10 years and before that it was 12 years. Everytime we move, more junk has to be dealt with. This last move is leaving us with lots of kids stuff that they left behind we have to deal with.

Thanks for the good wishes Trudy.

Florida. Hmmm. Into the Bible belt.

Welllllll I'm finding that Florida is exempt from this BB from what we're hearing. Yes there's tons of churches, and on every corner but from what we're hearing they are dead. THe couple we know down there now have been looking for almost 2 years with no luck. Sometimes they've gone to two diff churches on one Sunday checking them out. Part of the problem she says also is she's trying to find what we have up here. But we also talked to a guy named John who used to be a planter up here. He was the NE director of SB churches up here but transfered down there. He said he needs help because it's very dead down there. He's about an hour from where we'll be. He actually said it's worse down there than in the NE. Hard to believe I thought.

Good luck, KFC. Moving stinks. Leaving stuff stinks. Being used by God? Worth the smell.

yep. The experiences have been very telling including my husband putting out CPA feelers to get us down there and getting two replies in the first 15 minutes after he sent out an email to 4 firms. He sent out this letter at 10 am. By 3 pm he was hired by a medium sized firm (22 employees) with full benefits. He prayed about a certain amount and ended up getting 5 thousand more than what he asked for. Before he sent the letters out, we prayed together (about an hour before) asking God for a clear sign that we are to move. We were shocked he got a job so fast. Turns out they've been looking for 2 months and he fit the bill. No resume needed.

I wonder how a born and bred Mainer is gonna take to that kinda thing.

me too. I've been discarding all my sweaters, flannel sheets, LL Bean boots and winter coats of which I have a HUGE assortment. It's hard to let this stuff go. I have some very nice sweaters. Amanda took a few and the rest is going to a clothes swap at the church I think.

The thing I wonder about tho is the flat vs the mountains type of thing. I live in the mountains and it's absolutely beautful here. Even Amanda says it's so nice to come back and see this since we tend to take this for granted. Everywhere we go we see the White Mountains. Florida is sooooooo flat.

Florida - the land of golf carts and retirees

yes, We are moving into the golf cart community. My house has a golf cart garage built on the side of our two car garage. The roads are all golf cart friendly. When we go shopping we can take our golf carts. It's so funny to see all the golf carts parked all over the place in grocery store parking lots. Not the kind of golf carts I'm used to either. Up here it's just the plain white kind. Down there they are very colorful and elaborate with the name of the couple on them even.

We are not going to retire. In fact, quite a fuss was made about my age. You are supposed to be at least 50 to get into this place but I'm not there yet. So it looks like I'm going to be the youngest there. at 46 I don't mind tho because I saw the people down there, met some of them even, and they are more fit than most 20 year olds are today.

Learn to golf, KFC. Many are against it as an "elitist" sport of the rich, but the fact is, there is nothing more serene (to me) than a well kept golf course

I might. There are your hard core golfers down there as well as some that just do it to get together socially for fun. I think there's about 30 courses over the whole place we have access to and for free!! There are I think 8 professional courses like the Arnold Palmer one and the Nancy Lopez one etc. She lives there somewhere. They even have lessons for the grandkids down there. A week's worth of lessons including lunch for 35 bucks!! Can't beat that. Little Ethan might be in an upcoming class someday.

There's also 50 or so swimming pools we'll have access to for free. Some are adults only and some are family pools. There are about 8 or so Olympic sized pools with the lanes in them. I don't swim or golf. What a waste on me. But I may learn to golf yet.

You would enjoy the peaceful walk on the plush grasses among the trees and the water,

These courses are very beautiful. As we drove around we'd run into them I think in every village neighborhood. The lots overlooking these courses were more expensive tho. We did almost get a house with a view from across the street of a golf course and water hole. The price of the house was $284K and it had a very nice large lot. It was on our radar but didn't get it.

Good luck with your move. I lived in Tampa for a time and loved it. Also lived in Ft. Walton Beach and loved it, too. The drawback is hurricanes and humidity,

Tampa is defintely a place we want to visit. Glad you liked it. We need to go to Dick's when we get there. We are not in the path of hurricanes. No insurance is needed for this there. Humidy is not going to be escaped. Not sure how that will affect me yet. I run so I guess I'll have to deal with it. Maybe I'll get used to it. Hoping anyway. Tornados seem to be more of a problem near Ocala once in a while, usually every 10 years we're told including this past year. The Villages held up very well tho. The houses are well constructed.

Good luck with your move

Thanks. It's alot of work and I've been mostly trying to decide what's going and what's staying right now.

I've found that to be true of the Bible Belt in its entirety. Even when they look alive, they're dead.

South Florida is where I grew up. The good thing about Florida is each area is totally different from the rest.I'm not familiar with Villages Florida though, where is it?

Hi Kelly,

We are going to Central Florida. About an hour from Orlando and Tampa. I don't know my way around much at all. I've only been to Florida a handful of times. The Villages is near Ocala. It's considered horse country but it's alot more busier than I've ever been accustomed so I'm a tad worried about that. I like rural. I like country.

How did you like Florida compared to where you're living now?

I've found that to be true of the Bible Belt in its entirety.

Geesh Gid, I hope you're wrong on this. I'd like to believe the BB would live up to it's name and has it better than the NE and Florida. But the only contact I have is Lynchburg and it's on fire down there right now. Jonathan Falwell is doing an unbelieveable job. I've been watching it every week here in Maine when I'm not there visiting.

I've been told that Florida breaks all the rules for belonging to the bible belt. For one thing it's an influx of people from all over the place bringing in all sorts of beliefs. But we'll see. Give me six months and I'll let ya know.

Well, you are certainly versed in lots of those things, even was a member of several. So you will be able to relate right off the bat.

We had a wonderful church in Florida, and it was growing and "on fire." But, we were in the panhandle...still under the southern influence I think.

Your community sounds great. As for the mountains. I think you will be able to find beauty in Florida. Just a different kind.

" I'd like to believe the BB would live up to it's name and has it better than the NE and Florida."

I'd like to, too, but it's not in the Bible so who knows if it's true?

I know you're crazy... in more ways than one... but that doesn't discount God's call on your life. I miss you already.

I grew up in the Bible Belt. There isn't a bigger collection of hypochristians anywhere in the world, in my opinion. Wherever you go, you'll always find your own flavor, though. You might have to look a little harder, but what you call God will lead you to where you need to be - as is already evident in the fact that you're moving at all. You have faith that God directs you where you need to be. I call it "Everything happens for some reason" but it's not really so different.

I haven't been in Tampa in over 35 years, so I'm sure much has changed - in other words, it may be a den of thieves by now. But just to give you a smile at an image I remember and hold dear, when I lived there, we had a house on a canal that ran into the Tampa Bay. My father and my Grandfather used to cast out their fishing lines and then run them all the way through the back yard and into the house so they could sit and watch football and fish at the same time. Now who wouldn't smile at that image? I miss my grandpa...he was a total asshole (sorry for the colorful metaphor) and a staunch conservative republican that would bear no dispute to his beliefs, but he was also a real sweetheart down under it all, and of all my recollected relatives, I loved him the most.

By the way, the book came today. So I'll start reading immediately as promised. Did your son get back to you on Bicameral Mind?