Background and Introduction

My husband and I grew up in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. About the time our first child was born, we moved to the suburbs of Seattle. Now our three children are nearly out of the house, and we are embarking on a slow move to rural Maryland. The move involves a change from a 1/3 acre home with shopping, parks, schools, and public transportation all within an easy walk to a nearly 2 acre home within an easy drive of grocery stores but a half hour drive from any other shopping or activities.

Nearby is my in-law’s 240 acre farm where they now have an 8 acre vineyard. No one actually lives on the farm, so most weekends, our 6000 sq. ft. house welcomes members of the extended family who have driven down from Virginia to work on the vineyard. My husband is also there about 1/3 of his time. He is a regular coast-to-coast commuter. (He does his paying job by working remotely when he is in Maryland.)

The challenge for us is going to be a mental and physical adjustment from living in an urban environment to a rural one. We currently have grandiose plans to extensively remodel the 1880 farmhouse, raise backyard chickens, brew our own beer, and grow a large garden. This is all going to be done as we adjust to being empty nesters, we work the vineyard (while maintaining my husband’s demanding day job), and we actively work to help grow our local winery cooperative.

We bought the Maryland house in 2005 and have been slowly acclimating ourselves to the new digs. We expect to call that address “home” by fall of 2012.

Reader be forewarned: some journal entries will likely be more like articles, but some might be boring statements of issues that we have encountered or need to tackle. I’m not always able to write interesting passages, but I do want to record the adjustments. I do hope to backfill with some of the more colorful adventures we have had since we purchased the house in 2005.