How do I get this thing going again?

I have sat here several times, in front of my laptop, staring at the empty blog draft, trying to think of something to write. And then nothing happens. Nothing at all. I think about great things to write during the day while I am driving the car, or in the shower, or when the kids are screaming, or as I'm falling asleep, but never as I sit in front of the laptop. I feel like the more time has gone by, the more overwhelming the task 'to write something' becomes. I have so much to catch everyone up on. I started this blog in order to keep a 'diary' for my children to read and enjoy later in life, so I feel like I need to get back to this now. It's time.

Two years has gone by. (WOAH!) Julianna is 6 and a half. Tyler is 3 and a half. I guess that means I am ... 2 years older as well. During this two year time period, a lot has gone on.

About two years ago, we decided to make a big change in our life and move out of NJ. We kept our house in NJ and rented it out to tenants, and then we packed up and relocated to Huntersville, North Carolina. We did it and it is, by far, the best decision we have ever made.

A lot of planning, research, discussion, thought, sweat & tears went into this big change, and was not easily decided. Brian and I visited the Charlotte, North Carolina area for a long weekend in April 2015. We spent a couple days with our realtor, and looked at too many houses to remember. We fell in love with this area, specifically the town of Huntersville, instantly. The first house we looked at that weekend, ultimately, ended up being the house we bought. We decided right then and there, that weekend, that the Fillmores were moving to North Carolina. Brian was able to find a job here relatively fast, and since my job can move with me anywhere (I work from home), we put an offer on a house in June of 2015, moved in and closed on August 1st. It all happened very fast, and everything fell into place very quickly. When you really want something bad enough, you can make anything happen with hard work, planning, and determination (and sometimes a little bit of luck).

A little backstory on our move; In early 2015, Brian and I were at a crossroad in our life. We knew we needed to move out of our house in NJ that we had completely outgrown after Tyler was born, but weren't really sure where we should end up. We asked ourselves, "Do we stay comfortably in NJ and just buy a bigger house, but keep paying ridiculous property taxes and other high cost of living, and continue to suffer through awfully cold and long winters?" We had been wanting to move out of NJ for a while, due to the extremely high cost of living. We wanted a different lifestyle and quality of life for our family. We talked about leaving NJ and decided if we were going to do it, now was the time in our lives to do it. It was now or never.

The kids were young enough where they wouldn't be ripped away from all of their friends and lives like they would be if it was 10 years later in life. Bottom line is, it was the right time to make a leap. We love our new home, our neighborhood, our town, the kid's schools, and the community. Oh and the weather - it's pretty freaking awesome. It's always sunny here. Did I mention that we can boat for 9 months, on Lake Norman, a lake that makes our old lake look like a pond. Every person here is from the "North". When you meet someone, everyone asks you "Where are you from?" ... because it's a rarity to meet anyone that is actually from Charlotte or North Carolina for that matter. Most of the people we have met are from NY, NJ, PA, Ohio. It's a  nice commonality. Crazy, huh?

Here is a summary of our lives in pictures, since we moved to North Carolina. I'll post a part 2 with more pictures in a few days.