Moving to Indiana: It’s Been 1 Year!
It’s hard to believe, but it has been one year since we packed up our final U-Haul, loaded up our pets, and officially left Illinois to begin our new life in Indiana.
On August 9, 2025, Kevin and I made the last trip from Chicagoland to Indiana. Of course, it wasn’t exactly our first moving trip. By that point, we had already made AT LEAST 20 trips back and forth bringing our belongings little by little and looking for a home in Indiana.
We started out at one storage facility close to mom. Then we moved everything by ourselves to another facility closer to our new house.
We did most of the moving ourselves, although we were grateful to have some help from family before the move and on the day we officially left. That final trip included the last of our belongings, two cats, Wilbur and Franklin and our Blue & Gold Macaw, Bam Bam.
It was quite the adventure!
The Beginning of Our Indiana Chapter
When we first arrived in Indiana, we moved in with my mom while we began renovating the farmhouse bungalow we had purchased. She was super generous letting us move in with our 3 pets at the time.
We ended up living with her for seven months while we worked on what we now call Phase One of the renovation. We knew the house needed a lot of work before we could comfortably move in, but I’m not sure we fully understood just how much time, energy, patience, and decision-making would be involved.
There were floors and walls to work on, rooms to renovate, projects to plan, supplies to purchase, and plenty of unexpected surprises along the way. We had to research and buy a washer and dryer, refrigerator, utility sink, toilets, lights, ceiling fans, drywall, wood, flooring and much more.
Some days brought exciting progress, while other days felt like we had taken two steps backward. But we carried on. Kevin pretty much moved in and worked late many nights and started early. I drove back and forth from my mom’s about 40 minutes each way most days.
The most important things that had to be done right away was the crawlspace encapsulation and replacing a non working French drain. We hired Crawlspace Masters for the encapsulation and Kev rented a mini excavator (he says, “Everyone should own one”) and did the whole French drain himself.
Once we got the living room, dining room, bedrooms and kitchen pretty much done minus trim, flooring and baseboards, we hired painters Mindy and Dave from Total Package Painting. Everyone we hired was great.
The list of reno and projects we did goes on and on. We have also pulled up layers of flooring, nailed down luan flooring underlayment, had a propane tank removed, gutted an old bathroom, office and laundry room.
We worked on cleaning and balancing out the pool and wondered if we would really want to keep it after all that work. Update: we love the pool and are keeping it! We leveled and stiffened floors with steel support beams and posts and lots more. There was lots and lots of mudding and sanding walls to prep for the painters and lots of dust. Not to mention the many paint samples, primer and paint cans we purchased (gallons and gallons and more gallons).
During all of this, Kev had to replace the fuel pump in his car, change his breaks and we needed new tires for his car too. Our granddaughter came for a weekend and helped paint the fireplace. We replaced the plumbing in the entire house and have since removed all the old plumbing. Fixed doorbells, electrical and MUCH more.
We worked very hard during those months. We are incredibly thankful for everything we accomplished, but I won’t pretend it hasn’t been exhausting and expensive. Renovating a home is no small undertaking, especially when you are doing so much of the work yourselves.
This was not our first rodeo. We also renovated our previous home over the last few years getting it ready to sell. THAT was a lot of work too especially since we lived there for over 26 years. But it was worth it because it sold to the 1st family who saw it. Thanks to our realtor in IL, Chicky.
Everyone says we should start flipping houses. We don’t think so. Ha!
Even now, there are plenty of days when we are tired and covered in dust, wondering how one project somehow turned into five more. But we do try to take some time to enjoy the good things we have. Kev loves to walk the woods to the creek. That’s his happy place in addition to the back part of our land.
A Difficult Goodbye
Our first few months in Indiana also brought a heartbreaking loss.
On December 1, 2025, our cat Franklin passed away. We adopted him on November 26, 2011, so he had been part of our family for 14 years.
Franklin made the move to Indiana with us, but sadly, he never had the chance to live with us on the farm. But he is laid to rest here. Losing him during an already emotional season of change made his loss especially difficult. We are so grateful for my mom who watched over him on the days I was at the farm working on renovations with Kevin.
Franklin was loved deeply and is missed SO much. I’m grateful we had so many years with him, although it never feels like enough. I’m sure those of you with pets feel the same way.
Moving Into Our Farmhouse
After seven months of living with my mom and working through the first stage of renovations, we finally moved into our farmhouse bungalow on March 20, 2026.
That was such a big day for us.
The house was not completely finished and it STILL isn’t but it was finally ready enough for us to move in and call it home. We then moved everything out of storage AGAIN. No more storage rentals. Yay! If you need a storage rental, check out my referral link for Storage.com.
After months of planning, renovating, and dreaming about what life here would be like in Shelburn, IN, we were finally sleeping under our own roof on our own farm.
We have just under nine acres, and there is something incredibly peaceful about looking out over the property and realizing this is where we live now. We hop in the truck almost every day to drive what we call “the back 40”. Kev has mowed paths for us to drive back there and everything else is tall growing grass, weeds, etc. We will be planting wild flowers there at some point. And we hope to have some farm animals down the road. Donkeys please.
Life on the Farm
This past year has been exciting, adventurous, peaceful, exhausting, and incredibly rewarding.
Most of all, we feel blessed. It’s so good to be near my mom. We both have family that live in Indiana too.
There is still so much work to do, and remodeling has definitely taken a toll on our energy. Some days we are tired before the day even gets started. Our project list seems to grow faster than we can cross things off. But even with the mess, unfinished spaces, tools, supplies, and constant projects, this place feels like it was meant to be.
People often ask us when we are going to start traveling again. We love to travel and it was a big part of our lives for so so long. I know there will be more trips and adventures in our future but right now, our answer is usually the same:
We feel like we are on vacation every day here on the farm.
There is something special about waking up surrounded by open space, watching the wildlife, enjoying the quiet, and seeing our home slowly become what we imagined.
It may not be a traditional vacation. There’s no room service and our daily itinerary usually includes paint, power tools, or another trip to Lowe’s and Menards. But there is a sense of peace here that is difficult to explain.
We don’t feel like we are waiting to escape our everyday life. We are building a life we truly enjoy living.
Looking Back at Our First Year
When I look back at everything that has happened since August 9, 2025, I’m amazed by how much has changed and how much we have accomplished.
We left our home of 26 years and moved our lives, our belongings, and our pets to another state. We lived with my mom for seven months. Thanks Mom! We worked through the first phase of yet another major renovation. We said goodbye to Franklin. We moved into our farmhouse and began adjusting to a completely different way of life.
It has not always been easy.
There have been long days, difficult decisions, unexpected expenses, emotional moments, and plenty of physical exhaustion. We even survived an EF-1 tornado.
But there has also been excitement, laughter, progress, family time, peaceful evenings, beautiful views, and a growing sense that we are exactly where we are supposed to be.
This move wasn’t simply about changing our address.
It was about being closer to my mom. It was about starting a new chapter after losing my dad in 2023. It was about taking a chance on a different kind of life. Way different! And it was about turning an old farmhouse bungalow into something we can call home.
What Comes Next?
Our remodeling journey is far from over.
We still have more spaces to finish, projects to tackle, plans to adjust, and ideas we hope to bring to life. I’ll continue sharing updates, renovations, before-and-after photos, the farm, and the everyday moments that make this place super special.
Renovations that come next are the laundry room, a water closet aka toilet room, butler pantry, clothes closet, home gym garage space, detached office and more. Here’s to Phase 2!
We’ll be back with renovation posts. It’s way too much to put all in one place.
I’m sure our second year in Indiana will bring challenges and adventures, but we are looking forward to seeing what comes next. For now, we’re taking a moment to appreciate how far we have come.
One year ago, we were packing our last U-Haul and beginning a completely new chapter.
Today, we are living on our ‘little’ farm in Indiana, renovating our farmhouse one room at a time, and feeling incredibly grateful that we took the leap. We bought the house sight unseen. Thanks to Kendra and Gracie at Next Home for everything.
It has been a busy year.
It has been a tiring year.
It has been an emotional year.
But it has also been exciting, peaceful, and meaningful.
Indiana feels like home. But we do miss our family in Illinois! And we are about to have our 2nd GREAT grandchild.
Do you live in Indiana? Be sure to connect with us on social @HerGrandLife
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