8 years ago, we bought 20 acres of land and sat a single wide mobile home on it while we prepared to build our dream home as a family.
We ended up living in that single wide for 3 years as we spend lots of time prepping the land to make it our own. We put in a pond out front, built a shop, cleared brush, put grass (boy was that a process) and the list goes on.
After 3 years of prepping land and building our house, we moved into what we thought would be our “forever” home. But even as we always said it was likely our forever home, we always knew in the back of our mind that may not be true. You see, there was always something in us that felt like we would one day be called to another area. We didn’t “talk” about it to others, and we really barely talked about it to each other…we just knew.
We made tons of memories in this home. This was NOT the home the kids came home from the hospital…but it is the home that they grew and made memories in…fishing, riding 4-wheelers, playing in the creek, swimming, watching countless movies together and the list goes on. They love that house. WE love that house. But in the end, it is a house. A HOME is the people you share it with. We realize that…and they are learning it, although not easily.
So let me reverse things for a bit….
Let me take you back to 2009. We didn’t have kids yet, and we were trying to decide what was best for us in life. We were both working for local electric companies, and they were great jobs. Life was good, but we felt a tug to Nashville, TN. I had grown up 1 hour north of there, and it was always like home to me. I rode horses in all the areas surrounding Nashville, had friends, went on field trips there, went there for everything. It was our closest “big city”. When we got there coming home from a vacation, we would say “WE ARE HOME”, although we still had an hour to go. So…needless to say, that area always held a special place in my heart. Now, back to the tug…
Brandon was a journeyman lineman at a local utility, and we decided to listen to the tug and apply for a journeyman lineman position at Nashville Electric. He interviewed a few different times down there, and we started realizing it was a real possibility he would get the job. But…we could never get peace about it. We just couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t the right time for us. We never felt it was a NO from God, but a “not right now…” so Brandon told them they needed to take his name out of the running. When he did that, they told him that they were down to the final 2 and he was the frontrunner that they planned to give the job to. We still felt peace it wasn’t the right time, so we went about life…making a beautiful life in Mayfield, KY.
Fast forward to now…2024. That pulling to the general Nashville area came back. This time it came back STRONG and TRUE. We always felt like it might….and it did. But the difference in this time and the time before was that we felt 100% peace. We just knew. We just knew that the “one day” was now. It didn’t make sense. Nothing happened suddenly. Nothing is being done in Nashville that we need to be down there for. Nothing happened with our family or our church or our business. Everything was good. Everything was easy. Everything was exactly as we would have dreamed, we thought.
So, if that was the case, why would we pack it all up and leave it? Why would we leave our family? Our church? Or home? Our friends?
I can’t answer that, except to say this. How do WE know a life is everything we ever dreamed? Sometimes even our biggest dreams fall short of what God has planned. I have seen that time and again…so I will never undercut what He has for me because of what I think I have for me.
When you know God is calling you to do something, you better do it. It usually doesn’t make sense. I have found that out many times. It will usually cause you to be questioned, talked about and even ridiculed. You will usually be very misunderstood and perhaps even the topic of rumors that rise from nothing. BUT…if God is calling you to do something, none of that should matter. You do it. And you do it when HE says.
God has never steered us wrong yet, and we don’t expect Him to now. He was walked before us, beside us and in every step along the way in our past as we navigated this life together. For whatever reason, the Nashville area is where HE wants us to be, and over the course of 15 years, He has molded that to happen at this time in our lives. Why now? I don’t know. But do you want to know what I do know? I know this. I know that every single time we come down to this general area, we feel at HOME. We make new friends. God winks at us over and over. We feel it all over us. The excitement to see what is in store is unlike anything we have ever experienced. I cannot WAIT to bring you along for the ride!
NOW…Some of the fun stuff that you probably want to know!
Where are we moving? LEBANON, Tennessee! You may have heard of it, and you may not have heard of it…but I have actually been here many many times through the years and turns out, I know a few people here that I didn’t even realized lived here. God is good.
Lebanon is approximately 25 miles East of Nashville, and it is rural and beautiful- yet GROWING insanely…and close to everything we could want!
The kids are excited to start their journey at their new school there (and this school has already shown to be the most WELCOMING and FRIENDLY school ever…I have been amazed), and Blaize is beside himself to finally get to play FOOTBALL. He has always always wanted to play football like his dad and cousins, but because we felt strongly about having them in a Christian school- that was never an option because none of the ones in our area have a football program. Imagine how happy he was when he found out this one does have it! I can’t even wait to see him play. As funny as it may sound, this is something I am most excited about. When your kids get excited about something they love, it just makes you that way too! We will certainly miss all of our other school friends too, and they will always hold a dear place in our heart.
We finally bought a HOUSE, but let me go ahead and try to explain this process a little bit. If this wasn’t something that I do for a living and share with you all daily, I wouldn’t worry with taking the time to explain this, but I know you will be confused and ask lots of questions, and I get that! So, here is the deal….
YES, we built our home in KY. We love it! I mentioned all of that above. BUT, we have decided not to sell it just yet. Because of its location to our boutique warehouse, family land, etc…we wanted to hang onto it until we fully know we want to or have to sell it. So, in the meantime, we will be using it as we go back and forth from TN back to KY for family and the boutique! Yay!!!
We DID buy a home in Lebanon too- but it is not our “forever” home (is there such a thing?)… When you move somewhere brand new, it is hard to know exactly where you want to settle. What part of the county best suits your needs? What are the key things you truly want to be close to? While we might “THINK” we know some of that, we really don’t until we move down there and LIVE and do LIFE. So, in saying all of that, we bought a house that will be the perfect transition house until we know our true next step in this journey. It is in a subdivision and about half the size of ours. I know it will be brought up alot, as we are leaving lots of land, a pond, our pool and lots of room…but here is the deal. A house doesn’t make a home. It is the people you share it with. We do believe that 100%. Do I want those things again in the future- YES. There is nobody who loves country life more than me. Is that what we will have again one day? Hopefully, but who knows. This is a new season of relationships and settling, and this suits our needs without so much maintenance in the meantime.
I am dropping a picture of the house below, and as always- I will share it with you all when we are in, and we will decorate and craft together and share life like always! I truly can’t wait!
Will we build again or buy in our area of choosing once we are settled in? Who knows?! We sure don’t, but you can come alongside our journey as we navigate it together!
Let me squash some rumors that have been running wild with some loose lips lately:
1) NO, we are not moving down there to get a divorce. That is actually pretty funny, but sad.
2) NO, the boutique is not closing. We just build a brand new 18,000 sq ft warehouse! IT IS IN ITS PRIME! We have the best employees ever, and we are so EXCITED to see what the future holds in that space!
3) NO, Re-Fabbed is not changing. The thing to remember is this- it is an ONLINE business. It can and has been done anywhere in the world. The boutique has a team that runs it and we don’t micromanage and have to be right there on top of them. That is what a great team does- they run a business and we oversee and keep our finger on the pulse and do as much as needed from anywhere in the world. We will also be back and forth to the warehouse, especially Brandon, as he is the hands and feet over there and manages it amazingly!
4) NO, we do not have plans up our sleeves that is making us move down to TN. We are entrepreneurs. We are always working and doing things, but there is not one single thing happening that has anything to do with this move. Will things come along the way? I am sure they will, just like they would in KY.
5) YES!!! The airport being within 25 min will be a GAME CHANGER for our family!! We drive well over 2 hours everytime we fly, so we are super excited about this!
6) NO! There are NOT hard feelings back home with anyone. We are just excited for the change God led us to, so please don’t make up false narratives because you think it gives you something to talk about.
We officially move on July 19th, so in the meantime, I will be sharing the journey in my stories on Instagram and live videos and blog posts…so make sure you are following in all the places!
Let’s do this, y’all!!! What an exciting time to see what GOD HAS PLANNED for the Riley crew!
Last Updated on July 4, 2024
Joy Troncoso says
I’m screaming out loud. Welcome to Tennessee and just down the road from me. Sorta!!