Over the last week Courtney and I have made the decision to sell our house in Collierville and move into Memphis. We couldn't be more excited (whilst also tired) about what the future holds for our family. While we enjoy Collierville's small town feel and community we've found through discussion that we're in a place where the urban environment of Memphis is something we've both been longing for but were unwilling to give up the comfort that came with Collierville. We've just listed our home online and are taking the For Sale By Owner route. If you know someone who's looking to move to Collierville, please shoot them this link with our listing so they can give it a look (don't be creepy).

Much in alignment with Josh Maze's recent post about being a proud Memphian and what that can look like, Courtney and I both want to dig in further. Moving into Memphis (and not a suburb) is something we're both really proud of even in the face of a lot of disappointment and advice against this move. It is frustrating to have to argue with friends and family about leaving a "good" area to raise our son in when Memphis isn't a bad place to do so. I'm a product of Memphis. I grew up in Hickory Hill and went to Oak Forest Elemetary, Ridgeway Middle School and Ridgeway High School. I came back from another state after college and haven't regretted it to this day. It isn't perfect but neither is Portland or San Fransisco or New York. Every city has it's junk and every native of the town knows it, lives with it and carries their pride for their city through it.

My point is that nothing will change if we flee and only look on with scornful attitudes and angry visions of what's yet to befall our imperfect city. We have to stand up, be proud, find the good and take hold of what we see that needs to change. We need to make the change and it isn't going to be easy. Nothing worth having ever is. Dive in. I promise you won't regret it.