Behind the Scenes: Retirement, Relocation & Rebuilding in Florida
If Seek-N-Destroy seemed a little chaotic this summer, there was a reason.
Actually, there were about 47 reasons.
Within a pretty short period of time, Jonathan finished his bachelor's degree, retired after 20 years in the Air Force, we packed up our family, packed up an entire business, left Texas, moved to Florida, rebuilt the shop, got the kids settled into a new routine and tried to figure out what normal life was supposed to look like again.
And because that apparently wasn't enough excitement, Florida threw in a NASCAR race and a five-car pileup just to make sure we were properly initiated.
It's been a year of change, to say the least.
Before the Move, We Had Something Pretty Big to Celebrate
Before the moving truck, boxes and complete chaos, we got to stop for a minute and celebrate something we'd been working toward for a long time.
Jonathan graduated with his bachelor's degree.
Finishing a degree while serving in the military, raising a family and helping run a business isn't exactly the easiest way to do college.
But he did it.
Looking back, this photo feels like the beginning of the transition. One accomplishment finished, one career coming to an end, and absolutely no clue how crazy the next few months were about to get.
Because next came retirement.
After 20 years in the United States Air Force, Jonathan was officially done.
For most of our adult lives, the military had a say in where we lived, when we moved and what came next.
This time was different.
For the first time, we got to choose.
And we chose Florida.
The Slight Problem: Seek-N-Destroy Had to Come Too
Moving a family is already an undertaking.
Moving a family while also relocating an entire custom apparel and production business?
That's a different level of fun.
This was Seek-N-Destroy in Texas as we were getting everything ready to move.
Our garage had gone from a functioning workspace to a maze of machines, presses, worktables, boxes, bins, inventory, tools and supplies.
Every piece of equipment we use to make orders had to be disconnected, packed and transported.
And then somehow it all had to fit on a truck.
Oliver was happy to demonstrate how much room we had left.
At this point we were still in Texas, actively loading everything and probably questioning several of our life choices.
There is nothing quite like moving to make you realize how much stuff you've accumulated.
Which brings us to the dumpster.
The Great Purge of 2026
We threw away a lot.
A LOT.
There were donations, trash piles and eventually a giant dumpster.
Moving forces you to ask some important questions:
Do we actually need this?
Why do we own this?
And our personal favorite:
Why have we paid to move this thing multiple times?
By the end, Jonathan and Oliver were literally standing inside the dumpster.
We'll call it family bonding.
Eventually, though, the truck was loaded.
The house was packed.
The shop was packed.
And it was time to say goodbye to Texas.
New State. Empty Garage. Time to Rebuild.
Arriving in Florida didn't mean the hard part was over.
Everything we had just packed now had to become a functioning business again.
Thankfully, we had help.
Papa Fred jumped right into the project with us and helped get the new shop ready.
When your garage contains heat presses, printers, embroidery equipment, lasers and everything else we've collected over the years, setting up the shop involves a little more than plugging in a power strip and calling it a day.
We had equipment to place, electrical work to figure out, shelving to install, workstations to rebuild and an entirely new workflow to create.
And apparently we also needed giant honeycomb lights.
Because obviously.
Slowly, though, it started coming together.
Boxes disappeared.
Machines found their places.
Shelves went up.
Supplies got organized.
And eventually the garage stopped looking like everything we owned had exploded inside of it.
Seek-N-Destroy had a new home base.
Then We Started Actually Living Here
Once the move slowed down enough for us to look around, we realized something:
We weren't just visiting Florida.
We actually live here now.
So we started doing some very Florida things.
First up?
NASCAR.
This was Jonathan's chosen outfit.
There was apparently no backup option.
Our first NASCAR race was one of those moments where life started feeling a little less like an endless move and a little more like our new normal.
New house.
New community.
New experiences.
American flag overalls.
We were settling in.
And then Florida decided we were getting a little too comfortable.
Our Brief Career as Local Celebrities
Not long after moving here, we managed to find ourselves involved in a five-car pileup.
Because apparently simply moving across the country wasn't enough excitement for one summer.
Thankfully, everyone walked away.
And then we discovered the accident had made its way onto a local Instagram page.
So basically, we're famous now.
Not necessarily the way we planned on introducing ourselves to the community, but we'll take it.
Autographs are available during normal business hours.
Finding Our New Normal
The funny thing about a huge life change is that there isn't really a moment where someone announces:
Okay. You're officially settled now.
It happens slowly.
The boxes start disappearing.
You stop needing GPS for every trip.
The kids develop their routines.
The shop gets busy again.
Customers start finding you locally.
You start recognizing places.
And every once in a while, you get an evening like this.
That's when it hits us.
This is home.
We're not stationed here.
We're not waiting for orders.
We're not wondering which state, which country or which time zone we will be sent to next.
After 20 years of military life, we got to decide where the next chapter would happen.
And we chose here.
Seek-N-Destroy Came With Us
Through all of this, one thing never changed.
Seek-N-Destroy wasn't starting over.
We were bringing it with us.
The military and K9 communities that helped us build this business aren't suddenly gone because our address changed.
We're still working with customers and units we've built relationships with over the years.
We're still shipping orders across the country and around the world.
We're still printing, embroidering, lasering, making patches, creating custom gear and accepting the occasional project that makes us say, "How exactly are we going to make that?"
And now we're starting to build relationships here in Florida, too.
That's probably the part of this transition we're most excited about.
We aren't replacing one community with another.
We're adding to it.
So, How's the New Chapter Going?
Let's see.
Jonathan earned his bachelor's degree.
He retired after 20 years in the Air Force.
We packed our house.
We packed an entire business.
We filled a dumpster.
We loaded a truck.
We moved across the country.
With some help from Papa Fred, we rebuilt the shop.
We went to our first NASCAR race.
We got caught in a five-car pileup.
We accidentally became Instagram famous.
And we've watched some pretty incredible Florida sunsets.
Somewhere in the middle of all of that, we started finding our routine again.
It hasn't been seamless.
It definitely hasn't been quiet.
And there are still days when we're moving things around the shop, opening a random box or wondering why something still doesn't have a permanent home.
But that's real life.
Seek-N-Destroy has always grown right alongside our family. Through military life, moves, changing schedules, new equipment, new ideas and plenty of trial and error, we've figured things out as we've gone.
This chapter isn't any different.
To everyone who stuck with us through the move, waited patiently while production was paused, ordered after we reopened, recommended us to someone new or simply followed along through the chaos:
Thank you!!!!
Texas will always be an important part of the Seek-N-Destroy story.
But we're pretty excited about what comes next.
Same family. Same business. Same chaos. New home base.
— Holly & Jonathan
Seek-N-Destroy LLC