It’s Really Happening!

Jill's Journal: The past two weeks have been a flurry of activity as we depersonalize the house and prepare it for market. It’s always been neat and tidy, but we’re going the extra mile to make sure it stands out when we hang that “For Sale” sign out front. It’s incredibly exciting to see progress and realize that our “launch date” is a mere two months away!

Another successful garage sale is in the books, more big items have been sold on Craig’s List, and charities ranging from All God’s Children to Blue Grass Farms Charities to Goodwill have been blessed with boxes upon boxes of donations.

We’ve also “bought” a mailbox at a place that will enable us to keep our Kentucky residency for now and has a professional mail forwarding service to boot. We’ve made decisions on online banking for the road. And perhaps most significantly, we’ve rented a small storage unit and began moving in the boxes I’ve packed of sentimental and significant items we’re saving.

Somehow, that made it all real to me. Not buying the fifth wheel or the big truck to pull it. Not the mountain of preparations we’ve been making for months and months. Not the hours of planning and dreaming and discussing we’ve done for the last 1 1/2 years. Nope. It was the storage unit; such a minor little step along the way, yet when we scaled it, it hit me. It really hit me. We’re doing this. It’s really happening!

Launch Date in Five Months

Jill's Journal: Our preparation continues as we start wrapping up the year. We are a mere five months, give or take a few days, from launch date. There is still so much to do. It seems so far away in that we cannot wait to get on the road, but so close in what needs to be done before we can leave. I’m still purging like crazy – selling items on Craig’s List, eBay, etc. until I’m blue in the face. The more I get rid of, the more I want to get rid of – it’s kind of addicting!

Rob is completely moved out of his office now, which includes the massive storage room that held many truckloads worth of stuff. Our garage is packed to the gills as Rob sorts through the last of what was there. And we still have some farm equipment in outbuildings at Rob’s mother’s place that needs to be dealt with and sold. However, the inside of our house is truly down to pretty much what we use on a regular basis and that feels pretty awesome.

Obviously, much, much more will go when the house does. We plan to put the house on the market in February or March since spring is the supposedly the best time to sell out here. That date is speedily approaching!

Rob is in the midst of finishing up his massive fifth wheel projects – building bed rails and ladders for the girls’ bunks, modifying a closest to hold a washer/dryer, and building a permanent desk for his workspace.

I’m in the throes of my biggest project to date…I’ve always been the family photographer (for extended family too) and have literally thousands upon thousands of photographs from over the years. They’re extremely important to me and are my most precious possessions. I’m scanning each and every one of them in so I can eliminate the hard copy and have it all digitally instead. We must travel light, you know! It’s such a monumental task that I honestly don’t know if I can physically have it done before we leave, but I’m giving it my best shot and will possibly outsource some of it soon.

Whew! The beat goes on.

Craig’s List, eBay, and Purging…Oh My

Jill's Journal: No one can say I’m not taking downsizing seriously. A little more than two months ago, I started cutting down on stuff. Probably 99.9% of people in this country have more things than they could ever need and we’re no exception. I’ve always hated clutter and always liked living minimalistically, but that doesn’t mean we’re down to the bare bones, by any means. Not yet, anyway.

My first big foray into cleansing the “stuff” palate was finding new homes for all my horse racing videos. We’re talking videotapes of every Breeders’ Cup race since its inception (1984), all Triple Crown races from the last 20 years, and literally thousands of other races and racing industry events.

This was a big step. This collection of videos held a very special place in my heart. For Pete’s sake, we moved to Kentucky for horse racing and this wonderful game puts food on our table and is our sole source of income. To say we’d be lost without racing is an understatement. It’s more than a passion…it’s a way of life and a major love.

I knew after saying goodbye to these videos that everything else would be relatively easy, so that’s why I started with them. I’m pleased to say I found good racing homes for all of them and they promise to be loved and cherished. :-) It was bittersweet to part with them, but I did it.

And then I delved into Craig’s List. It’s not my favorite thing, as I hate having to meet people to exchange an item for money, but it’s working out well. I’ve already sold several larger items – mostly baby stuff – and gotten cold, hard cash in exchange for them. It feels good!

And now tonight, I just closed on my first eBay sale – it was just a few dollars for some scrapbooking scissors, but it was a start. I had dabbled in eBay 10 years ago and I certainly had to jump through a few hoops to reactive my seller’s account, but I couldn’t be more excited. It’s such a thrill to start parting with things and get some money for them! Every item sold represents another step closer to our adventure of a lifetime.