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!

And the Purging Marches On

Jill's Journal: It seems not too many days go by without me purging items, whether that means selling, donating, or destroying them. Last week I sold a saddle to a lady in Tennessee and donated a mountain of old tack to Central Kentucky Riding for the Handicapped. And a few days ago, Adam and Kristi had a massive burn pile and I burned 11 – yes, 11! – file boxes of old papers. Electric bills from 15 years ago, performance reviews from old jobs, etc. just don’t seem so important to keep! Seeing all that paper – records of life’s details – go up in flames was remarkably freeing.

We actually had a pretty uncluttered and tidy life compared to the average American family before this whole process started, but it’s amazing how much stuff one really doesn’t need.

Occasionally I glance at a site called unclutterer.com and a recent post struck close to home. In brief:

“Even if you live to be 100, life is short… There are only 24 hours in a day, and I want to spend those hours focused on what is important to me… Uncluttering is about clearing the distractions that get in the way of your remarkable life. Once the distractions are gone, you can pursue your priorities and make the most of your life. My life’s motto is to Carpe Vitam — Seize Life.”

It sort of sums up why we’re seeking this adventure. We want to focus on what matters most to us – our little family – and the fabulous purging we’re doing now will help remove all the distractions. Bring it on!