A blur

Looking back on the last week and change, I just can't believe how much has gone on! There are so many things I have wanted to blog about, the pictures are stacking up and my brain is in pure overload, but the hours in the day just don't seem to match up with the items on my list to do!

We are blessed in every way...don't get my wrong...I realize how lucky we are! Let me fill you in (if anyone is actually interested!)

Five days after our house was listed on Realtor.com we got an offer on our house, counter offered and accepted theirs...two days after that we had the home inspection, three days later we had the termite inspection and as of last Thursday our house is unofficially sold (that was the end of their 7 day option period!) The closing is set for May 3rd so as of today we have 5 weeks till we close! Pretty amazing huh? We are terribly excited but now the question posed is- Where will we live unti Aug when we can leave the state?

Enter our marvelous plan.....

Instead of having to find a crappy little apartment, moving an extra time, paying huge non-refundable deposits for the furry members of our family and making things that much more caotic, we have decided to put our housing allowance towards something we can keep and have something to show for it when this move is all over! Yes, we are going to live in a travel trailer for 2-4 months! Genius right?! :)

Not everyone has shared our enthusiasm and have told me flat out how crazy we are and they they could never do it! lol I have had many moments that those thoughts have crossed my mind too but ...the more people tell me I'm crazy the more I am determined to prove them wrong! I am not saying I'm not crazy, I know I am but for entirely different reasons! lol

So, as of Saturday night, we are offically owners of a "new" used trailer and we all can't wait be in it. The girls have their own room and spent about 6 1/2 hours in it yesterday playing Polly Pockets! J asked last night before bed if we could go back out in the trailer and then again after enrichment too...they are too funny! I just hope they still like it after they've been in it for months!

I really am excited about this adventure we are starting. I love the idea of simplifying everything and stripping away all the "stuff". I know that I am "stuff person", packrat, crafter etc and I hate that about myself. I don't know if that will ever change but I would like to be able to let go a bit more and feel more freedom as a result. This move will shorely be a test of that! That's not to say I won't love to be back in a house with all my collections of things (books in particular) but for now I think this summer is going to be amazing...the fear sneaks in when I least expect it but today I am thinking only good thoughts about the time I am going to have to bond with my girls over games, the crafts we are going to make (I can't quit cold turkey ya know!) and the family time we are going to have. Not that we don't have all that now, it will just be more magnified in a small space...Life is never boring and always changing...much like our weather these days!

Play food

Anyone that really knows me, and probably a few strangers that happen to start chatting with me in the toy section of a store, know how much I love wooden and cloth playfood. I have successfully gotten all the plastic out of my girls' play kitchen and replaced it with metal pots and pans, felt and cloth food and wooden dishes and food! I love to see them get creative and I even enjoy the wish lists they keep giving me for more food to make!

So it's no surprise that I am doing everything in my power to get as many entries in a great giveaway for wooden playfood!! Hop on over to Mark it with a B and check it out! The coolest thing about this giveaway? It takes place on J's birthday!!! How perfect is that!?

A Hero worthy of the name

When my girls grow up, I hope they look back on the last few moments with an amazing memory of getting to see history in the making...

Lance Mackey just won his forth consecutive Iditarod dogsled race!!!!

The four of us sat here around the laptop listening to a live radio show out of Nome and then just seconds before he pulled into town we got the live feed from the local news channel and got to watch it all LIVE!!!!! I get teary just thinking about it...and so greatful that we all got to watch it together!!! The girls were so excited and I just can't help but feel this pride mixed with unexplainable excitement to have witnessed such an event! As Lance pulled into town and got off his sled, everybody and their brother came up to him to congratulate him and he just kept checking on his dogs, hugging them and petting them and I imagine telling them "Good Job". Even as the official people made their checks of his sled (they are required to carry certain items and have to have them with them to win) Lance was giving his dogs treats and getting THEM settled before he took his turn in the spotlight....that, to me, is a man worthy of the term hero.... In a world where bigger is thought to be better and flashy is always more appealing, it is good to know that somewhere on this globe people take the time and appreciate a job well done....it's a long ride from Anchorage to Nome...1049 miles for those of you who don't know...

A friend of mine from college Nathaniel posted these amazing pictures from the start of the Iditarod. His pictures have always been amazing and have always spoken to me...they capture something special. I hope you enjoy them too...please tell him I sent you!

I just got this in the mail yesterday. I had a friend of mine send it from Alaska so I could surprise Jason on the annivesary of us meeting...at Jitters. I knew I wasn't going to be able to wait! I gave it too him after we watched Lance win and we brewed a pot right away to celebrate! It was SOO yummy!!! Now we'll see how much of a buzz we have and how much energy I have this evening!Maybe I'll get some much needed crafting in! Pictures are sure to follow! :)

Open house

We had a good turn out at our open house and a lovely afternoon at the movies! And our house made the front page of the real estate section of the newspaper! Can't you just see the scrapbook pages I can make!? :)

A huge mix

As I sit here on the back porch, the house is spotless, the clock is ticking and we are just sitting here waiting to leave so our realtor can come show off our house for the open house that is to take place today....I am a mix of memories we've had here on this porch and in our yard and wondering what is yet to come for this place. Will we get to have the girls' birthday here one last time? Who else will create new memories here...will they feel the same peace we have in this spot on the porch? Will it become an oasis for another family that has been uprooted and find sanctuary within the confines of this fenced in privacy?
I try to take it all in and feel greatful for the time we've had here and the blessing this house has been to us when we felt like everything else around us was on attack...looking back our stay here has opened us up to so much growth and I'm so thankful for this time in our lives...

Missing in Action

I feel like it has been FOREVER since I was able to do something therapeutic like knitting, reading or writing on this blog. I swear it's like I've been missing in action! lol The last week things were really coming down to the wire for getting things ready to get the house on the market. My dear hubby has been working so hard that I feel guilty for feeling so tired and emotional. I can't believe everything he has gotten done in a really short about of time and it makes me feel bad that we didn't get it all done sooner so that WE could enjoy the house in such great shape! It's been a never ending job gettign this house how we wanted. I'll try to how you why another time...

...it's finally sinking in that we are leaving and all I can do is cry. (It's also my time of the month so I'm hoping it's mostly hormones making me feel so emotional) Now that everything is pretty much packed and we are in a shell of a house, I am really starting to feel it all soaking in....mad that we finally have friends here after years of hating it here, frustrated that all the things I wanted to do fun for school are packed now, disappointed that we didn't get to go to MO where we'd have some comforts (including friends we consider family and a house we had lined up that would have been "perfect"), bummed that the house is finally how we want it for someone else to get to enjoy and scared out of my mind that the house will sell and we'll be living in a travel trailer for months...not to mention terrified that the house won't sell at all!!! I thought I was scared at the idea of living in one place but this moving is really getting to me!!



wiping tears....



deep breaths.....



sigh....



another deep breath....



Then I come to my senses and think, of course our house will sell. People would be crazy not to buy a house that has been completely redone, huge back yard, nice new covered porch, new heater and roof etc...of course they are going to buy it in a matter of days, leaving us plenty of time to find a nice travel trailer for a great price with everything we want in it....living in a trailer will be just the adventure we need. Hey, that's why we homeschool...we like adventure...we like being able to pick up and make school go along with us! With a trailer we'll get to take our comforts with us on the road and won't have to rush into a house that's not perfect for us on the other end just because we need somewhere to live! We've always wanted a travel trailer and this is the perfect reason to get one right?

Yes I know I'm crazy but I'm also incredibly tired and sad at what we are leaving behind....I'm off to look at houses in Washington. That should perk me up...think trees...think mountains...think organic produce! lol Tomorrow will be a better day! The sign goes in the yard!