Tag Archives: moving

July 30, 2013 · 8:24 AM

At Last . . .

At last, our move is complete. We bid farewell to the old home and are now settling in to our new one. Although there is much to do before everything is organized and in its place, the rush is over and we can take our time unpacking.

Now the process of discovery begins and questions arise:

– What is the solution for that odor coming from the garbage disposal?

– Why is there an abundance of lights in the house except under the kitchen counter where you need them?

– What possessed the previous owners of our home to drive multiple screws – not finish nails or thumb tacks – into nearly every single wall in order to hang small pictures? Except, of course, in the room I have chosen for my office where we will have to drive multiple screws into the walls for my bookshelves.

– Where is the nearest convenience store? Or Tim Horton’s? Or gas station?

–  Why is there no exit ramp to Evans Road when you’re going west on the highway?

They say it takes 21 days to form or break a habit, to learn a new routine, or to feel at home in a new place. I know this to be true. And after months of being unsettled, living among boxes and anticipating the move, I am looking forward to putting down roots. I can already feel those tiny shoots pushing into the ground.

It’s a new day. A new beginning. A new life.

That reminds me:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

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July 8, 2013 · 9:23 AM

The Moving Adventure

We are two and a half weeks away from moving day. As you can imagine, our house is littered with boxes and storage bins, and almost every spare minute is spent filling them. It goes without saying that we have a lot of stuff, pack-rats that we are, but we really are purging as we go. There are interruptions in this process as we find pieces of our past – old letters, pictures, baby clothes, keepsakes. Of course, you have to stop to read or reminisce and then make the decision to keep or toss. Seems like we’re doing more keeping than tossing. Regardless, the packing is going well.

The fact that we are actually moving still seems surreal. We’ve been in this house for twelve years – the longest I have lived in one place in my whole life. One kind of puts roots down in that length of time. But we are carefully digging up those roots and we’ll replant them in our new home. They will grow and new memories will join them.

It’s an adventure.

We are full of anticipation and excitement at the prospect of settling into a beautiful home, getting to know a new city, cultivating new friendships. We see the hand of God leading us. He’s shown us a tiny little bit of what our future looks like, and it’s amazing. We are giddy just thinking about it!

So, a new chapter begins. This is the first home since 1977 that we are establishing without any of our children. This is the first home we’ll have with central air, granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, and a gorgeous view. This is the first home we’ll have in a city of less than 100,000 people. In some ways, this feels like our first home. Period.

Stay tuned. News and pictures to follow over the next few weeks.

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June 4, 2013 · 6:29 PM

SOLD!

This sign appeared on our front lawn today. Although the house has been officially sold for almost a week now, it takes a while for the message to filter through the various channels.

But now the fun begins. And as my mother just advised, “make sure you know where things are packed!” She moved a couple of months ago and is still looking for some things. I have taken her advice to heart.

Despite the upcoming purging and junking and selling and boxing, we are thrilled. We have purchased a beautiful home in a small community about 45 minutes from where we currently live, and it is the beginning of a long-time dream of ours to leave the big city. Our new home is on the side of a mountain with a breathtaking view of the valley and city below. I am already looking forward to warm summer evenings, sitting out on the deck with my diet Coke and enjoying the gorgeous scenery.

Will I miss the house we’ve sold? Absolutely. We’ve been here twelve years, longer than I’ve lived anywhere in my whole life. There are memories of graduations, weddings,  grandchildren, family gatherings, Bible studies, backyard barbecues, Christmases, and more. I am tucking those away in my mental photo album so they are never gone for good. And there will be new ones to add in the coming years.

We’re so excited about this new adventure God is taking us on! It’s more than just selling an old house and buying a new one. It’s establishing a whole new life.

Just proves that you’re never too old to reinvent yourself.

 

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May 22, 2013 · 2:15 PM

Back at My Desk

I am back at my desk.

It’s been a very crazy few weeks and I had neither the time or the inclination to write a blog post. After preparing our house for the real estate market and getting it listed, we were literally bombarded with potential buyers. We had thirteen showings in ten days. That’s pretty darn good, we’re told. But as good as it sounds, it meant we had to be on top of the house cleaning all the time. And not just a little dusting here and there – we had to have it in spotless, show-home condition.

My poor husband!

I’d freak out over a spot on the bathroom water faucet or a speck of dust on the coffee table or a dirty knife left in the sink. I have to say, he was very patient with me and we are still married.

The good news is that we accepted an offer on our house on Monday. Once the conditions are removed next week, it will be purging and packing time. I’m not looking forward to going through twelve years of accumulation, but I know I’ll be glad I did when it’s all done.

Oh yeah. One more thing.

We have to find a new home!

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May 8, 2013 · 9:39 AM

Moving Right Along

Well, we stalled long enough and finally got our house ready for the market. The paperwork was signed on the weekend. We have our first showing today.

We have been talking about doing this for the past seven or eight months, but it seemed like one thing after another got in the way of any action on our part. Stuff like reopening my bookstore for the Christmas season. The closing of the coffee shop that I managed. Our kids moving. My mother moving. After all of the packing and unpacking of boxes we dealt with for those events, we just didn’t feel like dealing with any more right away.

So we piddled around for a while and then gave ourselves a rather aggressive deadline by calling our Realtors and telling them we’d be ready in a week. Them being my sister and brother-in-law. Talk about incentive to get ‘er done! It was a wild week. There was purging, packing, cleaning, and lots of aching muscles at the end of the day, but we finished. And now I’ve decreed that no one shall so much as breathe in this house until there is a sold sign on the front lawn.

What next?

We’re leaving the big city at last and moving an hour’s drive away to a much smaller community where life takes a little bit slower pace. We’ll still be close to family, which is good, and to “civilization”, which is also good, and close to our church, which is very good.

Bring it on!

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