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Cleaning House

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It’s official: I now have more plastic storage bins than actual possessions.  (although I guess plastic bins are possessions too?)

 

All those were once full. In the last two months I’ve gotten rid of over 5,000 pounds of belongings. Sorting, selling, weekly trips to charities. It’s quite embarrassing actually. And it’s been an extensive process because I just don’t want things to end up in a landfill….so I have to get creative. We built our house to have unlimited storage….and now all that storage is empty.  I can’t imagine anywhere close to that much stuff ever again.  I will write about this process soon….it’s been a very long one and I can tell you it’s changed me.  It’s changed our whole family.  Our closets are empty.  Our shelves and storage rooms are empty. Of course we still have work to do over the next 2 weeks still.  We’ve started to say goodbye to friends here in the desert and it’s becoming more real that we are making such a huge change.  I have more to tell you about all of this but there are still things falling into place and I will share very soon.  I’m off to the Elevate Conference this weekend in Newport.  Excited for a short weekend break before my last two weeks of wrapping up all loose ends.  And then I can get back on my regular blogging schedule!

We plan on being at the Hemlock Inn by Brett’s birthday, June 9th (his 40th).  We’ll be celebrating my birthday probably at the Grand Canyon on the 2nd (I’m envisioning a candle in a chocolate Ding Dong…that would be so awesome.)  Thank you for all the recommendations along the way…we will be making quick stops. (and maybe staying with a few of you who happen to be on the route…wayfarers on our way to a new life!)

 

What I Would Take to a Deserted Island

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My family. My books and journals. Water?

We were going to go to church this morning but I have a horrendous cough.  We stayed home instead and made biscuits with apple butter.  Brett and Boo know me way too well because I got books from the two of them this morning:

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: How I Learned to Live a Better Story by Donald Miller
and
Love Wins by Rob Bell


The Best Mommy in the World. That’s what my card says.

 

We spent the rest of the day packing up boxes and sorting more things for our move.  I did manage to get a photo of Boo and I yesterday at the Mother’s Day Tea at school:

 

It’s been a process getting rid of 30+ years of belongings and collections as we gear up for a simpler life. Last night we went to our usual pizza place and Boo took all of her 10K+ loose crayons for their almost empty bins. She even refilled them herself:

This has been good for us.  The more we get rid of the more we want to get rid of. It’s a domino effect.  I’ve made at least 2 thrift store runs a week and we plan to have a big moving sale for the remaining items right before we leave.  And the house we’ll hopefully still sell furnished (furniture, plates and silverware, pots, artwork…even the fish in the fish tank!)

Boo doesn’t want to really keep much at all….just her books and her dolls.  (Goodbye Barbie Dream House!)  Brett and I have narrowed our closets down to the bare necessities.  I’ve kept some craft supplies and tools so I can keep doing DIY on the blog but really we are only taking what we can haul with us.  No movers, no storage.  I feel like I’ve been playing that “what would you take on a deserted island” game for the past few weeks!

Except I do have that one issue: books. I haven’t really been able to get rid of any.  Actually not true…I did remove 2 from the pile, but only because they were duplicates. And I sorted my piles by memoir, fiction, self help, etc.  OCD. And when I try to pack them I end up rearranging piles: might want to read before I leave. pack last. leave out of boxes. hide in suitcase. hide in camera bag.

I did hand pick some items for the blue label page to help fund our move and the next few months as we figure things out.  Thank you for all the support. What’s on the page is just about the last of everything.  I can’t wait to get through all of this craziness so I can focus full time on writing finally.  We are leaving June 1st regardless of whether the house sells. We’ll just leave it. And rely on faith that it will sell in its right time.

(Note: Need to figure out the best way to get Internet in the car on the way cross country: hot spot phone or just stand alone hot spot?)

Hope you had a wonderful day!

 

Fighter Fires

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On my wall this week:

Nothing in Life is to be Feared #quote #chalkboard

At dinner tonight we sat next to a table of Cal Fire Firefighters (or fighter fires as Boo calls them). As they got their food their alarms started going off and half the group darted out to the ladder truck. Boo walked over and asked the remaining group of firemen why they didn’t have to go too. I guess only one of the trucks was called but it turned out to be a false alarm and they returned a few minutes later. Boo chatted with them for a few minutes.  The firemen learned that becoming a firefighter is probably the last choice on Boo’s list of careers.  Her fear of fire on a scale of 1 to 10 is probably 12,535,105.  They gave her a badge anyways. She wasn’t born with a fear of fire, it’s grown over time.  The fire atop the mountains last year, that threatened friends homes and covered our home in ash didn’t help.  And then there was the house that burned down across the street.  Oh and the Fairfield Inn that burned last week right down the street. I don’t blame her one bit.  Fire scares me too.

She idolizes those firemen….because “they are brave of the fire.”

(i.e. they understand it)

Thank you God for first responders.

I love this GoPro video of a fighter fire saving a kitten:

 

 

 

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