I yi yi! Sorry I have been MIA this last week. Mid-week I decided to stop procrastinating and host a moving sale. I have been dragging my feet about getting ready for our big move to Alaska, mostly because moving is such a hassle and because I really don't want to leave our beautiful home. I loooooove our house! It's the first home we have owned and I love every detail about it. I love all the little finishing touches here and there, and I really love the location. We have all the small town country charm with the river literally in our backyard and the produce farms literally across the street. Our neighborhood is straight out of a storybook, filled with families, block parties, the most intense holiday decorators, and the best neighbors I could ever ask for. How could that get any better? Well, add in that its only 10 minutes from the hustle and bustle of the city with all its shopping and restaurants and it just gets better and better! Are you beginning to understand why I am having a hard time packing up and being proactive about the move? We are learning just how spendy it is to live in Alaska and I know we could never afford what we have here. There are so many logistics that go into moving but this move has taken that to a new level as I learn it will take 5 days aboard a ferry, that we need to bring negative degree sleeping bags in case the car heater stops working, and we need to leave room in the car for gas cans because once we get to Alaska we will still have 700 more miles to drive in the dead of winter through stretches without gas stations! In short, I AM FREAKING OUT! I keep telling myself it will be ok. I know it will. I have faith that it will be ok, because we have been blessed with the clear understanding that we are meant to go to Alaska. Without a doubt in my mind, God wants us there. He has made that very clear every step of the way so far from how we received this assignment to solutions for the details of the move itself. I still don't know how it is all going to work logistically, but everytime I start to wig out I get a clear sign to have faith in God and to hand it all over to Him. Need an example? The other day we were on our nightly family walk when I came to the realization that we would have to leave for Alaska a whole month and half before I originally anticipated. The ferries don't run often in the winter and to get there by my husband's report date we need to leave 6 weeks early! This creates a whole slew of problems ranging from scheduling movers, to finding renters, to missing the holidays in our home. I quickly felt the stress welling up inside of me and just as I was about to burst into tears I looked down and saw this...
Isn't that incredible? It's a sign written in sidewalk chalk covering the width of the street and says "Have faith in God!" WOW! It instantly brought me peace and reminded me to stop and just give all the stress and worry to Him, and let Him make it perfect.
Last Tuesday I finally pulled myself up by my bootstraps and threw together a moving sale- materializing the fact that we are indeed moving. I had no idea how much work it is to put together a sale! Rummaging through everything, weeding out what we no longer need, cleaning it all up, organizing it, and the hardest part...putting a price on all our things, things with memories. Like our couch, the first piece of furniture my husband and I bought together. Young lovers in our first apartment, that couch was the only thing we had to our name and that was enough for us! As hard as it was, I pulled it off and it was a pretty successful sale. When all is said and done we made close to $1000! Craigslist is really a wonderful thing! Now I am left with empty spaces in our home. I will be busy this next week rearranging so that some of the rooms don't feel so lonely and taking pictures so we can list our house for rent. {sigh}
Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that I am still here. I have missed my blog and all you readers! I know it has only been a few days, but what can I say? I'm addicted! I cant wait to peruse my favorite blogs and see what everyone is up to, especially as people pull out all their fall decor! Fall is my favorite season and since I wont be able to decorate for Christmas this year I have decided to go all out for Fall! Today, I started to work on transforming the front porch. Here's a sneak peak into what's to come...
Thanks for hanging in there! I promise this week will be full of fun (probably Fall themed) posts! :)