Hurry up and Wait

Not much to report as of yet. We've had a few open houses, lots of showings and interest, but we are still waiting on that golden offer! We've zeroed in on a couple of ideal boats but can't make a move towards purchasing until the house is at least under contract.

So, it's hurry up and wait over here. Meanwhile, we continue to hold yard sales and pack up what we are going to take along with us. We have all had our final checkups and are getting prescriptions to fill the boat's medical kit. Sunny is all ready to go as far as the vet is concerned and now we just have to change the paperwork to the BVI.

Also while we wait, I've been researching short-term housing in the BVI because once we get there, it will be a few weeks before we can move aboard. This will be the location to ship our pallet of gear and supplies as well. It helps keep our minds off the waiting part, as well. =)

The clock ticks on...

Piles, Paint, Patience, and a party!

        My awesome friend, Krista, hosted the sale at her home, as she has a great location in town!

Piles...
Well, we are down to our last two yard sales. This Saturday we are having a gigantic one! Our front room has piles and piles of stuff! If it doesn't sell, the Goodwill truck will come pick it all up at the end of the day. Whew!

We will have our last yard sale in May, when we sell off the beds, table, and all the other stuff we are presently using until we leave.

Paint...
I cant' say we can put down the paint brushes just yet, but we are almost done with painting everything inside and out!

Patience...
It requires a lot at this stage in our lives. We just want to hurry up and go, already! We are waiting on some more stone and sod to be delivered before we can list the house. We are tearing out the old concrete driveway and installing nice pavers and a walkway. Also, a shout-out to our blog followers. We hear you loud and clear; you want updates! We have just been so crazy-busy with prepping the house, working, and just life, that the blog is pushed to the back burner. =)

Jared and I walked along the beach during lunchtime last week. Can't wait to anchor out in water like this soon!

Party...
Oh, and we are going to have one epic party to celebrate all this hard work as soon as everything is completed. Sort of like a "sailing away" party and "buy our house and/or furniture" party rolled into one. Can't wait! If we can sell it without using a realtor, we save on the commission fees and add more to the cruising kitty.

Perpetual Yard Sale

We have been in the process of slowly selling off our stuff. It's like a perpetual yard sale around here. We have stuff listed on ebay, Craigslist, and a couple of community Facebook groups. We started with random small items and have progressed to selling off some of the larger furniture. We will hold off on the beds and other needed items until right before we move, but for now, it feels good to have some of this already gone.

We donated a couple more loads to the Goodwill last week. Included in the most recent load was 20 pairs of shoes. How the heck did we amass that many extra pairs? It's mostly my fault, as I had dress shoes from back when I wore heels (read: pre-kids), weddings, and other formal events. Don't think those silver heels will work on the boat, so in the bag they go. I mostly wear flats these days, as teaching means I am on my feet constantly. I could have listed all those shoes on ebay or some other site, but honestly, it was just easier to donate the whole lot. I was really tired after a long day of sorting and just didn't have the patience to take photos, write the descriptions, and then manage the postings.

Among the furniture we sold was the large dresser Jared built for me when we were first married. That thing could hold A LOT of clothes! This is both good and bad, in the sense that I had clothes at the bottom of the drawers I hadn't really worn in years. I am in the process of pairing down that pile and will be donating a few more loads to  Goodwill this morning. I've given the kids the task of filling up a bag to donate, as well. The more we get rid of now will make things so much easier in a few months.

A friend and I decided we would have one massive yard sale together later this spring (she is moving to Maine), and that pile is growing by the week. Sometimes I feel like just donating it all, so I don't have to deal with it. Jared just wants it out of the garage. So, maybe I will hold a sale this month, just to see if that pile can diminish a bit (and then donate the rest).

I think this is one of the difficult parts of changing your lifestyle; getting rid of all the excess. It really made us think about what we buy (will it fit on the boat) and how easy it is to just fill your house with stuff. It is a lifestyle change that will stick with us for sure.

My classroom is another example. We teachers store a massive amount of stuff in our cabinets! Supplies for art and various projects, file cabinets of lesson plans and activities, boxes of science lab equipment and experiment necessities, books--my classroom library alone consists of a few overstuffed bookshelves, bulletin board decor, posters for various subjects, math manipulatives, small group materials, and so much more.  I haven't bought much for my classroom this year because I already had overstock from previous years. Knowing that I will be out of my classroom for awhile is forcing me to go through all the stuff I have so that I don't have to pack it all up in May.  My desk drawer is full of all sorts of stickers, stamps, and what-not. I am sure you teachers out there can relate! I am sure that when I return to the classroom, I will approach things differently.

Another goal of mine is to scan all of my lesson folders so that all I have is just a digital copy of everything, including photos of the project samples. This will take me down from three stuffed filing cabinets to none! That alone is a huge task, but I figure if I do one row of files a week, I can get it all done before April! #fingerscrossed

So, for all the other families out there in the same "boat" as we are, how is it going with downsizing? If you have a blog, share it below in the comments!

The Boat Box

Yikes, time is flying by way too quickly! We are officially on Christmas break and most of our free time is spent working on the house. I'm taking a little break this afternoon to work on the blog.

As I clean up from the holidays, I am setting aside piles to go back into storage, donate, and one for the boat. I have been thinking ahead to future holidays and wondering just what to bring to decorate the boat with. There isn't much out there on this topic, so I am just going with my gut and what I think will work in a much smaller space. Some LED lights, a few decorations, and ornaments, but I figure we will just make do with what we have, as well as create new decorations depending on where we are. That will be all part of the adventure!

Santa brought a huge stack of board games and card games for the boat. These are definitely going into the boat pile. The kids' Christmas Elf, Christopher, will for sure find his way to where we are (I have promised the kids he would find us). One of my favorite finds were these Glow in the Dark Playing Cards

Thus, a few "Boat Boxes", large plastic totes, have joined our household and I am slowly filling them with things to bring on board. Home school curriculum, small surprises, decorations, and whatever else I think we might need are making their way into these totes. Of course, the kids are also "helping" with this endeavor, so I have to be sure and check through the contents before I pack the tote and stick it in storage (we have a "to go on the boat" area in there).

What items did you pack on board for the various holidays?

Progress on the House

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! What have we been up to lately? Well, today, up to our necks in insulation installation! We took some time out to celebrate Thanksgiving with our family and then got right back at it.

We are making lots of progress on the home addition and are now working on installing the insulation and new windows. There's an inspection on those this week and then we can start on the drywall! The kids really want to go get a Christmas tree, but that has to wait until after drywall and the new flooring projects are completed. Fingers crossed we are done in a few weeks! 

We want to enjoy all this hard work before we sell the house in the spring. In between working at our regular jobs, working on the house, and dealing with the kids' schedules, we are also trying to continue to move things into storage and slowly sell or give stuff away.

Making Progress

We made progress on the de-cluttering this week. Since storage was emptied, we had a few tubs of stuff on our back deck. Okay, make that around 10 tubs and various boxes and containers. Since we need to tear out the back deck in order to start on the addition, it meant I needed to get in gear and sort through it all.
I started this early yesterday morning and after a few hours later, I had loaded the trailer for the donation center and landfill. The rest of it is either going to our storage unit (keepsakes and things we will use when we return from our adventure) or friends who wanted certain items. I have a friend who is starting her teaching career in primary grade levels, so the rest of my kindergarten classroom stuff went to her.

The building was open today, so we dropped off the load there instead of driving all the way out to the landfill area (like last time).

The kids were not keen on making another landfill trip. Zach actually donned one of our painting masks. Geez... these kids. Anyway, it was a successful and quick trip. After a quick trip to the donation center on our way home, we were back home in time to BBQ dinner and have a family movie night.

Now, we are through that mess, we can move on to the addition project and get this house ready for sale next year (I would love to try and rent it out, but that all depends on how finances are when we leave). Either way, we need to get a move on with this! Our only hold up is the city--waiting on their "historical home" review (which by the way, our home is not considered historical) so that we can finally get our building permit.


I can't believe it is already the month of July. Where is the summer going? I stopped by my classroom earlier this week, just to put the furniture back from where the custodial crew moved it for cleaning. Matt helped me, so it went quickly. While I am trying not to think about classroom projects too much at this point and enjoy the summer, I know that I need to at least make my "to-do" list and get copies made for the month of August (before everyone else returns and is in the copy room).  The first day of school will be here before long (in about 5 more weeks).

Hope everyone is doing well and wishing you all a wonderful Independence Day celebration!
~Stef

Boat Filter

Crossed another item off the list! What a relief! While Jared was home recovering and the kids at the movies, I tackled the task of clearing out the rest of the storage unit and closing out our account. It wasn't that large of a space, however, it was pretty full.

The past few days found me sorting through a lot of stuff. I asked myself again, how did we acquire so much? Anyway, all of the things we are keeping are stored in our shipping container at my parent's property, while the remainder has been donated or sold. 

It is a nice feeling to have that task completed, yet I know we have one final clear out of the house before we set sail. One thing at a time...

We have a different view when it comes to shopping now. Those cute home decor and crafting aisles don't call my name any longer. We use what I call the "boat filter" when shopping. Can we use this when we move aboard? Will it fit? Will it be useful while cruising? It really helps. 

I am looking at our pantry with a new view as well. If we do end up going next summer, we can take food aboard if we find a boat in the U.S. Most likely though, it will be in Europe, so we need to begin using up all the canned items to ensure we don't have boxes of food we can't use. Of course, anything left over we cannot take, would go to our local food pantry. 

We are slowly working through the to-do's and I know we'll get there...eventually! #goals

One

Yesterday found us back at our storage unit clearing out another trailer load. This makes three in total.

I made a comment to Jared while loading up that I truly felt like we had gotten rid of a lot the last time I was here (last week), yet it sure didn't look like it. I swear this stuff multiplies when we aren't looking! 

I read an article the other day on how it eventually gets to where the stuff owns you. You pay to move it with you, pay to store it, pay the stress of having to eventually deal with it all. And for what? Memories. Nostalgia. Or just too tired / no time to actually go through everything and throw it out. I plead guilty to all of the above. I am a sentimental person and a lot of these things have value to me. The cards we received when we got married, had our babies, graduation mementos, travel souvenirs, you know what I am talking about. All of that stuff you slowly collect as you go through life, My husband's answer to all of this: "take a photo, it doesn't take up space". At first I just ignored him, applying the "men just don't get it" philosophy. Now though, I think he has a point. I can place those cards in a memory book or just scan them. Now, if I could just find the time...

Later on that evening, as I was going through yet another box, I found this poem. It is a small plastic card, meant to keep in your wallet, and I think my mom gave it to me back in high school. It must have been around the time I was applying to various colleges, writing essays, and feeling like I had this huge mountain to climb. I remember her telling me to just take one page at a time, one essay at a time. Now, I am applying this same wisdom to this task of selling all this stuff. One box at a time. One day at a time.

I want to give a shout out to all the other bloggers out there who have or are going through this same stage. It helps to read about it, seriously! Knowing that it is possible, that others made it through and are now on their adventures, gives me the grit to push through and tackle this task. Thank you for inspiring us all. I hope in the future, we can help someone else get through this process. 

This is what I am dealing with right now, y'all. 

Just now, Jared walked by and asked  "you're posting that online"? 

Me: "Yep. Just showing what we are dealing with. Later on, we can look back and see all we've accomplished"!

Jared: "Yeah, how we had way too much crap."  

I shake my head as he walks off, but I know that in the end, it will all be worth it. Time to grab this mug of coffee and dive in!

~Stef

Simplifying Slowly

Now that the school year is wrapped up, I have time to really devote to working on our "get ready to sail project".  I have to do a couple things in my classroom before the custodial crew comes through, but for the most part, I am done (until mid-July when I start putting it all back together for my new crop of 5th graders).

This means, we get serious about getting our storage unit cleared out (and saving the $200 per month fee)! Our goal is to move everything out by the end of the month. Our first large yard sale will be this Saturday and we may have a couple more during the summer, as well as listing items for sale on a local community site and Craigslist.

This past weekend, we took our first load of items to our new storage container on my parent's property. We are keeping items like photo albums, baby books, important documents, and some things we will use when we return from our trip (like a couple of furniture pieces Jared made). I decided to also move some of the holiday decorations, as we will have at least one more of each holiday in our house before we go. Some of these decorations were made by the kids, while others were passed down from family.

Today (and probably for the rest of this week), I will be taking all of the items we are selling this Saturday out of storage and labeling them with prices. My sister-in-law will be taking some items for her younger kiddos, and that pile is growing by the minute. The trips to the donation center have already begun, although it doesn't look like it at this point. It is easy to get overwhelmed by everything on the shelves. I have made a daily goal of just getting one of the shelving units emptied. If I do more than that, great. If not, that's ok.

How did we acquire so much stuff? 14 years of marriage and 3 children later, led to an accumulation of all sorts of things. I used to sew a lot and had a side business for awhile. This means I have bins of fabric that I just haven't off-loaded yet. I keep thinking I will have the time to tackle those sewing projects I have put on the back burner, but now I see that it just isn't going to happen. Time to move on.

Jared and I were talking on the drive back home last night, that when we moved into our house last year, we left so much stuff in our old driveway. Seriously, after we had filled up 3 industrial sized dumpsters, we still had bins of wrapping paper, decorations, furniture, clothing, kitchen stuff, and other miscellaneous items. We posted photos on a local community site and within 5 minutes, we had cars lining the street! Jared couldn't believe how fast these people showed up! They took everything! The driveway was emptied within an hour! We may apply the same strategy if we have anything remaining after the summer yard sales.

We thought we had truly downsized after the move, however, after going through the kids' rooms, our garage, and storage unit, I am asking myself, why didn't I get rid of it last year? We are now looking at each new purchase with the eyes of a future liveaboard. If it won't fit on the boat, we don't need it! I am working on getting the kids to view things the same way. Do you really want to spend your birthday money on a new lego set (when they already have a few bins full of them) when you could save up for a SUP (stand up paddle board) to bring on the boat? Our oldest is on board, where as the other two may take awhile to come around. Ah well, one day at a time...