Letting Go

This Summer, two of my favorite home décor bloggers announced they were moving.  Melissa from The Inspired Room is already settling into her new home in Seattle, and Ashley from The Handmade Home still has her house on the market.

Reading that they were moving made my heart sink.  I had been so inspired by their homemaking journeys and honestly didn’t want to see them leave the houses I associated them with. (Ashley’s kitchen was one of the inspirations for my own kitchen makeover!)

{Ashley’s Kitchen at the Handmade Home}

You can imagine, then, how I’ve agonized over how and when to spill the beans announce that we are moving, too.

We are.

I wanted to wait until I knew exactly when and where we were going so I could give you a tidy little story to process.

But, alas, sometimes life doesn’t unfold in neat and tidy little packages…

***

We’ve lived in 6 different houses during the 25 years we’ve been married.  They included a 6 bedroom, 3 bathroom house in the country (when it was just the 2 of us!) and an apartment with the world’s smallest kitchen (I kid, of course) and a laundry room 2 floors below.

If I could choose which one was my favorite, I’d say they all were.  Each had its positive features, and I look back at them with fond memories.

I was also acutely aware that each of those houses was not my own and I constantly needed to hold them in an open hand.  Yes, I wanted to make them feel like “home” to us, but I poured my heart into them knowing the investment was done not for “resale” but for our own joy of living.

So, now I face a bizarre dilemma as a home décor blogger.

I find it a bit hard to know what to blog about when I’m in the process of telling my house goodbye! I’m no longer doing little renovation projects or fixing up this or that.  I do, however, want to leave the place in good shape for the next family who lives here. So, we’re purging and organizing and cleaning…

Letting go.

So we can say hello.

We’re really looking forward to saying hello: wherever that will be.

Although the process of saying goodbye to a home and place of ministry you’ve lived for 23 years is painful, we’re looking ahead with hope.

We’ve known since June that we would be moving within the next year, and we’re so grateful for the chance to have a little time to process this transition in our lives.

We’re continuing to live in our home while my husband is currently in a consultative role at the camp, and we’re looking to see where God wants us to go next. {If you’re the praying sort, please pray for us!}

For now, I’m enjoying working part time at the jewelry store (until Christmas), KonMarieing our house (which, by the way is so fun even if you’re not going to move!), and am trying to work on some projects to fill up the Etsy shop before Christmas. (I figured it could maybe be our moving truck fund!:))

Thank you for joining me on my homemaking journey. When I know the next chapter of our story, I’ll be so excited to let you know!!:)

PS.  For those of you who haven’t been reading this blog from the beginning, here are the links to all the before and after rooms pictured above:

Shabby Glam Walk-In Closet

$159 Kitchen Makeover 

Coastal Cottage Office

Stenciled Entryway

Small Bathroom Makeover Reveal

Beach Cottage Bedroom

Basement Craft & Laundry Room