Tag Archives: moving

Three Homes

Intro to Change, , , , , , , ,

This season finds us preoccupied with houses, selling one, acquiring another. What do these different house styles say about us?

We joined our lives together, each owning a ranch style home.

Together we sold those homes, then combined our assets to purchase the lake house. From the street it was a beautiful ranch home that morphed once you entered into a three-story home that overlooked the lake and embraced the glory of sunsets all year long. It was the house where we thought our children would come to make memories. Not so much. Instead, we made lots of memories ourselves there. It was the house with the impeccably manicured yard and beautiful plantings. We enjoyed the changes of the seasons, the wild wind off the lake, the opportunity to sail whenever we wanted, and even the sound of our winter guests who set up shacks on the lake for ice fishing.

Lake House

From there we moved to the Colorado house, described as an old-style mountain home. We gave up the yard and the effort it took to maintain for more natural and rugged living. This house towered above the ground with the front prow encased in glass. Once you entered the home, you felt as though you could soar into the heavens. Your gaze always drawn into the sky. The air at this elevation was dryer and the skies clearer. All the seasons here seemed to arrive earlier than we expected, but each was a welcome change. Wildlife lived in proximity and sometimes challenged our abilities to cultivate anything green. The wind here surprised me and often prevented us for utilizing our outdoor spaces. It often caused me to ponder the ruggedness of life for the early settlers and wonder how they endured. But even more, I found myself surprised and mesmerized by how close and plentiful the stars appeared; I thought I could reach out and grab one… It was here that we would lie on the deck and watch shooting stars (a first for me). 

Mountain House — Window to the Heavens

Now we are relocating, even further west; something I never imagined. This time we move to a Mediterranean style home, in a rural location with different vegetation from anything I’ve known. Our trips these last eight years to California have introduced me to some of these plants so they don’t appear as foreign as they used to, but I know nothing of their care. Something new to learn. The daytime climate outdoors may be warmer, but the house design should keep us comfortable. The more temperate climate and house design should provide the opportunity to utilize outdoor living more—something we’ve both wanted. A dedicated art room instead of repurposing a room will be a fresh experience and the location where you may often find me. Many of the critters I’ve become accustomed to in Colorado will also live there, plus a few new ones. Our new home will allow an opportunity to absorb the new landscapes and vistas, which will thrill me. Enough space to entertain, yet enough private spaces for us to enjoy living in our comfort zone. Who knows what adventures await us there?

Name to be determined…

Change and change and change. Each house so different from the one before and each filled with pleasant thoughts. I expect the fresh change to continue to offer adventures, hope and another place for us to share our love.

In God’s economy, nothing is ever wasted.

Things to ponder...., , , , , , ,

I’ve been helping one of my dear friends pack up her house to prepare for a move to another community. It has been my pleasure to watch she and her husband embark on this adventure. They’ve lived in this valley for so many years. They raised their children here, owned businesses, know many people and have more memories of this place than I can imagine. Yet, they heard God say it was time to move.

I heard she told her son how thrilled she is to have someone help with the packing, one that had moved many times with the military. Wow! I think so seldom of those years and when I do, my thoughts are of places I traveled to or people I met who impacted my life. The rigors of packing, moving and unpacking are not high on those memories. Yet God in His infinite grace makes something out of what we may perceive as nothing. I’m honored that a friend can use something past, which seems like part of another life, today.

An Interesting Dilemma to Ponder…

Things to ponder...., , , , , , , , ,

I recently read an article from the Washington Post about millennials who nix their parents’ treasures. I can see aspects of this story from both sides.

Several years ago, my husband and I performed a major downsizing effort to move west. It was an interesting experience. We have a large gaggle of adult children. Of things we wanted to find new homes for, some of the kids took a few things. We were surprised at several large family pieces we had no takers for. We sold those pieces of furniture, as they were not going to fit in our new life. It was a bittersweet revelation to us. Sad the heritage of the pieces won’t be maintained. Proud our kids could make those decisions and not take the pieces they didn’t want or couldn’t use just because they thought it would please us.

For us, or at least me, the downsizing project proved to be unbelievably liberating. We kept things with the most meaning to us, and things that would fit in our new home. It’s been good for me to travel lighter and have fewer things. Others who have gone through a similar process also talk about the freedom, which comes from shedding stuff. Perhaps the younger generation has it right. Hold onto things lightly and embrace life.

Yet I wonder if they may someday recognize the loss of some of the things they’ve passed on. We do genealogy research, so we have many photos, scrapbooks and family historical information. I have framed my great-grandfather’s original citizenship paperwork. There is only one original. I hope it will have value to someone in the family, as it is part of our roots as Americans. But I don’t know.

I’m sensory. I enjoy visual pleasures from art and photography; the fragrances of food cooking, flowers blooming or even autumn in the morning air stir me to life; the sounds of wind blowing through the tree leaves adds another dimension to the meaning of autumn for me; holding a book and actually turning the pages is part of the story coming to life; enjoying an old piece of furniture or dishes I remember seeing my grandmother use takes me back in time to her kitchen. Can one savor all those emotions without some of the things from those times?

For clarification – I do believe embracing life and all it has to offer is of far higher value than clamoring after ‘things’.

I look forward to some fun discussion. I don’t think there are any ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers, just different perspectives on this topic. Now for the questions:

1. As the parents, we aren’t ready to part with all those things yet, so how do we discern which things those kids might want later?

2. If you don’t want things, what method do you use to save memories for later enjoyment?

3. Are things of historical value important to you? Why? or why not?

4. How do you embrace life?

Have a great day — and enjoy life!

Fine Tuning the Search

Intro to Change, , ,

By 2011, we had already created our own matrix for evaluating retirement locations. We also had pretty much eliminated locations east of the Mississippi River in search of a dryer environment for health reasons. What we did not expect was what the outcome of a spring business trip would be. I was being sent to Denver, CO to speak at and attend a National IT conference. We chose to coordinate a vacation with this trip and spend about ten days on the western slope visiting Tom’s brother and sister-in-law. I was captivated by the beauty of the area and did not want to leave! I found myself feeling healthier than I had felt in years. In short, we had a great time! Upon returning home, we added this location to our matrix and started some serious research. We changed our summer plans of traveling to Arizona and New Mexico, to traveling to Colorado, specifically, the western slope and determining if we enjoyed it as much as we had in March and to start looking at property. We enjoyed the second trip even more than the first! After returning to Wisconsin we started to market our home on the lake. At work, I told them we would be moving when our house sold. I had hoped they would use this time to cross-train someone. Instead, they were banking on the weak housing market and limited by hiring policies, did nothing to prepare for my departure. At home, we continued to research property in the area where we wanted to move and created another matrix for tracking information on those homes. We lived in a large home and decided we did not want the burden of moving all this ‘stuff’ cross-country and yet wanted to maintain a warm inviting feel in our current house. We started with the obvious things. Many went to our kids and then we started running ads to sell the rest. It was a weekly process of giving away, throwing away, selling something. During the down-sizing phase, I started to emotionally connect with people who had ‘moved west’ many generations earlier. It was a liberating, exciting and emotional process. By Christmas time, there had been several successful showings of our house and we had plans to drive back to Colorado in January to seriously look at property again.