100% Mobile!

We're ready to shout it from the rooftops...

WE SOLD OUR HOUSE-ON-DIRT!!!

On Wednesday December 5, the Simpson Six closed our chapter of life in Indianapolis and became 100% mobile with the closing of the sale of our house. As with every other detail in this journey toward living more intentionally, flexibly, and increasing our mobility and ability to live life more fully, it comes with a great story.

Back in March of this year, we met with a realtor who was recommended to us by friends who had sold a couple of homes with her, including one just on the other side of the neighborhood. They also sold their Indianapolis home to relocate their family across the country, so we felt like she might be a good fit for us as a realtor. We listed our home with her April 2 and for the next 6 months had a constant string of showings, averaging 1/week over the course of the spring/summer/early fall. However, feedback from our realtor after each of these showings trickled to a halt upon our launch into full-time travel, and communication became more and more of a challenge with this real estate agent. By mid-October and the end of this first contract we decided to re-evaluate our options and try something different.

I contacted a college friend who I've become re-acquainted with over the last year or so that we lived in Indy that happens to be a realtor specializing in the North side of Indy, and also knows our neighborhood well. She has a great track record with selling homes, and most of all we were so impressed with how easy she was to get in touch with and communicate with while we were discussing our options for our home. We discussed rental options and how, unfortunately, we were heading into the slowest point in the year for real estate sales in Indianapolis. 

Against conventional wisdom, we decided to re-list with our friend, Christy, as our realtor and give the house a few more months on the market before we considered crossing over to the world of being long-distance landlords. We really didn't want to lease the home, and knew that if anyone could help us sell our home before spring, Christy could do it!

We listed the house October 17 and within three weeks we had 6 showings, 2 second showings and on November 5 we received our first offer! Over the next few days we negotiated with the buyer and both parties agreed upon a contract on November 7.

Now, here's where the story gets exciting.

If you'll recall, when we bought our truck in Moab, UT, we were called back to Colorado for Jason to work an extra week or two to complete the job in Snowmass. Because we needed to register our new truck in Indiana within 30 days, we decided to head east toward Indiana before the next snowfall. Well, the next snowstorm was forecasted to make its way into the Rockies around November 9/10, so we started traveling east toward Indiana on November 7. Therefore, when we got the call that the house was under contract, we were already in Denver, CO for the night, planning to be in Indiana within a few days.

Ordinarily, it wouldn't be that big of a deal if we were back in Indy before the house closed, since we had already completed our final cleaning back in June when we hit the road and it was in turn-key condition for new owners. However, one awesome surprise that we never expected was thrown our way. The buyer had waived their option to have the home professionally inspected, but instead requested only that our vegetable garden be removed. Well, since we were already planning to swing through town and the weather promised to be amazing for the few days that we were there, we gladly agreed to a few hours of manual labor to pull up the weeds, rake up the thatch and offered the garden fencing to a neighbor who will put it to good use.

An added bonus on our end to skipping over the home inspection step before closing was that we had very, very little to do on our end prior to the week of closing and once we had a contract, we had a contract without any contingencies! Seriously, how much easier could this home-selling process possibly be?!

Because we were continuing on toward the east coast, Jason and I were able to complete our end of the closing process remotely. Although a little complicated with having to rent a van for a few days and find a notary public to witness our signatures on the documents, it was really simple, easy and painless on our part.

Finally, 8 weeks after re-listing with a new realtor, 30 days after receiving the offer and just 4 weeks after going under contract, our house-on-dirt was sold and closed!

It was a great little house for our family and provided a home for us when all that we wanted was a spot of dirt to call our own. It was, in its time, our own little piece of heaven, and I hope that it is a dream come true for its new owner as well.

Now, for the icing on the cake, and yet another example of God's hand in the story of our lives...

When we purchased our new truck in Utah, the only hesitation that we faced was taking on a vehicle payment, which had never been part of our family's budget, when we were still paying a mortgage and other expenses related to owning a house-on-dirt. We knew that we could swing the extra expense, but that it would definitely put a limit on our family's freedom while we had both a mortgage and a truck payment to make.

Well, last week, before we knew when our house would close, we scheduled the first payment on the truck to draft from our account on Wednesday December 5. Our house closed on Wednesday December 5, so not only did we not have to make a final December mortgage payment on our home, the funds from the sale of the house were disbursed prior to the truck payment being drafted from our account. 

We did not make the first payment on our truck until after the house was off of our family's books.

When I checked our bank accounts and saw this, I had to sit down. Every small detail was ordained and "just so". God continues to make His presence known in our story, and we continue to acknowledge and express both our awe and thankfulness for these little confirmations that we're right where we are supposed to be.

Never Again. (Or, Enough is Enough)

As I sit in my mostly empty house, surrounded only by what remains of the contents of my kitchen, a half dozen boxes of photographs and albums, and a hodgepodge of about 3 or 4 boxes of random items that still need to make their way to our new home--our house-on-wheels--my heart resonates with only one thought:


Never again.


Never again will I allow myself to mindlessly acquire "stuff".
Never again will I allow my mental capacities to be taxed with the task of maintaining and caring for said unnecessary "stuff".
Never again will I allow my time and energy to be taken up by things at the detriment of spending time with people.


Maybe this is all a little overdramatic (I'm good for that, just ask my husband--or any member of my immediate family for that matter!), but realistically not by much.


Our family has spent a solid 6 months of ruthlessly purging our lives of all of the extraneous "stuff" surrounding us, in order to be in a position to move into our 400 (or so) glorious square feet of indoor living space and make our home travel with us wherever we go. That doesn't allow room for much, if any, excess. If we don't need it with us on the road, for the most part we don't need it at all in our lives.


A few exceptions include the lawn and garden items and some larger tools that we used regularly in our house-on-dirt, but I'm not even talking about that. I'm talking about the 5 sets of dinnerware, each serving between 4-12 people. I'm talking about the equivalent of a full van load with all seats down full of books that were essentially donated to Half-Price Books. I'm talking about the 12 tubs of outgrown children's clothing that we were storing for who knows what reason, since we are pretty much 100% positive that our family is complete with the six of us. I'm talking about the several large boxes of teaching supplies that were at least 10 years old and had not been used in at least 5 years. These things were all taking up space in my brain--somewhere, because I knew that they all existed! These things were all items that I had to inventory and decide how to re-home, and put forth the effort to find those new homes for the items.


All of this brain-power, time and energy could be much better spent with my family, my friends, or even with being more available with my time to just "be" with acquaintances and strangers. I never want to trade away my time and energy for "stuff" in this way ever again.


Now, I recognize that we could have just hauled in a dumpster and thrown everything unnecessary away and been done with it, but adding another irresponsible act onto our negligence in the acquisition of the "stuff" would only make matters worse. We strive to do the right thing in all that we do, and a big part of this is with stewardship. Just because I don't need 6 sets of glassware doesn't mean that someone, somewhere does not need them. So, instead of pitching the extra sets of glasses, we sold or donated them to either an individual or organization who could use them. And we have done the same with approximately 2/3 of our belongings since January 1, 2012.


Of what remains, we've stored about 1/3 of our belongings (including the furniture which are heirloom pieces) and the remainder is what we are moving into the RV with us.


The jury is still out on if all of the time and energy spent selling those items that we sold before sending to the donate pile was worth it. The total is in the $1000s of dollars--that we've in turn spent on items that we've needed to transition into our new home. So I'm inclined to say that it has been worth our while. I also know that we have been able to sell most of these things at a really great price to people who needed them and we have walked away with some really rich stories and experiences in the process.


We've been able to donate extensively, not just in our thrice monthly van loads to Goodwill, but also to many organizations and individuals who could specifically use our unneeded items. Many items that were otherwise destined for the landfill or Goodwill found new homes as beds in transitional housing projects, restocking the clothing bank of a Community Pregnancy Center which was destroyed by a flood earlier this year, shoes that will provide both jobs and footwear for a community on the African continent, cloth diapers for the next 2-3 years for a friend's new baby (who is due to be born any day now!), and seed items for a yard sale to help fund our dear friends' adoption.


Through it all, we've kept with our family standard of only sending 2-3 kitchen bags of trash to the landfill each week. I say this not to boast, because I know that all households are different and that not all communities offer the same recycling opportunities that ours does, but to demonstrate that downsizing and purging does not always involve sending large amounts to the landfill. If done in a responsible manner, your excess can lend itself toward someone else obtaining their "enough".


And really, that's what it's all about.
Learning when enough is enough, so that everyone can have enough.


That's what I desire to be about, and what Jason and I desire for our family to be about. In order to make this more than simply words, but put action to it, we've walked a long road as a family over the past 6 months to get to this point. However, I'll venture to say that we've not yet arrived, and I hope that I never feel as though we have.


Until everyone has "enough", I hope that I can always find space in my life to contribute to that, however that may look like.


But again I say, never again. Never again will I let that which is most important be buried beneath the weight of all that simply appears to be of value.

Adventures of a Single-Vehicle Family in the Suburbs...

So, I'd be lying if I didn't say that part of me is very excited to now be a single-vehicle family. Yes, we still have the motorcycle (for at least a little while longer) that Jason can ride solo to and from places that he needs to be, but only when the weather is fair. The past few days has been rather spring-like and full of rain. While the rain is wonderful for our garden, it's also forced us to adjust rather quickly to life with one vehicle.


First, let's get the logistics out of the way. Each day now, we're all rising early and leaving the house by 7am. Okay, more like 7:10--we don't have it down to a science yet! I drive Jason and the older girls to school and return home with the younger kids to have their second breakfast (yes, we are raising Hobbits, I'm afraid!) and regroup before we go about the activities of our day. After school, the little kids and I get back into the van, and drive back to school to pick up the older girls and Jason at the end of their day. What if one of us has an evening or weekend event to attend? Well, whoever needs to go does, and the other stays home with the kid(s) who are not attending. So far, it seems like a pretty simple plan.


While many families who live either more urban or rural lives thrive on having a single vehicle for their family, having two (or more) vehicles per family is the norm in the suburbs where we live. However, we've determined that at this stage in our life it's not a necessity. Jason works a fairly predictable schedule. I am not currently employed outside of the home. We generally do things together as a family more often than we do things separately. On the rare occasion that we need a second vehicle, there is a rental car company just a mile or so up the street that we can rent a car for the day from, while still benefitting from life with a single vehicle.


Benefitting? Yes. Benefitting.


There are A LOT of benefits to our new one-car situation. While it didn't make sense for us to sell a car that we owned outright in favor of being a single-vehicle family in the past, now that we are transitioning to living life on the road full-time in a couple of months, I'm excited to reap the benefits. First of all, we have cut our vehicle insurance and registration fees in half! We've cut our gas expenses by about 1/3-1/2 (we'll find out the real number at the end of this month). We have significantly reduced our vehicle maintenance costs. Since our van is still covered under both the manufacturer warranties and the Volkswagen Carefree Maintenance Program, we have had $0 vehicle maintenance costs on our van in 2.5 years, compared to the cost of routine maintenance on our Saab. Not to mention the stress relief of having one more large item liquidated from our lives and opening wider the door for us to move forward toward our dream.


Monetary benefits aside, the greatest benefits for our family to come from living with a single vehicle are many. We will spend more time together as we travel en masse to and from places, even if just one or two family members need to be at the destination. We are forced to make more decisions for the greater good. Just because someone would "like" to go somewhere, we can't just drop everything and go without consideration of everyone else's schedules and needs. Finally, being forced to consider one another's needs and best interests and increasing communication between spouses and children can only lead to a better marriage and family experience.


I'm optimistic about the days, months and potentially years ahead as a single-vehicle family! It likely won't be this way forever, and someday we'll likely need a second car in our lives, but I will cherish these special days while they are here.

The juggling act

I now find myself in the midst of this thrilling, exhilarating, and frustrating juggling act.  We have had great success in moving most of our small and medium items.  Now we are at the point where the big things need to happen.  Sell the car, the van, the motorcycle, and the house so that we can purchase a truck and fifth wheel.  All the while keeping life going as usual.  The goal is to borrow as little money as possible--even as a short term loan--during this process.

2003 Harley Davidson Sportster 1200c 100th Anniversary Edition up for sale.

So here we are left to figure out what we sell first, then second, then third. We also must figure out when, after we sell one or some of these things, it is time to purchase something else.  While this is going on, we still have to make sure that we have transportation to and from work, school, shopping, and any other events or activities that we have planned.


Thus, the juggling act.


It is thrilling for me, because I am back in the 'let's get things moving' groove.  I can seriously look for the fifth wheel and the truck with the intent to work a deal and purchase.  No more do I have to peruse listings and spec sheets only to imagine and file away the information.  Believe me, I AM EXCITED!


And I am frustrated, because I am not in the position to make an offer and say 'I'll take it' when I find what I want.  Instead, it is a matter of asking if they can be flexible, to wait for my other things to sell, to find out if it can be held.  I know how I have felt in selling my items when someone has asked for me to wait.  NO, I don't want to, I want this thing sold and gone. Yes, there were times that I was able to be flexible, accommodating, and work with their schedule.  I can only hope that when I find 'the one' that this will be the case.  I also remind myself that being a larger priced item, that they will understand some time will be needed to complete the transaction.


Speaking of large purchases and juggling, we found out which item will be the first to leave the juggling act.  We sold our car this weekend! Now we are down to the van.  This will be great practice for when we just have the truck while on the road.

Goodbye Saab! You were a great car.

This is another reminder of how I really am not in control of this whole process, and that I need to just stay out of the way.  One of our small group members has a friend whose car went kaput, and not in a pretty way.  So, since they were in need of a vehicle, they were able to get into contact with us about our vehicle.  I quickly got it ready to show, and they absolutely loved it. The most amazing part is that while they were working with limited resources, they were able to offer the price that we needed in order to sell the vehicle.  A win for both parties!  We were able to sell our vehicle without having to go through the arduous process of prepping it and placing ads, and they were able to get a great vehicle for their commuting needs.

Now we need to find the buyer for our house! Anyone looking for a great house in Indianapolis, check this one out.  And if anyone knows of a good heavy duty truck that can seat six people, please let us know.

Little by Little

As word begins to spread amongst friends and acquaintances about the changes ahead for our family, many new questions continue to arise. Obviously, some changes are bigger than others. Selling our house and moving into an RV and a major vocational change for Jason are the biggest changes, but many other lifestyle changes are currently taking place in preparation for our big move. Many are so seemingly insignificant in light of bigger changes that I don't even think about them until they come up in conversation.


One of the biggest changes is the shift from private school education to homeschooling for our kids. While our girls are still in school now and will continue to finish the year strong in the school that we love, we are finalizing curriculum research and gathering our materials to transition to homeschool methods over the summer. Fortunately, summer break coincides with the timing of our big move, so we aren't feeling like we have to make a quick jump into road schooling, but we also will not be waiting until September to begin the next level of education for our kids and I want to make sure that our plans are in place to begin whenever we feel settled enough to start up with school again. Once plans are finalized, I'll write a separate post about our plans as we begin our first year of homeschooling (or road schooling as we most frequently refer to it).


Another aspect of life with small children, namely an 18-month-old, is dealing with diapers. We are pretty anti-early potty training around here--mostly because it has backfired more than once on us with having kids nearly trained by 18 months--then have a new baby+regression=AWFUL process to re-train them (and before about age 2, it's not the kid who is being trained but the adults who are toileting them who are being trained)! So we just don't go there anymore and wait until they are ready. And our kids tend to be later ones to the fully-potty-trained party, and that's totally okay by us. All that to say, we are still deep in the throws of life with diapers with Eliza. We typically don't give a moment's thought to buying diapers. For environmental and economic reasons alike, we have been a cloth-diapering household since the week that Caroline was born almost 7 years ago. She was a 100% cloth baby due to skin sensitivities, and the 3 babies after her have been somewhere between 50-75% cloth-diapered (we're realistic with the expectations that we put on ourselves--it comes with the territory of having 4 kids in 5 years!). When we buy disposable diapers we either buy the enormous box from Costco that lasts 2 or more months or order a similar shipment from amazon.com and we only think about buying diapers every 6-8 weeks or so. All this will change when we go on the road. There will be no on-your-doorstep diaper delivery service, storage space will be at a premium--so no 200 pack of diapers from Costco, and I will not be washing our diapers in the laundromat every 3 days. This week I bought my first small package of diapers to begin learning what it is like to buy diapers weekly. At $10 for 36 diapers--and realizing that I'll have to go back to the store to buy another package next week, I can see why many parents are proponents for early potty learning!


Along with buying diapers in bulk, we also like to keep a well-stocked pantry and freezer. We put up food for the year, whether by canning or freezing during harvest season and buy our meat in bulk from local farmers. As we finish using what was put up last year, it feels really strange to not be preparing to put up the bounty from this coming season. Instead, I am preparing to adjust our food-buying to shopping weekly (or twice weekly) for our family. Again, with freezer, refrigerator and pantry space at a premium in an RV, we need to learn how to plan and prepare meals and do our grocery and market shopping with an entirely different mindset.


Another adjustment that I haven't given thought to, but came to light in the midst of the Kid Stuff Sale last weekend, is how we've all significantly pared down our wardrobes. The younger kids each have about 2 weeks of clothes, or 14 outfits, for this summer--including dress clothes, casual clothes, play clothes--everything! The older girls are currently wearing the same size, so they have about 3 weeks worth of clothes, or 21 outfits, combined between them for this summer. That sounds like a lot, but if you compare it to previous seasons it is a significant reduction! We've opted for pieces that can be mixed and matched together and dresses that we can stretch through several seasons for the girls in order to keep a more minimalist wardrobe. Jason and I have also pared our wardrobes down significantly. While he still needs a professional wardrobe for school, I have slashed my clothing down to 2 pair of jeans, 3 other pants, 2 pair of shorts, a few skirts, a handful of dresses and a handful of tops and t-shirts that pair with my skirts/pants/shorts. My wardrobe is effectively 1/3 what it was just a few months ago. And you know what? I don't even notice the difference! With compact wardrobes I am forced to do laundry on a regular basis, but that's something else that I need to get into the habit of. When we are living in a 400-square-foot space, how much laundry do I really want to let pile up anyway?! There are better things to devote our time and space to.


A few other adjustments that we've made lately to help ease our transition include selling our desktop computer and adjusting to a single laptop for our family, canceling our newspaper subscription, and canceling our dairy delivery (probably the saddest and hardest for me!). There are more to come, but what currently seems like a sacrifice is for a greater purpose. If we're going to live our dream, we have to step away from what has always worked in our current situation for what will serve us best in our new situation. Just because something has always worked doesn't mean it's always the best option. As our plans evolve, everything is coming under scrutiny and the only absolute is that we're going to do what is best for the Simpson Six in a manner that will bring honor to God. And contrary to what I have always believed, sometimes "living the dream" means buying a $10 pack of disposable diapers every week.

Waiting, patiently?

Raise your hand if you like to play the waiting game.......Anyone?......me neither.

And yet, that is where I find myself.  

Waiting.  

Waiting to find the right truck.  Waiting to find the right fifth wheel.  Waiting to sell the house.  Waiting for one job to wrap up, and for another one to begin.  Patience does not seem to come readily to our household.  Stephanie and I have joked about how we missed the opportunity with the kids' middle names.  We were able to hit Grace, Joy, and Hope, but we missed the boat on patience.

I know that a lot of what I am feeling is coming off of a spree of changes.  We have had a huge garage sale and since sold off many more items; rearranged, redecorated, repaired parts of the house; have put the house on the market; have been telling countless souls about our plans and preparations.  Now, we are at a lull.  A point where most things are in motion and it is time for us to take a step back...and wait.

I am the type of person that likes to stay busy.  When I get a list of projects and to do items, I can't wait to jump in and get them done.  I attack them with a strong vigor and focus, yet I know that once I have the list completed I will be back in this position, impatiently waiting for the next thing.  Obviously, what doesn't help is knowing that these things are close at hand.  It is the basic human nature, if you don't know that it is there, it doesn't exist or matter.  Once you know it is close by, it is all that you can focus on.  When I have decided on a course of action, I chomp at the bit to get things moving.  I don't want to sound like I am just done and checking out, but quite the opposite.  I love where I am and what I am doing, but big things are on the horizon for us.

So, yes, I am getting my own opportunity to work on being present where I am.  

Here.  

Waiting.

Kid Stuff Sale

For all of our readers with children in your lives who live in the greater Indianapolis area (extending to at least a 1.5 hour radius as well!), this Saturday is a HUGE consignment sale that you'll want to make sure you come to! It fills the entire church gym, Youth Center and a large preschool classroom with top-notch items for kids of all ages!


The Kid Stuff Sale at Church at the Crossing, just inside of 465 near Keystone at the Crossing, is this Saturday from 8-noon! 50 consignors are bringing their best clothes, toys, gear, equipment and more for kids age newborn to size 16 (or about 12-year-olds) and maternity clothing. This is the 15th annual sale and it only gets better each year!


Everything is pre-screened by a committee to make sure that clothes are all in great condition--no stained or damaged clothing and all toys and games are not broken and have no missing pieces. Many name brands, new items with tags and unbelievable pricing! Most consignors price their items at garage sale prices for high end children's consignment-store quality items. In my days of stock-piling clothing for the year ahead, I would clothe all 3 of our older kids for the entire year for less than $200--and would buy most of our toys and large equipment items (like strollers, bike trailers, high chairs, baby slings, playroom furniture and more!) still staying within that budget. Seriously, this is not a sale to miss!


Check out the website at www.kidstuffsale.org for more information.
Can't shop on Saturday? It's not too late to volunteer to help with the sale and shop early on Friday evening before the sale opens to the public. Information on how to volunteer is also on the Kid Stuff Sale website. And don't worry if you're shopping on Saturday--there's so much great stuff that it won't all be gone before the sale opens on Saturday. I have always shopped early and still see things late into the morning on Saturday that I can't believe I didn't see on Friday (and usually go back through the check-out!).


I'll be there all weekend! If you do decide to check it out, come say hello! It's the first year ever that I've been at the sale without either a baby strapped to my hip or pregnant with our next little one--I don't know if I'll even know what to do with myself without a wee one in tow!!

Going on the road FAQ

To help answer some questions and expound upon what we have already posted about, we will do a type of FAQ. 


When will you leave? 
As soon as we can. Jason's contract is up June 30, so we will try to have the first job lined up and be ready to head to it by that time. We are hoping to have the house sold by that point so that all of us can head out together. If the house is not sold by then, Stephanie and the kids may stay behind until it is sold. 


When will you get your truck and fifth wheel? 
We are actively looking for them both. At the same time, we will be selling Jason's motorcycle and our car. We hope that the two of them will be enough to pay a sizable chunk toward the truck. We hope to find a fifth wheel soon, but we may have to wait until after the house is sold to buy it. We are just looking at one big juggling act, and hoping to have as little debt/loans as possible with the transactions. 


How much furniture are you storing? 
Not much. Once the house sells, we will be putting up most of our furnishings for sale. We have only kept them for staging purposes. We plan on storing our bedroom furniture and dining room furniture. Pretty much everything else will be sold, so keep an eye out for the house clearance sale. 


What state will you claim residency in? 
Indiana. All of our vehicles are registered here and this is where our records are. The company that I plan on working for is based in Indiana. Stephanie is already familiar with the state requirements for education, so that will make homeschooling easier. 


What about a mailing address? 
We have not settled on this one yet. We are between renting a mailbox with someplace such as UPS or working with someone that we know to use their address. Either way, we will be able to have our mail forwarded to us at our leisure.


How will you access the internet to give us these sweet updates?
We plan on several ways to access the internet.  We plan on adding mobile hotspot to our cellular plans so that we can have something with us, provided we are in range.  Most campgrounds offer some type of access, whether it is wireless across the campground or something at the main lodge.  Many restaurants and establishments offer free wifi, such as Starbucks and Panera (think two birds with one stone).


Exactly how much are you taking with you?
Not much.  Once the house sells, we will be clearing out most items.  We plan on taking just enough clothes, linens, dishes, etc. for the 6 of us.  Each person will have an allowance of a few small items.  Jason will have his tools for electrical, but no big power tools will be going.  Some toys, a computer, the cameras.  We are not trying to pack out the 400-500 square feet that we are moving into, so we really are trying to pare everything down and get rid of the rest.


What will you eat?  We know you like wholesome food.
No more stocking up for us, the refrigerator and freezer space will be at a premium. Goodbye 12'x23' organic vegetable garden, hello small container herb garden! We will do our best to find local growers and stores that sell responsibly grown food.  We look forward to seeking out new places and connecting with new people.  


How long have you been preparing for this move?
Mentally, about 4 years.  Practically, close to one year.  This is not a decision that we made overnight.  It does take a lot of planning and preparation to dramatically downsize on this scale.


Please ask any other questions that may have been missed.


Update:


Thoughts about Doctors and medical insurance?
We are fortunate (knock on wood) that none of us have any kind of pre-existing medical conditions.  We see our Drs. for physicals, but that's about it.  We plan to keep the same Drs. and still see them for our physicals as we swing through town and utilize MedCheck-type facilities for acute illnesses, like ear infections, etc. as anyone else would when traveling.  We're still deciding about insurance, if we'll COBRA for awhile, pick up insurance through Jason's construction employer when he's eligible late-summer, or get private insurance.  We haven't weighed all of those options yet.

Taking the plunge

If you have been following what we have been up to, you know that we have been making an intentional effort to simplify our lives and our home.  If you have not been following, you can catch up here and read through the links at the top (or put on a pot of coffee and start from the beginning of the blog!)

We have enjoyed taking the little steps towards a more simple lifestyle and downsizing the stuff that we have.  It is refreshing to find out what you can live without and not even miss.  I would love to say that all we have been doing throughout this process is to make ourselves more comfortable where we are at, but it's more than that.  As I said, we have been taking small steps, but dreaming big along the way.  This is the point where we start taking big steps.

This is the point where we sell our house.

We are downsizing our living accommodations, and not just in square footage, but in type of accommodation.  Our goal in this process is to move all 6 of us into an RV and travel about the country.

WHAT?!!!

You read that right.  This is an idea that we have been tossing around for 4 years now, and we are at a point where it can (and will!) become a reality.  Our plan is to have the house sold before the end of the school year, and then to seamlessly transition into a fifth wheel RV.

To answer a few of the big and initial questions:

Income:  I will be working electrical again.  There are a lot of jobs that hire 'roadies' to work on a short term basis.  The jobs average 6-8 weeks in length.  I have several sources for job sites, so work should not be hard to come by.  We will also supplement this income with some smaller and side items.  I plan on marketing my photography skills, doing odd jobs at campgrounds, and ad revenue and sponsors on this blog.

The kids:  They are almost as excited about this adventure as Stephanie and myself are (which is VERY).  Educationally, as an elementary teacher, Stephanie is more than capable of instructing them through homeschooling methods.  There will be plenty of space in the RV for them--we have been looking at some models with 4 bunks (I don't know why, since they like to sleep in the same beds with each other).

Storing stuff:  There really won't be much to store.  We have a few keepsakes and items that are important and will store longterm, but for the most part if it isn't coming with us, we don't need it. Most furniture and large items around our home will be sold.

Where to first:  My initial answer is where ever the wind blows us, but at first it will be dictated where the jobs are at.  The good thing is that I won't need to work full time, so we will be able to take some time to go places that we want.  We do plan on trying to cover the whole country, so our destinations may become more specific, but for the most part, we want to enjoy the journey and not be focused on a destination (which is a hard one for me).

How long: As long as it's the best thing for our family. Initially, we're thinking 3-5 years, to give ample time to see the country and experience life from coast to coast and everywhere in between. However, if we find we're done with the nomadic life sooner or later than that time, then that's when we'll come off the road.

There are a lot of factors to cover and questions to be answered.  We will try to go over most of them within the next few posts, but if you have a specific question, please send it to us or leave it in the comments.

We appreciate your support during this exciting time!

O yeah, if you know any one needing a great house or selling a truck or trailer...

Downsizing sale aftermath

First, I would like to apologize for being quiet here.  I do feel bad for not posting anything on here for the past few days, but the reason is that we have been undertaking our downsizing sale.  

One of many signs pointing the way to the goods.

First off I am glad to say that it was a HUGE success.  In just 14 hours of selling time, we were able to sell about 85% of the items that we put out.  So a big thank you to everyone who came by!  I know that most people that did come have no idea about who we are or why we were doing it, but we do appreciate their help.  

As a reminder, what the garage looked like prior to the sale...

...but what is not shown is how we filled the rest of the garage with larger and last minute items!

There are so many fun stories that came out of this weekend that I would love to share them all, but I can only highlight a few.  First, I will say that we were blessed with some of the best weather anyone could ask for to do a sale, as well as being this early in the season that there were not too many other sales happening, so more people were able to stop by.  

We advertised through the Indy Star and Craigslist, and through the latter we received some responses to our postings with specific questions, thus ensuring some guaranteed traffic.  One of the responses were two ladies that run a childcare business looking for more items as they begin to consider opening another location.  Obviously, because of the hours that they operate, they would be unable to attend during the sale, so they asked if they could come by Thursday night to do a 'pre-shop'.  Knowing the nature of their business and how well our toys and games had been taken care of, we whole heartedly obliged to their request.

Friday was a very busy day between setting up, tearing down, and selling things in between.  The day started with shoppers at 7:45, and between that time and 1:30 we only had 3 minutes total that no one was at the sale!  (and by we, I mean me.  Stephanie and the kids were at MOPS until 12:30).  

Saturday was not quite as intense, but we still had a steady stream of shoppers coming through.  One of our hooks was that we were not able to get everything out on Friday morning, so there would be new things on Saturday morning, so come back and shop some more.  We did have a few repeat shoppers, and appreciate every bit of their business.

Some of the highlights include: 

• Having 2 school bus drivers, 2 police officers (one in uniform), a FedEx driver, a Comcast technician, and 2 Clark appliance installers stop.  I guess that no one can resist a good sale.  Speaking of Clark, the neighbors across the street were getting new appliances installed, so I appreciate the patience of the 3 gentlemen with the crazy traffic pattern around our house.  
• I was able to make some new connections with some Heritage parents.  
• There was a woman who does a lot of volunteer work and was shopping around with a very specific list, and we were able to meet several of her needs with our items.  
• Stephanie was able to promote her MOPS group's upcoming Kid Stuff Sale to many shoppers with specific requests for items.  
• I was able to bless a police officer in our neighborhood that purchased a piece of furniture, but was unable to get it to his house, by driving it there and helping him carry it inside.    
• Our neighbors across the street moving in on Saturday.  I grabbed some cones and blocked off a portion of the street so that they could park close to the house for loading in their furniture.
• People ringing the doorbell in the evening wondering if we were still open (everything was packed back into the garage).
• All of the stuff we were able to sell!

Once all was said and done, we only took 3 large boxes of leftovers to Goodwill.  I must say, that we were truly blessed with such a great sale.

The garage after the sale and cleanup...

...with most of the items being empty boxes and tubs, the kids bikes, and a few things left to sell on Craigslist and at the Kid Stuff Sale.

Busy, busy, busy.

So, what have the Simpsons been up to for the past few days?  Glad you asked!  In the spirit of de-cluttering, down sizing, and spring cleaning, (background and history found in these posts: How much is too much?, The first step, Trashcan, Taking a step back) we are getting ready for a garage sale.  I know that most garage sales involve trying to pawn off the little trinkets and junk that people are tired of staring at.  Being a former pro-garage saler, I understand this sentiment.  I would travel from sale to sale, weed through the junk and crap that was put out, and hope to find that one treasure.  This treasure could be something that the owner has no clue what the value is or something that another avid garage saler has yet to discover.  My 2 best stories of this are getting a $1500 bicycle for $100 or getting a $150 Longabarger basket for $2.  Both great finds.

But fear not!  Our garage sale is not just the bits of crap that we want to dispense with.  If you have followed along with the aforementioned posts, one would understand that we are getting rid of the extraneous items around us, keeping only what we need.  There are many, many quality items that will be available for sale.  Only the items that we have deemed "too good" to be taken in our 6 carloads to Goodwill since the beginning of 2012 have made the cut. In the past 2 days, we have filled half of the garage with items ready for a new home.  See...

And there is more that we have not moved out there yet.  So, if you are local and are looking for a little bit of everything (furniture, tools, men's, women's and kids clothes and toys, kitchen and household items, and much more!) please tell your friends and come by. Please send us a message if you need directions to our neighborhood. We will be advertising in the Star, Craigslist, and via social media.  Friday, March 16th and Saturday the 17th, 8am until Noon (or the crowds die down). The forecast is shaping up for a beautiful weekend to kick off the garage sale season!

Taking a step back: why are we doing what we are doing?

So I realized after posting last night about kicking the microwave out of our kitchen--which conveniently saved me from making an impulse cup of chai tea today, because it was "too much effort" to pull out a pot to heat the milk on the stove (lame, I know...hopefully I'll get past that soon)--that we may need to clarify for our readers exactly what we are doing and why we're doing what we are doing.


We've been living in our current home for almost 8 years. When we moved in, it was just Jason and me, our cat, a few hand-me-down pieces of furniture and 27 boxes full of everything that we owned in the world--in impeccably labeled and inventoried boxes, no less--because Jason totally rocks the packing and moving thing!


Fast forward seven-and-a-half years and we have added 4 kids, subtracted a cat, added a house full of furniture, rooms filled with "stuff", and built a storage shed which is full of what doesn't fit in the garage. While I recognize that we are nowhere near the "Danger Zone" of becoming hoarders, and by American standards we already live pretty simply, we had become lax with living our value of stewardship and were uncomfortable with the level of consumption that we had reached.

1200 cubic-feet of fabulous "extra" storage space!

While child-bearing years and the sleep-deprived haze of the past 7 years do explain part of how this has happened, it's not really an excuse for us. We are responsible for our actions and decisions, even those made on auto-pilot. We have acquired more than we have mindfully decided to bring into our lives, and have added people to our home--who we deliberately chose to add and love with all of our being--that also bring in "stuff" without consciously thinking about it. When we looked around and saw what was happening around us, this past autumn we decided that it was time to take a step back, re-evaluate our priorities and shift gears so that the life that we are living is the life that we are choosing. It was time to move from living on the default setting to deliberate living.


It's amazing how that becomes so much more possible when you are neither preparing for nor adjusting to life with a new baby, as had been the norm for us for the past 7 years. We

Zapped!

We've been making some significant (at least for us) strides toward simplifying and downsizing our stuff in order to super-size our lives and live more fully, more intentionally, and better overall. Today we took the next big step.

We removed the microwave from our kitchen.

Now you see it...

...now you don't!

This is a move that I've been pushing to make for at least 6 months, but we decided today to just go for it. The microwave's only purpose is to make food preparation faster, not better. Fifty years ago a microwave was not a staple in American kitchens. Is the overall health and quality of the food we eat today better or worse, on a whole, than the food our grandparents prepared? We may be more efficient, but in this instance, efficient does not necessarily mean better.


Bear with me for a moment as I rant crazy--I'll try to bring it back around. I first became suspicious of the microwave when I learned what you can and cannot cook in a microwave, and the types of dishes that you should and should never use in a microwave. Then there's the whole "I just don't get how it works" part that makes me skeptical. I understand how and why my oven, stove top, grill, and even my toaster work--but I just don't understand how the microwave works. And I like to know how things work--especially things surrounding my food and what my family consumes. So, after a few months of non-scientific research and taking mental stock of what and how often I use the microwave, I realized that I primarily use it for 3 things: boiling water, melting butter, and reheating leftovers.


Since we conveniently have a tea kettle to boil water, saucepans to melt butter and a stove/oven to reheat leftovers, I determined that I could easily live without the microwave and enjoy the extra space in my kitchen instead--with the added bonus of being forced to live a little slower. I just needed to convince Jason that we can do it.


Lucky for me, he's really getting into the whole purging part of down-sizing, so he was game to give it a try. This morning he wiped it down and relegated it to a newly-opened spot on the garage shelf where an item we recently sold had been sitting.


What was this other item, you ask?
Well, I'm sooooo glad that you asked. It was our spare microwave, of course! Sold last week for $10 on Craigslist.


So, when it came time to make lunch, our adventure began. We were re-heating some taco meat for taco salads for our lunch today, and instead of instinctively plopping the dishes into the microwave and waiting impatiently for 90 seconds for them to be heated, we pulled out a pan, fired up the stove, and waited almost 5 minutes for the meat to reheat while preparing the rest of our dishes and playing with the kids. All at once. Like it was a real meal or something. Crazy, I know! It was a welcome change to treat reheating yesterday's dinner for today's lunch as a proper meal instead of a fast food experience.


I know that I'm in the honeymoon period right now, and I know that I will be so mad that I will want to scream bad words (yes, that's actually what I shout when I'm mad--"Bad words, bad words, BAD WORDS!!!"--try it sometime, it helps a lot more to bring you back around than actually cussing) when I'm hungry right NOW and have to either practice patience or choose something different. But, that's part of the process. That experience will help me to live better and grow my character, and teach me more fully to live as I want to live.


The microwave is still hanging out in the garage, in case this experiment appears to fail. I say appears, because if we do bring it back into our home, it means that doing without, in this instance, doesn't contribute to a better life. And maybe it won't. Who knows--that's part of the mystery of experiments. You never know until you try. I'm certain that the experiment will succeed, and I'm hopeful that success also means one less non-essential "thing" in our lives that opens the door to a richer, better life.

It all starts with the first step.

Today I made the first hard step toward downsizing. Not just "de-cluttering", which I do at least semi-annually whenever the *stuff* starts to close in on me. That's just getting rid of useless stuff that I don't even notice when it's gone. The kind of paring down that keeps us from eventually appearing on an episode of Hoarders.


No. Today was the first step toward downsizing that will hurt, at least a little bit.


I love to read and I love books, but I don't need to own shelves and shelves of books if I never plan to re-read them. And I don't. That's just not the kind of reader that I am. With only a handful of exceptions, once I read a book, I will never pick it up again. I may skim through it to re-read a favorite passage or important anecdote from the text, but I do not read the same books over and over again.


Therefore, the first major purge of the books occurred today. I've done the cursory de-cluttering in the past, mostly getting rid of books that I didn't care for or weren't very good, or that I never finished reading in the first place. But after these purges I was still left with several shelves full of books that I loved, enjoyed reading and liked the idea of owning--even if I will never again pick up the book to read it again.


With Jason's help, last night we pulled off 2 diaper boxes full of books from the shelves to take to Half-Price Books to sell. Some great titles were in those boxes! Some books that I've held onto 10 years or more after purchasing just because I loved the book so much! But never opened the books a second time. I decided that if I really do want to read the book again, I can always borrow it from a library or buy it for my e-reader and not have the physical clutter in my life. And if I choose to re-purchase the book for my Kindle, then it truly is a work that I want in my collection forever.


So, 9:00am today I load up the little two kids and my boxes of books to take to the used bookstore. I knew that I needed to get them to the store as soon as it opened today, or else I would be tempted to go "shopping" in the boxes and choose books to put back on my shelf. Ian helped the gentleman at the store with opening doors and pushing our cart of books to the Buy Counter. I think he knew that I needed all the help that I could get to make this major step. I gave them my name, and then we waited.


Less than 10 minutes later, I was called back to the Buy Counter and given my offer:


$27.00


That's all?


Since my only goal was to not bring any books back home, I accepted the offer and within minutes I was given cash in exchange for my literary treasures.


While I feel a lot lighter and more prepared for the next steps of downsizing after this small step today, it definitely stung a little. I had probably spent hundreds of dollars to purchase these books, only to be offered $27 when I was through with them. It has solidified that, for me, buying books is not an investment. They are a liability, not an asset. When I choose to purchase a book in the future, I need to keep today's events in mind and carefully weigh if I really plan to hold onto the book and re-read or reference it over and over again, or if borrowing it from a library is a better plan. With the advent of the e-reader, however, the physical clutter aspect becomes null. Even so, the financial component is still something to consider, since re-sale of e-books is currently non-existent. As a once-and-done reader, libraries were made for me.


I will have more literary purges in the future. There are boxes full in our storage shed that I need to take in for sale, once I can access them when the weather breaks for good. In the meantime, I will slowly whittle away at what remains until I am left with only the books that I truly love and wish to carry with me through life.


Oh, and one book did creep back home with me from the used bookstore. Upon seeing everything laid in front of me, I realized that I'm not quite ready to part with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Quite fitting, perhaps.

How much is too much?

We're committed.

Solidly in the thick of it.

We've been feeling it for awhile now and have turned the corner to take the decision seriously and put the action behind our desire.

It's time to downsize.

When you say that at 60, no one bats an eye. Of course--as you look to retirement or the "empty nest years", or whatever you have planned for the next 1/3 of your life, a normal transition is to downsize.

When you say that at 30, most people look at you like you've grown a third eyeball. Especially when you talk minimalism while raising 4 young children. However, our perspective is that this is precisely the time for us to do it, before we get too caught up in accumulation and live life while it is ours to live.

American culture tells us that now are the prime years to gather wealth, accumulate the treasures that will fill our lives and our homes for decades to come and to set our sights on bigger and better. While we wholeheartedly agree with this statement, our definitions of wealth, treasures and bigger and better are different from most of Americans. Our desire to gather wealth is to gather a wealth of experiences. The accumulation of treasures is in the moments shared with those that we love and making space for the quantity of time from which quality time can emerge. In setting our sights on bigger and better, we are looking for how we can make a bigger impact on our world and make the lives of those around us better than they were yesterday.

Now, this is all most definitely possible while also accumulating stuff, which we have also spent much of the past decade doing, but for us we have passed the balance point on the fulcrum. In taking a step back and re-evaluating the whys of what we do, we see that a lot of stuff has crept into our lives without a real purpose. We want the things around us to be useful, beautiful and purposeful. We desire to keep a proper perspective that our "stuff" is just "stuff". Too often we forget that we are just stewarding the resources we've been blessed with. If we hold onto something too tightly for fear of scarcity, it can begin to possess us, and poor stewardship ensues. Alternatively, as we hoard possessions to the point where we don't even know what we own, a similar lack of stewardship emerges.

For instance, how many sets of dishes do we really need? Without looking into my cabinets, I'm pretty sure that I have at least 4 different sets of full place settings for between 4-12 people. Really?!? That's a little ridiculous for me, considering I can't recall ever having a dinner party that required all of the sets to be used at once. It's time to let some of these go to someone who would put them to good use and steward them well.

What about the shelves upon shelves of books that I've read once? If I'm not going to read the book again, a better way for me to steward these resources is to sell or give the books to someone who will read them. Owning books does not make one a reader. Reading books makes one a reader.

When my father died suddenly at the age of 58, he left behind a handful of expansive barns and garages full of treasures that he collected over his years. For what? For someone (many someones!) else to sort through and determine what was worth keeping and what to find a new home for. After watching my mother and his brother labor through this process for the better part of 18 months, it confirmed for me that I want to keep a tight reign on accumulation. I'd rather my family have a quick job of sorting through few things after I'm gone and less time laboring over how to re-home possessions and wondering if it was something that I valued.

As I mentioned, my father died at 58, his mother died at 58, and her father before her also died at 58. If I was a superstitious woman, I'd say I'm likely already over-the-hill! Fortunately, I have grand plans of living a vibrant life well into my 60s while I'm still young, then being the fun and quirky old lady in the neighborhood when I'm in my 70s, pretending to be senile as I move through my 80s and then when I'm in my 90s and actually do start to lose my mind no one will ever know the difference. However, with part of my family tree ending abruptly only 2/3 of the way through life, I do look at life and how to live it a bit differently. With retirement not guaranteed, I refuse to put off plans for "someday" that can be made today. I want to live life while it is still mine to live and not come to the end of it wishing that I had spent less time striving to accumulate and financing "bigger and better" and more time actually living.

So, as we continue to simplify our lives to make room for life, we recognize that in a society that marks success with "bigger and better", our value of "less is more" is almost absurdly counter-cultural. However, I don't think we'll really miss the 3 extra sets of flatware or dozen extra sets of bed linens that do not add real value to our lives in the same way that the freedom of not being possessed by our possessions will.

***Disclaimer: Our definition of "enough" may be very different from our readers, and that's totally okay! It may even change over time, as ours has. Whether your family lives in a home with 2,000-square-feet per person or 50-square-feet per person, we all have to find that balance for ourselves and it's different for each person.***

--Update: Shortly after reading this, a friend sent this link for a 5 minute video at TED on this topic.