Clutter free=happy me!

Last night I commented to Bob how happy I was since we took out all of the extra "stuff" that was around our home.  We've been in the process of trying to remove anything non-essential before the move.  The house has never looked better.

But then he said something that made me pause and think a little.  His word were, "Yeah, but now this place has no personality.  It went from a home to a house.  It looks staged and there isn't anything here that is 'us'".

I was surprised by this statement, as he and I share a dislike for clutter.  If I'm being totally honest, I've fantasised about what would happen if all the boxes of "stuff" that has been transferred out into the garage were suddenly gone.

But, maybe he's right.  Maybe there does need to be a sampling of "items of flair" to remind us who we are, the things we've experienced, and what knits us together.

As we move into our new home, I will be doing a careful evaluation of what I pull out of the boxes.  I don't want to fill a bigger place with trinkets just because they will fit.  I do find more peace in a simple home.  However, I will be mindful not to go overboard.  If the Star Wars figurines are important to Bob because they remind him of his childhood, I need to find a place for them.  If the drawer full of Dollar Store mementos are important to Sydney, I won't throw them out.  And if Hannah finds comfort hanging up drawings, posters and sketches up on her walls, why should I care?

I will likely need to be reminded (or supervised) as I unpack to avoid the strong urge to toss it all.  But, the attitude of "happy with less" is an important lesson that I do want to instill into my children.  In a few weeks, if you visit our new home, you'll have to let me know if we were able to balance each other out.

A long time gone

My goodness it has been a long time since I've had an opportunity to sit down and write.  What has been taking up my time?  Well, moving.
After much prayerful and deep-thoughted (is that a word?) consideration, we decided to take the plunge and become landlords.  Not for the fun of it, but for an investment into our future.  My job, though I love it, provides no retirement, and I have grown nervous thinking that we might be relying on the State of New Mexico pension plan to make ends meet when my husband retires.  The nervous part comes when I see articles and analysis of the state pension plan indicating that there isn't enough money there to cover all those currently working toward retirement.
So, we decided to be pro-active (just in case).  After considering buying a property to rent out, we came to the conclusion that our current home would be an ideal rental.  This in and of itself is a bitter-sweet statement.  I have grown to love our house, that I begrudgingly moved into almost 8 years ago.  We have put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this home.  It's the home that my children have grown up in and the home that a majority of the memories from my married life are housed in.
I will miss this home.
The new house (which we are scheduled to close on in less than 2 weeks) is a dream.  Almost too good to be true.  It has almost 1000 sq. ft. more space than our current house.  It has a master closet the size of one of our bedrooms.  It has skylights and radiant heat.  It has a pool!
When I first saw the new house, I couldn't help wondering why it was set at the low price that it is.  We've had inspections done, and while there were a few issues, nothing so big that it explained why this dream home was in our price range.  Two thoughts entered my mind: either the Lord was blessing us in a huge way, or there had been some crazy crime there with many people being murdered.  Yes, I know those are about as juxtaposed as you can get, but hey, that's how my mind works. 
Having found no evidence of a mass murder, I am of the opinion now, that this has been a gift.  Things have gone smoothly with the home buying process.  We got an outstanding interest rate.  We got repairs done before moving in.  We get new carpet!
But now begins the process of finding a family to love and respect our "old" house.  I've heard the rental horror stories.  I know that this is a risk.  I know that Dave Ramsey would tell me that we made a bad decision.  But, I also know that there is wisdom in a multitude of councilors, and Dave (while knowing his stuff) isn't the final authority on all money decisions.
I'm nervous.  I don't want to come back to find this little home that I love beaten and abused.  But, it's a risk we are going to have to take.  We have been praying that we will find a family to love and care for this house as much as we have.
So amidst packing, paperwork filing, Internet posting and utility managing, I had to take a moment to pay tribute to this little piece of ground that we call home.  We will miss our neighbors and miss these floors and walls, but trust that the Lord will continue to guide our steps and bless our new adventures.