27 Days!

The garage sale is over! Yeah! Sold lots of "stuff" and still had lots of treasures left over!  Thankfully there is a new thrift store in Loveland that was more than willing to come pick up the rest! It is always a lot of work but we had fun and NO ONE left without something - even if it was 'free!'  The only problem is that now we have to start on the house and we are finding that there are more treasures that need to be put up for sale! 


Down-sizing is a progressive process driven by the size of the storage shed and ours is only 10 x 15!  A wee bit smaller than we would have liked but nothing else is available at this time! I'm thinking that the storage rental business is very profitable venture.  Do you think that maybe we all have too much "stuff"?  


27-days! Randy and I were trying to create a plan and we are realizing that of the 27 days left before we have vacate we are working 20 of those days so that only leaves 7 days to pack up, store stuff and clean up!  It seems a bit surreal and when I go into the house I get a bit overwhelmed.  But then, God is our strength and in Him we can do all things!  Talk about testing scripture!


We are almost completely moved into the 5th wheel and it is beginning to feel like home. I got my desk set up today!  Not having all of our paperwork in one spot made me on the edge of being somewhat dysfunctional! Setting up the computer has been a challenge and let me say that I'm a really big fan of wireless devices!  Cords and plugs are a pain in a huge space but you should try dealing with them in a very small space!   


And then there are the ice cube trays in the freezer - finally found some that actually fit in our trailer freezer.  Can anyone tell me why they only put one shelf in a cupboard or freezer so you have to deal with wasted space!  I found a wire shelf designed to stack plates in the cupboard and re purposed it to fit as shelves in the freezer!  Now we have lots of ice and much more available space in the freezer!  Feels so good to solve such simple problems!


Now on the the next space issue! Talk to you soon!

100 degrees and a few bumps on the way..

OMG!  Trying to set up a moving sale in the garage and it is 100 degrees and miserable!  Randy is burning all the old wood and branches back in the corral so he is really feeling the heat! 


And we are both beginning to feel like we are 100 years old - physically at least!  I never thought selling a house would be so much work! Didn't seem this hard when we moved from Jackson to Fort Collins 12 years ago.  Today I am ready for this to all be over - I'll be ready to take a long winters nap for sure!


Then there is the real estate game - inspections and demands - feeling a little like "come on people you are buying an older house!  Everything can't be perfect!"  So now we are on to getting estimates on replacing the roofing, inspecting the gas meter and moving all our "stuff."


Our pastor said in his sermon this weekend that when God closes a door, He always opens another one, but it is hell in the hallway!  I think we are for sure in the hallway!    Just need to keep focused and tell ourselves that it will be worth the effort of letting go and going on with our next season of life!

283 - 1280 = (1000)

(1000) that's the number that we are now missing!  In square feet that is!  And do you know how much "stuff" you can put in 1000 sq feet?  A LOT!


So let me catch you all up - we put our house on the market on the June 27th and seven days later after three showings, we had an offer on the table!  Unbelievable? We think so and we can only give the credit to God!  We prayed for Him to bless this decision and bring us a buyer - we just didn't expect an answer so quickly!


That is were the 1000 sq feet comes into the story!  We are now in the process of moving into our 5th wheel and trying to decide what is "important" or absolutely "have to have" which certainly takes on a whole new meaning when you look around the 283 sq feet of our new home! I tease Randy about going back to his roots - the Sweds are well know for their approach to living in small spaces - a fact that is demonstrated by their very successful and world-wide chain of IKEA stores - one of which is opening in the Denver area in just 11 days!  That coincidence alone is enough make me positive that this adventure is providential!  (Just kidding!)  And I won a $100 gift card in their pre-opening contest - Hum?!




Right now our very large shop/garage is piled high with "treasures" that we are sure someone will be excited to find at our upcoming garage sale. (Stop by next Saturday July 23rd if you are in the neighborhood - I'm sure we have something you need!) But deciding what is a "sale item" and a "to-be-stored item" is a bit of a challenge and not without some bantering between each other.  Randy's definition of "treasure" is not necessarily the same as mine and visa versa.  Then there is the question of "to store or not to store"?   Oh how do we get ourselves so encumbered by so much stuff?  Thankfully - at this point at least - our tentative closing on the house is August 27th so we do have some time to sort this all out.

The Journey Begins... Late June 2011

3104 Gold Charm Dr

Okay!  So what is going on with the Ballingers?  Many of our friends and family are asking this very question!

First, let me assure you that we haven't lost our minds  - although some days it feels like we are very close :) !!  We are still at least 4 years from being able to retire and we are relatively healthy!  Then how do we explain the seemingly radical and strange notion to sell our house and a good portions of our stuff and move into our 5th wheel trailer?  Like my Dad used to say, "It's just time!" 

We have been talking about going full time RVing for a long time now, so it just seems "like time" to make the transition.  No, we are not heading out on the road just quite yet!  We still have our jobs and in this economy a job in hand is worth alot!   What better time to begin the downsizing process and learn what we can live without  and what we really need. Better to find out before we hit the road if this is really something that we can do!  We will either just love it or kill each other within several months!  :)

And so our journey begins ...  we pray that you will enjoy reading our blog.  If not, no worries!  We're inviting you once and returning is your option!  Feel free to share it with others that might like to read along.  We would love to hear your comments and thoughts!

Randy and Tona