GSD Mode

As we are closing on the house on August 14th, our time between now and then is filled with an endless list of things to accomplish. That doesn't necessarily make for the most interesting blog posts, so bear with us as we get through the craziness of these next few weeks! We are in GSD Mode -- Get Sh*t Done Mode!

Currently we are:

:: boxing/bagging up everything from our garage sale so that Goodwill can come out to pick it all up. SO MUCH STUFF. It took us two evenings to get it all done -- here is our pile!

This is the heft of our Goodwill pile...but oh -- there is more!

:: working to finish fixing the last little things that were on our inspection report. Getting close.

:: determining if the Go-Mini storage unit we had delivered is big enough to hold everything (we are pretty sure the answer to that is NO).

:: letting our realtors work with Tile Guy #2 on what the plan is for fixing the issues left by Tile Guy #1. #hugemess

:: finishing up the packing, which is becoming more difficult because most of what's left is the stuff that we are still using.

:: waiting on the new lock to deliver so the mister can fix that.

:: selling off the last bit of little items and coordinating pickup.

:: looking for an option for the good amount of trash we are going to have before leaving the house.

:: trying to find buyers for our riding lawn mower and foosball table, both of which are too big to make the move with us.

:: giving lots of love to our pups, Ocho and Poppy, who are definitely freaked out by everything going on around them right now!

:: trying to figure out the semantics and logistics of our tricky, multi-layered MOVING DAY(S). Oi.

:: still doing our normal life things, like going to work and cooking dinner and working out!

Sometimes it feels like there is no way we can get it all accomplished...and then we remind ourselves that it is all going to work out. One thing at a time. It's so easy to become overwhelmed and stressed. We are trying our best to remain sane!!

Garage sales are hard work

It is truly mind blowing as we are realizing just how much STUFF we have. It's incredible. Why??? Why do we have all of this? We've just been following the American way...have the space, fill it all up! More more more!!! Just when I think we're getting a handle on it, we discover another closet or nook and there is more STUFF!

Social media is amazing -- we have been able to sell quite a bit of our belongings through sites like Facebook and Instagram! Thank you to each person who has bought anything from us because you have contributed to our whole downsizing movement -- and we appreciate that big time!

But, even with everything we've sold on social media, we still have SO MUCH STUFF. And you know what that means -- time for a garage sale! Garage sales are kind of like puppies and babies -- there is so much time between one and the next, you forget just how much work they actually are!

We worked all week, getting ready for the sale. We had enough to fill a garage and two rooms. We put an ad in the local newspaper's print and online issues. We moved furniture outside. We spent a whole evening pricing everything. We asked my friend, Kim, to come over and help us man the sale on Saturday and she kindly agreed! We were ready.

We had a decent amount of people come out; in terms of garage sale days, I hear it was a slow one in general. It was super hot (100 degrees) and we live outside the city limits. But, people did come and we did sell some stuff. We made some money, but more importantly -- STUFF left our property. I hope it is a very long time before we need to have another garage sale.

So now we are tasked with packing everything up for Goodwill -- thankfully, they will come and pick everything up, and that saves me a huge step. I'll be working on that these next few days and will then schedule the pick up. We also found a church youth group in need of couches for their meeting room, so we are donating our two love seats to them. Good for them, good for us!

Moving right along into a new week, and still so much to do.

Murphy's Law

I'm sure you've heard of Murphy's Law? Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

We are, unfortunately, very familiar with the term...it always seems to rear its head at the worst possible time. I think that's the beauty of the concept, right? Like when you are trading in a car, and on the way to the dealership a rock hits your windshield and creates a large crack? Luckily that didn't happen to us this time with the truck...but it has happened to us in the past!

We have been experiencing quite a bit of ugly Murphy's Law since the day our house sold...I thought I would share some of it with you!

:: One morning, we opened the garage door to head to work -- and the big spring broke! Which then trapped us inside the garage until Chris was able to disconnect everything and lift it manually. We had to have the garage door company out to fix it...$$$.

:: Because of the broken garage door spring, we had to enter the house through our front door for a bit. We typically don't use that door very often (we enter through the garage), and somehow the lock ended up breaking. What on earth?

:: We have an alarm system in the house...there is a unit near the garage door and another unit in our bedroom near the door there. For some odd reason, the unit in our bedroom just stopped working all of a sudden.

:: When we had our house appraised, the nice man who came out to do it was stung by a wasp during the process! And he was allergic to wasps!

:: We've had a few different AC guys out to fix the wall units in the shop/game room Chris built with Neeley...they always think they've got it fixed, and then it always stops working within a day. I think this last one finally figured out the issue -- wires were crossed!

:: There was a small issue discovered with one of our toilets during the inspection -- it continually runs. When Chris tried to fix it over the weekend, it completely broke, which involved a trip to Lowes!

:: Our biggest issue has been with the few cracked tiles we needed to replace in the kitchen. Matching the existing tile proved more difficult than expected, and since the tile is five years old, the same tile looks a lot lighter. Stone enhancer was supposed to do the trick...but it hasn't matched yet. It's very obvious where the new stones are. Still working on that. We also had the tile guy reseal the whole kitchen floor to freshen it up, which has turned into quite a disaster...the seal didn't absorb into the stone, and it created a sticky, gummy mess. After cleaning it up, there are weird marks all over our floor. We are in the thick of this issue now, trying to determine how to fix it. It's turning into a bit of a nightmare.

As one thing piles on top of the rest, it makes us start questioning things...are the choices we're making really worth all this headache? Wouldn't it have been easier to just keep everything as-is and not have to deal with all these troubles?

But you know what? Here's what I've realized. Somehow the devil ALWAYS knows when you are trying to follow God's path, and he does what he can to try to get in the way. He likes to make things as difficult as possible so that we'll give up God's path and settle for the easy path instead. We have to recognize it for what it is and not let it get the best of us! We are going to make it through. Because God is behind us and He will honor our intentions to follow Him!

Perspective

We thought it would be fun to give everyone a little perspective -- a glimpse of our current home so you can grasp how BIG of a life change this is for us!

A little over five years ago, we built a beautiful house out in a country subdivision...we basically built our dream house. At the time, we felt like we would grow old in this house, so we put a lot of work into making it perfect in our eyes.

The house is around 3,000 square feet...it has a beautiful open concept that is great for entertaining. It has a scrapbook room, along with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. There is a theater room complete with wall-sized screen and 6 theater recliner seats. There is a wine room.  There is garage space for four cars. There is a beautiful pool with a waterfall and well-established landscaping. And, there is a separate building that Chris built with our friend, Neeley -- a shop/pool house on the bottom, with an upstairs room and deck. The house sits at the back of the subdivision, on an acre and a half. It backs up to trees, and there is a 7' fence for privacy. It is truly an oasis.

It's funny, though, how priorities change -- isn't it?

Different stages of life bring different goals and feelings and beliefs. When you and your spouse can be on the same page with those things, it is truly a beautiful thing! Chris and I are very blessed in so many ways...but more than anything, we are so blessed to be married to one another. Big life change is always very stressful and overwhelming...we are certainly not exempt from those things! But going through it together makes it so much better...we have different strengths and together we will get through it all! One day soon, this transition phase will come to an end and our life will settle down into a normal rhythm again. We are ready for that and all that the future holds for us!

King Ranch

As a woman, this aspect isn't too exciting for me...but I know that some of you may be interested! So, this post will showcase our new Ford F-250 King Ranch truck. It's a MONSTER!!

And as you probably guessed, it just barely fits in our garage!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Chris' truck (the Ford F-150) was capable of towing a pull-behind trailer -- but a very, very small one. Unfortunately, nothing the size we were needing! So, we discussed it and determined that it was a necessary expense that we would need to take on -- because we don't just want to park the RV. We want to be able to travel with it, too!

Old Truck - Ford F-150

New Truck - Ford F-250

Above in the two comparison photos, you can see the difference in the trucks...the top one is your common, run-of-the-mill truck...the bottom photo is a giant! Just riding in it, you can feel the difference in the power. It feels like we could pull three RVs!

We had to have a 5th wheel hitch installed in the bed of the truck, for pulling the trailer...and we also had them spray in a bed liner, too! Now it is all set up and ready!

It's a Monster!

We've never had a diesel vehicle before, so we will be learning all about that. We will also be learning about pulling a 39 foot trailer, and backing it up! Lots of learning in our future, but we are excited for it all!

Where to settle

This is where we will be parking our new RV!

We had the truck and the 5th wheel figured out...what we were a little stuck on was where we should then park our new home. Kind of an important detail!

There are a handful of options, but nothing we looked at was feeling "quite right." We heard about a little RV park in Buffalo Gap, but it had 10 spots all lined up in a row very close together and it looked like the RVs had all been there for about 20 years. Not an option.

The two viable options were RV parks off of the main highway, Hwy 20. One was the Whistle Stop and the other was the KOA.

We went to the Whistle Stop first. It is a brand new campground, so everything is fresh and new and very nice. They have a large clubhouse, as well as two laundry facilities, a pool, and a convenience store. There are about 100 spots, with the RVs lined up in rows pretty close together. They have a picnic table at each spot. However, since it is so new, there are zero trees out there...so it is a big RV desert.

Next we visited the KOA. This site has a lot of trees and is very established, so there is a lot more shade and it has a more cozy feel. The RVs are also lined up in rows, close together. They also have a pool, a laundry facility, and a convenience store.

Between the two, we preferred the KOA, but they don't have any openings for the date we would need to start parking. So we were thinking we would start at the Whistle Stop for a few months and then move over to the KOA once they had an opening.

We weren't settled on this idea though...it didn't feel quite finalized. But we weren't sure of any other options. Then, God started moving again, and he put it all into place. He has amazing ways!!

At work on Thursday, I was standing in the hallway talking to my bestie, Kim...and one of my coworkers named Amy came looking for me. She isn't someone I talk with on a regular basis, so I was curious. She lives in small country town that is near where we currently live, and she was excited to tell me about a new RV park that is near her house. She had earlier that morning told Chris about it, and really thought we should check it out. Well! I went directly back to my desk and Googled it -- I checked out their Facebook page and their website, and my heart did a little flip of excitement! I told Chris we needed to go and check it out pronto!

We drove out there on Friday evening after dinner, and here is what we discovered:

:: It's small -- there are currently 6 spots, with a plan for 2 more in the near future.

:: Each spot has a large metal covering to protect the RV from weather and also keep it cooler in the hot Texas sun.

:: Each spot has a concrete slab (the other RV parks were gravel), and they are big enough for the RV as well as patio chairs, a BBQ pit, anything else you might put on a patio.

:: The owners of this RV park live there, too, and are very picky about who they are letting rent a space...they want to keep it quiet and respectful with long-time renters.

:: They have plans to put in a small, fenced yard at each spot.

:: They have been open for about a month, and have a great vision for the future of the park.

:: The endless "vacation" traffic of people coming in and out is non-existent.

:: The space between each of the RV spots allows for some breathing room and privacy, which is a big difference from the other two options.

:: Our two dogs will do much better in this environment.

:: It's out in the country and very peaceful.

The owners, Forrest and Lisa, met us when we pulled up and they were so nice! They spent a good amount of time with us, showing us the place and explaining how everything works there. We liked them both instantly! We decided that Chris and I would discuss it and let them know the next day what our decision was.

Chris and I talked it out on the way home, and there are so many pros. This feels RIGHT. It feels like a homey, permanent place to settle. The other two places felt very temporary and "vacation-like". This feels more real. More doable. I am so grateful for Amy's tip on this awesome place! Without her, we would not have known about this place and we would have settled for something we didn't love. We called and reserved our spot this morning, so it is official! We'll pick up our RV on August 15th and drive it to our new location!

The awesome covered spots look like this!

It feels so good having this settled! Watching God work in all of this has been absolutely amazing...we are in awe!!

The Babers

Decision #2

In our quest to downsize and simplify -- we are GOING ALL OUT!!! This is where a lot of big change is occurring, and we are excited! It has been fun seeing people's reactions when they hear what we are doing...they are either very excited for us or they think we are totally insane :)  You can decide for yourself!

We've been watching RV shows and tiny house shows for over a year now, and they intrigue us...there is a whole, growing community of people (a lot of them our age or younger) who are adopting this kind of lifestyle. Being able to have way less stuff, while also having the ability to be mobile and travel is very appealing to us. It seems to be the perfect transition for us...because who knows what our next step is going to be? This will give us time to figure that out in our own time.

What will we be doing?? We are buying a 5th wheel travel trailer to live in full-time!!

Chris and I went out to look at a lot of different trailers a few weekends ago, to get a feel for them and decide if we really thought it was something we could live in. We were pleasantly surprised at how roomy they are! They really utilize the space so well, and they are super nice inside! These aren't your basic "weekend traveler" RVs...these have multiple pop-outs that really expand the space and make it quite livable.

After our first visit, we came home and debated which models we liked the best. We got online and looked at them in more detail, and narrowed down our choices to our top three. Then the next weekend, we headed back to check out just those three again, with a lot more scrutiny. We really enjoyed getting to go through the models again and we both agreed on THE ONE...it had everything on our "must have" list:

: Kitchen pantry
: Full-sized fridge
: King-sized bed
: Lots of storage/great closet in bedroom
: Large storage underneath
: Full-sided shower
: Storage in bathroom

Our sales guy at Hanner RV was great...he helped us learn a lot since we are newbies!!! Chris went out there today to put down our deposit to hold it, and so now that is secure and waiting on us to pick up after we close on our house! Things are really beginning to fall into place, and that feels so good! It is helping to decrease some of the overwhelmed feeling we have -- because let's be honest and transparent here -- yes, this is something we want to do, but since it is a huge life change, it's a bit nerve wracking, too. Also, we have a LOT of different things happening all at once, and we are needing to coordinate timing -- that, in itself, is enough to make someone lose their mind! Getting some these things finalized feels so good!

We are excited to share these photos with you! Our soon-to-be home!

The kitchen table, and a view into the living room. There are two recliners and a
couch that pulls out into a bed. There is also a nice entertainment center with a big tv!

The kitchen! A good sized island with a big sink; a pantry and full-sized fridge;
an extra counter with a window; a stone archway over the
stove/oven/microwave. Lots of storage! Pretty flooring.

Love this little corner! The stone makes it feel so homey!
This was the only model that had something like this.

The king sized bed (we'll be getting new bedding for sure!)...and

there is a lot of storage underneath the bed too, so that is a huge bonus!

There is a big dresser with six decent sized drawers, plus a

top for decorations. Also, a big window and a tv mount.

The closet takes up the whole end of the trailer, and is big enough for both of

our clothes...the off-season clothes will be stored underneath.

This is a nice feature that makes it feel more like a house! Stairs up to
the bathroom and bedroom. It helps to separate things out a bit!

The bathroom has a vanity and a full-sized shower. There is also a good
amount of storage (some not pictured)...a lot of the bathrooms had very little.

So see?! It is actually quite roomy! We are excited to get in there and figure it all out!

There was an EXTRA step that was needed with this plan/decision...unfortunately, Chris' Ford F150 truck was not equipped for pulling much weight at all. Certainly not anything with enough space for full-time living! We just today signed the papers on a Ford F250 truck that can pull our 5th wheel weight (and then some!). This was an unexpected part of our plan, but necessary. We had a 5th wheel tow installed, and it is a very nice King Ranch edition. But, it's diesel which is also new to us -- so it will have a learning curve, as well!

Now you are probably wondering -- where do we plan to park this new home of ours?? Stay tuned, that will be our next installment!

The Babers

Decision #1

You may or may not know -- Chris' mom (also named Chris, but I will refer to her here as Mimi) has lived with us for many years...so we definitely need to consider her with any decisions we make for our future!

With the plans that Chris and I have for intense downsizing, we proposed an option to Mimi and to our young adult daughter, Aspen...would they be interested in living together? After giving it some thought and discussing it together, they determined that yes, they would be up for that adventure! They have a VERY close relationship (they are each other's "person") and they already spend a lot of time together...so it really makes sense. Once everyone agreed on this option, it was a matter of determining what that might actually look like.

Teri, our realtor, let us know that a townhouse had become available in an area where things rarely went on the market...so we rushed over to take a look! The property was vacant; the elderly owner had just moved into an assisted living facility. We were able to look around and visualize our two ladies here...and we all agreed it could work!

Above is a photo of the exterior of the townhouse...it's a cute little place!

The townhouse has a lot of great features:

:: new windows
:: beautiful shutters on the windows
:: some new light fixtures
:: new flooring
:: nice fridge
:: nice washer/dryer
:: security system
:: no yard to take care of
:: HOA that takes care of anything outside

Some things still need updating, but the rooms are big and it's in a great, safe area of town. We decided to put an offer in!

Things are still progressing here...with the seller's situation, things are moving a little slower than we'd like and, honestly, she is being a lot more difficult than necessary. But we are moving along.

In the meantime...Aspen and Mimi are getting more excited as each day passes, envisioning where things will go and how they will decorate together! Mimi is talking about all of the fried chicken and other yummy foods she will cook for us. It's an exciting and scary and nervous time...we're taking it one day at a time, because this will be a big adjustment for everyone!

But that excitement and nervousness...it's refreshing, too. We all tend to get stuck in our little comfortable boxes and move forward day by day, just doing the same thing. Change is good. It wakes us up a little! We're embracing it...

The Babers

God's timing

Today's story is pretty awesome! It is really fun to be able to sit back and actually see God moving in your life!

As I mentioned, Chris and I were working through our to-do list...and we were pretty close to the end. We just had a few things left, but one was a major thing -- the replacement kitchen tiles. The tile guy was having trouble finding a match for our travertine tile, and then he finally had to order it. The house could not be put on the market until this final step was complete. So...we were in a waiting zone.

I was at home for lunch on Tuesday, June 27th. Our realtor, Teri, called and sounded a bit frantic. She told me that there was a couple in town just for the day, from Idaho, looking at houses. They were in our price range. They had looked at two other houses and didn't love them. They wanted to know if they could come look at our house even though it wasn't on the market yet.

Umm! Our house was in no shape to be showing! It was not clean, and it certainly was not tidy! There was blue painters tape all over the kitchen floor, indicating where the tiles needed to be fixed. My mind was racing! But -- ok, let's do it! I had twenty minutes to run around the house and pick up as much as possible. Then I grabbed our two Chihuahuas (Ocho and Poppy) and drove around for an hour while the couple looked through the house.

They put a contract on it that evening!!

We have always heard of things like this happening, but have certainly never experienced it ourselves. It is really surreal, let me tell you! To sell a house that isn't even on the market yet? Just crazy.

To us, it really solidified that God is behind our plans! We are trying to honor His nudges to simplify and downsize and work toward being debt-free, and my goodness -- he just laid this right in our laps! It really feels like he is showing us what's possible if we only TRUST IN HIM and His timing! Because this certainly wasn't our timing...but His is so much better!

With this sudden turn of events, though...well! That brings up all kinds of decisions that need to be made, and under a pretty tight time frame! For months now, Chris and I have been discussing lots of different ideas, and now it is time to make decisions and put them into action. We close on the house on August 14th... 

The Babers

Follow our journey

Hello, blogworld!

We are The Babers -- Chris and Kelley! I'll share more about us in upcoming blogs, but here's the deal. We are making some BIG life changes, and we need a place to document our journey! 

We know that so many friends and family (you!) are excited for us and have tons of questions! So we want to honor that and keep you all informed along the way! We'll share everything -- reasons and plans and things we learn along the way.

So, to begin...I'll share how these BIG life changes got started!

Chris is a dreamer...I am a doer. These differences cause us to butt heads every now and then...but they also serve us really well, too! We kind of balance each other out that way. About two years ago, Chris came to me with a grand idea -- he thought we should sell our house and make some drastic changes. Umm. What!! We had built and perfected our current home and it was an oasis! It was meant to be a place where we could put down solid roots and grow old. No no NO. I was in no way wanting to hear that! He retreated. Then he came to me a little later wanting to add a pool to our current house...I thought this was surely the ticket to keeping us in the house for the long haul! Yes, let's put in a pool!

You guessed it -- it was NOT the ticket to keep us there! For some reason, though, when he approached me again a little later with the idea of selling and downsizing, it felt right to me. I could see the benefits and the perks and the reasons. After a lot of discussion, we agreed. We would sell our house! It's definitely very important for husband and wife to be on the same page! It can sometimes take awhile for those stars to align.

Our reasons...we were both feeling nudged by God to simplify; to downsize; to have less stuff and more experiences; and to become as close to debt-free as possible. We believed that if this was something God really wanted from us, he would see us through it.

But then it became really overwhelming. We started a list of things to do around the house to get it ready to put on the market. That list was long and included some really big things, like fixing cracked tiles in the kitchen. Yikes, too much. So we sat on our plan for awhile. About a year, actually. We talked about it frequently, but always came back to feeling too overwhelmed. 

Finally, Chris bit the bullet one day and set up an appointment with our realtor, Teri. At least we could get her out to the house and she could tell us what we did and did not need to accomplish. Our meeting with Teri went great! She and her partner, Shanda, came out and looked everything over. They stirred up the excitement within us again, and down-talked our to-do list...even removed some items. They made it seem really doable.

And so...we got started on getting everything done and ready for the market...this step took awhile, but we were marking things off the list! Staining the deck; working to get the tiles replaced; touch up paint; hauling off debris; fixing some cement issues on the driveway and stone wall -- this kind of thing. Also lots of small things, too.

What came next was definitely a God Thing -- stay tuned for our next blog post!

The Babers