It's been almost a year ago that we left on our 3 month adventure to Europe. We read many blogs about families that did the same sort of world travel and more than a few of them came back to the U.S. and sold their homes and decided to live differently. Of course we knew we would never do something quite so drastic.......can you see where this is going?
We love our home and it has served us well the last 12 years and now it is time for a change. After living for 3 months with just the clothes and necessities on our backs we realized that we don't need all the extra. I personally felt like I was stuffocating when we got back. Sure, it's all nice stuff but I started to feel in bondage to it. Dennis and I shared our feelings and thoughts on a regular basis as we evaluated our life here vs. there. So much in life is relative. We now had a stark difference to compare to and we could really disect our lifestyle and make the appropriate changes instead of wallowing in our emotions and not doing anything about it. We did need to step outside our "normal" lives to get a clear picture of what we wanted and to see distinctly what we needed to do differently.
It was so good to be home and see friends and family, but honestly my heart ached and longed to go back shortly after we had returned. That is not something I felt I could share except with the sweet people that had the same experience I did. We all agreed, it was a strange feeling but it's how we felt. We asked ourselves, what is it we miss? It was or is a combination of a few things: the closeness to each other and seeing God's hand at work daily as we relied heavily on him and then waiting and watching how he worked as our days unfolded. No distraction of tv or phones allowed for us to be mindful of each other and our surroundings. We were spoiled with every day being a new adventure and lurking around every corner were photo opps and stories waiting to be brought back home. There were memories to be made and our senses stimulated by everything new and desiring to absorb every moment so as not to forget it.
It's funny, I have lived in this area for 37 years minus 3 months and when it rains I think of Switzerland. When I hear the deep moo of a cow I remember the soft pink noses on my morning runs through the pastures outside the villages. When I eat my mom's homemade pizza I long for Rome. When my feet hit a brambly trail with overgrown trees I think of Germany. What's wrong with me? Well, it's not just me. The girls step out on the porch in the morning and say, "Today feels like a cool morning in Switzerland" or "the sunset reminds me of Bad Tolz, Germany."
On our way back to the USA we asked everybody if they'd go again and for how long. Everyone agreed on 6 weeks. Three weeks ago Dennis went down to tell the girls good night and didn't come back up for two hours. He walked in the bedroom with glassy eyes and told me about his conversation with them. The girls want to go back for another 3 months and do everything over again, exactly the same. They said, "We even want to go through all the boring museums that Mom drug us through." What a gift to our ears.
Yes, we are simplifying our lives.
We sold our house by word of mouth in a matter of weeks. I knocked on the door of a home that had been for sale earlier in the year, flowers in hand and no idea what waited for me on the other side. Within 48 hours I heard back from the owners daughter that they would be willing to rent to our family. We were an answer to each other's prayers.
How do the kids feel about it? From the moment we mentioned it they were excited with comments like, "We don't need this big house." I don't think it would have been so easy had we not lived in such close quarters for 3 months. We are all excited and ready to let go of a few things. So we now have a new little adventure beginning right at home!
For our far-away friends we posted some pics of the kids because they have changed some since our last post. Still the same silly kids just a little taller.
We love our home and it has served us well the last 12 years and now it is time for a change. After living for 3 months with just the clothes and necessities on our backs we realized that we don't need all the extra. I personally felt like I was stuffocating when we got back. Sure, it's all nice stuff but I started to feel in bondage to it. Dennis and I shared our feelings and thoughts on a regular basis as we evaluated our life here vs. there. So much in life is relative. We now had a stark difference to compare to and we could really disect our lifestyle and make the appropriate changes instead of wallowing in our emotions and not doing anything about it. We did need to step outside our "normal" lives to get a clear picture of what we wanted and to see distinctly what we needed to do differently.
It was so good to be home and see friends and family, but honestly my heart ached and longed to go back shortly after we had returned. That is not something I felt I could share except with the sweet people that had the same experience I did. We all agreed, it was a strange feeling but it's how we felt. We asked ourselves, what is it we miss? It was or is a combination of a few things: the closeness to each other and seeing God's hand at work daily as we relied heavily on him and then waiting and watching how he worked as our days unfolded. No distraction of tv or phones allowed for us to be mindful of each other and our surroundings. We were spoiled with every day being a new adventure and lurking around every corner were photo opps and stories waiting to be brought back home. There were memories to be made and our senses stimulated by everything new and desiring to absorb every moment so as not to forget it.
It's funny, I have lived in this area for 37 years minus 3 months and when it rains I think of Switzerland. When I hear the deep moo of a cow I remember the soft pink noses on my morning runs through the pastures outside the villages. When I eat my mom's homemade pizza I long for Rome. When my feet hit a brambly trail with overgrown trees I think of Germany. What's wrong with me? Well, it's not just me. The girls step out on the porch in the morning and say, "Today feels like a cool morning in Switzerland" or "the sunset reminds me of Bad Tolz, Germany."
On our way back to the USA we asked everybody if they'd go again and for how long. Everyone agreed on 6 weeks. Three weeks ago Dennis went down to tell the girls good night and didn't come back up for two hours. He walked in the bedroom with glassy eyes and told me about his conversation with them. The girls want to go back for another 3 months and do everything over again, exactly the same. They said, "We even want to go through all the boring museums that Mom drug us through." What a gift to our ears.
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| Raleigh 2 1/2, Our Little Gentleman |
We sold our house by word of mouth in a matter of weeks. I knocked on the door of a home that had been for sale earlier in the year, flowers in hand and no idea what waited for me on the other side. Within 48 hours I heard back from the owners daughter that they would be willing to rent to our family. We were an answer to each other's prayers.
How do the kids feel about it? From the moment we mentioned it they were excited with comments like, "We don't need this big house." I don't think it would have been so easy had we not lived in such close quarters for 3 months. We are all excited and ready to let go of a few things. So we now have a new little adventure beginning right at home!
For our far-away friends we posted some pics of the kids because they have changed some since our last post. Still the same silly kids just a little taller.
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| Ireland (14) |
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| Indi (14) |
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| Annabelle, our Ballerina (10 ) |
