For each new adventure in life, often an old adventure must end.

That is what is happening for me and The Bearded One.  We are building a new, smaller home on the East coast very near our kids  (more about that another time) and need to sell our home of 35 years in small town Ohio.

It is a challenge to even consider going through all the Stuff one accumulates in living in the same house for 35 years.  On top of that, because The Bearded One is dealing with some health issues, most of the sorting and cleaning needs to me done by me.

Thankfully, my sister, Pat, flew up from Texas this week to help with the heavy lifting and to advise me on some of the staging that needs to be done.  It is certainly a blessing to have her assistance in doing much of the heavy work but it is equally a blessing to have her fresh eyes on the house to give me ideas on changes that need to be made for this housing market.

The Bearded One and I bought this house a year after we were married.  We had zip zero money…actually less than zip zero…so the house we purchased had been condemned.  (Oh, the idealism of youth!)  The first night we went to the house to celebrate our home ownership, we took cheap champagne and sleeping bags.  After walking through the house, we sipped a bit of champagne and quickly left for our rental.  We could not stand to think of sleeping in the dilapidated house as it was!  But soon after, we moved in and dug into the multitude of jobs that needed to be done…hauling out trash, fixing the items on the inspector’s list of requirements to be off the condemnation list, and later, to begin improving and adding to the home as money allowed.

The house about a year after we bought it. It has had a porch removed and a paint job at this point.

The house today.

Now we have a house that reflects our interests and quirks but no longer fits our needs.  So, over the next weeks I will be posting about our efforts to stage the house to sell.  I will show you before and after pictures of each room as it is staged.  I will talk about ins and outs of sorting and sifting, washing and painting, packing and, ultimately…selling and moving.

I hope you join us in this adventure!