I know it is just a house. I know my family is my true home. I know new memories will be made. BUT IT WAS STILL SO HARD TO SAY GOODBYE.
James and I built this house in 2004. We had two sweet girls while living here. We made new traditions together. We celebrated holidays here. I could go on and on, but I won’t. I can’t.
Bye, bye Whispering Marsh.
I knew that moving would prove to be quite the task, but I really had no idea. We broke up our packing into three phases: 1) getting rid of stuff, 2) loading up a storage unit, and 3) moving day.
We were very fortunate to sell rather quickly in this tough market. Once we had a contract, I quickly got to work. I cleaned out all our storage units, closets, and drawers. We had a garage sale, sold things on eBay, took things to consignment, and dropped off A LOT at Closet Treasures.
It felt really good to be getting rid of so many things. We had items stored away for years. Why on earth were we keeping them, when someone else could be enjoying them? This process also allowed us to start a little fund for new furniture in the new house.
Phase 2 then started: deciding what to put in storage and what to take to the rental. Aye, aye, aye. My brain hurt from making so many decisions just as much as my back did from lifting so many boxes.
Phase 3: moving day. Our situation was a bit unusual in that we were renting from the couple that bought our house. This meant we had to swap houses on the same day. I must say, this process went as smoothly as it could have.
We are now settled in our cozy little rental house. I am planning on sitting back for a while and focusing on my children, my knitting, my running, and my couch time!!!
We did many things around the house to get it ready for the new couple who bought it. I must say that Lily was a tremendous help in cleaning and packing. I (as usual lately) did not take many pictures from this process, but did capture one afternoon of outdoor cleaning. 
I thought this episode from Pawley’s deserved its own post. One afternoon, Lily came hobbling up to me to tell me that she got a splinter in her foot. Not being a trained medical professional, my face did not hide the shock at the size of the splinter. Lily, then proceeded to burst into tears.
This called for a professional. Good thing we had one – quick someone go find Ceecine. Much to Caroline’s dismay, she usually ends up taking care of all of our medical emergencies while on these trips. I’m pretty sure Caroline was very pleased with Lily’s behavior, but not so much with mine and Cameron’s. I was shot a very dirty look when I mentioned taking her to the doctor. Cameron was shot and even dirtier look when she asked if she should go get a needle. Despite mine and Cameron’s comments, Lily remained relatively calm and was a trooper while Ceecine performed surgery. She is one tough little girl.
This post always seem to overwhelm me every year. There are so many great pictures, so many funny stories, and so many wonderful memories to capture. For the sake of getting this posted, I am posting pictures totally random this year (I know, so not Taryn). We ate, we laughed, we played and we relaxed. This was a perfect vacation! It is hard to pick your favorite spot at Pawleys: beach, creek, hammock, rocking chair, paddle board, kayak…
To steal an idea from Cameron, there are some things I want to remember from this trip:
One of things I love most about these trips can be seen from all the pictures. The bonding between the kids and the adults. You never know which child will be with which adult, but you do know they will be cared for and loved as their own. Jason and Chris get their little girl fix. Allan and James get their rough and tumble little boy fix. I just love this group with all my heart and will always cherish these trips.
