Last week we moved into Justin’s Dad’s place after moving out of our home.  I cried like a baby when we said goodbye to our house.  It was our first “family home” and we were all sad to say goodbye.  Stella still can’t quite grasp the concept that it’s gone as last night she had an accident in her bed here at Grandad’s and said “Mommy, we need to go home.”  Ofcourse I’m all mommy guilting myself into worrying that “oh no, my children aren’t going to have a home for awhile.”  But as everyone has reminded me, it’s not the house that makes the home but the people who are in it.

It’s funny, now that we are homeless and the chaos of the move has died down I feel amazingly relaxed.  The most relaxed I’ve felt in awhile.  Home ownership is a wonderful thing but the freedom of just having the bare essentials and no worries and stresses of a home is somewhat liberating.

So I’m sure there are some of you wondering why the heck are we homeless?  What are you doing?  Where will you go?  What will you do?

Well, we sold our house because it really wasn’t going to work for us long term with 2 small children and we believe the market here in Vancouver can not handle much more of an increase in value.  Unlike the US, Vancouver real estate has stayed really strong.  So strong that we can’t really see ourselves investing in our next long term home here until prices stabilize.  We did very well on our home in Vancouver and have decided to sit on the sidelines of Vancouver real estate for awhile and possibly “play in the US real estate market” in San Diego.

A lot of people have asked what are your plans?  I have hesitated to even try to explain the next few months as it exahausts me just retelling our plans but here you go for all those who are curious…

On Wednesday we leave for a flight to Washington, DC where we will spend 2 nights visiting with some of my college friends.  Then we are off for 10 days in State College, PA, to Justin’s alma mater, Penn State.  As anyone who knows Justin knows he is a die hard Penn State fan so our stay at PSU is going to allow him to go to 2 big games and also pursue a business idea around Penn State football.  I am so very excited for him and feel that all his hard work over the years starting and running businesses is really going to pay off and he is going to be doing something he loves.  So stay tuned.  My husband is surely going to rock it out at PSU!

Then we will be heading back thru DC for another quick hello to some friends enroute to my Dad’s house in Salem.  I haven’t seen my brother and his wife and my 4 nephews in a year.  I can’t believe it.  It saddens me to think how much I’ve missed seeing them grow-up but excited to be able to spend 2 weeks with them.

We will be heading back to Vancouver on Dec. 1st to close on our investment condo here in Vancouver and spend 2-3 weeks furnishing it to rent it out.  Then we’ll be heading down the West coast to LA for Christmas and then on to San Diego for 4 months to 2 years…  We’ve rented a beach house in Encinitas (north of San Diego) for 4 months to give it a try down there and see if we like it.  We may buy a house there and stay a few years but ultimately plan to come back to Vancouver for the children to go to school here.

So that’s the plan in a nutshell…or rather a tortoise shell..far too big of plans to fit into a nutshell!

Now off to pack our bags.  Given all the airline restrictions and charges for everything we are trying to pack light…no easy task for a month long trip with 2 small children.  But I’ll be doing my best to pair down to the essentials.

We are taking our car seats again as it wasn’t that big of a deal on our trip to San Diego, though we will have to pay $25/car seat on the way back as United charges.  Flying out on Air Canada and they allow you 1 piece of luggage PLUS free check of a car seat or stroller per person.

I’ve blogged about this quote before.

At a point in my life it had a different meaning.  It was more of, “live life, have fun, do something spontaneous.”  I have always been a planner so this quote always reminded me that life is going on even when you are planning so enjoy it.

But now that I have children I think this quote has taken on an entirely different meaning to me.  It’s the little times when I’m running around cleaning the kitchen after dinner and planning for the next day when Stella says, “Mommy, come sit on the couch.”   She just wants me to sit with her and snuggle.

Or when I’m rushing home from the park with Stella and Sebby to get dinner going and Stella is pointing out every dog, flower, bus, car, etc.  I stop and let her smell the flowers, pet the dog and tell me the color of the car she sees.

I guess I’m really thinking about this quote a lot lately because Justin and I are trying to make plans for our future.  Big plans, where to move to, stay in Vancouver, buy, rent, go on an extended holiday, so many options, so many conversations.  Sometimes I worry that maybe we are not just living.  We are always planning.  That one day I’ll turn around after plucking away on my computer finding the next great house or sending out an email to another realtor  that Sebby is 4 and almost ready for school and Stella is 6.

Will I have missed something because we are always planning our next “move?”

Hopefully this concious awareness will serve me well during the chaos better known as our lives right now.

Today I Lived life.

I helped Stella feed the ducks and ran screaming away from the pigeons as they swooped in to grab our bread.  Later Stella snuggled up beside me on a bench for a snack and we watched the ducks go by and Sebby chew his teething ring.

Earlier in the day Sebby and I just played on the bed and he giggled and squealed with delight.

Hopefully I can take time like this every day.

The boxes can be packed another day, take-out is OK, emails can be returned tomorrow and a little dust on the floor will be there when I wake-up…