Full Circle…

Greetings from Montana… and Wyoming, and North Dakota.

Our life, it is a changing…

We finally got our house on the market mid April… I was beginning to think it was never going to happen, but it did.

Here is the link to our listing, just in case you wanna see it.

Living in a house that was for sale was not something I was looking forward to, who would? But, we had several offers the day after it went on the market, we got off easy… I got off easy, my poor husband had to stay and deal with the specifics, while I went off to Montana to garden and play with my friends and family, for three months.

My last garden club meeting… I’ve already been looking up new clubs in Berkeley.

I needed to get rid of the majority of my house plants, where else better than a room full of plant lovers…

I know you can’t see this very well, it’s a shopping cart welded on top of a car…

Luckily we had the chance to pop down to Jersey to visit J’s family before I headed out.

Flea marketing, and afternoon walks are always on the schedule.

Ahhh, such a good Nana…

I had my first ever garage sale (and last). It was a necessary evil, we needed to get rid of almost everything we owned…

I could never have done it without Andee and Becca’s help, and I don’t say that to be nice, I would literally not have made it through, I would still be lying in my driveway sobbing.

We have planned our move very carefully, very adult-like. Our once huge and overwhelming nut is down to a small streamlined one. Our debt is paid down. Our belongings are down to the irreplaceable, and can fit in two cars. J has talked about going back to school for as long as I’ve known him, it’s finally happening this fall. I’m even more happy that his job, that we have both grown to despise, will be a thing of the past in 10 short days. I’m so proud of him, instead of just quitting and relying on loans to go back to school, he used this job as a stepping stone that will leave us in a far better place when he’s done. Mom and Dad C, you raised a badass…

FYI: it takes four college graduates well over 30 minutes to figure out the perfect order for seven layer dip…

Our last hurrah at the house…

Why I ever decided to do it on the same day as our garage sale, I will never know. I think it may have been the only day, it still seems crazy. When you have good friends, no one cares that your house is full of boxes and chaos.

I find bank statements to be a perfect fire starter…

HA! Count Jerry…

I have no idea what Andee is holding…

Best photo bomb ever!

I was only going do a one day garage sale, I really had no idea how much stuff we had until it was all in the driveway, I about had a panic attack. How does it get to that point? Who could possibly need that much stuff?

My very entertaining husband joined me for day two…

J and I went to a class on medicinal herbs, I figured it was time for him to start switching gears… And they had tiny pencils, which are among my most favorite things.

Three years and a month worth of change…

First batch of Sangria of the summer…

We headed to New Hampshire to stay with some of our favorite peeps, Mike and Kristy (J’s cousin and his lady). We got to try out our new tent/hammocks… I’m so so ready for some real camping this summer, like not in a campground.

Bittersweet seems to be the theme for this move.

We are both beyond ready to get to CA, but it broke our hearts to leave Boston, and all our friends.

Happy late Mother’s Day to all the above average mothers in our life…

Simplify is the other theme for the move… and our life for that matter.

I like simple.

I had a very hard time getting rid of my “stuff”, the majority just wasn’t necessary, but I still had an attachment to it.

My mom said to take a picture, throw it away, and move on… so thats what I did. Now mother, you need to take your own advice.

This is my first camera… it doesn’t work because I dropped it in the creek. It’s gone… along with my baby blankets that lived in a box. I have no guilt about the stuff I tossed, amazing enough.

We already decided to sell the house and get rid of our stuff before J got his acceptance letter. Sometimes you just have to go for it.

I knew he would get in (how could they not want him, he’s amazing) but until you have that piece of paper in your hand…

And of course, he got in…

I got a job as a receptionist in a salon to live out the rest of our time in Boston, Dan restored my faith in bosses.

Sushi hardly seems adequate for all he did…

His fortune cookie…

Sign on the way out to Andee and Rudy’s… My 15 year old self would have stolen it.

Dinner with friends to welcome Casey Jane to Boston…

She only wanted to see the ocean and Salem, so that’s what we did.

Tiny door, tiny person… big head, thankfully it’s not that big in real life.

I hated to leave my garden… just when it was really getting going.

My favorite house in Lynn…

Goodbye house…

This freaking guy… we were blessed with his obnoxiousness for about 75 miles.

I look like Voldemort.

Casey sniffed out a rock shop, she has skills.

My family was kind enough to let me take over their gardens while I was home…

J’s sister and brother-in-law live in the same town in Wy as my sister and her family… Lucky me!

Hi bee…!

Gardening surrounded by puppies, life does not get much better…

I love gardening with my mom.

My talented niece…

I lived in Mass for five years, I still like Bridge Creek’s (in Red Lodge, MT) chowder the best.

Happy seventh birthday to my favorite companion…

My grandma Natalie’s irises… Maybe when I live somewhere longer than 20 minutes, I’ll get some for my yard.

I went to beauty school (and worked my first hairdressing job) with Mandee, we kinda lost touch a couple years ago. I found her again at my niece’s dance recital, her son is actually dating my niece.

Another garden project… I will post a finished picture next blog, it turned out so great.

Bug hotel…

In two days these cute kids will celebrate their 50th anniversary… Kudos! mom and dad.

Can’t wait for the party…

Friend time with one of my longest running friends. One of the best things about this trip is being able to spent more than a day with all the important people in my life.