This weekend was a big one.

We had a contractor here working on the deck. The house got painted. New carpet went into Avilene’s room. We spread six yards of mulch… pressure washed… mowed. A wonderful cleaning company came and did the deep down dirty clean that happens before a house goes up for sale.

We moved our bins into storage. The kids wheeled them down those hallways like little pros.

We had a girl scout campout. A soccer game. A volleyball game.

The stager came. The photographer came.

And very very soon… our house will appear as coming soon on the MLS and Zillow.

I have to be honest with you.

Today I stood in the driveway with Adam and I cried a little bit.

I love our home. I genuinely love it. The colors… the decor… it is us. Every single piece of it. We chose it and we built it and we made it ours. It did not come that way. We did that.

But here is what I know…

We did the same thing on the bus. We did the same thing in every rental we have ever had. In Korea. In Japan. In Ohio. In Tahoe. In every place we have ever landed… we made it ours. We filled it with the same love and the same energy and the same us.

That does not live in the house. It travels with us.

And wherever we go next… we will do it again.

Coming soon. 🌍🐾 48 days

Q: How do you emotionally prepare to sell a home you love? A: Honestly… you do not fully prepare. You just feel it when it comes. Standing in the driveway looking at everything we built together and crying a little was not weakness… it was love. The house deserved that. What helped was remembering that we have done this before and the love and energy we put into a space always travels with us to the next one.

Q: What do you need to do to prepare a house for sale? A: More than you expect and in less time than you want. This weekend alone we had contractors on the deck… fresh paint on the exterior… new carpet in one bedroom… six yards of mulch spread around the yard… pressure washing… lawn mowing… a deep clean by a professional cleaning company… a stager… and a photographer. It is a lot. It is absolutely worth it.

Q: How do you involve kids in the process of selling the family home? A: You let them help wherever they can and you let them feel whatever they feel. Ours wheeled bins into the storage unit like absolute pros… went to soccer and volleyball and girl scout campouts in the same weekend… and kept going. Kids are remarkably resilient when the adults around them are honest and present.

Q: Is it worth hiring a stager before selling your home? A: Yes… absolutely yes. A stager sees your home through a buyer’s eyes which is completely different from how you see it as someone who has lived and loved in it. The investment pays for itself in faster sales and stronger offers almost every time.

Q: How do you know when it is time to let go of something you love? A: When holding on costs you more than letting go. The home we built is beautiful and it is us… but what makes it us is not the walls or the carpet or the colors. It is the people inside it. Those people are coming with us. That is everything.