JUST A LITTLE ANXIETY ATTACK - I'M FINE NOW!

It just occurred to me . . . well not JUST . . . but for some reason I was just struck full force with the fact that when the Christmas decorations come down it will be time to begin "staging" my house so that prospective buyers can envision it as their own. Gone will be my country clutter. Away with the family pictures. We removed the wallpaper and repainted the great room and kitchen months ago . . . before we made the decision to put the house on the market. But even then I had vintage plates and kitchen gadgets on the walls in the kitchen. We have spent so much time making this 30 year old cookie cutter home into our one of a kind oasis. Our bathroom will still be a country getaway, but without the bowl and pitcher sitting on the little antique cabinet that my MWHITW brought home from an estate sale. I'm torn about whether to leave the window/mirror on the wall above the tub (you see there is no window in our bathroom, so we made our own) and if do leave it up, do I leave the swag up, replace it with boring curtains, or leave the "window" free of fabric? Should I leave my little vignette on the top of other's chest of drawers, do I leave it bare, or do I replace it with a vase of grocery store flowers? Is my 1939 World's Fair vinegar bottle turned lamp (one of Mother's souvenieres from the World's Fair that Daddy electrified for her after they were married) too personal to leave on my night table . . . and should I remove the hand crocheted table topper and just leave the bland solid colored topper behind?



We have worked so incredibly hard over the past 12 1/2 years to turn this house into our home. I know in my heart that no matter where we go, no matter what type of a house we end up living in, that the same things that have made this house our home will help to make our new house a home. It's really not about the location or the decorations . . . it's about the love and the memories and the people we share it with. And most of all . . . . it's about the One who has given us the opportunity to live in this house and who is giving us the opportunity to fulfill our dream of living in the mountains again.

AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE . . . . WE WILL SERVE THE LORD!