“Why did you do all this for me?’ he asked. ‘I don’t deserve it. I’ve never done anything for you.’ ‘You have been my friend,’ replied Charlotte. ‘That in itself is a tremendous thing.”

— E. B. White, Charlotte's Web

We sold our house this week. This puts us one massive step closer to our vagabond adventure. We’ve called 596 N Lydia in Stephenville home for 23 years. We raised our children there. It’s good, but a bit melancholy to leave it. When we put our house on the market on Feb. 27 we hoped to be able to sell it by mid-May when we plan to leave town, but within a week we had a contract with an April 3 closing date! Thank you Hayden Real Estate! They took great care of us. We had to move out of our house in a month – and in the middle of that short time frame we spent spring break in France! But we managed to do it, with a whole lot of help from some of those we have come to love so much over these years in Stephenville. We don't feel that we deserve such thoughtful and generous friends, but we certainly do appreciate each of you, more than we can say!

I am really overwhelmed with how kind and generous everyone has been in helping us achieve our dreams. It begs the questions, “why would you want to leave a place where everyone is so kind and thoughtful?” And the answer is tough to figure out except that we are really excited about going in a new direction, making new friends and meeting fresh challenges.

But I want to tell you a little more about how wonderful our friends and family are and how they helped us deal with what I felt was the most overwhelming part of this entire process. I would still be walking around in circles amid empty boxes if it weren’t for my friend, Laura Ann. She said that we would have fun packing up the house – and we did. She made it fun. I sorted and sorted and she boxed and boxed. Thank you, Laura Ann, from the bottom of my heart. You are a moving wizard.

My friend Kimber texted me 9 days before our scheduled move/moving sale and said, basically, “hey – I know this person who does garage sales…didn’t know if that would be something that would interest you at this point.” It seemed like just a thought that she shared with me. Well, it turned out to be a blessing so large that it is hard to describe. I texted Tanya Gentry, a garage sale master, at about 4:00 am when I woke up because I couldn’t sleep, saw Kimber’s text and thought “that’s probably a good idea.” I never imagined that she would be available to do my garage sale the next weekend. She came over, saw what I had for the sale already, said she could do it and then she DID IT ALL! Tanya was amazing. She priced and organized and took care of the sale and when it was all over she took what remained off our hands. She had such a cheerful attitude, was great with customers and basically relieved me of a great deal of stress – in exchange for splitting the proceeds 50/50. She earned every penny. She worked so hard! If you’d like her contact info, just let me know!

If it were not for Laura Ann, Kimber and Tanya, we would still be in the house. But there were others who happily helped us move and we are forever grateful! I saw our friend Mike at a conference in San Antonio in February and he said he would be happy to help us move – just let him know the day and time. I couldn’t believe it! I don’t think I’ve ever offered to help anyone move….but I will now that I know what it means to the person moving. Our friends Danell and David bought a lot of our furniture and tools for their boys who are getting married. That was amazing. I love knowing that our things are being used and enjoyed by our friends and their grown children. A number of students from Greg’s jazz band came over on moving day – a Saturday morning, which is prime sleeping time – to help. My friend Carolyn from work loaned me tables and shelves for the sale, helped pack and also organized with Tanya. Greg’s cousin Jeff and his wife Judy drove down from Dallas and surprised us. They helped us with the sale, bought some items and cheered us on.

And Kimber and Jimmy are letting us stay with them until we finish teaching this semester. It was absolutely amazing to move out of our house over to their beautiful haven where we get to share their friendship and their home for the next several weeks. Thank you, thank you.

We are truly blessed by amazing friends and family. I am overwhelmed with gratitude to all who are helping us live out this grand adventure. We can’t wait to see you on the road. Please know that you will always be in our hearts. You have made our lives special and your kindness and generosity mean the world to us.

In mid May, Euro Travel Coach will head to Canada for the summer and we have a one way ticket to Copenhagen Aug. 31. We’ll visit Chelsea and Sam for a week or so in September and then we’ll head to Italy. Our journey is just beginning and we are really excited! Hope you’ll follow us along the way!

Remember, if you or someone you know would like help planning your own trip to the Loire Valley or anywhere in France, Italy, Ireland or the rest of Europe, I would love to talk with you! Feel free to reach out via email — We’re always available to talk about travel!!