On moving

If ever you find yourself living in a castle of cardboard, here are some helpful moving tips I've picked up over the last few weeks...

1. Declutter, declutter, declutter! Moving is like Spring cleaning on steroids. Now is the time to refresh your space and get rid of things you don't use. If you don't wade through that box of useless but sentimental "stuff" now, it will haunt you on the other end. For us downsizing to a smaller square footage also forced us to think about bigger things we didn't need. We ended up donating a TON of stuff(which is a nice tax write off if you want to skip the work of a garage sale) and I was also able to sell a bunch online. In fact I funded all of our U-Haul expenses completely from selling things we didn't need to take with us. Plus, you're going to want to use the money you get from selling old stuff to replace the things you won't be able to find later, which brings me to the next point...

2. You will lose stuff. It's okay, just find you're nearest Target and buy the new toothbrushes(true story). Even if you are diligent to pack and label wisely(for the most part, not us), it's still incredibly difficult to get to things that may be boxed away. This is where making several trips comes in handy. If you can take a few loads before the big haul, bring the small stuff like cell phone chargers and Shampoo separetly.

3. Prepare to eat out, a lot. And don't worry about the extra calories, you'll burn plenty unloading boxes-especially if you move in the summertime.

4. It's a community effort. Moving is hard! It isn't just mentally exhausting, but requires muscle to accomplish. I cannot even begin to express how thankful we are for our friends, parents, aunts/uncles and church family who made it happen. Seriously, ya'll rock. I was almost sure we'd have to make two big truck trips and was blown away that we were able to get everything out of our house and ahead of schedule at that. To friends who gave up their Sunday afternoon to disassemble bunk beds, unloaded our dishwasher, vacuum, offer childcare and so so much more-we are beyond grateful. I should also note here that we were surprised and completely blessed by a local church here in Morrisville who reached out and helped us, strangers, unload on this end-heaven sent they were! So many evidences of grace on this crazy train.

5. Last but not least, it's probably a good idea to vacuum underneath those couch cushions before the whole world sees them-raisins, popcorn and pennies oh my! Just kidding, but seriously...I plead many small children haha! 

It's been one week since we moved and I can't tell you what a breath of fresh air it is to be writing this blog on the other end of it all, seated at our unpacked computer in a mostly put together new dining room. My last note would be that while moving seems an incredibly daunting task and is undoubtedly hard work, we got it done taking it one day at a time, having an amazing support system and trusting God for the big and small details-I did find those tooth brushes after all. :-)