The Great Move of 2018

From an Instagram post on July 17th -
I feel like our summer is ending already.  Just when things started to calm down for us, I got the news that we have until the end of the month to move out of the house we've lived in for almost 5 years.  We're okay with moving - we've been thinking about it for a few months - but the timeline came as a surprise for sure.  We found out last Tuesday night and woke up to see a For Rent sign in our yard the next morning.  (We hadn't even told the kids yet.)  Thankfully, we've found another house but the move is still proving to be a complicated one and the stress is piling up already.  By the time we get it all taken care of and start to settle in to our new place, school will start.

The whole situation was incredibly frustrating for me.  Not only did it feel like we were being kicked out, but the landlords at the old house were being difficult in the demands they were making as far as preparing the house for the next tenants so we actually had to be out of the house a day early.  Then, even though the new house was listed as being available August 1st, the new landlords said we couldn't move in until August 3rd.  Luckily, they let us get in on the 2nd, but that still left a few days of being between houses.  A kind friend offered for us to stay with her during that time and our movers gave us a pretty good deal on keeping our stuff loaded in their truck during the interim so that it wouldn't have to be moved into a storage unit then moved out again a few days later.

Of course, more stressors came up in the course of the move, but that's to be expected.  Overall it was actually one of our more smooth moves, so that's a blessing.  I'm sure it helped that we were only moving about 4 miles away, to an area we were somewhat familiar with.  The new house is near the Interstate and close to the kids' schools and has a YARD and so far it's been a good change in most ways.  It's been slow for us to meet neighbors and make friends, but we'll keep working on that.  We miss the familiarity of our former ward but at least that area is close enough that we can visit friends.

PACKING UP

I didn't take many pictures during the move because I was so frustrated the whole time,
so this is the token shot of packing material.  Being used as a prop cast, in this case.

During the last few weeks of July, eating watermelon outside
seemed like the most summery activity of the day.

Giving Jack the task of removing sticky tabs from a book of crafts I've had for years
(and not used in years) occupied him for a while.

A tower of boxes a friend brought over from work!

Testing out the extra-strength bins we bought at Costco for the move.
(These things are great.)

Finding little treasures, sometimes for the first time, sometimes for the 20th time.
This was the first time I saw the Cursive License Eliza earned in 2nd grade.

The playroom was one of the first areas I tackled when packing up.
The kids sure loved playing with things that were unearthed in the process.

MOVING OUT





On moving day, I arranged for all of the kids to be at friends'
houses.  Cat was supposed to be at this friend's house, but I realized I needed more help
so I asked them to please come work on the move instead.  Not only did they pack and move things,
they also helped finish off food in the kitchen.  I might have also bribed them with Shave Ice.



Shave Ice!
(This proves nothing.)

WAITING AROUND

We were so thankful to Ms. Teri for opening up her home to us.

Everyone was happy and comfortable for the three days/nights

we were there, with Ben and I and Cat in bedrooms and the younger

three camped out in the TV room.  It also turned out to be really

nice to get a break from moving for a few days.  Working hard to get

moved out wore me out and relaxing and just playing with the kids

helped me feel better about starting all over to get moved in.

GETTING SETTLED

It took about two months before I felt like we were pretty much settled in the house.

We're still not 100%, but we're close enough and still working on it.  I didn't document

the moving-in process at all, but here are a few pictures from early in the settling-in process,

including enjoying the fruits of someone else's labors (raspberries, blackberries, mint,

and plums in the back yard; and we harvested pears in the fall).