Moving Right Along: Loading Up The U-Haul And Other Things That Move Me

 

I am so excited to step up and be a part of The Nester’s 31 Days of Blogging! I am also excited to share with anyone willing to listen about my topic of ‘Moving.’ I have a whole boatload of ideas (31 to be exact) and although I’m sure they will change and evolve as the month goes on, I’m pumped to see where I end up!

As I mentioned here, I would like to talk about the physical process of moving in addition to some of the more emotional and figurative ideas that go along with motion. I even thought about calling the series ‘Life in Motion’ but then I decided that sounded too…something for me. Fancy? Put together? Smooth? And since I am none of those things, I decided that ‘Moving Right Along’ would be my new train of thought. It’s got a nice ring to it, dontcha think? : )

If all goes as planned (that’s a laugh!) here is a little bit of what I have planned. A little bit of my moving background, a few tips on preparing to move and some more specific lists to help you stay organized, and some (hopefully) helpful hints on getting settled in after a move. On the more touchy/feely side of things, we’ll talk about the real-life struggles that affect us after a move like figuring out where you fit in along with experiences that move us on an emotional level. Sounds pretty manageable, right? I can just hear Rob Schneider in my head right now. “You can DO it!” Thanks, Rob. You’re a peach.

Moving Right Along: My Moving History

Throughout the course of my 30 years, I have moved a total of 17 times. Let me just give that a moment to sink in. Doesn’t that just seem so dumb? And the funny part is that my parents didn’t even have jobs where they moved around a lot. Apparently it was just a weird, masochistic, expensive hobby of theirs. (I’m mostly kidding) : )

When I met my husband, I was shocked to learn that his parents had lived in the same house since he was a baby. They could point to a spot and say, “That’s where Landon took his first steps” and “That’s where Landon busted his knee open.” It blew my mind.

Although there is a part of me that is jealous of that solid in his life, I have really loved living in so many different places. There are so many memories and experiences that I link to each stage/house that I can’t imagine having lived for twenty-some years in one place.

Here it is, your own personal walk down {my} memory lane. I couldn’t find pictures from everywhere, but here are a few of my favorites. Dig the haircuts, the bad photography, and the wallpaper borders. You’re so welcome. : )

This was the first house I lived in. It was on Reddingdale Drive in New Castle, Indiana.

 

Not a house-related picture (although I think it was in the house pictured above). I just wanted photographic evidence on file that my sister has always been super gentle and loving with me. ; ) Check out those 'boss' Cabbage Patch dolls!

 

This is (obviously) not a place I lived. I just wanted to include it to show how awesome my Grandpa is : )

 

I'm pretty sure this picture was taken in the backyard of our next house, also in New Castle. Tiffany and I rocked that jungle gym.

 

Why yes, Tiffany and I did have boy haircuts for a portion of our childhood! We also enjoy horseback riding, long walks on the beach and hanging out with on of our favorite uncles. Holla at my Uncle Jim! This was taken at my grandparents' house where we lived for a time.

 

Next house: a gorgeous old fixer-upper built in 1901(?). It was super cool; it had a front staircase AND a servant staircase going up from the kitchen. That's my super athletic older sister on the porch. She was instrumental in the roofing process. I was probably upstairs hiding under my Little Mermaid pillow in my closet reading a Nancy Drew book. I've always been quite brilliant.

 

Here are both of my sisters (Tiffany, left and Breanne, right) in Tiffany's room at our next house. This was actually a pretty cool setup because all that separated Tiffany's room from mine were a couple of free-standing wardrobes. We could tell each other goodnight without shouting and we could eavesdrop on each other on the phone. What?! I never did that! *awkward silence*

 

My girls on the front porch of our house in Kearney. We love Husker days!

 

Our little family when I was just a few months along with little Judah. This may have been our Christmas card photo that year. Nebraska fans are hardcore, I tell ya.

 

Those aren't all the places I've called home in my lifetime, and there will be more yet to come. But just looking back is so much fun! Hope you have a great day and you enjoy wherever you are on your list of moves : )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moving Right Along: Where the Heck Do I Start?

When we made the final decision in July to move to a new place that September, my initial feeling was excitement. A new place! New neighborhood! New decorating opportunities! This feeling lasted about 4.3 seconds until I realized something very important. I was going to have to pack up our whole house. Again.

I freaking hate packing. And that passion is not limited to packing an entire family of five to move to a new place. I hate even packing to go somewhere for the weekend. How many outfits do I need? Do I have enough Q-Tips to last the whole trip? How many pairs of undies? (Over-sharing alert: I always pack way too many underwear. But who wants to have that be the thing you run out of??)

But sorting, organizing and packing up a whole house is seventh circle of hell stuff. And if you read this post, you know that I just finished this whole process a year ago. And the year before that. And the month before that. Seriously, guys it’s ridiculous.

So instead of jumping in and doing a little at a time and being proactive, I went with the old Brittany standby and tried to plan out the perfect way to move. The only problem? I couldn’t find anyone who could tell me exactly the best way to go about getting started.  There were a few lists and suggestions, but I needed someone to really spell it out for me. Or just come and do it.

Here are a few sites/lists/whatevers that I found. They might be helpful to you, so go check them out!

 

 

Since neither one of those things happened, I ended up putting off the packing until the last possible second. Literally. I was that annoying person who was still packing on the day of the move. I just had random stuff sitting around and my wonderful friends were nice enough to talk me down off the ledge, pack up all of my crap and move it to a new place. You can’t buy friends like that.

All this to say, I needed a step-by-step list of the best way to pack up your house to move. I couldn’t find one, so I’m going to give it a whirl for anyone else out there that is dragging their feet and anxious about where to start. It may not work for you, but hey…I’ll give it a shot! Come back!

 

Starting Up Again

 

I restarted my Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred today. I stepped on the scale this morning and decided that 181.2 pounds is just too much. I am too frustrated with my weight to enjoy basic things right now, and I refuse to give my kids a mom who hates what she’s become. That’s not to say I hate my life or anything! I love my kiddos and I love my husband, but this self-consciousness and disgust is getting in the way.

 

 

 

I don’t think I’ll share actual 'before' pictures at this point besides these Instagrams (I don’t think that would be good for anyone!), but I would like to post on here from time to time and let you know how it’s going.

Today I pushed myself and worked hard, I’m now a sweaty mess, and I have a renewed passion for drinking plenty of water. : ) Feel free to send me a shout out every once in a while to make sure I don’t quit. I have a tendency to poop out on things really easily.

 

 

These are the most important people in my world. How can I show these guys the joys of life and living according to God's plan if I'm granting myself exceptions every time I get a chocolate craving?? I want more for me and for them. : ) Here goes nothing!

 

 

31 Days of Blogging

Just dropping in for a quick "hello!" : ) It felt so good to get a new blog post up the other day! It’s nice to get my thoughts down on paper screen and empty out my mind a bit. Not that there’s much to spare in there, but still…

One of my favorite bloggers, The Nester, is doing a 31 Days of Blogging challenge over on her blog Nesting Place and I’m thinking I’d like to dive in and do it. I don’t think that I’ll be writing anything ground-breaking or even coherent, but I think challenging myself to post every day in the month of October will be good for me. Who know? Maybe the new self-discipline will cross over to my weight battle and I’ll lose 40 pounds no problem! It could happen! (Name that movie) : )

 

She encourages bloggers to write about something that is pertinent to their lives right now, and the topic I’m thinking of is ‘Moving.’ We obviously just moved and I’d like to share about some of my moving experiences but I’d also like to write about simply being moved on an emotional level along with the sense of motion that you experience as you travel through life.

I’m excited and I’ve already started drafting up my list of possible topics, so check back in the month of October and don’t be surprised if a post or two is just random words typed up and then posted. That will still count, right??

First Glimpse of a Girrrrly Girl

Well, it’s happened. My little Eden Mae is officially a girl. To be clear, she has always been a girl as far as her anatomy and such, but now she’s a girrrrl. (There’s also a very real chance that some of her girrrrliness is rubbing off on me, but I don’t want to talk about that right now.)

 

 

She and her friends now squeal uncontrollably and scream that ‘only-dogs-can-hear-this’ scream when they are around the boys in their class. I found out the hard way at Eden's 6th birthday party that this phenomenon was now a part of our lives.

 

To illustrate, from what I gather from her after-school reports, they are all playing a game called ‘Capture’ at recess. In addition to being mind-blowingly creative in the naming department, this game is—that’s right—boys against girls.

 

The fundamental problem with ‘Capture’ that the boys probably didn’t bank on is this: girls always want to be caught. From first grade playground games to college parties, the girl is always looking for the boy to catch her and take her back to meet the family home base.

 

So these poor six- and seven-year-old boys are chasing girls that are screaming and pretending to run away. And these poor girls think that the boys that catch them were chasing them because they like them/think they’re pretty/are their best friend. News flash kiddos: boys want to win. Period. Sometimes they chase the girls that they like but mostly they just want to win.

 

Further illustration of the basic differences between what girls see and what boys see :)

 

To all you poor young girls out there, let me enlighten you further. This doesn’t stop when they get older. When you’re in high school and all the guys decide to have a ‘guys night’ where they play video games or go pumpkin bowling, you will not be invited and you will not be missed. {Sorry!} While they’re out being stupid and/or gross, your ‘girls night’ will consist of watching romantic comedies that paint a very unrealistic picture of love and talking about the boys.

 

It feels unfair, huh? But the truth that I would like to impart to my girls is this: the male species (mystery though it is) is fairly simple. They don’t have millions of thoughts in their heads all the time like we do. They don’t read into little things like we do, and they are perfectly happy staring blankly at a television for hours without saying a word. I don’t get it either. They’re weird. You learn to live with them. Girrrl it up, gals!

 

 

 

The Mouse House

You know how when you’re a kid and you think of a mouse, you automatically picture these cute little guys?

Or maybe even as an adult, when someone talks about a mouse this image pops into your head.

Kind of cute still, right? I mean they’re little and fuzzy and don’t look like they could hurt a fly.

You want to know what mice look like to me? What I see when one of those little creatures shows up?

BAM! “Hey, human. ‘Sup. I know you don’t really like having me around…but guess what? I don’t care one little bit. I’m going to go ahead and go poop on your kitchen towels now. Oh you don’t like that? How ‘bout your kitchen counter? Still no? Sweet. I’m gonna go crap in your sofa. Check ya later.”

At least that’s what our mice said. They may as well have left little notes that said, “Screw you” all over our house. Seriously. All over our house. Poop in every. single. room.

So long story short, we’re moving again. After our landlords dumped some money into the house to take care of our rodent problem, they decided to put the house on the market. We are pretty bummed out because we had hoped to live here for at least another year while we pay off debt and save up for a down payment for a house of our own. But, alas it is not to be.

The good news is that the house we’re moving to (another rental) will be pretty great for us I think. It’s five minutes from school as opposed to 20, it’s four bedrooms rather than three, and it’s back off the beaten path so no more busy street for us!

I’m excited and bummed all at the same time. We’ve put a lot of love into this house to make it home for a few years and we’ve loved living here—except for the mice. : ) But I know that we can make anywhere ‘home’ and that so much of it depends on my attitude, so I’m going to spend the next three weeks getting the munsters excited for the new place. They’re pretty good at rolling with the punches. Heck, since this will be the fourth time we’ve moved in two-and-a-half years, they’d better be!

I hope to get some good pictures of The Mouse House before we move; it’s really come a long way in the last year!

Just to restore your faith in Jaq and Gus. I’m sure they would never have behaved in this manner. After all, they wore pants.