One down..well almost...
We, Dana's family, have moved! It was a long and very exhausting weekend. The sad/annoying part is that we are still not 100% moved out. There are a few odds and ends, trips to the dump, and trips to storage that still need to happen - but for the most part, we are now all moved into our little 900 square foot apartment. It is nice and cozy to say the least and the kids are doing well adjusting to their new home. Major props to the hubs for all his hard work. He was popping Advil like candy - he moved the majority of everything himself. Mikhail helped him on Saturday with a trip to storage and I helped on the items that he couldn't carry himself - but he really did the bulk of the work. Every time I move I wish I had remembered moving from the last time. So, I am here to provide you with..
1. Pack a bag. If you are moving over a weekend like we did - pack a bag like you are going away for the weekend. Put 2-3 changes or clothes, PJ's, Shampoo, Conditioner, SOAP, deodorant, toothbrush, and toothpaste. We went a few days with out some of these items because they were in the bottom of a box or not moved over yet. Luckily - it was just the two of us..
2. Think about food! This may seem like a no brainer, but every day we were standing there staring at boxes with our tummies rumbling wondering how and when we were going to eat. It would have been helpful to have bottled waters, granola bars, and various other snacky foods to hold us over until we got some food. On that same note - try to stray from too many hamburgers/greasy food - nothing is worse than moving with a brick in your stomach.
3. Even if it seems silly- pack it! So we took the half and half approach. The great part about our move is that we were literally moving a half mile down the road. We took various trips that week before and started loading and setting up what we could without disrupting the house. I did not want the kids (mostly Ada) to see the house all taken down - I knew it would upset her. So, we packed everything going into storage in boxes and packed the apartment items either in a box, or it was just thrown into the car. Pack everything in a box - it seems silly, you are just going to unpack it - but nothing is more difficult (and tiring) then trying to carry a car full of pillows, linens, and various kid toys with out any sort of box/basket. You don't have to tape the boxes - in fact that is better, so that you can take empty boxes back and re-load them up! Courtney- hear me on this!! (Her last move - she literally threw things into a moving truck - no boxes. I mean, the table was set up with lamps on it - in the truck! It looked like something from a Dr. Seuss book)
4. Try to unpack as you go. Now, this is where some helping hands would have been nice. Since it was just us 2 for the majority of the move, we had to have all hands on deck at all times. It would have been nice to just have someone unpacking/organizing. Friday night and Saturday night, we would unpack what we brought over and load the empty boxes back in the car for the next day. It would have been much to overwhelming if we just unpacked all at once. Especially in a small space - we could hardly move at the end of each day without tripping over boxes.
There you go, a few tips we learned this weekend! I am so glad to be almost done with this process. We have 3 days until the cleaner, and then it is closing day! Wahoo!!