The Woes of Moving; The Joys of a House

Some of you know we’ve been moving the past few weeks from our apartment to a house. I actually really enjoyed apartment living and so did husband, but then Olli changed everything. The apartment seemed to go from pretty nice size to way too small in days. With a 60lb dog running the apartment, we knew we couldn’t stay there much longer. Not to mention having to walk him up and down the stairs day in and day out to go to the bathroom.

That realization came parallel to us doing Financial Peace University, which caused a big decision – move into my parents house. My parents travel a lot for work and are only in their Bentonville home once every couple months or so. It sits empty at least 250 days out of the year. It’s rent free, it has a backyard and it allows us to save for our own house – need I say more?

While the house has been GLORIOUS, moving is always a four-letter word. Here’s some advice I have for any of you moving any time soon.

W O E S  O F  M O V I N G

1. Start packing early. I’ll say it again, start packing early. Especially all that little stuff that seems to be everywhere.

2. As you’re packing, seriously consider if you need it. If you haven’t looked at it since last time you moved, you probably don’t. Give it to someone who does.

3.  Enlist your best friends to help you move. I say your best friends, because not just anyone wants to help someone move.

4. Afterwards, offer them free pizza and beer.

5. Put your dog in doggie day care or somewhere else for the day. They WILL be in the way.

6. Label your boxes. Especially if they’re going in a storage unit.

7. Buy plastic boxes at Walmart for things like photos and clothes that you’ll be storing for a while.

8.  Don’t take a shower on moving day or try and look cute. You will get sweaty and gross and it won’t matter.

9. Stay hydrated. Moving.Is.Hard.

10. Remember the big picture – you will get through this and then you’ll have a nice house to go home to.

J O Y S  O F  A  H O U S E

1. The backyard – oh my gosh having a backyard is nice. Case in point, the two photos below on this beautiful Saturday morning.

2. The feeling of a cozy neighborhood with genuine neighbors.

3. The space. Husband can be in one room, Olli can be in one room and I can be in another – and we won’t necessarily hear each other. *relaxing sigh*

4. You don’t have to carry your trash across the complex to the always overflowing and smelly trash compactor.

5. You don’t hear every word of every argument from your next door neighbors.

… and many, many more. I’m sure I’ll be blogging about it again soon so I’ll just leave it at these for now. Husband and I are off to get the final things out of the apartment and turn in our keys, then we will have a wonderful, relaxing Labor Day weekend in our home.

xo