So here we are in South Carolina!! It’s been 2 weeks since I posted last on Moving Monday because last Monday we were right in the midst of the move and well, I just didn’t have the time to write something up before hand! Things got a little crazy as would be expected the weekend of the move. Leave it to me to make it even crazier by having a Moving PARTY on 11:11:11 the night before we got and loaded the truck. We did it though and it was worth it to say goodbye to friends and family who made it over to our box filled home. And at 11:11 we did make a toast of farewell to our friends and a wish for happy new beginnings.
Saturday started out quite well with the expected friends showing up to help us all through the day. About mid-day though we began to realize there was a strong possibility, not everything would fit on the truck! AHHH My husband had spent some time the previous week taking measurements of boxes and furniture and drawing up a rough schematic but despite all that it seemed clear it wasn’t going to work! The BIG problem was that the truck was about 1′ shorter than expected. That might not seem like much but over a 26′ truck length it adds up and most packing boxes are made to fit in certain size trucks a specific way. If we had that extra space we could have packed the truck a bit more efficiently but trust me, they packed the truck without an inch to spare. FYI, this truck said it would hold a 5 BR capacity which is nonsense! Our house was approximately 1600 sq. feet and three BR’s but only one BR worth of BR furniture (office, tools, art studio and other normal household furniture).
In the midst of my almost moving meltdown I had to run out to a eye Dr. apt and thank god for my friends and mom who stayed behind diligently packing and cleaning at the house.
It was actually very good for me to step away for a bit to put things in perspective. My mom gave me some great advice that day and as simple as it is it’s worth remembering. Everything takes time! So I just tried to remember that for the remainder of the time it took to load what we could. Sunday AM we had planned to leave around 9 but because not everything fit we had to make some last minute trips to drop stuff off to be donated and stored. We threw out and gave things away that we hadn’t originally planned to but nothing that we can’t live without after all, it’s just stuff!
With the house empty and cleaned we finally hit the road for our 8+ hour drive at 4:30PM. The drive was slow with my husband driving the big truck and me in my car. It ended up taking us 11 hours but we made it safely and boy was I happy to see palm tree’s and Spanish moss! Somehow after only 4 hours of sleep we got up and unloaded the truck into our storage bin with the help of my husband’s parents and one kind neighbor friend. It took 5 hours to pack with 10 people helping and only 1.5 hours to unpack with 5 people.
What a relief to have it all unloaded and in storage now. The next phase of our life involves living in a furnished home for about 3 months with a minimum of our belongings. We can run down to our storage unit and get things as we need them but when we packed we selected the items we would need for about 6 months and made them mostly accessible from the time we arrived. We are on our own now and are nesting in our new, temporary home. I’ve spent the last several days cleaning because, despite the fact that this is a clean house, I guess I just need to put my own mark on it. I’m also feeling a little lost since we are not in our final destination so this is my way of making it feel like our home. We re-arranged furniture and have cleaned, unpacked and even done some cooking here. As you can see by this post, I’m also starting to get back into the swing of my old routines…integrating the old with the new.
One new routine I’m loving so far is walks on the beach every day!
How do you get settled into a new place? What is nesting like for you?
Related articles
- Moving Monday::1 Week to Go! (hkpowerstudio.wordpress.com)
- How to Pack a Moving Truck (thenattyurbanite.wordpress.com)
It has been a truly spectacular fall here in Maryland and I will miss the rolling hills, fall color and yes I will even miss the snow a little, but it made a sneak appearance for us last week.