Please leave your boots at the front door: Getting started after the big move

People continuously ask me "how do you move with all that stuff?" Where does one begin?

Here's my answer: I have no clue.  I've never moved an entire house. The last time I officially moved was my apartment in Bowling Green, Ohio where I completed my undergrad.  I was engaged and Dave's company came to my little apartment, packed me up and transferred all my belongings to Washington, D.C.  Even in college I had begun to collect antiques and keepsakes.  That was 17 years ago.

Fast forward.  It's now 2014.  You've seen the pictures of the beautiful, empty farmhouse that we were preparing to move into.  I absolutely loved the way that house looked empty.  So clean, fresh and full of possibilities.  In the world of design, who doesn't love a blank canvas to make your own?

But before I go any further, let's talk about another important point of moving.  Timing.  Who moves to a cold, frigid state in the middle of winter?  We do.  Sure, why not. We're moving from Ohio, we totally get snow.  We can do this!

Well, the fact is the snow wasn't so much of an issue as the cold. Record low temperatures and we completely froze our asses off.

 

So we hadn't moved for 17 years and now we decided to move in the dead of winter, to Wisconsin during a polar vortex.  The stars were really lining up for us. 

The movers arrived at the house in Wisconsin and I took one last, good look around before the "stuff" began to fill it.  Box, after box, after box.  I really had no clue how much we owned in our lives until those boxes were being carried in.

Totally overwhelmed.  That's what I felt.  I thought to myself "where is the manual for this shit."  Will someone please tell me how to do it and not go completely insane.  I think I felt the same way after Ava Claire was born.  There was no manual for that either. 

The movers continuously asked me where I wanted each box placed in the house.  I couldn't think, let alone tell them where to set a box.  Inevitably 90% of the boxes would end up in the basement or garage.  Retrospectively, I can say this was a really bad plan considering nobody wants to go to the garage in frigid temperatures and haul a box up two flights of stairs.

Moving day was a blur.  A bad dream.  I woke up the day after to a room full of sunlight shining in on half opened boxes and a new beginning.

I woke up to this face, that I love.  In a different state, but the same face. 

I woke up to fresh flowers in a hand crafted, ceramic vase from the previous owners.  How could they have known my affinity for pottery and fresh flowers.  The bad dream was now replaced with new hope.

After a cup of tea, the sunlight, sweet Cate's smile and fresh flowers the new hope seemed a little too much like a fairytale. 

Soon my visual field began to take in the stacks of boxes, scattered furniture and rolled up rugs.  Um, who was going to deal with this.  Oh, that's right...me!

The best part.  I have absolutely no visual proof.  I decided I was going to use my Nikon to take really good pictures of the evidence.  I wanted everyone to see what we had accumulated and purposefully done to ourselves or they would never believe us!  Well, that card with all of those pictures is long gone.  Someday the evidence will reappear.  Maybe during the next move.

Here's what I can tell you about starting over after a move.  It's like everything else in life.  Spontaneous and unplanned.  I would compare it again to the birth of a child.  You have the birthing plan all ready to go and then life decides to give you another plan.  In the end it all works out, it has to.

My keepsakes have started to find new nooks and crannies to reside in.

My favorite aprons are hung in the kitchen with care.

Harper is finding her place.

Games are being played.

 

Smiles have replaced frowns.

Secret escapes are being created.

Treasures are carefully unpacked and displayed.

The sun continues to shine. 

 If you want to survive a move, a big move, here are my top ten tips:

1. Take a look in the mirror.  Do you know what you're getting into? Do you know what you want?  Take a look and decide before you dive in.
   
2. Prepare, but not too much.  Be prepared for the curve balls. They're inevitable!
   
3. Let go.  I'm about as Type A as you can get!  Moving anything, anywhere when I'm not in control just about gives me a hear attack.  Just let go.
   
4. Mark everything for your sanity.
   
5. Purge before, not after (lesson learned).
   
6. Create realistic expectations for today and tomorrow.
   
7. At the same time dream about what could be...you never know.
   
8. Enjoy the moment as difficult as it may be.
   
9. Accept help and guidance (yep, struggled with this one too).
   
10. Laugh.  It's life and it's going to happen whether you're laughing or crying.

Let's add one more...go with the flow.