There are things that you don't think about when you are in the midst of moving. I'm as organized as they come and I still didn't have the forethought I needed. Stuff has been misplaced, moved (ha the irony!), and downright lost, as we relocated last Saturday. Suffice it to say, even though I tried my hardest to be overly organized, I don't think I prepared enough.
After all of the dust settled people left, our house was a disaster zone. I felt like I was in an episode of hoarders. I could barely walk around due to the stacked piles of boxes and furniture. Don't you ever wonder how they manage to make their way through their house, without hurting themselves? In short, I feared for my life.
But, I was sort of ready for that kind of chaos. I knew it would come and I knew that within a couple of weeks, all would be back to normal. I would unpack, find a place for everything, and our house would start looking like a home, rather than a storage unit.
Yet, there were a few things that I wasn't quite prepared for. For instance, I knew that our dogs might go through an adjustment period. I wasn't sure what this would look like, but I assumed it would involve a lot of barking (due to all the dogs in our neighborhood). I also assumed that I would have to re-teach them where to do their bi'ness, where their pens were, and how the sleeping arrangements would work, in our new space.
I just wasn't really prepared for this:
Yea, Harlie was afraid of going up and down the stairs. The first day in our house, I had to take her up the front stairs into our house. She flat out refused to go up the back stairs (the ones we would be using regularly) and pulled on her leash so hard that her collar came off!! She also had to be carried down the stairs from our bedroom, that first morning. Let's just acknowledge here, that she is no small dog and I wasn't about to work this into my morning routine. Half-awake + 60lb dog + stairs = certain death.
Thankfully, she is doing a lot better now; but it took a lot of coaxing to make her realize that she could handle our bedroom stairs--and she still does this weird crawl-like walk down them. As far as the back-entrance stairs go, we realized that she didn't like that the basement stairs were right beside them. She has a weird fear of basements. So, we just let her come in on her own a few times, and she has gotten the hang of it. Though, she does tend to hug the wall furthest away from the basement stairs. It is quite funny really. Oh golden-doodles.
Another thing that we didn't fully prepare for was the shower situation. We guessed that we would need two shower liners for our tub. Sidenote: The way that you convert a clawfoot tub into a shower is by using a tub-to-shower converter kit.
You take shower liners and hang them around the entire perimeter, creating a temporary waterproof shower. It works really well and in the end, we can easily convert the shower back to a tub when we add a bathroom, with a real shower, to the second floor.
Anyways, on Saturday evening, after all of our friends left, we ran to Walmart to grab another shower liner for the following morning. I had two shower liners from our apartment, because we had two showers (duh?), but the box with the other one in it became buried during the moving process. So, we figured that it would be less of a hassle to spend $2.50 on a new liner, instead of trying to dig through boxes at ten in the evening.
Long story short, we needed three liners, not two. So, our shower ended up needing a little something else on Sunday morning.
Yep, that's a piece of plastic. And yes, its attached with packaging tape. And yes, we did shower with it like that. What else were we supposed to do? :) It worked wonders for keeping in the water, but I almost slipped and fell twice because of the stupid thing. Needless to say, we dug out the other shower liner Sunday evening. I didn't really want to defy death again.
One last thing,
this is how you apply your makeup when there is no hanging mirror in your house.
I bet you wouldn 't look attractive doing it either. Just sayin'.
Well, we officially moved into our house on Saturday!!!
It has been wonderful being in our own place. Living in this house has already proven very different then renting a space. But that is a post for another day.
First, I want to show you the mass chaos that is currently, our home. Get ready to freak out. I know I did after everyone finished moving us :) It is a bit overwhelming.
P.S. These pictures are after I did a bit of moving. I was was halfway into setting up our computer in our living room before I realized that I hadn't taken any pictures of our house, after the move! So sorry. But, hey, isn't something better then nothing?
living room
and again...
hmm a bit of cleaning was done
our dining room
again...
our kitchen was an utter disaster
can you find the counter? Because I can't.
our guest room
eventually it will look nice
We are really enjoying this whole 'house' thing and I can't wait to catch y'all up on the happenings around here. Enjoy your Tuesday and I will be back tomorrow to pick-up where we left off last week!
In two days we will move. Out of our first place together. Out of the first place that I ever lived in "on my own." Out of the place that we brought our puppy home to. It is the place that will forever hold a special meaning to us. Our first place.
Things are starting to look empty. When I talk on the phone in our apartment, my voice echoes. Just the other day, as I was making spaghetti, I realized that I didn't have any parmesan cheese, because it had already been moved to the new house! We are getting there.
But, this post really isn't going to be one of those where I reminisce about all of the good times I have had in this place. No, I'm not really sad to be leaving. Yes, I will miss this place for the memories and for its amazing architecture. But that is all. Instead I feel more like saying 'good riddance!'
Apartment life isn't for me. Sure, I lived in a dorm in college (all four years) and we have been here for almost two, but I have decided that I really don't like living in a shared space. Those people who live in apartments their entire lives, will forever amaze me, to some degree. I don't know how they do it! Let's just say that I feel like I have paid my dues and I am ready to move on to the next step.
Thankfully, my father was our landlord, so really I had nothing to complain about. I was allowed to pick paint colors, decorate, and even pick out the flooring in our place. Thanks daddy!!! Our apartment is beautiful and I have to say that I will miss the three fireplaces, the nine foot ceilings, and the beautiful ten inch moldings. I will definitely miss having two bathrooms and a gorgeous pantry area, but, I can't help the fact that I can't wait to move on to the next chapter: home ownership and a whole- heck-of-a-lot of responsibility.
I'm probably being a bit naive, but there is something extremely exciting about setting up our first house. In the next two days, as we officially move into our house, I will daydream about how I want to decorate our home. Heck, who am I kidding? I have already thought a lotaboutit. Let's just say, I'm pretty anxious.
So, as we progress into the weekend, picture me a bundle of anxious nerves attempting to patiently wait for everything to be moved from one place to the next. Also, please have some patience for me. We will be getting internet Monday, so I will, hopefully, be able to start posting again. That way I can give y'all some real time progress pictures and such.
Today, its off to the house with another load of stuff. Then, I need to paint the living room (it still is looking pretty white) and after that a ridiculous amount of cleaning needs to be done. But Saturday is almost here!!!
I have to be honest. I don't really have time for a post, but I feel bad leaving y'all hanging. So, here are a few pictures of the progress we made last week.
We focused on the kitchen (putting down the floor), the dining room (touching up the baseboard) and the bathroom (painting trim and putting up the shower converter). Unfortunately, I only have pictures of the kitchen for you.
Please be patient with us this week. We are spending the entire week moving and finishing up all of the last minute things. I hope to be able to post every-once-in-awhile, but I can't make any promises. Once we move, I plan on getting back to regular blogging with tons of progress pictures and some in depth posts on what we are doing and why.
I love you all! Thanks for sticking with us! :)
The kitchen is done!! Well as done as its going to get, before we move in. We plan on putting in new counter tops, eventually.
And I will also put the rest of the cabinet doors on, at some point.
Jonathan and I both breath a sigh of relief when we walk in the back door. It is definitely starting to feel like our home.
Isn't she adorable?! This is our little Piper when she was just a pup. Look at those ears! She was the dog version of Dumbo. Don't worry, she grew into them. We almost sent her back, but she looks normal now. ;)
Though, she may still have a complex from all of the teasing we put her through. Poor little thing.
Well, I suppose you have all waited long enough for an update. So really, this post has nothing to do with our dog. I just felt there needed to be some kind of picture. I mean, what's a post without a picture?!
Which leads to me saying that I really don't have anything new to share. Unless, I suppose, you are interested in seeing the difference between one coat of semi-gloss paint and two coats.
Trust me, not that much of a difference.
Or perhaps you would like to see what a white ceiling looks like. I bet you have never seen one of those.
Just look up. No sense in me taking tons of time to upload a picture for you! :)
So, I have to say, there really isn't much for me to update you on. Jonathan and I have been working really hard to get things done ASAP. But, most of the stuff we are working on involves paint...white paint. Not anything that would be worth writing a post about.
There is a slight update to share with you though! We have pushed back the moving date yet again.
I know, you all saw that coming. Yea...put a cork in it.
After talking it over last night, we decided the first week in May would be the best time to move in. Unfortunately, we just won't be ready by this weekend and next weekend Jonathan has this huge event with our church's youth group. Yea...he had to pull the God card. *rolls eyes*
Anywho, we decided that the first week in May allows us to have plenty of time to finish up a bunch of things and it also allows Jonathan to help me with the moving process, instead of me trying to move all by myself. I mean picture that?! I think I could move a couch or two on my own. Seriously. But that bed...ha! ;)
Let's just say, if we aren't in the house by May 5th, I may lose my cool.
Trust me when I say that you really don't want to see that.
It's ugly and not something I am proud of. I tend to look like a rabid cat. There is a lot of foaming at the mouth, raised hair, and sharp claws that appear. Like I said, not something I'm proud of.
Yet, I have to say, I'm truly looking at this whole situation in another way. I am excited for the extra time that we will have. This means that we can really get a lot of things done. The walls will all be painted. The floors will be nice and clean. The new windows will be in and trimmed. The closet will be built out. Oh and we will be able to transfer our internet and make sure our address is changed on everything. Maybe it is really all for the better.
There may be a slight reduction in stress too. Just sayin'.
No, I promise this post isn't going to be as bad as a Ricky Martin song. I just hope it's as entertaining as William Hung's rendition. Don't you just love his gumption? He's my hero :)
So, you probably understand have no idea what I'm talking about today. Let me make it plain and simple for you: MOVING! More specifically, moving without stress!
Yes, wonderful readers of mine, we are going to be talking about moving and the exciting process that it is. Or the horrible process it is.
I'm sure some of you hate it...meaning 99.9% of you. But if you are like me, then you look forward to it as a new and thrilling opportunity. If you are like my husband, then you despise it with every inch of your being. But if you are like me, then you look for an opportunity "to move" on a daily basis.
You know, "Hmm I could move this room around and change that furniture arrangement to this."
or
"Hmm, I wonder what the dining room would look like if I switched it with the living room."
Yup, once again, I'm crazy--I know.
But anyways, today I thought it would be fun if I doled out some of our moving tips. Plus, just to let you in on a little secret: we have set our moving date! Yup! No more of this living-in-two-places thing. We have decided that come April 22nd we want our predominate residence to be our new house. You may be asking yourself, "Why the 22nd?" Well, that is the day that we will have owned our house for 100 days. I like things like that--giving special meaning to a date. Wouldn't it be cool to say that we moved in on the hundredth day of owning the house?! Yea, I'm the only one excited about it. I know.
So, lets get on with:
THE GEIGER PACKING TIPS!!! da d-da! (say it out loud)
tip 1: Clean as you go.
I highly recommend using this time to do some deep cleaning. Think about it this way, if you clean as you go, there will be less to worry about in the end. As you are packing things, make sure to clean the place that you take them from. For instance, say you decide to pack up that spare closet you use for miscellaneous storage. After you are done boxing everything up, dust and sweep it clean. The people who move in after you will appreciate the clean space you left them and you will feel good because you won't have to clean your entire house/apartment right before you move.
Now is the time to really go through all of your belongings. Even if you aren't down sizing like we are (going from approximately 1500 sq ft. to 1000 sq ft.), moving is a great excuse to get rid of all the extra things you have laying around. Think about it this way, why would you take the time and energy to pack something and move it to your new space, when you are just going to get rid of it anyway?
For the past few months, I have been picturing where I would like things to go in our new house. As I have begun to pack, I have realized that I really need to get rid of a bunch of things. I need to be realistic about what I will need in our new space. I have come to the conclusion that I have WAY too many decorative pieces. In our current space we have three fireplaces. Yes, three. This means three mantels to decorate. And if you have been reading our blog and looking at pictures, you know that we have a total of ZERO fireplaces in our new space. So where do all of those pieces go? Yup, to Sal Val.
tip 3: If you are getting rid of furniture, try to do so before you move.
Now, this may seem pretty straight forward, but it amazes me that people will move a big piece of furniture only to realize that they can't keep it (i.e. not enough space) or want to replace it with something else (i.e. a change in decorative taste).
Our goal before we move on the 22nd, is to get rid of every piece of furniture that we can't and don't want to take to our new space. We gave our extra kitchen table to a friend, we Craigslisted our too-big furniture, and we are working on giving borrowed pieces of furniture back to their original owners. The more we do now, the less burdened we will be come moving day. Plus, its really nice to put an easy 'check' beside one of the things on our huge to-do list.
tip 4: Know where everything is packed.
Do this, by numbering each box and making a list of what is in each box. At the beginning of packing, I took a composition notebook and wrote numbers down the left side and put a description of what was in each box next to it. I actually took this tip from the Duggars. I figured if they used this technique to stay organized with all those kids, then it has got to work for us--and it has!
Back at the beginning of February, I thought we would be moving by the end of the month. So, I started packing things that I knew we wouldn't use. Well, it's almost two months later and we are still in our apartment. This is what our guest bedroom has looked like since I decided to start packing--a huge stack of boxes.
Since we didn't move as fast as I was planning, I have needed things that were packed away. It has been wonderful to just reference my notebook and not have to go digging through everything in an attempt to find, say, my extra toiletries. Plus, when we do eventually move, I will be able to do it in an organized manor. I will just reference my notebook and be able to tell which box goes in which room.
tip 5: If possible, take your time.
My last tip is all about convenience. We have been very blessed to have my father as our landlord. He has been wonderful in letting us be flexible about moving. We are able to stay here as long as we need to and I have been using that to our advantage. Because we have had unlimited time, I have been able to plan out this whole process. It has allowed me to stay really organized and not so overwhelmed by all we have to do.
So, if you have the time, use it! Mentally prepare yourself by visualizing your stuff in the new space. Make lists of where you want each thing to go. Measure the new space for your current furniture. Know whats going to work and what isn't. If we hadn't taken the time to measure our new living room before we moved, we would have attempted to put our couches in there only to find out that there isn't enough space for them. Measuring--which took a measly five minutes--saved us a whole lot of hassle in the end.
Plus, another thing about being able to take your time (and if you aren't moving too far away)...you can also turn your moving day into moving days. We plan on gradually moving our stuff. Once our bedroom is complete, we will move certain pieces of our bedroom furniture. Once the kitchen cabinets are painted and dry, we will begin to move our minimally used dishes and small appliances. This will allow us to do things gradually and minimize the stress that comes with moving everything all at once.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Now, I know that everyone's situation is different and you may not have the option to take your time, but use the above tips and adjust them to your situation. My whole point is, if you plan ahead and make the effort to know where things will be going once you move, you will be a lot less stressed in the end. Knowing what you own, organizing it, and planning for its future location can really save you a huge headache once moving day arrives. Plus, who doesn't love designing a whole new space?!
Ok, so this is what is working for us, but I would love to know what your moving tips and suggestions are! Please share :)
