• I am glad the moving process is OVER! I do not know how people handle moving often! I am so thankful we are not ones to pick up and move every 3 or so years, out of desire or necessity! I guess you just do what you have to and, for some, moving is a part of life. Bless you, people, bless you.
• I know things could have been WAY more chaotic than they were. In fact, on the scale of “stressful move” we were way on the non-stressful end because of all the help we had with the girls. Obviously we would have been okay all moving in together with nothing in it’s place and slowly getting everything together whenever time allowed, but I knew that would be stressful on us all and I am so thankful we had the option to move the way we did. My parents are absolutely amazing to take on the girls like they did for such a long length of time. That was such a huge blessing and a huge part of what made this move as stress free as possible.
• Our move was extremely organized (thanks to me, hehe) and that helped keep the stress minimal too. I had very detailed packing and moving lists. I’d make a plan, get it approved by my Boss Man and then we’d execute the plan together with the help of our family and friends.
• Packing was no where near the big job I thought it was going to be. Getting rid of 18 garbage bags full of stuff we no longer used or needed helped tremendously. A major purge of the entire house (and I do mean the entire house…) helped the packing process to move quickly once we got started. When it was time to pack the master closet (which was a big job!) there were no decisions on whether we take this, or not. At that point, we knew it all was going and we could focus our attention on packing what was there. Dave and I had 8 Packing Parties, the majority of which took place once the girls were in bed for the night. The 9th Packing Party I had with the girls when I packed their rooms up the Sunday we stayed home from church because of no transportation and Sweet Pea’s fractured arm. So, nine spurts of packing and we had the house packed! Granted, we did not box everything we own because we were just moving across town.
• The other part that made this move as stress free as possible was all the help we received from family and friends in the painting and actual move of our stuff into the house. Less than 24 hours after closing we were in the new house painting. We knew we had a big job ahead of us as basically all the walls in the entire house needed a new, fresh coat of paint. By lunchtime when we had half a room done and I was getting discouraged, I sent out a text to some friends of ours and after work John and Katie along with their adorable son, Luke, and Amanda (Dave’s sister) showed up at our doorstep painting tools in hand and immediately got to work helping us tackle this job. My dad was helping too as Grams was solo-grandma-ing the girls. With their help, we basically got the living areas minus the kitchen done that night! Amanda came back again and helped us paint the kitchen green. Just the presence of friends and family helping totally uplifted our spirits and helped us keep going!
• When it came time to start moving things to the new house Dave’s parents graciously offered to help us move load after load after load of stuff. Considering my car was in the shop when it was time to move stuff and considering big things wouldn’t have fit in either of our two cars, having Dave’s parents’ 4-runner to load up was such a lifesaver. And Dave’s parents worked hard loading box after box and then helped us tote it all inside. I must also say here that Dave’s family provided much humor and entertainment throughout the whole moving process. They are a funny bunch of people and they definitely lightened the mood when things could have gotten stressful!
• And then it came time to unpack… By Day 4 of our unpacking marathon I was beginning to wonder if we had made the mistake of trying to do it ALL in just five days! As in – go from a house in boxes to everything unpacked and in it’s place in five days, plus all pictures on the wall! But now that it is DONE, I am so glad we were able to move that way and just do it all in one big BANG. Dave and I worked from the time we got up until at least 11-12 each night, only stopping to eat and run a few errands for supplies we needed to get the jobs done on the house. It was tiring!! But we did it and our girls came home to everything in it’s place and that was just important to me although I know they will never remember that they came home to a put together house. I didn’t want them getting stressed out in this process most of all and because of our parents and our marathon moving/unpacking, they didn’t miss a beat.
• The girls really did do well during this entire process. Part of my strategy in planning and organizing this operation was to plan things that would cause the least amount of stress to the girls. I wanted to keep their rooms in tact as long as possible. My original plan had been to not even start packing their rooms until they were at my parents’ house, but when I ended up stuck at home that Sunday with “pack girls’ rooms” basically the only thing left on my to-do list, I couldn’t just sit idle there all day and not pack something! So I asked Little Bug if she thought it would be a good idea to pack some of her things into boxes. She was all for that, so we got to work and by the end of the day their rooms were packed! My parents house is like a second-home to them anyways so I knew they would do well there for the week that both houses really were in transition. Grams kept them on their schedules, doing things exactly like I would do in the same situations. I love that about my Mama.
• We are not completely 100% settled in the new house BUT all the areas concerning the girls (except the homeschool room) are functional, which was top priority. We still need to hang pictures in the playroom, unpack and organize the office (once we get the bookshelves moved from Dave’s work office), unpack and organize the homeschool room (I am giving myself a few days ‘off’ before I tackle that project!) and do some other odds and ends projects.
• I am absolutely loving it here. LOVING IT! It’s truly like our own little paradise back here. This neighborhood has got to be the best in the city. We seriously couldn’t have found a better location. It is so quiet and we live on a cul-de-sac with a bunch of retired older couples that have lived here for 30 years or more! I just went out to walk Pup and three of the men were out there standing in the road chatting. Talk about neighborhood security! It feels like we live in the boonies yet we are within 2-15(ish) minutes of basically everywhere we need to go regularly. It is absolutely ideal! I am incredibly grateful to God for leading us to this place in our search for a home to raise our family in and grow old together. He truly desires to be a part of every aspect of our lives, if we allow Him.

Up next is a few pictures of the new house! And then I will share my post about the changes coming to GFTI.

- Elaine