Tips to Make Your Next Move Easier

Moving. Is it ever enjoyable and stress free? If you're anything like me, it's not. We've had three cross country moves and each one has shown me new things to do or avoid. Since I'm currently going through the unpacking process, I wanted to share what I've learned in order to help others avoid the same mistakes.

1. Declutter declutter DECLUTTER! I can't say that enough. The less clutter you have to begin with, the less stress you'll have when the time comes to pack and move. Not to mention that you will save time by not having to go through your clutter. Take some time, even if it is just 10 minutes a day, to tackle your paperwork or whatever it is creating clutter and sitting around. Everything should have a home and if you don't know what to do with it, chances are that you should get rid of it. Some great resources for helping you figure out where to start with decluttering and cleaning are FlyLady (she breaks it down to an easy 15 min a day) and The One Minute Organizer by Donna Smallin. She has a blog with great tips for anyone wanting go the web route. Or for those who like something tangible, she has written a book that I have actually read, still have, and use. She has several other books that I'm sure are just as great.

2. Stop buying junk! Do not buy something unless you know you will love it and use all the time. If you buy something just because it's on sale, stop doing that! I can't even tell you how much STUFF we threw away or got rid of where I thought to myself "What were we thinking?!" Only buy things you need and make sure it is something that you will want to take with you should you have to move in the future.


3. Group like things together in boxes. This. is. important. I have learned this the hard way. Nothing is more annoying when you're trying to find something for a specific room and you have to dig through all the boxes only to find it in with stuff having nothing to do with your item. (ie - finding your hair dryer in with kitchen supplies) Towards the end of my packing when I'm just done with it all, I always end up grabbing anything and everything and tossing it into a box. Bad idea!


4. Label your boxes. Folks, label your boxes. It will make things so much easier to find. I'm actually in the process of trying to find my address book but because I did not label my boxes well enough (or put it in with like items), it's currently still missing.


5. Give yourself lots of time. And if you don't have time, make time. We had only three weeks before Gabe left and then two weeks after to pack. We spent much of the three weeks getting rid of stuff and then two days before Gabe left, we finally went to fill our moving pod and barely filled it leaving me to do the rest. It was not efficient time management. And those last two weeks after Gabe had left and before I moved were extremely stressful. I was trying to pack up the rest of the house with three kids underfoot, but with having too much clutter and junk (see #1 and #2) it was not easy. I ended up hiring a babysitter every morning for the whole last week because I had so much to do. As soon as you find out you are moving, start getting rid of excess stuff (or don't have any to begin with!) and packing. You will find that you have more stuff and there will be more to do than you think!

If I think of more, I may add them later. Do any of you have some tips that I haven't put down that I should add? Let me hear them.

Making the Adjustment

After living back in Ohio for the past six weeks, reality is starting to set in... and set in hard. We do not live in Arizona anymore and never will again. All those things that we always thought we would have time to do and kept pushing to the back burner, the places we wanted to go, gone. It's too late.

This was our fourth cross country move so therefore I was sure it would be easier. HAH! It's not. The kids and I are staying with my parents and that in itself is a challenge all its own. Just finding room to put our stuff or store it is a difficult and slow process. The moving pod we used is currently at a local U-Haul (10 miles away) and I've only gotten a quarter of it emptied. I'm having to separate our things between three houses and loading and unloading it all on my own.

Our moving pod still with tons left. Oy!

Another adjustment that many wouldn't think much about is that a quick trip to the store is no longer actually quick. In Arizona, everything was less than 15 minutes away. Now, 15+ minutes is a normal time and distance resulting in a "quick" trip taking at least an hour... IF I'm alone and get in and out of the store fast.


The weather. Can I talk about the weather?! Thankfully, we are not into the hot and humid days yet but we have experienced a few days like that and it was not pleasant. Not pleasant at all. Come July, you'll probably be able to find me on the floor in a puddle of sweat camped out in front of a fan trying to find some sort of relief. I won't even mention the winters because I'm just going to hibernate this year.


The time change, oh the time change! Arizona does not do daylight savings and boy do I miss that. It made bedtime SOOO much easier. Daylight was always over by 9 pm at the latest during the summer. But here, the kids are still trying to stay up later because duh mom! There is still light outside. They're having a hard time with that adjustment.


I really hate to sound like I'm complaining or ungrateful so I'll just move on to the GOOD adjustments.


I can see my family more than once a year! I love love love to see the kids playing with their cousins. I grew up in a large family with literally hundreds (not exaggerating at all, my parents came from families of 12 kids) of cousins and I can still remember the family get-togethers where we would all play hide and seek, kick the can, tag, and all those other fun games that we played until dark and even after.

There is room to roam. People have yards with room to play and run and you can't look directly into your neighbors' yards/houses. That was probably my biggest complaint about Arizona (or at least city) living. The yards were teeny tiny and even if you lived in the Arizona countryside, you didn't have beautiful green yards (unless you worked HARD at it) where kids could run barefoot without having to worry about stepping on things that would hurt you. That's the other thing. In Ohio, we don't have to try to grow grass. It just does! We had to water our yard EVERY day in Arizona if we wanted any hope of a green yard.

I could prattle on and on about the adjustments I'm making or the differences between the two places but I'll spare you or turn it into a whole post in itself. :) My point was that things aren't going according to how I thought they would (do they ever?!) and making these adjustments is taking a little longer.