Big Family Steps: Moving Day

What a couple days! The past two days we have spent saying sayonara to our things. We have spent days separating things into what is going express (takes a month), what is going household (takes 2 months), and what is coming in our suitcases/carry on bags. It's been so tiring, and we are very glad it's over. We feel like we can breathe now and enjoy our last week here.

Moving Day 1 was our express. We are very glad we did this shipment first, because there were many things that could not be shipped express that we were still able to ship household. One example was my nursing chair. I was very upset that I couldn't ship it express, as it's something comfortable that I can sit in when feeding Eli in the middle of the night. It's one thing I use every day. Other then that problem, everything was easy. I cannot believe how fast it all went. It literally took 45 minutes for them to pack it all up. They took amazing care of everything and I was really impressed!

Day 2 was our big move. Basically every bit of our things was packed up today. Our bed, sofa, pots and pans, dishes, everything is gone. Luckily, the military provides us with a loaner bed, table, and sofa for the next week before we fly out. Unfortunately we don't get that until tomorrow. So I am currently laying in an empty living room on the floor with the dog. We will be sleeping on a blow up mattress tonight. We are without our pots and pans so are going to be relying on our wonderful neighbors to help out. And we'll be using plastic plates and utensils for a week or so. No big deal.

Again, I was impressed with these movers. It was the same crew as yesterday, and they were just as efficient. They took great care of everything and were very friendly. We had labeled a few areas NO and they were nice enough to double check everything with us. Unfortunately, there were quite a bit of things they wouldn't ship. Spices were one thing that many people were able to ship but this company said no to. I think it all depends on the mover. Oh well. We will be shipping a few boxes to our new place to have right away.

They first packed up everything (big things first) then brought everything outside. They quickly realized they didn't have enough room on the truck. So they filled one truck up and had to wait for another to come for more! I promise we don't actually have that much stuff, they just underestimated. They were again, so very careful when packing up the truck. They were so careful putting everything into the crates and did it in such a way that I'm not too concerned about our things. I hope that our movers in Virginia are just as careful, but I am doubtful. I'm really going to miss the Japanese.

Overall everything went well. Thanks to everyone who helped out. Wendy for watching the boys while we got everything ready, Ann Marie for watching Zach during the first day, Christina for watching the boys when we had the big move going on, and Joe for entertaining Zach with toy cars during the pack out.

Now that that's over we can get the house ready to leave and enjoy our last week here!