Packin’ It Up – Part 2!

Well, it’s official. Our house is empty, we have moved out, and we are now temporarily taking up residence in my dad’s house. And just like everything else in this process, this past week and weekend were NOT hiccup-free. In fact, there were a few points along this particular journey that made me wonder what the heck we are doing.

If you have read the Our Story page, then you know that Christopher travels for work. It is part of the reason he came up with this crazy idea in the first place. Well this past week – while we were supposed to be packing up the rest of our house – he had to travel for work. Add to that the fact that I have now had a cold for a straight two weeks (since it’s impossible to get rest because we are MOVING), and you have a recipe for disaster. I had decided to take a couple of nights this past week to try and relax so that I would get better.  I mean, we had until SUNDAY to pack up and clean the house, and Christopher would be back home on Friday – that was plenty of time, right?! Boy was I wrong. Oh, so very wrong.

In hindsight of course, I realize that I should have pushed through. I would have plenty of time to get better while at my dad’s house, and things never go as planned. But I had remained faithful that everything would work out. I just had no idea what a struggle it would be.

Friday was my last day at work (stay tuned next week for my blog about leaving my job!), and they were gracious enough to let me leave early. Since I had so much to do, and Christopher was on his way home, this was extremely helpful. After I had been home for about 30 minutes, Christopher informed me that they would NOT be picking up the pod on Sunday. In fact, they are CLOSED on Sundays. They would be there on SATURDAY. And they could show up any time between 1:30 and 4:30.  That’s right folks, we were losing an entire day! And, it is one of my closest friends’ birthdays, so I was going out to dinner that night.  Christopher assured me that I didn’t need to cancel, that we would figure it out. He is so wonderful.

Saturday morning, we woke up at 7 AM and rushed around the house like chickens with no heads all morning. Around noon we had done so much that we paused for lunch. We had some yummy pizza (I LOVE pizza. In case you were wondering) and then rushed around again like chickens… well you get the point. At about 12:45 we decided to get more organized and go room by room to make sure everything that needed to get into the pod, got into the pod. Again, we had until at LEAST 1:30, so we really needed to make sure everything was done by that point, just in case.

At 1:20 (no, I am not joking or exaggerating) the guy shows up to take the pod away. Well, we made him wait the 10 minutes to throw everything we could into the pod – they told us 1:30!! Here it is, our completely full pod:

We then stood outside and watched him take it away, a process that took about 15 minutes and was FASCINATING. I’m a total nerd and love machines, and this was AWESOME to watch.

It was difficult watching 90% of everything we owned drive away. But we didn’t have a moment to spare, we needed to keep on working.  So the next thing we did, was go through everything we are bringing with. We still needed to consolidate and pack it up nice and neat so that it would all fit in the van. Once that was completed, we packed up the van as though we were going to hit the road (make sure everything fits) and we headed to my dad’s to sleep for the first time, since our bed was now in the pod.

Sunday, again, we woke up at 7 AM and after getting ready headed back over to what was now “the old house” – after a quick stop at Home Depot to grab things we would need to clean and fix up the house. As soon as we got to the house, Chris started mowing the lawn (we couldn’t have our new tenants living in a jungle!) while I loaded up the van with everything that needed to go with us to my dad’s – either because we were giving it to someone else over the next couple weeks, or we were going to use it up or whatever the reason. My dad and his girlfriend showed up around 10 to pick up the motorcycle – they have a nifty ramp thing and a huge truck – and stayed for about two hours helping to clean. My Aunt Michelle showed up around 11 and stayed until 2:30, and then my Uncle Ben and Aunt Hillary came around noon and stayed until 2:30. My family is AMAZING. A few times I felt like crying because I was so tired, I hate cleaning and I was overwhelmed by how much we had to do. My old roommate (not because she’s old, but because we are no longer living together haha) stopped by because she was going to store all of our lawn equipment and tools. She’s awesome.

Basically, the point is, with everyone on hand, we did it. AND I was the one who patched up all the holes, my Aunt Hillary helped sand the dried patches, and then I went back and did the touch up paint. I know, I’m awesome. By 4:30 we had finished EVERYTHING, and we were on our way back to my dad’s house.

Yet again, another point on this amazing journey that should have been so easy, and it wasn’t. But we still did it. We accomplished everything we needed to, and we were shown yet again by those closest to us how very blessed and loved we are. I could NOT be more thankful to my family for everything that they did to help us.

And finally – a couple pictures of our sad and empty house:

Yes – those lovely wall shelves were designed by yours truly, and came to life by the hands of darling husband, Christopher.

We may have lost a house, but home is where the heart is or some dumb cliche like that!

 

Stay tuned for next week, when I talk about how difficult it was to leave my amazing job! And don’t forget to click the follow button!