What I learned from moving

I have moved several times in my life, locally, different states, different country...  This move was by far the HARDEST move ever!!!!  I learned a few things from several moves, but this move taught me a LOT!

1. It's never too early to start packing!
2. If you have small children, leave them overnight with someone the day of the move.  I HATE leaving my kids anywhere, but it made the move so much easier to not have to worry about them getting into something.  Plus, they would've been bored.
3. Spend time preparing your children for the move and include them in the new house hunt.
4. Label all your boxes with room name and items in box.  Makes unpacking so much easier. :)
5. Stuffed animals makes the best box fillers and protectors for fragile items.
6. Packing makes a MESS in your house.
7. Don't give yourself time frames.  Everytime I said something would take me 1-2 hours, it'd take me 4-5.
8.  Take breaks!
9. Find some time to relax w/ your honey in the midst of all the crazyness.
10.  Set up the kids rooms first.  ours were so excited when they finally walked into their new home to find their stuff all done!
11. Drink lots and lots of water!
12. No matter how clean you keep your house, once it's empty, you will see dirt in weird spaces.
13. Saying goodbye to your old home is bittersweet!  Take some time to reminisce and pray with your hubby.  We prayed and thanked God for all the memories we made in our home.
14. Include your littles in decorating.  Big sister was so excited to have her own bathroom, I let her pick out the decor :)
15. Don't forget to change your driver's license and mail over to the new address!  We did that this time before we moved.  6 years ago when we moved into the old house, it took us over a year to switch it over and the only reason we did was b/c we got pulled over and got a citation for it. lol
16. Ask for help and accept help!  My mother in law has been a tremendous help through all this.  She helped me clean the new house, move boxes, set up the house and so much more!  And we had friends come to help unpack and such.  It took SO much stress off me!
17. Start asking for help to load/unload the uhaul early before your friends all make plans.
18. Make sure you have tylenol handy.  Every single muscle ached after working so hard, to the point that I could barely walk. lol
19. When people are moving your stuff around, something will break and/or get scratched.  Be prepared.
20. Take this time to PURGE.  If you haven't seen it or used it in 1+ years, you will most likely never want it again.  We hold onto a lot for sentimental reasons.  So we are just tossing it all b/c we are turning into pack rats. lol