On the MOVE

What?  We've been a little MIA in blog land lately?  Well, I think we have a semi-valid excuse.  You see... in the last week we closed on a new house and moved! 

Everything else has taken a back seat to packing and planning, and now - unpacking and trying to catch up on all the things that didn't get done while we were packing and planning.  

Prior to this move, the last time we moved ourselves was when Mark and I had been married about 6 months and we had nothing.  The entire move took about an hour.  Since then we've been spoiled and had moving covered as part of a new job/relocation package.  Definitely the better route!  I'm convinced it's not worth it to move again (unless, of course, it's for a job far away with covered relocation).  Granted, I might feel different if I weren't 35 weeks pregnant, but I doubt it.

We spent a lot of time searching for a new home (8 months of looking!) and finally ran out of time (the lease in our rental was up + we're having a baby in a month) / found a home that fit most of what we were looking for.  We weren't planning on buying a new construction, but are thrilled with our new home.  The lot is much smaller than I was hoping for (though it's exactly what Mark was hoping for), but the house layout is almost exactly what we wanted.  It should fit us well now and for the forseeable future.

The upside of having a new home is, well, everything is new and under warranty!  The downside is that there are a lot of little things we need to do to make it livable and functional (like putting in blinds and hoses and storage, etc).  It's also a lot of pressure to know that any dent or ding or scratch is our fault!  We still have a ways to go to before everything is even unpacked, much less set up and decorated, but we're making steady progress.  (Truth be told, my decorating skills are substantially sub-par, so it might never actually be "decorated.")  The main goal is to have it set up enough that it's totally livable before the baby comes.  That gives us about 4 weeks (assuming he comes on time).   As we get rooms unpacked and organized, I'll try to post more pictures.

As I mentioned, the moving process was long and exhausting.  Mark took on the brunt of the work-load.  I kept telling him, "you're not Superman, you know!" But he proved me wrong.  He packed up most of the rental house, in his typical methodical and extremely efficient, organized manner, and spent ALL day last Saturday with a small crew of helpers moving all our furniture and boxes from one home to another (we only moved about 8 miles away).  Then, he fixed up our rental to better-than-move-in condition and has been diligently working to get our new home set-up.  Phew!  The man needs more sleep!

The kids and I helped as best as we could.  I could pack boxes, and would just leave them where they were packed.  On the day of the big move, I SHOULD have had the kids go play at a friend's house, but didn't plan well enough (I didn't think it would be a big deal to have them around - it was!).  Bryce and Thane did enjoy helping pack up the Tupperware.  

Aubree took advantage of having tons of packing paper and made herself a new wardrobe.

We enjoyed our rental home and our time there.  We were sad to say good-bye to our good neighbors, Ed and Janet (who were so kind and patient with my kids), and to our ward members.  We're excited to get to know our new neighbors (we don't have any yet!), and our new ward and to be able to "put down roots."