Coffee Break #32
In this month’s behind-the-scenes blog break, I’m giving an update on what’s going on with our latest move and sharing peeks inside our now vacated house! So grab your favorite snack and beverage, and let’s catch up!
When we move, I tend to keep it semi-transparent to you guys. I mean…you generally know we’re moving. But I can usually wrap up the reveals from one house; post some saved-up content; and then in very short order, welcome you to our next home. I don’t typically share our schedule or the behind-the-scenes views of boxes and trucks and air mattresses; and if I do post about our move, it’s typically once it’s over.
Welp…this one is going to be a little different, friends! Our moving timeline recently crystalized and we now know we are going to be without a home for 2 months. Yep…2 months of living with family, in a hotel, in an Air B&B, and then another hotel. While I do have some content saved up, I certainly didn’t save up 2 months worth of blog posts. And when your entire blog is based on the home…well, it’s pretty hard to pretend nothing is going on “behind the curtain!”
So…this time around, I’ll be pulling back the curtain and sharing a little more in real time. As in, right now, I’m writing this post sitting at my sister’s dining room table. My entire house (minus what we could fit into our cars) is sitting in a warehouse in North Carolina as we await our base housing to be ready in mid-July. I’ve spent the past week overseeing our pack-out and restoring our VA rental to its “original condition” on my own while Greg begins his very challenging new job in North Carolina. I’ll be honest…vacating a three story house with three kids underfoot was no small feet, and I’m physically and emotionally drained. Maybe it’s a good thing I have two months to fully recover before starting on the next one 😉
So my family and I now sit in the “messy middle” of our move. As much as I hate it, it’s also really familiar. This phase occurs pretty much every time. Sometimes we can line it up so it’s just a few days without our beds and space of our own. This one…8 weeks…will be the longest we’ve done in temporary housing. It’s such an awkward time since you don’t belong anywhere and you’ve got all this stuff tucked into every corner of every suitcase, plastic bin, and the car itself. All at once, it feels like you have too much and not enough. And no matter how much you think through everything you might need “just in case” your stuff ends up in storage, there is the inevitable…”Whoops. Didn’t mean for that to get packed!”
But having done this so many times, I also know that it’s all going to be fine. As chaotic and messy as this particular move is turning out, by the end of the summer, we’ll be in our new house, our kids will be making new friends, and I’ll have lots of new rooms to decorate and share with you. As I said in my last Coffee Break, when you’re in the middle of it, it all feels like too much. But once it’s over, you don’t remember much at all.
In the meantime, I do have quite a bit to share from our VA house still, including a few more room reveals plus some updates on how everything came down (e.g., Command Strips, wallpaper, the bathroom floor, and more!) So while our VA home has now been fully un-done and is waiting for its new residence, it will continue to live on here for a few more weeks!
(I plan to mostly stick to my usual blog schedule (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday), but may have gaps here and there. If you’re worried about missing posts, subscribe to receive new post notifications using the form in my sidebar!)
Finally, before I sign off, I thought I’d share a few informal snapshots of our last few weeks. To military families or those who move a lot, these scenes will feel really familiar. I think we have these exact same shots in each and every house. But I also know many of you who don’t live this lifestyle enjoy seeing these real-life glimpses…and this is about as “real” as it gets!
Thanks for catching up with me this month!
Megan
10 Comments on “Coffee Break #32”
That sounds awful! It would be hard to keep trying to make the best of things under those circumstances, particularly as the only adult. When we moved cross country we lived in a motor home for two months. It was challenging at the time, but I also think it really shaped us as a family and taught us a lot about what we value. Good luck in this long transition, I know it’s uncomfortable but I hope it turns out to be valuable for you too.
We were nearly 3 months in a hotel during our last move. Thankfully it was covered by Hubby’s employer, and we racked up the points!
I found that embracing the unusualness of it to have a new routine worked great for us. By the time we left, we were in a first name basis with everyone at the front desk and breakfast area! And when I scheduled a stay for my mom there recently, they treated her like royalty!
As a military kid, I have fond memories of living at the BOQ fire weeks and the adventure of the moves.
You can do this! And we’ll all be encouraged seeing the “messy middle.”
Sounds awful but as you say you do have an end date. Looks like your boys a pretty flexible too.
This might sound crazy. But I am actually jealous of your move. A really good time to get rid of stuff you don’t need, and then find a home for the stuff you do need. RIght now that sounds heavenly.
And thanks for being transparent and sharing some of the in between details. This can’t be an easy transition. But it will be worth it in the end. 🙂
I wrote about some of this a in a previous comment, but I’m going to repeat a little of it, because your move brings back all of these memories! When I bought my current home, I was living in a mobile home I bought when I divorced my ex-husband. I bought my 100 year old current home and sold my mobile home at the same time, so I could move out and move in all at once. However, the woman I bought my house from had moved across the country. She was supposed to fax all of her closing documents, but called me the day before closing and said she couldn’t find a fax machine!!! WHAT?? ARE YOU KIDDING?? I had already booked movers, closed on my mobile home, had everything packed, and had to be out the next day! I Googled her area and found a business where she could fax here documents right around the corner from her. She was able to fax them in time, and all was well, except for the MANY boxes worth of items and furniture she left in the house, which was like moving twice! Some items I kept, but most of it had to be donated or put out to the curb. On top of everything, my daughter’s best friend and I had to drive my daughter to New York the day after the move, where she was going to college on exchange for a semester. Once we returned from New York, the cleaning and unpacking… What an exhausting few weeks!! Owning an old home has its challenges, but I love it! (Maybe I should start a “Single Woman in an Old House” blog!) Megan, I wish you and your family the best of luck! I hope all goes well.
Moving with the military in a few weeks ourselves, so this is timely! Thank you.
The toddler inflatable bed is genius!
Hi Elyse!
I know you left this comment ages ago, I’m just catching up!
Just wanted to wish you good vibes…hope your PCS is going well!
Megan
Good luck with everything! We are also currently in the “messy middle.” Packed out of our Leavenworth house the end of last month, spending three weeks with family in NY, then spending 10 weeks this summer with my husband TDY in-route, then finally up to our duty station and our “new” home for the next three years… Oh, and we have yet to line up that home near the duty station because of this crazy hosing situation!! Fun, fun, lol!
Hi Amy!
I know you left this comment a while ago, but just wanted to write and say “thank you!” for commiserating with me…and that I hope you’re hanging in there!
Our PCS is shaping up to be one of our hardest…crossing fingers for you that everything lines up just right!
Happy Summer!
Megan
Blessings and joy to you in your new home! May it be a safe and wonderful haven for you! xoxox <3