moving.

Moving is stressful. I don't think there has ever been a move in my life that has been stress free. There is organizing, packing, cleaning, loading the car/van/moving truck, traveling, unpacking, more cleaning, more organizing, and finally settling into a new place. That's a lot of stuff to do in a short period of time.

Alex and I have made two big moves. One when we left California and moved to Idaho for me to finish school and the second when we left Idaho and moved back to California (southern California this time).

The first move was dicey. There was only one car and we didn't have any money for a moving truck, so we shoved and stuffed and roped and taped and compacted as much stuff into our little Jeep as we could and we drove the thousand mile journey. It was not pretty. And it was a testament to how much we were still in the honeymoon phase of our marriage (being married for all of two weeks at the time) because it was hard. But we did it! And we vowed to never do a move like that again.

The second move was hard, but easier than the first. We had a truck this time and the ability to pull our Jeep so we did not have to drive separate. The truck was spacious and had plenty of room for our stuff. We took our time loading it perfectly and it was much less stressful. Except that we then drove, for 16 hours, through the night, with an 18 month old puppy, in little cramped two-seated truck. Rex was a gem for 97% of the drive. He slept, he chewed bones, he looked out the window, he cuddled, and he stayed calm. Except for the few times he whined and moaned and made us stop earlier than we wanted and then wouldn't go to the bathroom when we needed him to. But a great majority of the time he was wonderful.

This move is just as stressful. Regardless of the fact that we are hiring a moving company to move our stuff for us (not because we are too good to move our own stuff but because it is really the cheapest option we could find), that we have most of our stuff already packed and in storage just waiting to be loaded on the truck, that packing what we do need to pack could realistically take me only 4 to 5 hours to complete, and that we still have two weeks before this all needs to happen, it's still making me into a big ball of anxiety. Which is always fun to be around.

But it is all happening like it should. We are organized, we have the money saved, we have all our paperwork completed, and Alex is still able to work through all of this. There have definitely been blessings during this time for which we are truly grateful.

But the next two weeks will be filled with final preparations, actually packing the things that need to be, organizing for the moving guys, saying goodbye to Southern California, and soaking in the last of any sunshine the sky wants to give me because who knows when the sun is going to shine in Portland!