As exciting as it is to be looking at an overseas move, there is no easy way to say goodbye to home. Texas will always be home to us and our house there was filled with 6 years of happy memories and watching our boys grow up. It was hard to pack it all up and leave. Not to mention that it's a major process - I had to sort every inch of the house into 12 suitcases, a small air shipment, a 40-foot container going by sea, or storage. Plus tons of things I gave to a local charity or pawned off on neighbors. My conclusion - we have too much stuff.
Matt left for a two week trip to Jakarta and the kids and I checked into a hotel so I could wash everything, clean out the fridges, and dry the washing machine before they were packed. It was also nice to leave the chaos like this in the evening and sleep in a quiet place that served us breakfast. The dining room was ground zero for all things storage. We love all that furniture but we didn't have the space to move it or room in the rental house for formal dining.
It was a 5-day job for 4 movers to pack and load everything.
It always interesting to watch everything disappear into boxes and wrapping and we always hope it comes out the same on the other end.
This was my little corner for the week so I could be out of the way. It was pretty chaotic organizing everything in the house, keeping the kids occupied (but I was so thankful for grandparents and friends who did so much to get them out of the house during the week!), and keeping quite a few appointments. I thought I might lose my mind when I found out my credit card had been hacked and I had to cancel it (pretty interesting trying to pay for a hotel in cash) and that we had to find some way to get Ben into a specialist in 3 days for his medical clearance, but with a lot of prayer, a few tears, dozens of phone calls, and some deep breaths, it all fell into place.
Alex's room became the kids' hideout once it was packed.
Ben offered to travel this way. I said no.
On Friday, the big day arrived and I prayed and prayed that everything we planned to take would fit in this container! After hours of loading, every single box and bed fit with barely an inch to spare. God is good!! Hopefully we'll see it all again in early October.
Grumpy took the kids home that afternoon and I spent several more hours cleaning and checking everything else. It was nice to have some quiet time walking through each room and thinking of all the happy memories we've made in this place.
We came back as a family to grab a last few things and see the empty house. At first, the kids thought it was pretty cool.
But empty rooms make for sad faces :( Alex cried the rest of the afternoon.
Our sweet neighbor Rosie suggested we take one last picture in front of the house and I'm so thankful for this one!
Quite a difference from 2011! She was a wonderful home sweet home and she will be greatly missed...but new adventures await.
