An Organized Move

Sorry for the blog silence for nearly a month!  Things have been just a TAD busy lately.  We've had all kinds of excitement that I want to catch you up on.  For now, I'm limiting myself to writing about our big move!

Last Saturday, we moved out of our very first home in Omaha.  Poor Monty was (and still is) so confused!  

Philip's parents generously took the kiddos for us so that we could focus on the actual moving.  One of the movers took this pic of me, Philip, and Monty before we hopped in our cars to Lincoln.  We couldn't have asked for better weather on moving day--70's and sunny!  Ahhhhhhh!  

The movers were AWESOME!  They were fast but took such great care of our things.  They kinda made me feel like a hoarder, though, when I saw how FULL the truck was!  It's a good thing God gave these guys the ability to pack things with Tetris-like precision because that's a talent I don't have.

However, the movers were glad to see that there was a method to the madness inside of the truck when it came to unloading. 

When we started packing months ago, I searched Pinterest and the web for an organization method to this move.  Per usual, I stole what I loved and made up my own combination of what I found.  My organization system required:

• A huge stack of construction paper with multiple colors (from Costco)
• Shipping labels
• Black Sharpie markers

After we knew the layout of our new home, we designated a color for each room, and I made several keys.  I separated the key by levels of the house (upstairs, main level, and basement).

As we packed each box, we slapped a sheet of construction paper on the side of the box that corresponded to the room it was going in.  (Red = kitchen, Pink paper = Girl room, Orange = garage, etc.)  Then, we put the white label in the middle of the box with its contents.  We were as specific as possible on the contents to make unpacking less of a treasure hunt!

On moving day, I taped the laminated keys on the truck, garage, front door, and entryway.

Then, I taped laminated signs on each room with the corresponding color.  That way, as the movers unloaded the boxes, all they had to do was find the color on the box and find the corresponding color room, using the key and signs as their guides.  Here, you can see the pink sign on the door with the boxes stacked inside with their matching pink labels.  

Make sense?  

It helped this crazy lady, and the movers kept saying that it was the easiest move they had ever done.  Yay!  

When the movers packed the truck in Omaha, I asked them to load the red boxes (kitchen) last so that when we got to Lincoln I could focus on lining those shelves and getting the kitchen ready first.  The organization paid off because I was able to work nearly uninterrupted while the well-oiled organization system did its thing.  Also, we had a professional cleaning company come that morning so that we could focus on unpacking instead of cleaning.  Lesson learned: professional movers and cleaners are worth every single penny!  

Obligatory selfie in front of the house on moving day.  

Nearly a week later, we're feeling settled and are loving our new home. 

Cheers to our new chapter!  (Courtesy of the previous owners.  Aren't they the sweetest?!)