The Felbster and I are currently in the process of moving. It’s a process I hate. This doesn’t make me a special snowflake since I assume most people hate to move, even if they’re moving somewhere better.
We’ve been “preparing” for months, but we’re still feeling rushed towards the end. Many boxes are packed and some already moved to the new place. Internet and renter’s insurance have been canceled. We’ve lined up help from family and friends. Still, it feels like this big ball of relocation is just rolling right over me.
The sad part is, I don’t do nearly as much as everyone else. Sure, I take a few bags up the stairs. But I go at the pace of a turtle and make about one trip to everyone else’s three. Our current place is a basement apartment, so we contend with one set of stairs when taking stuff to the car. Our new place is a second floor apartment so we contend with 2 flights of stairs getting everything into the apartment.
Stairs and I are starting to be okay with each other, but we’re a long way from being BFFs. Luckily, J is okay with doing the bulk of the unloading as long as I do most of the unpacking.
Besides the physical, there’s also a mental exhaustion. There are things to update: address, bills, driver’s license, etc. At this point, I haven’t even completed my mail forwarding form because I can’t find the address of our new place because I’m pretty sure I accidentally packed the lease document.
I currently have a stack of mail that needs to be handled, but with everything kind of a mess, I don’t have the energy to get them all together and go through them.
Because most of our kitchen stuff is packed up, cooking feels way too hard, so we’re trying to cheaply eat out until we get settled. This is probably not a good idea for so many reasons, but it is what it is, and dollar menus are everywhere these days.
Ever since we signed the new lease, I’ve also had bouts of anxiety where I wonder if we’re making the right move (we will now have a short commute to school and work), if we’re going to be able to afford everything (we’ll be spending more in gas and will have utilities to contend with), and how I’m going to decorate and organize (the space is bigger than what we have now, but it’s still considered small).
Even with all that, underneath the nerves and the work and the stress, I still think we’re making the right move. I’m ready for some small town living again, ready for some quiet, ready for a new space even with it’s challenges.
I’ll just be glad when the transition is made.
The Romance Factor 
Oh man, moving is the worst. Did you guys head to one of the smaller towns nearby, I gathered?
There’s a chance we might move to Texas, and the idea of trying to manage a inter-state move — even one that the company would fund — makes me want to heave. That said, it’s worse in my imagination right now because we don’t know.
Good luck with the rest of the move!
This move feels really stressful even though we tried to be as prepared as possible.
We’re moving to a two bedroom in Wamego. I’m looking forward to the quiet, but I’m a little worried about the extra gas money.
Inter-state moves are tough, but doable. It was easier for me when I did it because I just packed what would fit in my car and headed out, figuring I’d fill in the gaps later. It would be definitely more challenging with a whole family though. Hope you hear soon on what the verdict is!
Thanks! Hope to get settled in by the end of the month.
I’ve always heard good things about Wamego, but I understand what you mean about gas; when I worked at the gas station Andy went to school at Highland and it was so stressful. But I think y’all are in a better situation now than we were then. (I wouldn’t wish ‘then’ on anyone.)
Honestly, the worst is not knowing (if he gets the job) what our rental budget is going to be and how to assess school districts. Miles is supposed to start early childhood education in August, and moving means I have to take that into account. Amarillo is huge compared to what I’m used to.
And it’s Texas. In all our discussion of, “Hey, maybe we’ll move out of Kansas someday,” Texas never made the list.
My go-to advice is to keep calm and go with the flow, even though I know firsthand that that’s not always possible. When will you know?
Texas was never on my list either, but I’ve visited there a few times and it’s not bad. People are super friendly, or at least they were where I visited. I’d be open to it if it happened.
Keep us updated…hopefully you’ll get good news soon!
Hastings is flying Andy down for the day on Thursday for approximately a million interviews, but I have no idea what happens after that. So, you know, this is mostly anticipation freakout, lol.
I have a friend in Amarillo, and the Google machine tells me that it’s not a bad place. I don’t necessarily like the idea of moving even further from family & friends, but cost of living (and even house prices, if we decide later to go that route) is actually pretty reasonable. So, other than the cool factor, it’s actually not bad.
Oh, I’ll definitely explode with news when there’s some. 😀
Moving out of state, myself. . . My parents had a very big house they are leaving behind, and it’s taken now four 24 foot trucks to move their stuff. . . And I’ve been the only help my father has had in unloading the truck at their new place.
I can’t decide if it’s been a nightmare, or an episode of the Twilight Zone.
And this is without moving out of my apartment (which is coming up this weekend–we have a flight of stairs to go down). . .
In other words, I totally feel your pain. The end is in sight for us, I hope it is for you, as well!
That’s intense and definitely higher on the stress scale. Hang in there! At some point in the future you’ll be able to look back on it like it was a Twilight Zone episode. You’ll also be glad you survived!
Good luck to you as well! 🙂