Well, hi there, guys. Remember me?

That girl with lots of kids who types a lot of words? Usually. Although, lately, not so much.

So, when last I typed said many words, it was to outline the task ahead of us. Namely finishing packing, loading, moving, cleaning, and just generally doing all the things that would get us into the new house. And that’s exactly what we proceeded to do for the last 3 weeks.

I packed (and packed) and kept kids alive while Shaun worked late into the night every. single. night finishing plumbing, finishing concrete countertops (dedicated post on that soon), finishing electrical, finishing siding, etc., etc., etc. (adding a few more etceteras wouldn’t be pushing it).

Then, the week before last, we started the actual move. We couldn’t do it as gradually as I would have liked because there was some pretty significant painting going on downstairs right up until our first official moving day. To say that it was grueling would be to say that swimming the English channel is a little tough. Well. Not grueling like the rowing scene form Ben Hur. But it just didn’t let up. For days. It’s all running together in a big blur, but I just remember lots and lots and lots of packing tape and vacuuming and hauling really big, heavy things like full-sized freezers and pianos and ping pong tables (I’m not exaggerating; Shaun was tied up at the new house, so my Dad and I moved some pretty giant stuff, yo).

I’m sure hiring movers would have made things simpler in some ways, but here’s the thing: my husband works for himself as a software developer and has all of the techie tools to show for it. Also, we home school, which means lots of schoolbooks and supplies. Also, we run Paint and Prose out of our home office, so there’s a fair bit of stuff that comes with that. Also, we build our own houses, so the tools, they are plentiful. Also, we have rentals, and there is definitely some paraphernalia associated with that. Oh, and ALSO, we have 7 (!!!) children, and their baggage is impressive! It’s all useful, necessary stuff (weeeellll…I just discovered, upon unpacking, that I own 7 casserole dishes…not sure how necessary all of those are), but I don’t even know what movers would have done with half the stuff we had (presumably, moved it…deep, I know).

And, yes, we did sell our house furnished, and yes, I am SO grateful to not have to have moved beds and sofas and chairs (oh my!). But it was still a boatload (and not a small one either) of stuff that we moved. And moved. And moved.

We had help. My awesome parents, sister-in-law, and in-laws were there at various points throughout the week. We wouldn’t have made our deadline without them, even though we have pretty much worked toward this goal steadily day in and day out for about 3 months now (not including the 18 months of house-building before that). But even with the help, Shaun and I were pulling away from the barn with the last load at 8 in the morning, running on 4 hours of sleep, as the new owners’ U-Haul was pulling up. first week2 {This wasn’t even a load from the move…it was stuff I’d bought from a friend who had been gracious enough to hold it for us until after we moved, but it’s a pretty good example of just how much that beast of a van can hold. In this load, there is a: full-sized couch, book shelf, large mirror, upholstered chair, day bed, mattress, giant clock, and, of course, a disco ball. And I think we could have shoved a couple more things in there}

It just so happened to be on our anniversary (12th, in case you were wondering), and Shaun was teasing me that we needed a selfie at the local garbage dump to show how we had celebrated as we were tossing our very last load (for now) of broken this and worn-out that into the dumpster. Sadly, I forgot, so we settled for this one instead. anniversary We were reeeeeaally tired in this picture, but we still managed to squeeze in an anniversary dinner after we got a teensy bit settled in the new house for the first time as our *only* home (thank the Lord for not being split between two places any longer!). We both managed a cold shower (Shaun finished installing it after we got home that morning, but the water heater didn’t have a chance to warm up enough). I think we were both a bit loopy with exhaustion at dinner, not to mention to the exhilaration of being DONE! (With the move, that is).

Six months ago, I was dreading this move and doing my best to prepare for it without stewing on it because it frankly sounded awful.

And now that it’s done, I’d say that every bit of that dread was warranted in a lot of ways. Sorry. That sounds bad. But I don’t mean it bad. Because hard is not the same thing as bad. I just mean that the whole process was pretty much exactly as much work as I expected to be. Nothing was any easier than I had thought. But neither was it particularly harder. There were no major mishaps or problems. We just chipped away at it, bit by bit (and then, at the end, as the deadline approached, chunk by bigger chunk), and by the grace of God, we finally cracked it! But I am SO grateful for the help of family. I sure wouldn’t have wanted to do it without them!

Of course, then the real fun started. first week4 {What’s that you say? Those floors look filthy? Why, that’s because they ARE!!}

Although most of that stuff I mentioned earlier is necessary to our family and various businesses, I’m quickly discovering that–despite all of the decluttering and donating I did for the past year–we still have too many duplicates of certain things or other things that I really want to be useful but haven’t actually been touched in a good year or two. I’ve already started a pretty healthy Goodwill pile from the boxes I’ve unpacked so far, and I’m sure it will grow, grow, grow.

Also, our house is Grand Central Station at the moment. I have to make sure to throw a bra on first thing in the morning because there’s no telling what time a painter or a carpenter or a delivery man will poke his head in the door and ask a question or continue on through upstairs (which is unpainted and lacking a bit of trim).

There are giant stacks of our flooring (we went with the laminate wood if you’ll recall) in multiple rooms. A 5 foot wooden range hood is just hanging out in the dining room because it and a (big) cabinet that needed to be redone are waiting on the cabinet guys to come install them. If you see me and I look prematurely gray, don’t worry: I either really am (hashtag moving stress) or–more likely–I am coated in paint lacquer. As is EVERYTHING.

We’ve swept and vacuumed and then vacuumed and swept, but that stuff is e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. We have one working bathroom, which, I realize, is a major first world problem. But it’s surprising (or maybe not) how fast you can create a pile-up with 8 people in the house (plus a handful of workers) using the same facilities.

So, how do I feel about all of this? Mostly fine. first week3 {How could I not be fine with this little nugget around?}

In a rather unfortunate (in my mind) turn of events, Shaun ended up having a work trip scheduled for the week after we moved in. So, we moved in on a Friday morning and by Monday morning, he was gone for 6 days.

I miiiiiight have had a pity party or two about the towers of boxes and the sheet rock piles in the yard (yep) and the fact that he was sleeping on clean hotel sheets (through no fault of his own) while I was having trouble creating a clean square inch (forget the sheets….they got covered in dust the second they exited the dryer).

But I got over it, and every day, we’ve made a little more progress establishing some semblance of normalcy. As soon as the painters are done upstairs, we’ll be able to put kids in their actual rooms because they are currently sleeping on mattresses in the living room, guestroom, and schoolroom (well, Honor’s in a pack ‘n play in our room–aka: Shaun’s office), and I can put away things where they actually go (rather than just finding a holding spot for them so that they’re not simply lost in the sea of boxes). first week1 {This picture is pretty representative of what our days have looked like: my mom–who has been over a couple of days to help unpack–is putting the smack down on a fly, which are plentiful in our current state of the door being opened and closed constantly. The kids are done with their chore for the moment and taping together box tunnels, and there is stuff everywhere}

It’s going to take a long time to get things really neat and tidy and put together–especially since we’ve had zero time to focus on the exterior, which means we’re constantly tracking in dirt–but we. will. get. there! Or somewhere very close to it! (Just kidding; my Instagram peeps were worried we would never finish the house if we moved into it before we complete it, but I promise we will get ‘er done). daddyshome {We did manage to get it to this point…not finished, certainly, but better than the “before shot” with all of the boxes and dirt} first week{I finished just one of the many wallpapered walls, and it only took me…4 hours…must. get. faster} armoire {Anybody remember when I blogged about this giant hutch that I stumbled upon entirely by accident? It’s finally fulfilling its destiny as the holder of a decade’s worth of thrifted, clearanced, and gifted kitchen pretties!}

Speaking of the exterior, I finally decided on a color (after painting who-knows-how-many swatches on the walls), and…it turned out kind of bad. At least for what I wanted the house to look like. I chose to go lighter than I had originally wanted so that it wouldn’t be overwhelming and/or fade in an ugly way. Unfortunately, the paint store didn’t have the formula for the color I chose (Valspar’s Seascape), and their color match skewed a bit baby blue (should have been a soothing, medium blue-green). house color {The messed up color is on the left…this is after it had dried and calmed down a lot, but it still wasn’t what I wanted; the color on the right has been played with to get it closer to what we ended up with}

I saw it shiny and wet and LOUD as we drove up after depositing that last load I mentioned at the dump, and I narrowly missed bursting into tears. Praise the Lord that our paint guy was able to salvage most of the 30 gallons by tweaking the too-babyish color into something deeper and greener that ended up serving as a good primer coat for the color I’m actually-finally-once-and-for-all choosing: Valiant Blue by Sherwin Williams. We will lose some gallons of the tweaked color because we had already bought enough paint to do almost two coats. But I will try to use some of those inside. And I’m just so relieved to have saved the majority of it and ended up with a color that makes me go: “Aaaaaaaah” instead of “AAAAAACK!” that I’m calling it a win. house color1 {I reeeeeeallllly love it and can’t wait to see it with the trim painted a nice crisp white}

And there you have it, folks. The full update on my life currently.

She packed. She moved. She survived.

Through it all, I have seen the Lord’s goodness over and over again. In my sis-in-law’s insistence on making us food for days. In supernatural bursts of energy when I should have been beyond exhausted. In my neighbor’s being willing to watch the littles while I packed. In Ezra’s cheerful attitude about helping his younger siblings and little cousins while we cleaned out the barn on his birthday.

God has been so faithful to remind me of his sovereignty whenever I get overwhelmed by the mess. And I am grateful.

7 Comments

  1. Where did you get the coffee table? And as I read the post I wanted to scream no!! The couch is gone??!!!

  2. Its wonderful that you choose to have a lovely attitude during the whole process.
    Without that , this move could have been a whole lot worse. Cant wait to watch the progress !
    Donna, NY

  3. Hey you should look up cornerstone ministry to donate items to if you need a good place to take stuff to. It’s a great ministry. It is affiliated with GABC and located on Beckham.

  4. Abbie, Hang in there and remember life doesn’t start when you finish unpacking all the boxes, or when the painting is all complete, or the range is installed, or …. you fill in the blank. Life. Is. Now. We moved a month ago to a fixer upper, even a downsize, with only (!) 3 kids, but no matter how it compares, we probably all have the tendency to think “when I get that room’s decor finished, or when that cupboard/closet is organized….”
    I am in the middle of rereading “the gift of an ordinary day” by Katrina Kenison (author of Mitten Strings for God”) and these encouraging thoughts were inspired by her book that chronicles a time of transitions (multiple moves, kids becoming teens, midlife, careers ending).
    You know how to focus on the good things and the gifts/blessings from God– I’ve read this theme in your posts. So thank you for sharing your journey and know that this present time is life to be lived abundantly, with joy. Even if the floors are perpetually dirty. 🙂

  5. Oh my goodness-I moved across country with only 4 kids-the youngest was 22 months-and the house was in perfect condition, and my SIL and BIL came to help us move everybody in–and that was stressful. I can’t imagine the craziness you’ve gone through. But I can see it’s beautiful, and you’re all there together-and that’s the most important part.

  6. You’ve done a tremendous job and every day will get a little better. We moved 2 months ago and even though we had some crazy stress as the deal came together the memories are already fading. It must be like labor pains! I know you’ll love customizing your home like we have. God is good!

  7. So happy you all made it! I hope it feels like home soon and that, even if there are hard parts with the completion of construction, the peace of the Lord will rule and reign.

I love hearing from you guys!