Five on Friday: Thoughts on Our Move

Happy Fall and TGIF!  My word, what a wacky week!  I could’ve sworn it was a full moon with all the strange things that went on… but I made it through and now I’m on FALL BREAK.  #blessit  Today we’re headed to Augusta for my daughter’s white coat ceremony and then I’m off to the beach on an extended girls’ trip!  Woo hoo!  I plan to do a lot of resting, reading, laughing, and sunning.  If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll get some peeks at our fun!

For today’s Five on Friday, I thought I would share some insights I gained from our move back in June.  I think I’m still processing it all, as it was a whirlwind (at some point you’ll get the whole story!).  But I have mined some nuggets from the experience and what better space to share then right here?

1.  Nineteen years is nothing to sneeze at.  I lived 2/5ths of my life in that house.  My youngest learn to walk on that front sidewalk.  We finished out the basement and then proceeded to fill every square inch of that house.  Leaving that behind felt abrupt but necessary, and after months of sprucing up and purging belongings and then a couple of intense weeks working through the contingencies, I was ready to hand over those keys.  But 19 years, y’all… it’s nothing to sneeze at.  I’m sure I’ll have some really big feelings at some point, but for now I just feel a bit sad.  No regrets, but definitely a little sad.

2.  I have the BEST BFF.  Y’all.  We could not have done it without her.  She showed up in the biggest ways — packing my house while the hubs and I were at work, running loads to donation centers, and pushing me to let go of a lot of things that were paralyzing me needlessly.  Do you have someone like that in your life?

3.  All. The. Stuff.  I’ve got a whole post in the works about the psychology of “stuff” and the changes I’m making.  As someone who is a very visual person and who loves pretty things, somehow over the years I tipped toward too much.  Granted, having a booth and ongoing stash of “someday” projects didn’t help.  Raising five kids and all THEIR stuff in that house didn’t help either.  Nor did having so many rooms, closets, so much storage… why worry about purging when you have places to store things?? But when push came to shove, I was honestly shocked at the sheer volume of stuff I had held on to.  See number 2 above to the rescue.  I’m now in a recovery of sorts… more to come on that later.

4.  The hubs and I learned a LOT about each other and about “us.”  When we blended families back in 2006, he and his sons moved into our world.  And while we think we’ve certainly been tested over the years, this move was the biggest test yet.  I put more expectations on him than ever before and while he didn’t do it “my way”, it all got done.  I had to let go enough to let him handle things his way.  No small feat for the one who has managed pretty much all aspects of household and finances.  I worked through it and he stepped up. And you know what? We still like each other.  #teamworkforthewin

5. Less is just fine.  While we’re not 100% settled, I am more than happy with our small space.  Not only is it less space, but it’s different space.  So I’m taking my time figuring all that out, but having less to worry about, less to clean, and having it just right for the hubs and I is just fine with me.

I’d love to hear if any of you have gone through big changes or big moves recently!  I think I’ve been surprised by how off-kilter I’ve been by all of it, but things are slowly falling into place in our new reality.  Can you relate?

Wishing you all an awesome weekend and I’ll pop in next week with some fall inspiration!!

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