As you consider a move across several states, the question that is always top-most in your mind <at least it was in ours> is trying to figure out how much stuff to move.  We finished unpacking Ben’s room today, and he was thrilled to have all his belongings back and put in some semblance of order.

We’ve discovered the little things that you don’t think will make a difference once you move really do.  We packed plastic storage containers–we could have easily donated them and purchased new–but it was nice to have that storage available when unpacking, and it really didn’t add that much weight to the truck.  You can never have too many storage containers, as what works in your house now will not necessarily be functional in your new home.  Ditto with toilet paper and kleenex.  It can be used as filler in the box, and it sure is helpful to have in the new place.

Pack as much in terms of everyday kitchen utensils and cookware and make sure it is the last box on the truck, and the first box off.  If you are using movers, remember it can take as long as a week to receive your boxes.  We enjoy eating out but it gets tiring after awhile, hits the budget hard, and is not the healthiest option.  You will need items for making meals, such as cookie sheets, pans, etcetera.  If you can, make up a list of what you will need to buy once you move into your house.  We had gotten rid of a lot of our items, and as we walked into Target our first day, we were really overwhelmed with trying to remember what we needed.

We’ve been saying from the start, pack only what you love.  However, we’d like to make an addendum to that:  also pack what you need.  We’ve had several items that we disposed of in Wisconsin, only to have to buy back in Florida.  It’s hard to spend money on items you know you had two weeks ago, that were in perfectly good condition.   It doesn’t make sense to dispose of everything you own.  We’re grateful for what we did pack, and it helps to make the apartment our home.  It really helps with the adjustment process, whether you have children or not.

Tomorrow the plan is to unpack the kitchen boxes.   We also need to contact maintenance as a lot of our outlets are not working, and Catie had ants crawling on her wall this morning. We believe its due to the fact they sprayed our building yesterday and the ants were coming inside to get away, but we will alert them anyway.  We need to contact Brighthouse as a couple of our cable outlets are not functional.  We’re also supposed to have ceiling fans installed this week in the bedrooms.  We have to say management is totally on top of everything and we are impressed with the way things are handled here.  We are blessed with living here.