Movin' on up to the east side...

Well, more east of where we were (west chicagoland and closer to the big city), at least.

So this is obviously a late post about our move since we actually made the big move almost 2 weeks ago, now (the weekend of my birthday -- a good gift, I would say).  We've made a lot of changes to the house even before the move, but as much as I would like to blog about all remodeling/renovation projects in the house in chronological order, at this point in time with all the hustle and bustle going on, I only have a somewhat organized chaos thought process going on in my brain as everything is all happening at once.

I think posting about the big move is a good way to start to get me out of my blogging rut.  (And I'm only in a rut because there's so much to post about, I don't even know where to start.)  So let's take the first step and start here.

WE'VE MOVED!! Yahoo!

Almost exactly 2 months after our closing date, we moved out of our cozy starter home and made the move to the new house.  After over a year of living out of boxes (we packed a little prematurely), we were soooo ready to go.  I was a little skeptical about fitting everything A) in the 26 ft. truck  and B) in the new house, but we somehow managed it.

I'm sure you all have moved at one point in your life, but you truly never realize how much stuff you accumulate over the years (over 6 years, in our case) until you pack 'em up and stack 'em up in your living room (and garage).  I was very overwhelmed by it all.  At this point, I made a solemn oath to never, ever hoard  collect junk and always make sure to pare down as needed.  NEVER AGAIN!!

Our poor pup, Erin, was so confused by it all, she literally jumped on every couch, bed, and laps shaking and wouldn't leave our side for a second for 2 days.  I think she was literally thinking that she would be left behind.  Poor girl, we made sure to comfort her and tell her that we were not going to do that and that she is coming with us to the new house.  A little love from mom, dad, and Olive, and I think she was feeling much better..

So on to the movers..

This time around we wised up and hired movers.  Unlike our last move from our old apartment to our first house, we have waaay more junk to haul and also, I would be moving for two (14 weeks preggers 2 weeks ago).  So hired muscle was definitely in our cards.  And I am never ever going back to manual labor ever again!! (spoiled doesn't even cover it).

halfway full

We went with a company called Professionals Moving Specialists, a company based out of Chicago per the recommendation of our good friends Jen and Dusty who recently made the move from Chicago to Bartlett (and still a better price than the local Allied and 2 men and a truck).  Not only did they arrive early, but they brought with them four scrappy dudes and a huge 26 foot truck.  They moved so quick, I barely got out of bed before half of our stuff was already in their truck!


It truly was surreal to see your whole life in boxes.  In the year that we lived out of them, I pretty much convinced myself that the task of moving would be impossible.  Little did I know that they would be able to pack and unpack our whole existence in 4 hours including travel time.

I was pretty impressed with how fast these guys were (total pros), and they were pretty good with packaging our valuables in saran wrap, blankets, tapes.  They also strategically tetris'd our stuff in their truck, so we only needed one, thank god.  It was close, but we made it fit and it was packed to the nuts!

It's hard to believe how empty our old house was.  I was exhausted from packing and moving, but I still had time to shed a small tear.  Even as I'm writing this, the feeling is overwhelming (could be the pregnancy hormones), but this was our first real home.  Where we had our first kid.  Where we had dinner parties, and barbecues, and holidays. Oh boy, here comes the tears..waaaahhhh.  I love you old house, you'll always be in our hearts.. 

But moving on (no pun intended).

As if emotions weren't on high enough already, we come home to this chaos in the new house.  Pangs of anxiety and panic almost knocked me out into a deep sleep (this is my natural reaction to stress), but we carried on and literally carried every box to where they belonged (not all in one day, of course).

We did manage to direct our speedy movers to move the upstairs boxes to a holding room upstairs (large 2nd bedroom) and downstairs boxes into the front room (spilling out into the dining room) and even managed to have them move the massive mancave couch and entertainment center into the basement (where it belongs).

We even had time to celebrate my big 33rd (gasp!) birthday with some frozen yogurt from Ninang Lisa (Olive's godmom).  Yum!  Thanks Lisa <3

All in all, it was a crazy day, but the fact that we did it with barely any casualties, I was more relieved than anything.  Everything is falling into place, and we are just in a happier place period.

Now to throw half of this crap out... ;)

OK, before wrapping it up.. First, this post is dedicated to my friend Jane, who is my blog motivator and keeps me going in life (ha, also I will always listen to all of her advice from now on.. Rugs USA.. ARRRGGHH)..  Second, in the days ahead I am going to trudge on and post about our new floors (the catalyst and final project before we made the big move),  rugs, wallpaper removal (fun, fun), kitchen cabinets, and overall room transformations.  Stay tuned..

If you guys want to read the rest of this *exciting* remodeling series, CLICK HERE!

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